Mar 23, 2013 - Three days at sea

March 21, 2013 The first of 3 days at sea Today’s choice of walking music is the Eagles “Long Road out of Eden” album. I decided to walk clockwise today, against the traffic. I was tired of navigating around the strollers that take up the entire deck oblivious to others that want to walk faster. I’m in one of my moods today. On the fantail there are 24 inch convex mirrors in the corners with which you can see and avoid anyone coming the other way as you round the corner. I don’t think most people know that the mirrors are there; they don’t...

Mar 23, 2013 - Friends, Food, and Fun

We LOVE Puerto Vallarta! After purchasing a time share there over 24 years ago as a forced vacation plan - way back then we were both working full time and rearing two young children and getting away took a lot of effort - we decided if we had the time share, we would take the time to have a family vacation at least once a year. What a wonderful experience that was for our kids back then! We have made great use of our time share credits over the years. We've been to Ixtapa, Mazatlan, Cancun, Cabo, Scottsdale, Orlando, San Diego, Newport,...

Mar 22, 2013 - Sunsets, Sunsets, Sunsets

We LOVE Puerto Vallarta! After purchasing a time share there over 24 years ago as a forced vacation plan - way back then we were both working full time and rearing two young children and getting away took a lot of effort - we decided if we had the time share, we would take the time to have a family vacation at least once a year. What a wonderful experience that was for our kids back then! We have made great use of our time share credits over the years. We've been to Ixtapa, Mazatlan, Cancun, Cabo, Scottsdale, Orlando, San Diego, Newport,...

Mar 18, 2013 - The Colorful Flora at Los Tules

I cannot name most of the flowers that grow in the twenty acres that Los Tules encompasses but I certainly enjoyed seeing them every day during my morning walks. The resort was once a coconut palm plantation so palms are very plentiful but so are so many varieties of tropical plants and flowers; I know easy ones like birds of paradise and bougainvillea, but...if anyone wants to tell me the names of any of the rest, just email me with # of photo and its name - I am not even going to try, just will post some photos of flowers and greenery I...

Mar 16, 2013 - March 16

I know this blog is a little late but, since it is the last blog for this trip, I'm forgiven. The week started out great. Saturday morning we went out to breakfast with Roy and Carol at a little restaurant down by the river. What a great place. Great breakfast and very reasonable. After breakfast we went over to the other side of the river and caught a bus to Buenos Aires, a small village beside he river on the way to Paso Ancho. The village consists of seven streets. Five up and down the hills and two across. Lots of children and a real...

Mar 14, 2013 - Fun Swinging Through the Canopy

There are several locations to zip line in the Puerto Vallarta area. This time we returned to a place we have enjoyed ever since we have been going to the area. El Eden is where the movie The Predator was filmed. When we first went there in 1989, it was very rustic and difficult to get up - up, up, up a twisty gravel mountain road. At that time there was no electricity up at the little restaurant, the food was barely passable, and the restrooms were extremely poor, but the visual amenities were well worth the trouble getting to the site!...

Mar 12, 2013 - Whale Watching and some Dolphins too

Every year, the most acrobatic of all whales, the Humpback, visits the Bay of Banderas in order to reproduce and give birth. Its arrival begins around mid to late October and extends to around end of March. During that time, some female whales give birth while others reproduce before returning to their feeding grounds in the north. One important trait of the Humpback whale is that each individual has a unique color pattern on the underside of its tail, more correctly called a fluke, which displays designs in varying tones of white, grey and...

Mar 9, 2013 - March 9

Today is going to be a busy day. We are going out to breakfast, then to a little town down the Cuale River to take some pictures, then to El Rio for a benefit concert for underprivileged children. So, this may take me two days to write. Saturday we took in the local market again then went for a long walk. Sunday was a beach day and then another long walk. Monday we had to pick up some fruit and veggies then took a walk down the Malecon and stopped at that famous international restaurant, McDonald's, for lunch. Actually, we had to go to the...

Mar 1, 2013 - March 2

It's hard to believe that it is the first of March already. This past week was very quiet. We started out last Saturday going to the local market then went up to the community center and checked out the market there. We decided we're heading back to Canada on March 18th so we really don't need anything at the market but it is still fun to wander around and look. Sunday started out nice and sunny so we headed down to the beach. We had planned on going whale watching but we couldn't find anyone else who wanted to go so, we decided to take a...

Feb 23, 2013 - February 23

So, here we are again. The month of February is drawing to a close and spring is coming to the eastern portion of the Fraser Valley. We sure hope so anyway because in a month, we'll be home and golfing. Now, to the past week. Saturday we woke up to find we had no water. Down to the hotel to let them know of our plight and get washed up. Went for a walk to see if I could find a Mexican flag. We got up to the sports field and stopped at an outdoor book sale. Thousands of books but only about a dozen or so in English. Didn't buy any. Continued...

Feb 22, 2013 - The Los Ayala Enquirer

The Los Ayala Enquirer (Inquiring Minds Should Know Better) Todo Nuevo Para 2013! Enquirer Editor Rests On Laurels- Following a year of numerous awards for journalistic excellence, your Los Ayala Enquirer editor (Juannie O’Norton) has taken some well deserved time off. Long time readers have raised a seeming cacophony of outrage insisting on more of “All The News That Fits”. However, O’Norton has resisted the abject begging stating, “this kind of quality doesn’t just fall off the palm trees you know”. During the sabbatical, O”Norton has...

Feb 15, 2013 - February 16

I was going to play some on-line poker but realized if I did that I must do my duty to my adoring public and put out my blog. Last Saturday started off with us going to the local farmers market in the morning then headed down the malecon to Chico's Dive Shop to pick up the local paper. On the way there, we go sidetracked and ended up at shopping plaza in Pitillal. Nell wanted to pick up some yarn that it turned out they didn't have. Sunday started out cloudy so we decided to go back down the malecon and pick up the paper we didn't get on...