Puerto Vallarta 2007

I just came back from four days in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. As is typical for me this year, I had major problems getting out of Dallas on Tuesday. First there was weather (storm rolling in). Then there was a mechanical (something about a map light or the airplane equivalent and the lack of a copilot. The mechanical was solved before a backup copilot could be found. Finally everything was ready and we were off for the evening (and a late arrival of after midnight). One half-hour in the air, the captain said that we were going to have to turn around and head back to Dallas as the Puerto Vallerto airport was having some maintenance work done that they hadn't known about when they took off.

Oh brother....! Keep in mind that I had to totally cancel a ski trip a month ago because my outbound flights were cancelled because of extraordinarily high winds in Dallas. I never did get out for that trip.

Long story short - they put us up very close to the airport for a morning departure (I opted to stay at the hotel to avoid the drive to/from my house) and I had to live without a toothbrush and toothpaste.

Mexico, however was wonderful! We had beautiful weather and the Westin (Regina Club) where my friend Susan does her time-share contracting through is just really wonderful and top class the whole way. In a very pleasant surprise, I was at our pergola outside on the beach in trunks within 50 minutes of landing.

I made a photo album of the trip here: Puerto Vallarta 2007

This vacation included my good and long-time friend Susan, our mutual friend Jill (Susan's college sorority sister), Susan's sister Julie and Julie's family (husband Mark and girls Lauren, 16 and Catherine, 10). I've had the pleasure of knowing them well throughout the years and can remember the girls when they were in diapers.

We had a great time! Highlights included the pergola on the beach every day (see pictures), the beach pina colada's (I'm not even a huge pina colada fan but these were really good), the fish taco's at Victor's, the walks to the Marina, the great company, the weather, the resort, the trips to the heart of the old city, and the very small amount of shopping that we did.

Also great fun was making fun of the banana-boat riders as they regularly rode in front of us (four stages - stage 1: great fun!; stage 2: act like it's still fun so others will think I'm a good sport; stage 3: Why isn't this holy hell done yet?; stage 4: aaaaaaahhh, OVERBOARD!), watching Mark and the girls negotiate and cooperate on a sand castle, dodging volleyballs from the throng of really poor players on the court in front of us (Sachi - you spoiled me!), and entertaining each other by sharing our iPod favorites! (my favorites were Lauren's "Shoes" and "Let Me Borrow That Top" by Kelly. Oh - Jill just reminded me of the cookie parties too!

What surprised me? Well - the margarita's are better in Dallas. Even though I attempted to order the "top shelf" and even though they were "super-sized" (kind of a gimmick - give me a smaller one and more of them) they were not very good at all. Victor tried by giving us multiple complimentary shots of slightly watered-down tequila, but give me Mi Cocina any day!

Another surprise - the best food we had there was a Mediterranean restaurant called Trio. Good job of finding it Susan! From a Mexican food perspective, the "touristy" place was inferior to the smaller, more homey and better priced alternative.

I had some type of mishap on my first day where the middle of my chest got a bit burned compared to the rest of me. I was very good about using sun protection and it was a very strange pattern. Somebody conjectured that perhaps after going for a swim, I accidentally toweled off my front and with it took off some of the waterproof protection.

Viva Mexico!