Friday 2/14: Early to rise, early to bed!

Day 1:   Up at 3A, out at 5A into a (comparatively) balmy 20 degrees in Chicago.  Arrive O'Hare without incident, and fall into line to get checked in.  Our error, we felt since we were connecting to an international flight we should not try the self-check-in.  45 l...o...n...g minutes later, we learned the sad truth.  But, with a little rearranging of contents, all suitcases passed the weight test and we were finally on our way.

By then, our flight was well into boarding and the announcement was made that there was no remaining overhead storage, so Linda had to check her larger carry-on.  But we made it to PHX and got connected to our flight to Mazatlan without any further challenges.  (I managed to complete the first "beach read" we'd brought along!)

We found our free ride to the hotel easily, and arranged for return transport for Linda and me; Claudette will stay up in Tepic another couple of weeks.  Lucky lady! 

While the route to the hotel was convoluted, we eventually DID arrive and found our standard room.  We know how to work this easily, and settled in.  The lodging provided chits for free margaritas and had a nice Valentine's Day special at the restaurant, so we treated ourselves and gratefully turned in for a well-earned night's sleep.