PV - Tuesday, 5 Mar 2013

We've had a busy couple of days and still trying to jam in a few of those things we thought we had 'all the time in the world' to do.

The world famous 'ChocoBanana'. Watch for these at the pool deck on Rainbow Crescent!

Fernando Banos, nom de plume for Mathis Lidice, artist, Prof. of Philosphy, author, etc. and creator of the Millennium sculpture.

Maureen, Peter and us on a hill overlooking the beach at Puta de Mita

Rock balancers doing their thing on the PV beach. Amazing to watch!
 

We met a nice couple from Manotick the first week we were here...Peter and Maureen Kolassa. We invited them to go back to Sayulita with us on Sunday and Peter arranged for a van and driver who took us along the scenic route through Punta De Mita and wait while we idled the afternoon away on the beach.  The waves were high and the surfers were out in force. There's a surf competition this coming weekend so perhaps they are practising...whatever the reason there was some dramatic action along the top of the waves. There are so many surfers out on the water that missing one another is a feat in itself. It seems as though if one surfer, who is just paddling, sees another coming full tilt for them on a wave, the first surfers flips his board on top of himself so the other slides over or hits his board, vice himself. I could watch them for hours and we've decided we'll go back for one full day tomorrow by ourselves and try to get our final fill of the place. There is lots of sea glass that has washed ashore; I've seen bits and pieces in South Padre Island but have picked up quite a lot in Sayulita.

This morning we took advantage of a free tour downtown which concentrates on the history and stories behind the many beautiful bronze sculptures on the Mallecon (sea walkway). It was a free tour given by one of the many gallery owners in Puerto Vallarta and donations are collected for the local library. The library operates on a pittance $350 in government funding but has about $100,000 in programs for the community so there are many volunteers and fund raising to keep it going. This sculpture tour was amazing and it started with an interesting explanation of the Millenium Sculpture by the artist. As we stopped at one sculpture, the mother and baby whale swam by so we got a special show from them. After the tour we headed for Freddy Toucan's for our last mega breakfast before we leave for Chicago on Saturday and then home on Sunday.

We are going to try and take as early a bus as we can to Sayulita tomorrow. I'm looking forward to doing a bit of wandering down the more deserted beach and taking some photos. I'm not sure if we'll be back  in Puerto Vallarta next year but the weather in Florida may change our minds. The weather everywhere (except here) is so darn unpredictable...Dallas, TX is getting 20 inches of snow... I would like to go to Southern California and spend some time exploring there, but we'll see what happens.

Hope all is well at home and everyone is coping with the endless snow. Other than seeing my babies, I'm not looking forward to seeing anything 'white'. Take care and hugs to all. xx

PV - Saturday, 2 Mar 2013

The riders start at the back wall and must come full speed before 'braking' the horse at the line.

Their roping skills and tricks are incredible whether they are standing or sitting on a horse. 

When one of the Charros exceeds at an event, the crowd tosses hats, shoes, or underwear into the ring. This cutie got some lace undies.

A Charro in training.
 

Today's trip was to the National Charro...or Mexican Rodeo....where various ranches throughout the area compete in different events. We'd been a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It's a real Mexican cultural event with music, tequila, cowboys, tequila, food, tequila, and oh yes, lots of tequila!

We always seem to luck in and get to sit beside a Mexican who speaks perfect English and gives us a guided tour of the event. We went early (11 am) and by 6 pm we were ready to come home but it goes on quite late and there were lots of families arriving as we left. It was a great day and just one more of the many, many things we love about this part of the world.

We managed to Skype with Tim and Kim and got caught up on the news about Ty breaking his arm. They said he was such a brave boy throughout it all and I think he's enjoying the attention he's getting with his cast. I laughed so hard when Kim said Tori had had a tough day at pre-school. When the teacher asked Tori to tell Kim why she'd had trouble with her listening skills that day, Tori said, "because...because...because...because...my shirt was too tight!"

This is our last week so we are going down the list of those things we still want to do. We won't get it all done but I suspect we'll have a busy week with at least one day of  pool time. It's been an amazing 9 weeks!

Until next time, love and hugs to all. xx