11/28/08 – Day 7

Woke up at 9:00 today. Chris headed down for breakfast, but I just wanted to doze a little longer. I headed down about 30 minutes later and grabbed some egg casserole. I took a few bites and decided food was not what I wanted so I went back to the room. Chris came back and was still tired so we went back to bed until 11:00. Then the gas and water trucks started driving around to make their deliveries. They blast these loud recordings with crazy music and a prerecorded message over and over. We got up, showered quickly, packed up the beach stuff, said goodbye to Max who was leaving for Vancouver and got to the beach by noon. We spent the entire day doing nothing but drinking, swimming, sunning and lounging. We talked to folks around us, saw some folks we had met before, saw some of the folks from the villa, got henna tattoos, just pure relaxation. Mid afternoon we had lunch there on the beach, Quesadillas for me, chicken strips and fries for Chris. The waves were the biggest so far and the water was tons of fun. The big ones would come in strings of 4 or 5 and then it would calm a bit, but the bigger ones definitely gave you a workout. At about 5:30 as the sun was setting, we packed up, and headed down the Malecon towards home. Along the way we saw Joely Fisher and her baby heading down to the beach. She looked fab! We stopped at the Tequila factory outlet and sampled many tequilas and ended up buying 4 bottles to bring home. One of them is a chocolate flavored creamy tequila that is just too yummy! We then walked up the steep set of steps for the last time. The plan was to get showered, pack, relax for a bit and then head to El Brujo (the one we missed last year) for dinner. We should have learned that making plans in PV rarely works heheheh.

As soon as we got back to the villa, we jumped into the pool to cool off. Patrick and Casey came out of their room and said that they were going to dinner at Fajita Republic with Bob, Cal and Mitch and asked if we would like to come. We had wanted to eat there and it was closed when we went on Mon, and we thought it would be more fun to end our stay with a nice group dinner, so we showered, changed and off we went. When we got to the restaurant there was a short 15 minute wait. They recently moved to a new location in an old hacienda. Since our group was 7 people and they did not have room in the normal dining area for us (and since they know Bob and Cal as regulars every year), they lead us through and seated us at a huge round glass table on an outdoor courtyard by the swimming pool. It was great to have our own private space. Chris had Steak and cheese fajitas and I had a “crunchy salad” and a chicken chimichanga. Everything was VERY good and we highly recommend this one if you ever find yourself in PV. The portions are huge and the price is right. We had a lot of laughs and a good time was had by everyone. Bob, Cal and Mitch surprised us all by picking up the entire check. Thanks guys!!!!

After dinner, Bob, Cal and Mitch headed to Garbo’s , Casey and Patrick grabbed a taxi back to the villa as Patrick was literally falling asleep on his feet, and Chris I decided to take one more walk along the ocean on our way back.

We got back and knocked on Patrick and Casey’s door to see if Casey wanted to hang out for a bit since he was not really ready for sleep when they left the restaurant, but they had both hit the bed and fallen asleep before we got back. So we went and finished packing and then spent some time on the balcony just enjoying the quiet.

We headed to bed and woke up at about 9:00. Chris had some breakfast. We sat around and talked to the guys. We had to be at the airport by 11:30 or so. Everyone met us by the pool as we were waiting for our taxi to say goodbye. It was the end of yet another great vacation in PV. We leave with new friends and fond memories and know that one day soon, we will be back at Villa David for another adventure.
Thanks to everyone who made our trip so memorable

11/27/08 – Day 6 THANKSGIVING

Chris got up for breakfast, but I decided to skip it and stay in bed and sleep in. I slept until 10:00 and then wandered down to see where everyone was. I got down to the dining room and the food was still out. There was bacon and there was Maggie the cat sitting on the chair. Maggie is the house cat and she LOVES bacon. Every morning I give her some and as soon as she saw me, she knew good times had arrived. I grabbed a couple pieces and she and I shared them.

Bob, Cal and Mitch were already up in the apt, hard at work preparing our feast. Chris and I decided this would be our shopping day. We needed to buy Tequila, a BIMBO shirt for me, and the tile mosaic that we want to put on the back of the garage in the backyard. We considered going to the beach, and both wanted to, but considering how red we were, decided it would be best to skip it today so that we could spend all of Friday there for our last fling. My stomach was finally feeling normal again, so we showered and headed out.

We went to the Tequila store first, but seeing as how we needed to sample everything, we decided to come back on Fri so as not to start the day off by getting drunk LOL. We headed down the Malecon, found my Bimbo shirt, and headed off towards the tile store. Along the way we ran into Patrick and Casey and they had no plans so we decided to all go and have a light lunch at Picnic. Chris and I had eaten there last year, but they had not. After a quick lunch, we headed to the tile store and purchased a beautiful 36 tile mural of the view basically from the top of our villa. Hand painted. Should be a nice addition to our house back home.

Next stop, the grocery store so Patrick and Casey can get a bottle of wine to have with dinner. We had been told dinner would be served between 4 and 5 and it was 3:15 so we headed back.

Dinner was not quite ready, so we all grabbed cocktails and jumped into the pool for a little relaxing before dinner. Everyone else who was staying at the villa and a few of the owners friends who live nearby showed up and dinner was served. And quite the spread it was. Turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, yummy deviled eggs (thank you Cal :) ) all sorts of breads and desserts. George (the neighbor) made this incredible cranberry and walnut salad and pumpkin bread that was just a little slice of heaven. It definitely was a feast and even though we had only had lunch a few hours before, we all had at least 2 plates of everything.

It was only 6:30 so Chris & I, Patrick & Casey, and Max planted ourselves at the balcony table and started drinking and talking while everyone else went to nap. Well, the conversation was good. So good that at 1:00, after 6 bottles of wine and god only knows how many bottles of Corona, we all decided it was time for bed.
Tomorrow is our last full day and the only things we have planned are the beach and Tequila shopping.

11/26/08 – Day 5

We got up and had breakfast, but were still tired from the late night, so we went back to bed until about noon. Then it was off to the beach to meet up with Josh and John and their friends who had arrived the previous evening. There were 9 of us and we spent the afternoon sunning and swimming and just enjoying the sights. I bought some knock off Ray Bans from one of the beach vendors and finally said goodbye to my sunglasses from Australia. They have been through hell and sit crooked on my face, so I figured purchasing new ones on another memorable trip was the right thing to do J

We left the beach at 4:00 to head back to the Villa so that Chris could get his massage at 6:00. When we walked in the door, Bill, Max, Patrick and Casey were all chatting either in or next to the pool, so we stripped down and jumped in. That is one of the best things about arriving back at the villa after the hike uphill. You get all hot walking back, but as soon as you walk in the door, you can jump in the pool and cool off.

As massage time approached, Patrick and Casey headed out for dinner as did Max. Bill disappeared up to his apt. Chris went in for his massage and then Josh and John arrived back from the beach so the 3 of us sat by the pool and had a few beers and waited for their friend Darryl to show up for dinner. Chris joined us all for a bit after his massage and then everyone went to get changed for dinner. Josh and John and Darryl were meeting some other guys at a restaurant we didn’t feel like going to, so Chris and I went to a place recommended to us by Adalberto called Burger Paradise. It was right along the Malecon and was quite good. I had the La Mexicana cheeseburger with guacamole and jalapenos and Chris had the BBQ bacon cheeseburger. Both came with really good onion rings. Our table was out on the balcony over looking the beach with the lights of Nuevo Vallarta in the distance. Nothing like burgers with the waves crashing nearby.

After dinner as we were walking back home, we saw Josh’s group just sitting down at the restaurant they had chosen. We went in and said hi and they invited us to meet them at this club called Anthropology after dinner. We agreed to meet at about 11:30.

We got back to the villa and Chris needed to check email so he grabbed the laptop and I layed down to read and ended up falling asleep. Chris woke me at 11:30 and said we needed to go. I got up and really didn’t feel like going back out, but didn’t want to leave the guys hanging, so we trekked down the hill to the bar. As we were walking, I just felt kind of heavy and sluggish. I just could not get my energy up. My sunburn was bugging me and I felt like I had gotten too much sun. Kind of queasy and sweating and just not really in a bar mood. We got there, paid our cover, walked up the stairs and walked into this fairly small, cramped room, with tables and chairs surrounding the bar. We saw Josh and John waving at us across the room, so went over and had a seat and ordered drinks. The drinks were way overpriced, the dancers on the bar were not that good, but we wanted to spend time with J & J. After a bit longer, the heat, the strobes, everything was just working for me and I told Chris I was going to head back to the Villa, but for him to stay and have a good time.

The walk home from this bar is very short. Probably about 5 blocks, but uphill. It is a walk we have made many times. This night it was to be VERY different and not really very pleasant.

I felt better as soon as I was outside and the breeze hit me. I started walking up the hill and just enjoying the stars and the night air. It was about 12:45. I had made it up 3 blocks and was getting ready to turn the corner and deal with the most vertical set of steps. As I was approaching the corner, I saw a police officer on his four wheeler but thought nothing of it. You see police all over and that is one reason you don’t see violent crime around PV. I turned the corner and hear from behind me “Amigo……AMIGO…Stop”. Seeing as there was no one else around, I realized he was talking to me, so I stopped and turned and he, all decked out in a Flak vest and gun (holstered) said “Come here”.

Let me preface the rest of this with the following. The Villa has a rule book placed in each room and it is highly suggested you read it when you check in. Some people do, some don’t. It covers the rules for the house as well helpful info about being in Mexico. Most of the rules are there because of something that a previous guest did. I read it last year, and then again this year as it is quite entertaining and always being added to. There is one section devoted to things not to do while in Mexico. There are numerous things and one section in particular deals with interactions with the police. Just like here in the states, most are very helpful and friendly, but there are a few bad eggs in the bunch. One thing they have zero tolerance for is drugs. So you never carry even aspirin in your pocket. If they find something on you, you are either going to be taken to jail (not a good idea in Mexico), or you might get lucky and find one of the bad eggs who will take your cash in exchange for not sending you to jail. Down at the beach, they are everywhere. Pot, X, cocaine….all very easy to get on the beach and you see it happen all the time. Hell, the taxi drivers even offer it to you. Luckily, neither of us do those things, so we have never worried about the Police much. But I am now away from the beach, at night, alone, in a residential area.

I walk back towards the corner and officer asks me if I know who the vehicle parked at the curb belongs to. I said “no sir” and he asks me again and again I say “no sir”. I am not freaking out yet, but something does not feel right. He then asks where I live. I explain we are staying up the hill at a villa. He pauses for a minute to talk on his walkie talkie, but makes it very clear I am not to go anywhere. Now, I know I have not done anything wrong. I know I am not carrying anything that would get me in trouble. I had about 2 sips of the beer at the bar. I’m good. I’m telling myself that, but my heartbeat is getting a bit quicker. The officer then asks if I have I.D. I say yes and pull out my wallet and take my license out and he takes it and goes back over to his 4 wheeler where there is light. In my head I am saying just be calm, but the fact that I am alone is kinda getting to me. About 2 minutes go by. He keeps looking at my license and then responding to someone on the walkie talkie. He gets off the 4 wheeler and I think, finally he is going to give me my license back and say have a good evening, but no. He says “I need you to come over here and place your hands on the back of this vehicle”. Everything kind of jumped into slow motion. My head was screaming at my feet to move, but my feet wanted to run which would have been very bad (and I had no reason to! I hadn’t done anything!) My heart was now definitely racing. I stepped down placed my hands on the spare tire on the back of the SUV that was parked there and tried not to shake.

Officer: Have you been drinking?
Me: Yes sir, I had a beer down at Anthropology.
Officer: Do you do drugs?
Me: No sir
Officer: Smoke pot?
Me No sir
Officer: Cocaine?
Me: No sir
Officer: I am going to need to search you.
My Inner voice: SHIT!!!!!!!!!! BREATHE. BREATHE. BREATHE .
Me: Yes sir

He pats me down and then starts reaching into each pocket and pulling stuff out. Cigarettes, lighter, gum, iphone, coins. He lays each item on the top of the spare tire my hands are on. All I am thinking is that if something happens, no one will no where I am and I don’t have the number for villa on me. He then pulls out my wallet from my back pocket and starts going through it. In my head I am thinking, ok, I have about 1000 Pesos on me, roughly $100.00 US. He is standing behind me, but I turn my head enough to watch him as he looks in every crevice and pocket of my wallet. I want to make sure he doesn’t suddenly produce a pill or bag of coke and claim he found it in my wallet.

I must have been starting to show that I was nervous and scared. He said, “Don’t worry, you are not in any trouble”. He then handed me my wallet and I stuck it in my pocket. He said “wait, I want you to look in your wallet and make sure everything is there”. I pulled it back out, looked and saw that indeed, money, cards, everything was there. He then handed me my license and told me I could gather my things and go. I said thank you sir and gathered up my things. He some something else that was friendly in nature, but I just wanted to get up to the villa. I think I told him to have a nice evening as I walked away.

I got back to the villa and heard voices up in the hot tub, so I went up and found the new couple that had arrived earlier in the day Trevin and Patrick (from San Francisco). We had not actually met, so I introduced myself and then proceeded to tell them what had just happened. It was nice to just have other people there. I felt better now that I was safely at the Villa, so left them to their hot tubbing and went down to the room. Chris and the others got back about an hour later and we all headed to bed.
The cop was hot though.

11/25/08 – Day 4

Woke up at 8:00 and something wasn’t right. I felt off. Figured it was probably from those drinks last night, so headed down to get some breakfast. Chris was already down in the dining room along with Max, a guy who lives a few doors down the road named George, and a new couple who arrived while we were out last night Casey and Patrick (from Michigan). We had a nice breakfast and then decided to head back to the room to doze for a bit. Soon after we layed down, the rumbling started. Not sure what caused it, but something in my stomach was not happy. I spent the next few hours in the bathroom and when things had slowed down, I took some pepto and things started to feel better.

We decided to just hang out at the villa today with Casey and Patrick. We all spent the day by the pool and just took it easy. It was actually a very nice afternoon and the 4 of us hit it off immediately.

That evening, Bill, the owner of Villa David, decided to organize a group dinner outing for all of us that were staying at the villa. We were to depart at 5:30. At about 4:00, Josh and John (from Seattle) arrived, so that was 2 more for the dinner group. We all got dressed and piled into 2 cars and drove about 10 minutes out of the city to a restaurant called Cuale Paraiso. It is situated right on the bank of the Cuale river in a sort of jungle village. Definitely one of those places you would never find out about except from someone who lived in the area. There were 12 of us in all. Our table was outside on the deck with the river flowing right next to us. We started with really good salsa and chips and amazing guacamole. Then Chris and I split an order of beef nachos. The meat on them was almost like a barbecued brisket and was very good. For Entrees, Chris had Chicken and a frozen strawberry margarita and I had shrimp and a lime margarita on the rocks. Of course, he had to try the flan for dessert. Thumbs up to all of the above.

One of the cool things about this restaurant were the bathrooms. They actually encourage you to write on the walls. You ask for a marker from the bartender and off you go. It is pretty amazing to see how many folks have discovered this place and from every corner of the world. We added our names and home city and then it was time to leave.
Chris went with everyone else to Apache’s for after dinner drinks. I chose to go back to the Villa and relax and read. I ended up dozing off and woke up at midnight to Chris, Max, Josh and John arriving back from the bar. John headed to bed, but Chris, Max, Josh and I ended up staying up in the hot tub until about 3:00. While talking to Josh, we found out that John grew up in Santa Fe and actually went to school with Chris’ sisters! Small world.

11/24/08 – Day 3

Awake at 8:00 to get ready for our day trip to Yalepa. We showered, had a quick bite of breakfast and headed down to the pier to catch our 9:45 water taxi. It turned out to be just us and an older couple from Palm Desert on the 45 minute trip down to Yalepa. Normally, the taxi would have had to make 2 stops along the way, but they radioed to him that there were no passengers that day, so it was a nice straight shot. We were cruising along when suddenly the driver started pointing off to the left of the boat and immediately cut the engine. There, just a short distance away, was a humpback whale surfacing. It was too cool to be that close. It stayed at the surface long enough for us to get a couple of pics and then is disappeared beneath the surface and was gone. Nice added bonus to our ride and surprising as they usually don’t show up until mid December.

We arrived in Yalepa and immediately headed up to the waterfall. We had been here last year and there is a geocache there that we had not been able to find. We decided to give it another shot this year. We trekked up through the village and got to the waterfall just as a large tour group was finishing up. Once they left, we hunted and hunted, but never found what we were looking for. Will have to try again next time. But, we couldn’t leave without swimming in the falls again. The water is so crisp and chilly, but feels so good once you are in. A quick dip, some pictures, a diet coke, and we headed back down through the village to try for another geocache that we had found listed there. This one was out on the bluff at the edge of the cove and we were able to find it very easily.

Back down to the beach for lunch and swimming. When we got back down, there were a few more people that had arrived on other taxi’s or day cruises, but still, less than 50 people on the whole beach. We ate at Marlin Restaurant and Bar. Nachos and Quesadillas for Chris, and a spicy mix of marinated beef chunks with corn tortillas for me. While we were eating, this sad little stray dog came over and sat next to my chair. He was very hungry, so I shared my lunch with him. You really don’t appreciate the vet care here at home until you see some of the strays in Mexico. At least this one got a good meal and some attention on this day.

After lunch, we got drinks and sunned for a bit before going for a swim. There were a number of families there for the day and they little bitty kids playing in the surf were very cute to watch. When you are just 2 feet tall, those waves can be pretty scary and fun at the same time. One adorable little girl, maybe 3 years old, was sitting right at the edge of the water and just letting the water roll up over her. Her mom was sitting next to us and another woman commented to her that she was going to have sand everywhere when they got her out of her suit. The mother said that the little girl had already come to her a tad bit concerned, because as the little girl stated, “mommy, I have sand in my coochie”. We got quite the chuckle out of that

There was a woman whose husband was trying to convince her to parasail. She was afraid to do it and I knew exactly how she felt. Chris had done it last year on the beach in PV and loved it, but I was scared to do it. This woman’s husband finally convinced her to do it so I watched as she headed down the beach, got strapped into the harness, hooked to the chute and up she went. She took off and screamed and waved and I watched as she floated all around the bay. When she came down, it was a perfect landing and she was so excited. She convinced an older woman who was with them to do it as well and I sat and watched her and thought, you know what, what the hell. I grabbed 350 pesos out of my bag, marched down the beach, handed over my money, got strapped in and suddenly I was lifting off the ground and soaring. It was an amazing feeling and an incredible view of the area. As soon as you were off the ground, all of the sounds from the beach faded away and all you could hear were birds and the wind. The cove is surrounded on 3 sides by jungle mountains and everything else below you is just crystal blue water. I wish there was some way that I could have had a camera up with me, but I had handed it to Chris and told him he BETTER get this on film, LOL! When you are getting ready to take off, they give you a few instructions. First, they tell you that as soon as you start to lift off, you are supposed to sit. You are in a “seat” of sorts created by the straps on the harness. In my panic at taking off, I didn’t sit back far enough, so I felt like I was going to slip out of the straps the whole time I was up there (I found out later this is not possible), but it did inhibit my relaxation up there a bit. The other instructions had to do with landing. They said that as I was approaching the beach, I needed to listen for 2 whistles. The first meant I was supposed to pull down hard on the strap on my right side, then I would hear another whistle that meant to let go. Well, in my bliss, I did not hear the first whistle. I’m soaring around and suddenly look down and see three Mexican guys frantically making choo choo pulling signs at me (probably mumbling “stupid gringo” under their breaths). I pulled down hard on my right, glided down and managed to make a perfect landing. It was a rush knowing that I had conquered my fear and done it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I walked back down to Chris and we ended up just being lazy and playing with black lab who would bring you a water bottle and fetch it. Over and over and over. Reminded us of Spunky back home with his tennis ball.

The water taxi returned at 4:30 and again it was just us and the same couple from the morning trip.

Once back in PV, we had to head straight for the villa as I had a scheduled massage with Adalberto at 6:00. His massages are the best we have ever had. $40.00 for an hour and a half. Amazing.

When my massage was over, I found Chris napping in the room. We showered and got dressed and decided we would head to a place called Fajita Republic that Bob and Cal had told us about. We walked down the hill and found that Fajita Republic is closed on Mondays. We had the same problem last year with El Brujo. We headed down the block to a place we had passed the night before called Café de Olla. Packed with people and the food looked good, so we got a table. We ended up getting the special of the night. A platter for two with 4 lobster tails, a 12oz sirloin steak, 5 butterfly shrimp, 2 grilled potatoes, rice and veggies. Oh, and these very tasty and very strong margaritas. Everything was quite good and very filling.

Although we were a bit tired from the day, we had told Bob, Cal and Mitch that we would meet them at Garbo’s for a drink. Garbo’s is a piano bar right down by the beach and was only a 5 minute walk from where we had dinner. We walked in and ordered drinks. I had a lime drop martini and Chris had one with craberry juice in it. Wow. Strong drinks. We chatted with the guys for a bit and listened to the singers who braved the mic. After 2 drinks, we decided we really did need to get back and get to bed.
Back at the villa, we sat on the balcony and had one last drink. It is probably about 75 degrees and there is a nice breeze. We are listening to some music and checking email.

11/23/08 – Day 2

11/23/08 – Day 2

Surprisingly, I woke up at about 7:30. Chris was not awake yet and breakfast isn’t served at the Villa until 8:00, so I just dozed for the next half hour. We went down to the dining room and had bacon and eggs and fresh fruit, said goodbye to David and Grant and then I crawled back into bed for another couple of hours while Chris went to church. He got back around 11:30, we both showered and decided to head out for some lunch. We did not know what we wanted, so just started walking, knowing that we wanted to hit the beach after lunch, so that was the direction we headed.

We ended up stopping at a place we had eaten at last year called Café Tizoc. It’s a small sidewalk café right near the beach and has good food and good prices. Chris went with a cheeseburger and fries and I had the Tacos de Carne Asada. Both were very good and just the right amount to be full, but not stuffed for the beach.

It was then just a short 4 block walk to the section of the beach we like called the “green chairs”. We staked out our chairs and umbrella for the day. Chris ordered a Vodka and diet coke, I opted for a Corona. The beach was not terribly crowded, but there were still lot’s of people to watch.

It didn’t take long for the waves to call to me, so I left Chris sunning, while I headed out for a swim. The water was perfect and the waves were fairly small. I played around for about 30 minutes and then headed back up to give Chris a chance. As I looked around, I started seeing faces that I recognized from last year. Didn’t see anyone that we knew, but could tell some of the crowd was the same. When Chris got back, we got another round of drinks and just relaxed.

Needing to cool off, I headed back out to the water and started talking to a fun couple from New York, Josh and Jade. We chatted and swam for about a half hour and then Chris and I decided it was probably a good idea to get out of the sun and not overdo it on the first day.

As we started walking back, my sandals were cutting a raw spot into my ankle, so we had to stop and buy some flip flops just so I could make the trek back to the villa. I have never owned a pair of flip flops in my life, but these babys saved the day and were used every day after that. 13 bucks well spent.

When we got back to the villa, all was quiet. We jumped into the pool to cool off from the walk up the hill and then Chris grabbed his laptop and I decided to take a short nap. Our room had sliding glass doors on the balcony which we always left open. You could lay on the bed and see the ocean and feel the breeze. So, my short power nap turned into about 2 hours. When I woke up, it was very dim in the room. The sun had just set. I went over towards the bathroom to jump in the shower and BOOM!!!! Instant pain. In my grogginess and bad lighting, I had misjudged the step up into the bathroom and had slammed my toe on the step. It was a pain unlike any stubbing I had ever experienced and was so intense, I was dizzy. I sat down and waited for the pain to let up and that was when I realized it was bleeding. We think I may have fractured it. I don’t recommend it.

Since it was Sunday, Chris threw on his Colts jersey and we headed out to try and find something for dinner. We wandered down the hill and across the river to an area where we knew there are lot’s of places to eat. As we were walking, we came across a sports bar that was filled with people. The sign on the door said closed for a private party, but they had a sign saying the Colts vs. Chargers game would be on after the Grey Cup (Canadian football) ended. We kept walking and stopped a place called Margaritaville. Chris had beef enchiladas, I had a combination plate type thing severed in a huge stone bowl. It had grilled steak, and cheeses and a large spear of grilled pineapple. Chris was happy with his, mine was just ok. The margaritas were pretty good though. Would not recommend it to anyone though.

After dinner, we walked back to the sports bar to check the score. The crowd that had been there was still there, but the Colts game was now on and the doors were open. As we walked up, this girl in a hot pink wig with pom poms for boobs, grabbed me, spun me towards a camera and started screaming, “My Random! I found my random!” a picture was snapped and she kept kissing me and giggling. It turns out the group that had had the private party was a group of Canadians. They were all quite happy and a bit drunk. Their team had won. The girls name was Molly and she and I had quite a bit of fun doing tequila shots and just being silly while we watched the game. The Sport’s bar is called Steve’s and is owned by an American couple, Carla and John. It is a great place with friendly people and good drinks. After the Canadians left to continue doing a bar crawl that they do back home called a red mile (?), we noticed a Chargers fan at the other side of the bar. So, for the rest of the game, we had some good natured fun back and forth with him.

After the game, we decided to head back to the Villa and get a good nights sleep so we could get up early and catch a water taxi to Yalepa for a day trip on Tuesday. When we arrived back home, the house was very quiet. We ran into Bob and Cal (from Riverside, CA) whom we had met last year and their new friend Mitch who came with them this year. They were heading out to Garbo’s for drinks and asked us to come along, but we declined. Chris headed to the room and I found Max sitting up at one of the patio tables. He seemed to be a bit tipsy and sad. I sat down and started talking to him and he began pouring out his heart and soul to me. Max is a very interesting man with lot’s of stories to tell. We talked and listened to some of his favorite sad songs and about 2 hours later I finally was able to get away and head to bed. I think it was around 2:00 AM .

11/22/08 – Day one

We woke up at 6:30 and loaded that car and headed to the airport to catch our 8:50 flight. It was 20 degrees outside We were to leave Indy and fly to Dallas, have an hour layover and then switch planes and fly to PV. We got to the airport, checked in quickly (this year we decided to go First Class…..Much shorter lines). Chris got stopped at security, but it turns out his metal belt buckle in combination with the 5 buttons on his 501 jeans was considered too much metal, so he stripped off the belt and walked through again and no alarms went off. We boarded the plane, got settled and then the pilot came on to inform us that the underground fuel pump was not working properly and we did not have enough fuel to make it to Dallas, but, there was another pump that they would hook the hose up to and we should be on our way shortly. Everyone on the plane watched as they switched the hose from one hole in the ground to another and shortly thereafter, the pilot came on and said that this pump was not working either. He assured us that he had called an old fashion fuel truck and that we should be off the ground shortly. The fuel truck finally showed up and within minutes, we were full and pulling away from the gate…….30 minutes late. The pilot came on and said we should be able to make up the time in the air. We took off, had some breakfast, had a nice quiet flight to Dallas. Then we landed and realized that we had very little time to get to our connecting flight. Actually we had about 12 minutes and we needed to catch a train and switch terminals. We hauled it to the other gate and made it with just minutes to spare. We asked the attendant at the gate if our luggage would make it and she assured us that if we were there, it was already there. We got our seats, sat back and in just a little over 2 hours, were touching down in Puerto Vallarta. It was 89 degrees and sunny :)

When you land in PV, you get off the plane outside and walk into the building to go through immigration and customs. Last year it was a pretty quick experience. This year, not so much. There were hoardes of people in the lines and it took us a good 45 minutes to get through the immigration line. You then head to Customs to play bag search roulette. They scan your carry on bags and then you have to walk up and press this button. If the light turns red, they take you over and hand search your bags. If it turns green, you walk on through. Both of us got green. So off we went on this loooooong walk to get our luggage. When we got to the baggage claim for our flight, all of the bags had been lined up on the floor (remember this is an hour after we had landed, so other flights had come in and needed the carousel). We did not see our bags, so went up the guy at the podium and he checked some sheet and sure enough, our bags had not made the connection. They said they would be in on one of the 2 later flights and that they would deliver them to the Villa as soon as they arrived. We gave him our info and he gave us a copy of the form he filled out and headed out to get a taxi. It is a very uncomfortable feeling leaving the airport in a foreign country with only the clothes on your back, not knowing if or when you will see your clothes again. I had packed a pair of shorts in my carry-on and had changed on the plane, but Chris was in jeans and a t-shirt and sweatshirt.

We grabbed a taxi, got to the Villa and rang the bell. As soon as the door opened, we saw David (from Seattle), a nice guy that we had met last year, sitting by the pool with 3 other guys. We got our room keys, went up and dropped our bags on the bed and headed down to join them. The other guys were David and Grant (from Milwaukee) and Max (from Glasgow, Scotland, but now living in London) We spent the next couple of hours just sitting by the pool, drinking Coronas and catching up with David and getting to know the other guys.

As it was approaching 6:00 PM, we pulled out the form that the guy at the airport had given us to see if we could find a phone number to call and check on our luggage. Our hearts suddenly sank as we realized that the guy had written down the wrong number for the address. Chris quickly grabbed his laptop and logged on to the American Airlines site to see if he could find a number to call. It was at that same moment that the doorbell of the Villa rang and lo and behold, there was the guy with our luggage. RELIEF!!!

We ran up and unpacked, showered and changed and walked down to the grocery store to buy some Vodka, sodas and snacks for the room. We got back, dropped off our stuff and decided to head out for some dinner. As we were getting ready to leave, David (Seattle) asked us if we would like to join him. It was his last night there and we thought it would be perfect to spend some time with him. We headed down the hill a block or so to one of his favorite restaurants, Chez Elena. There was no one else there, so we got great personalized service. We were seated on the balcony and could look out at the ocean while we ate. Chris had a bowl of Cheese and beer soup to start with and then pork in a sweet onion and red anchiote chile sauce as his entrée. I had the Mexican plate with a chile relleno, a chicken enchilada with mole sauce and the very tender chunks of beef. David had a seafood alfredo pasta. All of it was very good. For dessert, Chris had the Flan and David had this flaming Mexican coffee with 4 different liquors and a scoop of vanilla ice cream in it. I just sampled both of theirs. YUM!
After dinner, we headed back to the Villa and just relaxed by the pool. David (seattle) had to go up and pack and get to bed, so we sat and got to know David and Grant who were also leaving the next morning, and Max who was there until Friday. I think we finally got to bed at about 2:00 AM. A great first night!

Our Purto Vallarta adventure 2008

Just a quick catch up for those that don’t know. Last year, Chris and I decided to go away for Thanksgiving. We had very few rules. Must be warm, must have great beaches and warm ocean waters, and be inexpensive. We searched and searched and finally landed on Puertro Vallarta, Mexico. We did a lot of research regarding where to stay and could not find a hotel that we liked based on reviews. But, with more searching (thank god for the internet) we found Villa David. A 10 room, men only, private Villa in the hills of old PV. As soon as we got home from last years trip, we started planning this years, and by January we had booked our flights and reserved our rooms. Many of you saw the photos of last years trip, but this year, we tried something different. We took a few pics each day, but for the first time ever, I kept a journal everyday of our activities. Now, this isn't EVERYTHING, but it will give you the highlights of each day. That is what you will see, along with a few pics from each day. So sit back, relax, and come along on our vacation to beautiful Puerto Vallarta.

After a late night of packing, we finally got settled and fell asleep dreaming of the beaches in Puerto Vallarta.