Back to Mexico

Just a quick review of my last two and a half days in Mexico. The weather on Saturday and Sunday was still hot but a little less muggy and the sky was perfectly clear. Saturday was spent by the pool or the beach. One thing I forgot to mention was how dirty the ocean water was. They said it was because of all the rain and the fact that in the particular area we stayed there were several rivers that entered the ocean. Whatever the reason, the brown murky water kept us from spending any time in the ocean. On Saturday we played water volleyball and beach volleyball. We hung out at the pool with some new friends we made. There was a very nice couple from Austin who had just gotten married and another couple from Kansas City who had been married a week. We also met Earl and his wife Kim. I'm not sure what Earl's real name was, that's just the name Laurie gave him. They were quite a pair. Very rough around the edges, but hilarious too. Saturday evening Laurie and I went to dinner at Paradise. After dinner we had talked about going in the pool, but we were both tired so we called it a night.
Sunday we took at trip to downtown Puerto Vallarta. Everyone warned us about taking taxis and how crazy they drove. They do drive crazy, but not so crazy that we felt unsafe. We went to the flea market downtown and did a little shopping. Laurie is the best negotiator I've ever met. She told me to tell her the price I wanted to pay for something and that is the price she would get. This skill did get the two of us into trouble when she mentioned to another shopper that he didn't need to pay full price for an item he was looking at. The vendor asked her if she was the guy's friend and when she said no, he told her to shut her f$@*ing mouth and get the hell out of there. I was at the vendor next to his and had no idea what was going on. She just came up to me and said "We need to get out of here.". We made our escape with the pissed off vendor yelling obscenities until we were out of hearing range.
We walked along the Macelon looking at shops and snapping pictures along the way. We stopped for ice cream at a cute little ice cream parlor and soaked up the atmosphere of a different country. In small glimpses I saw the beauty of Puerto Vallarta. The roads are cobblestone and the streets are decorated with Spanish accents. It is very much an old world being taken over by a modern one where a mom and pop potery shop sits next to an Internet cafe. If our trip had allowed I would have loved to have visited the older parts of the city and experienced more of the culture. Perhaps there will be other trips to Mexico in my future.
After our trip to downtown we returned to the hotel where Laurie played tequila volleyball and I got a sunburn. I was so careful to avoid this my entire trip but in the end the sun was the victor. Even with 50 SPF slathered on every hour, my arms and back turned a nice shade of red.
At 5:30pm we had appointments at the spa where we had a 50 minute relaxing massage with a facial and pedicure. It was bliss.
After our massages we headed back to the room, but were stopped by an amazing sunset. On our last night in P.V. the sun put on an amazing display as it settled into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. I ran up the stairs to our room and got my camera. I ran back down the stairs just in time to snap a few pictures of the sunset. Once the sun disappeared, we went back to the room to get ready for dinner. Our plan was to do crazy hair and makeup for disco night at Club Nitro. We also had reservations at the French restaurant. Unfortunately we were a little late getting ready and then couldn't find the restaurant so we ended up being too late to eat. :( It was very disappointing. To make maters worse, I got sick and had to return to the room which left Laurie on her own for dinner. I felt really guilty, but was so sick there was nothing I could do. Laurie ended up eating dinner with Victor, a very nice guy who worked at the hotel, and going dancing at Club Nitro where she busted out the lawn mower and sprinkler. I was really disappointed to not be able to go, but that's life.
Monday morning before we left for the airport we relaxed by the ocean and took some more pictures. We said goodbye to the friends we made. We were both feeling a little sad about leaving, but were excited to get home to our families.
We met a really fun couple at the airport who was heading back to S.F. as well. We chatted with them for a while before we boarded the plane. The flight home, as all flights home do for me, seemed to take forever. When we finally arrived I was surprised to see that Erin was home for her trip to L.A. and met me at the airport with David. Vacations are a wonderful thing, but nothing beats comming home!

Puerto Vallarta is a lovely place. The people are friendly. I would probably visit Puero Vallarta again, but in the cooler months and with my husband. I didn't like being away from him one bit! I would also do a little more research and try to stay in a place where I could experience more of the unique culture of Mexico and less of the "spring break" atmosphere.