We left late Saturday night/early Sunday morning and caught a redeye out of Anchorage to Seattle to start off our journey. We had to board Remy while we were gone which really pulled at my heartstrings, but she did just fine. From Seattle, we unexpectedly ended up having a short trip to San Francisco that was not originally on our itinerary. We just went with it and crossed our fingers we'd end up where we wanted to! From San Francisco we went directly to Puerto Vallarta and that was a looong flight. Garrett bought little inflatable headrests for us because we realized we should probably try to sleep as much as possible to avoid wasting any trip days on catching up. We both slept off and on and landed in Mexico without any issues at about 4pm. Puerto Vallarta is 3 hours ahead of Alaska so that was a little weird to get used to! Our transportation to the resort was all taken care of so we easily slipped into a cab and were shuttled right to our final destination. We were informed that our hotel was not actually in Puerto Vallarta but in Nuevo Vallarta, a town about 20 miles north of the city.
After checking in at the hotel and being greeted with fresh mango cocktails of some sort, we called our friends' room (Joey and Ashley) to let them know we had arrived and then had the greatest reunion! It was so good to see them after almost a year of only texts and phone calls. They gave us a tour of the massive resort since they got there a day earlier and had the lay of the land. We then hung out in the sunshine and caught up before heading to one of the four restaurants for our dinner reservation they set up. We stayed up late playing gin rummy and having some tropical (free!) drinks while enjoying our first night in Mexico!
Tuesday
Tuesday was our day out on the town. We caught a bus into Puerto Vallarta from the resort, then another bus into the heart of the city so we could go to the markets. The town was so beautiful! Every building was a different color and so much attention was paid to the tiniest of details. Wrought iron verandas with flowers spilling out of their baskets, every window painted with an intricate border and streets made of smoothed rocks layered with concrete. The sun made the colors pop out at you around every corner and the slightest breeze made our wandering a little less grueling. We found the markets and weaved through the carts and displays of traditional Mexican souvenirs in every color - ceramic hand-painted lizards, Day of the Dead clay pocket-sized sculptures, cigars of every size, thick woven hooded sweatshirts, and more handmade string bracelets than you could imagine. Ashley and Joey found a few things that caught their eyes and Garrett managed to find himself a bullwhip (to complete his Indiana Jones outfit, presumably) while I searched for something to memorialize our trip in one simple object. We were almost through the market when I saw a display of these little paintings mainly consisting of the intricate doors and windowsills of the buildings we'd been passing by all morning, but each painting had a tiny black cat perching somewhere in the simple scene. I immediately thought of the cat that had provided us with entertainment at dinner the night before and decided it was the perfect thing to bring home! I picked out my favorite one but, since I knew we'd still be walking around for a while and didn't want to be responsible for it all day, said I'd come back for it before we caught the bus home. We had lunch at Burro's restaurant right on the beach and watched people play in the waves and parasail over the water. Other than the frequency of being bothered to "take a look" at all of the "almost free" souvenirs being sold by the local beach vendors, the meal was perfectly pleasant and delicious. We wandered around the city center a bit more until we needed refuge from the heat and found the Las Muertos brewery. Joey and Garrett enjoyed a cold brew while Ashley and I attempted to beat the world record of rehydrating ourselves - too much sweating! We were pooped and mutually decided to hit the market for my painting then find a bus back home. We went right back to where the display had been set up and it was gone! I was pretty devastated. I really had my heart set on the tiny souvenir and thought I'd blew my chance. But everyone said we could come back another day to find the woman again so my hopes were reinstated! We rode the one bus back to the outskirts of town and stopped into the Walmart for some water and foreign candy to bring back to the resort. As much as I hate going to Walmart, I was extremely appreciative of it's air conditioning and cheap bottled water! We all passed out on the longer bus ride back to the resort and spent the rest of the evening lounging around, drinking and playing cards. There was live music every night and the hotel lobby had two walls completely open to outside, so you could sit inside in cushy chairs with table side service but still feel like you were enjoying the Mexican evenings outside. It was perfect.
Wednesday
Another down day at the resort. We spent a fair amount of time on the boogie boards and after we grew tired of salty water up our noses and sand in foreign places, we headed to the pool and swim-up bar. They had activities going on throughout the afternoon and Joey actually participated in one! It was some quality entertainment that I'm sure none of us will soon forget! We chatted up people from the UK and other parts of the US, found a shady part of the pool, and drank margaritas out of freshly cut coconuts from palm trees right next to the pool! We all tried the coconut water thinking it would be the best tasting, most refreshing natural beverage ever but were quickly disappointed. I honestly don't know what the craze is with that stuff - it's not very yummy! We had another dinner reservation at the fanciest restaurant at the resort so headed back to our rooms to freshen up and rid ourselves of sand. Dinner was pretty good but we were all so tired from spending so much time in the sun that it was a challenge to make it through the four courses! All we wanted was water and some good ice cream! We spent that night doing our traditional activity - cards in the lobby, live music, beach breeze, and some smuggled candy!
Thursday
Our "adventure" day! We got up super early to get a taxi to the Vallarta Vacations office just outside of Nuevo Vallarta. We had a quick breakfast of fruit, pastries, coffee and lots of water before boarding the giant catamaran headed to Las Marietas islands. Ashley knew she might get seasick so she took some dramamine before the hour and a half long trip through the bay. I love love love being on the water so I stood up, looking out at the beautiful scenery the whole time and really enjoyed the ride. Garrett and I saw probably a billion tiny jellyfish! The geography of Puerto Vallarta is breathtaking with all the greenery and the mountains that cup the whole coast. I loved feeling the sun on my skin and the misty spray from the boat as we grew closer to the islands. Our two fellow travelers, however, did not enjoy the bumpy ride as much and spent most of it lying down with their eyes closed. Quite a few people onboard got sick unfortunately! But it was all worth it when we got to the island and hopped into the warm, Pacific water to swim toward the "hidden beach" inside one of the rocky mounds! It was pretty stressful trying to swim a) against the current and b) with 150 panicky tourists flailing around you as you try to navigate to a tiny cave covered in bird poop. I think that was one of the most humorous parts of the trip! And most painful as we were all kicked numerous times by rogue flippers or, in Joey's case, climbed on by nervous foreign people. The beach was really cool but way too crowded to truly enjoy. It was also a lot smaller than I anticipated! After making it back to the catamaran, we "sailed" to another area and donned our snorkel gear for some underwater exploring. Even though the water wasn't very calm or clear, we still got to see some beautiful sea life! A lot of huge, bright blue fish and tiny yellow and purple ones that swam up to us curiously. We spent quite a while with our faces in the water until we got sick of people swimming into us and Ashley and I decided to try paddle boarding instead. Having never done it before, we both did surprisingly well! We both got up on our first attempts and never fell in! It was really fun despite the ridiculous life jackets we had to wear the whole time. The boat ride back seemed to take forever as we were all so tired from our explorations. Luckily the crew had some entertainment for us so it never got boring! We got back to the resort and just ate at the buffet for dinner. The guys played in the water a bit while Ashley and I just relaxed and chatted. We played pool and air hockey a bit, then our traditional cards and drinks to finish off the long day.
Friday
Our last full day of the trip consisted of venturing into town once again to retrieve my coveted cat painting! It was a shorter trip since we'd already done most of the exploring that we could on foot but we figured we might as well have lunch on the beach again while we were there. The artist fortunately had her display up again so I finally got my souvenir! I was thrilled. We roamed the markets and streets a bit more then went to some other lunch spot just a few yards away from the one we tried on Tuesday. It was essentially the same experience but with better ceviche and wifi! Still the same local beach vendors that obviously didn't think anything of interrupting your meal and conversation to show you their suitcase full of "silver" jewelry or their risqué magnets. We then rode the bus to Walmart again, let the boys load up on Kinder candy and Gatorades, then we all passed out on the bus ride back to the resort. Deja vu! We spent the afternoon lounging around on the beach and in the pool, trying to do everything at least one more time. We made reservations at the less fancy restaurant for dinner again and got to eat on the top floor! It was a gorgeous night and we all had a great time laughing, drinking, reminiscing, and planning for the next Morcuso (Morris + Mancuso) vacation. We decided to take a sunset walk along the beach after dinner and the sunset was so breathtaking. So many colors in every direction! I felt like I lived in a pink and orange globe of sand and ocean. We took a ton of pictures then hunted for tiny crabs along the shore as the night grew darker. We probably looked like a group of weird, hunched-over silhouettes as we used cellphone flashlights to find the critters before they scurried back into the safety of the ocean. It was a fun and odd way to spend our last night together but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Cards and drinks again accompanied with some music before we all ran away to bed.
Saturday
We all met for one last buffet breakfast (phew!) then had to pack up our rooms to be checked out by 11. Joey and Ashley's flight left earlier than ours so we said our goodbyes in the lobby before they caught their shuttle to the airport. It was so hard to watch them go! I wish we lived closer. Maybe someday. And at least we have our next trip to look forward to! Garrett and I tried to fill our time with walking around, playing fusball, sitting on the beach, and chatting before it was our time to be whisked away. We had some interesting airport incidences that will have to be in a different post, but were able to board our flights back to the US then onto Alaska on time and safely. We got back at about midnight that night and were definitely happy to be in our own bed! We had Sunday and then Monday to recover from a) the travel and b) the not-so-great food before having to head back to the real world on Tuesday. We also celebrated our two year wedding anniversary on Monday so the timing all worked out perfectly! All in all it was such a great trip and I am so glad we were able to make it come to fruition despite the distance between us and the Mancusos as well as all the crazy stuff that has happened since we left Bozeman last September. We are so fortunate to have such great friends!
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