PUERTO VALLARTA...part 1

After an evening of laundry, resorting our suitcases, and tucking some warm layers at the front of the storage unit, we made our way to the airport to head to Mexico. Sean had found our condo online through Home Away, so we had somewhere to land for one month, and if we liked it after seeing it, we could reserve it for the following month.

I had purchased a Fodor's Puerto Vallarta 2010 Guide to read on the plane and prior to arrival. It warned about all the shyster cabbies and difficulty in not getting reamed on your way into town. True to form, it was an epic deal getting a cab to take us to our condo for the posted rate, but we did get there. It was the principal of the thing. The condo immediately won points for it's beautiful grounds and POOL. Our apartment had tile floors, fresh flowers set out, and an amazing balcony. OK! Sean immediately set about figuring out the wireless, and we settled in.




Sidebar: I'm writing this two months after our arrival, and the day before our departure.

Sean, as it turns out, was all het up about the internet connection because he had secret plans. While I was in Michigan, Sean had bumped into Kyriell at the It's Tops diner in San Francisco. It turns out Kyriell & Eric were going to be on vacation while we were there. So Sean gets all mysterious with the 'get dressed, we're going out' bit, and I think he's done something romantic or made reservations for us to eat somewhere, but no. No it was BETTER. We got a cab to Hotel Mercurio, walk inside, and Sean asks if they have a bar. There are some obvious places my mind has gone at this point. However, as we walk through the lobby and into the courtyard pool/bar area, Sean, with much glee, says "hey, that looks a lot like Kyriell!" And of course it was. JOY! We had some cocktails and headed out for dinner. SO GOOD to see them both, somewhere warm and stormy and odd. We went to the beach together, and Kyriell, Erik & I had a wonderful bus expedition to the Botanical Gardens, and the four of us went to Yelapa (complete with donkey rides w/Erik and a gigantor storm on the ride home), and all in all it was a spectacular start to our southern, sweat filled sojourn. We even had them over for cocktails at our pad before they left town.




Next up was my dilemma as a wife with a husband about to turn 40 in a town with no friends. Solution?? "Hey...let's learn how to SCUBA dive so we can spend your birthday under water!" And so we did. We walked down to Banderas Scuba Republic, met Cesar, and got ourselves properly signed up for our Open Water Diver Certifications. Our instructor, Marc Pearsey, was hilarious, solid, safe, and very very patient. We did our pool session and our online courses, and then we were off for our two days of open water diving!! Getting certified was less hard and much more fun than I think either of us anticipated. It was a good reminder about how barriers are larger in your mind than in reality.


For Sean's actual birthday, Marc, Captain Carlos, and Dutch Eddie and the two of us went to Chimo for some spectacular diving. Once we were home from the deep we cleaned up and went out to Cafe Olla for some delicious food and well-earned margaritas!