Today’s most urgent task was to get to the bank and take out what I hope will be enough pesos to get me to the border. I underestimated badly last year and hope I didn’t overestimate this year…

I headed out just after noon and stopped in at Kim Express on Juan Carrasco for lunch. It’s tiny hole in the wall type Chinese place that I would have never noticed were it not for their sign on the sidewalk announcing their specials. I’ve been there a few times now and am never disappointed. $44 gets me a decent egg roll, a too large portion of fried rice (if I’m really hungry, I might get through half!), an icy cold tea, and a choice of main. I always go for the beef and broccoli with carrots as it seems like a healthier option than the gooey fried stuff like orange chicken. The restaurant has AC, which is most welcome, and if I go at lunch, I catch the news on their TV (was shocked to hear about the flooding in Houston!). The food is always fresh, too, and never seems like it’s been sitting there for ages. Glad I found them.

Next stop was Scotiabank. There was just one person ahead of me for the ATM, but the line up inside was looooong. So I felt a tad obnoxious cutting to the head of the queue to be next for the teller who changes my money, but did it anyway. I did hear some murmurs behind me and the teller said something quite loudly that I didn’t understand. I handed her my Post-It with what I wanted written on it. I’d added a note saying, “Thanks for your help. This is the last time,” with a smiley face. She laughed at that and asked why it’s the last time and I told her.

Banking done, I headed down to Ley to get a few things and then decided to treat myself to a pulmonía as it could very well be my last time for that. 🙁 When I got to this side and started walking under the crushing humidity, my bags felt twice as heavy as they were and I was really glad I hadn’t walked from Ley to the embarcadero. Thank goodness it’s much cooler by the water. But I’m not complaining! 🙂

Four days left… But I’m buoyed by the fact that this time next week, I’ll be heading into Utah and looking forward to four days of hiking in Arches National Park. In this life by design, the end of an adventure is always the start of a new one!