The night before we left for Mexico, Valerie and I had gone to the Great American Beer Festival in downtown Denver. Needless to say, getting out of bed and getting everything together for our trip was no easy task. What made things worse was that amidst the confusion of the night before, some of our stuff was left in my friend Jason's car so I had to drive up to Evergreen and back, all before 11:00am, and pack just to get out in time. We went to 3 Margarittas for a couple quick drinks and headed to the airport. It was a pretty flight and we got to see a nice sunset and a cool thunderstorm from the plane.
Checking Out the Resort
When we arrived in Mexico, we took a quick trip to the rental car place to pick up the Jeep and then it was off to check out the Resort. We stayed at Valerie's Mom's Timeshare called Canto Del Sol. It was much more than I imagined. Not only were there no roaches in the kitchen or the bathrooms, but there were no roaches in our bed as well. The Resort was shaped like a U with a pool and resterant in the center. Also, the balcony of our rooms looked right over the ocean. It was a perfect place to sit and see the beautiful sunsets and all of the town of Puerto Vallarta.
Carlos O'Brian's in Town
After briefly getting settled in we drove into town and went out to get a few drinks at a resterant called Carlos O'Brian's. Now, Carlos O'Brian's is not one of those backwoods, rustic, authentic Mexican outfits that you would expect. Carlos O'Brian's is more like the Red Robin of Mexico. I'm under the impression that these things are a chain and can be found all over the place. And with the prices here too, you would think you were in a Red Robin. Beers were about $5 a piece, as opposed to the 50 cents you can pick up one for about a block away at the nearest liquor store. They had a lady that ran around with a whistle and a shmirnoff drink that she would poor into your mouth while she blew her whistle, then charge you $5 for every shot. Amazing. It was fun to check out, but not my favorite part of the trip.
Day 2 - Waking up and taking it all in
The next day when we woke up was the first time I had seen Puerto Vallarta in the sunshine. It was simply beautiful. The resort we were staying at seemed even more open and inviting. We decided to take our first day out and just relax. We spent most of the day getting settled in and hanging out at the pool. They had a swim up bar and we had purchased an all inclusive package of food and drinks so we were able to just sit back and enjoy ourselves.
Poolside Blackjack
Here I am later that day playing a little bit of my favorite game blackjack by the pool. They also had vollyball and basketball in the pool as well which was a lot of fun.
Watching the Sunsets
As it would turn out watching the sun set in Mexico was something we got to do pretty much every night. It was really relaxing. There were usually a good amount of clouds in the sky, and that made the sunsets all that much more full of color. From our balcony we would get the best views and be able to just sit out there and enjoy listening to the ocean waves hit the beach.
Day 3 - Heading out into the Jungle
Our third day in Mexico was a fun one for me. We all headed up into the jungle areas surrounding Puerto Vallarta and checked out the sights. We were heading up to a local resterant area called Chico's Paradise, but wound up driving right past it. So we got to see parts of Mexico that were a bit off the beaten path. Nothing too spectacular but the scenery was awsome.
Chico's Paradise
We made it to Chico's Paradise just in time for lunch. The rumor around town was that the tequilla they used up in Chico's Paradise had something in it called Mescal which adds dramatically to the potency of the liquor. The rumors were correct. Being from a high altitude, we had dropped down to sea level on our vacation. I can do a good job of holding my liquor in Colorado and a spectacular job at sea level, but I had two margarittas from this place and was off the wall. On the drive back I was flying like superman on top of the jeep and then puking my guts out 15 minutes later. All from two margarittas... Amazing stuff.
Day 4 - Shopping in the Market
The next day, after spending most of the rest of day 3 in bed next to a trash can, we headed into town to do a little local shopping. I think I figured out how things get sold in Mexico. A local shop owner will buy an item, for let's say $2. He'll then proceed to charge $10 for it, and when you bargain him down to $5, you feel like you have made a good deal. Unfortunately, it seems, in most cases you could not be further from the truth. We picked up necklaces, bracelets, bottle openners, shot glasses and much more.
Riverside Cafe
After a hard day of shopping we headed over to Riverside Cafe for a couple of beers and some chips and salsa. I think they have the best chips and salsa in Mexico, which should go without saying since they basically came up with the whole idea. Shopping earlier in the day, I had gone crazy from the heat. I was asking to buy something in childs size, but instead of asking for "el tamano del nino" (child's size) I asked for "el tamano del bano" (bathroom size). The store employee looked at me funny and asked me to repeat, so I did. I think he must have thought I was crazy. So, it was nice to finally get out of the heat and have a couple drinks before heading home for the evening.
An Evening of Relaxing
Once again it was sunset city at the condo. We hung out a watched the sun go down, then headed down and walked the beach a little bit. Karen and Brian wound up making us all some dip made out of cheese and sausage that is a local favorite. Later that night, or actually early the next morning at about 3:30am, Valerie and I sat out on the balcony and listened to a storm coming in. It sounded pretty with the waves crashing against the shore and the lightining was beautiful.
Day 5 - The Booze Cruise
Enough of the relaxing! Day 5 presented us with the fun and exciting "Booze Cruise". Basically it's a $30 all day cruise up and down the coast, with snokelling, lunch and horseback riding all with an open bar. We headed out at about 10:00am and got back about 6:00pm. The biggest challenge we encountered on this voyage was getting them to pour the drinks fast enough. Others however did not have the same problem and became quickly intoxicated, to which they proceeded to make asses out of themselves.
Snorkling
About 1/3 of the way through the cruise comes the snokeling. They give you the worlds most crude looking snorkel and mask with no fins. This exciting event lead us through murky waters to a rocky area where schools of fish were. I managed to dive down and see a few, but Valerie didn't get to see any. And to top it off, in some sick turn of events the boat staff waited until we were 50-60 yards from the boat before feeding some fish right by the boat. Still it was fun to get out and snorkely again, since I hadn't done it for many many years.
Day 6 - Checking out Downtown Puerto Vallarta
In the early afternoon, Valerie and I took a cab into town. This turned out to be one of the cheapest nights we were there, but probably also my favorite. We just kicked off our shoes and walked the beach together, and then walked around town together. Valerie and I do a really good job of just hanging out and enjoying each other's company and it was a wonderful chance to get away from all the go go go we had been doing and just relax a little.
The Streets at Night
After having dinner, we came back out and walked around at dusk. The streets of Puerto Vallarta and particularly beautiful around this time of the evening and I took a bunch of pictures. We went into a local liquor store and grabbed a couple of beers for $1.30 and kept going. One of the neatest things about Mexico is it's open bottle policy, which is similar to Vegas. Drinking while you walk on the public streets still feels like you're somehow breaking the law, even though you're not. We checked out another liquor store for prices on Alcohol. Tequilla was of course cheap, while most other bottles were at or more than the price you would pay in America, and the Mexicans don't have liquor taxes either. The big suprise was Kahlua, which was going for about $9 a bottle. Pretty outstanding prices.
Day 7 - Getting Ready to Para-sail
Day 7 was our last real day to do anything. We'd been trying to get a lot in but there was still a lot more we wanted to do. We decided that we would go for some para-sailing and then try to do another cruise at night. One thing that I really like about Mexico is the absence of liability lawsuits. This allowed for me to perform my para-sail with my video camera. I doubt they would let you do that without signing 500 waivers and presenting them with 4 forms of ID. I swear some of the stuff we have to go through in America is rediculous.
Para-sailing
Here is a shot of Valerie, right before she came in for a landing. I went, she went and Brian went as well, but Karen sat it out due to a bad knee. It was a lot of fun, they would bring you all the way up and down the coastline and it was neat to look into the water and see all the buildings and the marina from the top down. The whole experience was suprisingly un-scary. Takoff and landings were just about as scary and standing up and sitting down, and while you were so high in the sky that one false move would send you to your doom, you never felt like it. It must be what flying feels like to birds.
Pirate Cruise
Later that night we did a "pirate cruise". When I think of pirates I think of social recluces, nasty individuals, people willing to throw you over the side of the boat just for looking at them the wrong way. What we got instead was a bunch of well shaven young men in their mid-late twenties who looked like Eminem and danced like Michael Jackson. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting but it was pretty entertaining and they had an open bar which really helped out a lot. We had dinner on board then a fireworks show and headed back to port.
Day 8 - Heading Home
All good things must come to an end and on Day 8 we headed home. We got up, packed the rest of our stuff, had some breakfast and took a cab to the airport. The flight home was nice because it was the first bit of real air conditioning we had experienced all week. We all had a good time and are looking forward to making it back as soon as we can.
