Puerto Vallarta Vacation

Two very dear friends gave us a week of their time-share to vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We landed in Jalisco Airport to encounter some of the most stifling heat we have ever experienced in our lives. We were about a month early for the “tourist season” where the humidity drops and the temperatures are lower. This was the first time I was ever warned to “not walk under the wing" and "be careful for the turbines" when disembarking from a plane.


The placed where we stayed was called Villa Del Palmar and was a wonderful all-inclusive resort. There were three pools to choose from, two restaurants and several shops to buy things you needed for your stay.



These are views of the inside of our place. We had our own kitchen, dinning/living room and bedroom. They brought out a nice crib for Grace to sleep in. By the way, we did drink the water! The resort had a full purification system that supplies the entire facility. I was skeptical at first but not once did we have to take Imodium AD! Of course we only gave Grace bottled water. The last thing I wanted to find was a pediatrician in Mexico!




Did I mention the crib they brought in for Grace was huge?


These next two pictures are actual views out of our balcony to the ocean. One is taken from the balcony in our room, the other is from the front balcony where we enter the place. Unlike our Hawaii trip, the balcony actually opened and we could look out. Of course it was 95 degrees out with 100% humidity so we stayed in the cool air conditioning when not outside.



This is a famous location down the coast from Puerto Vallarta called Los Arcos which you may surmise means "The Arches." It was spectacular to see. We didn't rent a boat to take a close look but as you can see some people did.


The high chairs in Mexico were hilarious. This was just one example but it was generally stable and usable. One we had was so ghetto that we decided to just keep Grace in her stroller. Somehow I doubt they worry about being sued for a faulty high chair. My favorite high chair had a plastic tray screwed on to two pieces of wood.


We thought this was a good opportunity to teach Grace water safety. Every time she would stick her hand out we would say, "Don't pet the crocodile." I was glad we had this teaching opportunity because you never know when it will come in handy.


Don't ask me. But for some reason there was a giant chicken or rooster in front of this shopping center. I can't figure out the theme. If you have any guesses please let me know.


It's amazing the things you find in other countries. Here Jenn is posing with the original cheesehead. Being from Wisconsin myself it made my heart warm to know tha they have Packer fans way down here.


This was one of many beautiful seaside restaurants that we visited while in Puerto Vallarta. This was a bit of a drive but once again well worth the trek. Of course we also got suckered into buying several trinkets from merchants along the beach. Drat!


We took a two hour drive to visit San Sebastian del Oeste in the interior of Mexico. This is an old mining town that at one time had 10,000 people living in it but now has aproximately 600 full time residents. There are tour busses that trek up here occasionally. This was the one place that my two years of Spanish came in handy!



On our way back from San Sebastian we were stopped for a few hours by road construction. Unlike the US where they will worry about making a detour or some other provision, they just blocked the entire dirt road for several hours while they worked. If things had gone badly were would have been staying in San Sabastian for the night. Anyway, there was this guy there dressed in white boots and a West Coast Chopper shirt. He was like a Mexican Bono with a West Coast flair. It took me about 20 minutes to take his picture (without his knowledge) while everyone in the car just sat there laughing at me. Well, I got my picture!




This was along the boardwalk one of the days we traveled down to tourist area of the town. If it wasn't for the oppressive heat and unrelenting humidity it would have been a perfect day. Of course that's like saying if it wasn't for the bullets the Normandy Invasion would have been a beautiful walk on the beach.


This was one of the many, many restaurants our friends recommended. It is called PiPi's Comida Mexicana (which is Spanish for PiPi's Mexican Food). They make the Guacamole right atthe table. Once again the food was wonderful. I keep wondering why my clothes don't fit anymore but that is a discussion for another blog.


Don't worry, this is not a picture of Grace being attacked by a killer whale it is just her playing in the water with her Dad. I think this is actually the first time she has gone into the "deep" water!


This is one of those fun shots with Jenn and Grace. What is actually amazing is that I got into so many pictures. Some of our trips I am going to have to convince Grace that I was actually there because I am always behind the camera.


I saved the best for last. You may not be able to tell from the picture but we are actually on a mountaintop restaurant overlooking the entire bay. Of all the restaurants we visited this one had the most spectacular view! Of course we took the time to make the most of it!

Most used spanish sentence: Hablo espanol muy poquito.

(To save any pictures to your computer just click on the picture. When an enlarge picture comes us, use your right click button on your mouse and click on "save as." Pick the folder you want to save it in and then click on "save." If the picture is not saved by doing this don't worry, it is probably under heavy conviction.)

Next Blog: Loosing all the weight I gained on two trips!