Don't Forget the Charger

Last weekend Melissa and I went to a party for our friend's son's first birthday. We were having a great time, snapping photos on the digital until I noticed the battery was about to die. You'd think I'd have thought about charging the battery before we went to the party, especially considering we had the same problem on our honeymoon.

You make a list, you pack, you re-pack, you add the things you forgot to add to the list, finally thinking that screw it, we can just buy whatever we've forgotten at this point. (ok, to be accurate, that would be "Melissa made a list, Melissa packed and re-packed, etc." I waited until about two hours before takeoff before packing. I've been told I have much in common with Ellis Thurman Bridges; packing a suitcase is not one of them.)

So we're on our way to sunny Mexico. The wedding was over, it was time to relax, tan, and see some sights. And things went well until I noticed the battery on the digital was about to die. Damnit. Of all the things we could have forgotten and "just buy", why'd it have to be the charger? Why couldn't it have been toothpaste?

Knowing there was a Wal-Mart in Cancun, we hopped on the bus for a ride to downtown. This is an overhead shot of Cancun. I had to shrink it to fit in the blog, so you can't really tell what's what, and that's why I added those helpful tags and arrows (you're welcome).

Yes, there is a Wal-Mart in Cancun. Yes, we went there, multiple times. As I said, we forgot some stuff. Plus, it was the best place to exchange dollars for pesos. Seriously, buy a pack of gum and pay for it with a $50. Your change is in pesos, and it's a great exchange rate.

So we took the bus to Wal-Mart, to see if they sold a battery charger. As you can see by the photo, Wal-Mart was about three thousand miles from the hotel. Thankfully, the bus drivers are certifiably crazy, so we made good time. After wandering around Wal-Mart for awhile, we determined that they did not sell the battery charger we needed. So we left with some sandals, bottled water, and yes, toothpaste, in search for a camera store.

That's when we got completely lost. See, instead of asking someone at Wal-Mart, "Donde esta el camera shoppe?", we decided to wander around downtown Cancun looking for one. I got sunburned, overheated, and grumpy. Ok, it may have been my idea to wander around without asking for help, I don't remember.

We were finally told about a mall where nobody but tourists go, so we figured why not, it's on the way back. This is not a place you want to go. You might as well tattoo "I'm a tourist, please fleece me." on your forehead when you walk in. We did find a camera place, and they had chargers. Unfortunately, we hadn't brought the camera or battery, so we didn't know if it would work.

A "quick" trip to the hotel and back, plus something like eight million pesos later, we had a battery charger. We didn't get much else done that day. But we had a working camera. And toothpaste.