The walk that almost killed us

We went to the mall, Plaza del Sol, again today and, while the walk there should be a healthy one, it almost killed us.
Our hotel, a Microtel of the U.S. Microtel chain, is across the street from the mall. But it’s a very very busy street and in Chihuahua the traffic is anything but slow and pedestrians are seemilngly viewed as targets to be hit.
Yesterday, after we dropped Jose at Lily, we asked the taxi driver to bring us to the mall where we ate at Chilis and then decided to walk to the hotel. the walk is a bit of a jaunt from the building, across a wide expanse of parking lot and then across the street to the hotel but I walk that distance during my walks with our dog, Mocha, back in Fergus.
We made it to the street and thought we could just follow the traffic patterns and ended up standing in the middle of the street as the cars wouldn’t stop for us.
Our life events were flashing before our eyes!
Luckily, during a brief break between the speeding metal, we made a mad dash for it...okay, a clumsy lumbering gait as fast as any couple over 50 can make...and we were obviously successful!
We walked to the mall again today but chose a more carefully planned street crossing. We noticed then how many people actually make that jaunt and how everyone seems to dart between the cars in the attempt.
This part of Chihuahua, we were told by our taxi driver yesterday, is considered to be the “new” Chihuahua. When we came to get Jose and bring him home last year, we stayed in the centro de ciudad or central part of the city that has a feel of the 1950s to it. It appears to be almost in a time warp and has a distinctly different feel to it compared to the newness of where we are staying now. It’s interesting to compare the contrasts.
We were going to go to the old part of the city today but Doug balked a bit.
The two of us were eating on the outdoor balcony of the mall (sorry, Minnesotans, to say that as you face yet another snowstorm but I thought I’d give all a flavor of what really warm weather feels like) and I told Doug we needed to do something today. I wanted to go to the old city.
“And do what,” he asked.
“I’d really like to go to the shops,” I replied.
“Shops? You know that if you said that to me in Fergus, well, you know what my reaction would be. My idea of a vacation is going to Minneapolis and going to a Twins game. My first idea of a vacation is NOT shopping.”
I gave him the wifely stare.
Then he admitted his feelings of melancholy.
“I wanna go home,” he said. “I miss Breiden.”
“Well, we can’t go home until we get him his present,” I reminded Doug.
There. I’d said it. We REALLY need to go shopping!
So a trip to the centro de ciudad is in the planning!
We are planning the trip for early a.m. since we are also planning on changing rooms to a suite. The suite will have microwave, refrigerator and the most important appliance to us as a couple - A COFFEEMAKER!!!!!!! It will save on some of our food bills and give us room to stretch once Jose rejoins us.
We are really good at changing rooms in Chihuahua. When we were here last year completing the adoption process with Jose, we changed hotels at least 7 times. It kept the stay more interesting.
The sky is clear and the weather in the 70s to 80s. It isn’t overly hot. It’s a dry heat, they say.
Will continue with more of our stay tomorrow with hopefully some news about a shopping trip...unless Doug changes his mind - again! I thought that was a woman’s perrogative!
Oh, Happy BD to my aunt, Adeline!!! Special birthday blessings to you!