Sunday, July 31, 2011

Puerto Vallarta July 2011






(Links to Picasa photo albums are embedded below. Paste links in to your browser & hit “slideshow”. After viewing, hit “Back” to return to this narrative.)

Wed morning, July 20, Villa Vera, Puerto Vallarta - Sipping Songbird Java Roasters' Colombia Femenina with a shot of kahlua. An exciting element of this Mexico trip is our excursion to San Sebastian del Oeste, up in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains inland from Puerto Vallarta (PV), in search of shade-grown organic coffee. Sister Mary is now a coffee roaster. In recent weeks, Mary and husband Paul took over the business, centered in the Salem Public Market , the oldest such market in the state of Oregon. More later about San Sebastian.

The flights from Seattle, with plane change in Los Angeles, were smooth. I love the full body scanner at Sea-Tac. Otherwise, my bionic joints always require the pat down delay. I was a bit nervous about flying first class, but I quickly felt welcomed by the flight attendant's pleasant greeting as soon as I settled in to my wide leather seat: “Hello, Mr. Lowry, would you like a glass of water?” For the readers that know me, you must to wondering: John, paying for first class?! After numerous unsuccessful attempts to find coach frequent flyer (ff) seats, I decided to take available first class, for only 70% more points. The ff program is becoming increasingly unfriendly. My small business banker talked me in to a card that works differently & can get reduced price on any ticketing, as well as other purchases.

On arrival in PV, I gathered my lightweight baggage (room to take back several kilos of green coffee beans) and walked out of the airport, catching a $4 cab ride (vs. at least $20 in the airport), here to nearby Villa Vera in Marina Vallarta, a recent addition to the Raintree Vacation Club (RVC) family of resorts. No sign of the rest of the party yet--Mary, her friend Katie and Niece Deanna arrived a day ahead of me & stayed the first night in downtown PV.. They showed up late afternoon, after attending a “90 minute” timeshare sales presentation that stretched in to 4 hours. The good news: they collected a huge array of incentives: a zip-lining trip for Deanna & Katie, a massage for Mary, a 6-hour snorkeling outing and a jungle tour for all 4 of us, a bottle of tequila AND a bottle of Kahlua!

https://picasaweb.google.com/wrinkles45/PV2011AVillaVera

Our 2-bedroom suite has a great view of the marina, as well as the swimming pool. The AC is quiet & super-effective. It is the rainy season. The girls were treated to a lightening storm their first evening, but it's sunny this morning and was mostly sunny yesterday, with only a few sprinkles late in the afternoon.

We bussed in to Old Town Monday night, enjoyed margaritas & guacamole at Pipi's, then made our way to the Bodeguita del Medio to watch the sunset. Mary & I shared the famous Paella dish (Mary wants to return, the next time getting some shrimp—without realizing it, I had taken AND eaten all the shrimp before Mary had a chance to protest). The live Cuban band was fantastic. Deanna befriended the bass player. She also wrote our names on the ceiling. See pic of “Guia Juan” (Guide John). We were cautioned about the habinero sauce. We didn't burn our palates with it, but the dish of habinero got dropped, splashing Mary's face with it, so ice needed to be applied to the burns.

Pic of eve out to follow...

Tuesday, Deanna & Katie went zip-lining. Their strenuous climbing through the jungle was rewarded by zipping down through the jungle on 10 cables. Mary & I enjoyed massages, giving my sore neck some relief. By the time we bussed to Walmart, got more groceries, sat at the bus stop so long we realized we must be at the wrong stop & got back to Villa Vera (where thankfully the AC is still super & the shower has decent pressure, never mind it's not that warm), the lovely glow of the massage was alas a distant memory.

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Wednesday we were slated for an all-day boating expedition (a timeshare gift), including snorkeling. On looking at the menacing sky, we decided to cancel (or at least postpone—we can re-schedule for next week if we decide to) a jungle tour (. The day turned out to be fairly sunny. We spend time at the pool over at the Club Regina next door. We bussed to town in the afternoon, briefly visited the mercado, bought some cigars from Martin, after watching him roll cigars, allegedly using Cuban tobacco. We became immediate intimates, all the gals getting kissed by Martin, The lightening storm lasted for a long time. We ducked in to the Red Pub for beers & split a couple of tasty chicken burritos from the stand a couple of doors up.

Pics of PV center later

Thursday, last day BC (before rental car), we bussed to the correo (post office) at the wharf. Closed until further notice. Back to Walmart for more water (we've been going through huge 6-liter bottles like mad) and dinner makings (we bought shrimp that require beheading and de-veining before cooking 'Not recommended—LOTS of work!).

I finally found stamps at the convenience shop at the Westin. As hard as they are to find, it occurs to me an industrious local could make a living re-selling stamps at a marked-up price (Altho' at 13.5 pesos, depending on exchange rate, they are already costly).

Regarding exchange rate: Mary & I went to the trouble of taking a # & waiting several minutes at a bank, to learn they were giving only 10.64 pesos to the $. We've found quite a few places that will make change at 11 pesos to the $, altho' others will only give 10. Walmart has been the best, giving about 11.5 in exchange, but with some small purchases we've been foiled, as they've declined to take our $50 or $100 US bills.

The rental car was delivered almost on time Friday morning—a Dodge “Attitude”, which we think fits us just fine. After leaving the majority of our luggage in the bodega, we found our way out of PV, to the junction for San Sebastian (SS) without major difficulty. Until a few years ago, the road was so bad it was impassible for a regular car & took most of the day for a 4-wheeler. Now the paved road makes the trip up in to the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains to San Sebastian a mere 1 ½ to 2 hour drive. Of course, as in all of Mexico, you need to watch for the topes—speed bumps, many with no painted warning stripes, or the paint so worn off you don't see them until it's too late to avoid the jolt. And the pot holes. Some dangerously deep & unmarked. Besides escaping the humid heat of PV in the pine-covered hills of 4500' elevation SS, we were excited about finding shade grown organic green coffee beans to take back for Mary's fledgling Songbird Java Roasters weekend coffee business. The most publicized place, Altura Coffee, was hosting a tour group when we arrived. We spoke to the owner. He wasn't interested in parting with several kilos at a wholesale price. We drove in, via the narrow cobblestone streets, to SS zocalo (plaza), where we had a snack of nachos with guacamole, overlooking cobblestone street repair by a little old man who's been doing it for 40 years.

San Sebastian pics -


On to Hacienda Jalisco (HJ), a 170-year old mining operation that rents rooms and provides home grown meals. Joe, a transplant from California & Oregon, was our friendly host, giving us the history & tour of the hacienda and, with Pablo's help, preparing our delightful Friday night dinner & breakfast both mornings. HJ's history includes a hang-out for director John Huston & stars from the Night of the Iguana, filmed in PV in about 1969. The lovely setting in a verdant valley is enhanced at night, with oil lamps, as HJ has no electricity. After dark, the hundreds of fire flies didn't add light to see by, but were fun to spot..

Joe, now 30, has been in Mexico since his teens. His colorful past includes work in PV tourism, on boats, catering fancy events, etc. His mother lives in PV & makes the Internet reservations for HJ. Joe has numerous enterprises, including re-sale of tools AND selling organic coffee. While the coffee harvest was way less than usual, Joe still was willing to sell Mary 5 kilos of green beans.

Hacienda Jalisco pics -
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Sunday morning we scored another kilo of green coffee beans at Gabriel's tienda, a friendly merchant in SS, then drove up to the Mirador (lookout) above town before making the return journey down from the mountains to PV, greeted by the heat & humidity of the coast.

While we had been promised a ground floor/pool side suite for our 2nd stay at Villa Vera, we arrived to an almost full house and the bad news that the best they could do for us was a 3rd floor floor suite, no elevator. After a couple of hours of exploratory phone calls (the gals were stocking up on groceries for most of that time), Valentina finally gave us the good news—a suite had been found across the street at the Club Regina, a sister resort (both belong to Raintree Vacation Club). More spacious, elevators just down the hall (next to the ice machine & washer & dryer), the Club Regina quarters are a great place to wrap up our vacation. The AC adjusts quickly, when we've had enough of the heat. Our view is lawn & palms, with some view of pools & the bay beyond.

Most afternoons, we're on the beach for sunset. Most have been spectacular.

I had planed to rent the car just for the weekend, for the trip up to San Sebastian. The gals decided to keep the car for the last five days, until we fly home on Friday.

Monday we headed north, to the upper entrance to huge Banderas Bay. At Punta de Mita, slowly driving along the waterfront, in search of a boat rental, Rudi found us. An Austrian, he's been in Mexico for years. 'Claims he never leaves Punta de Mita, that the last time he went in to PV (an hour's drive) was 6 years ago! He put us on a small boat with outboard and a local skipper with 35 years experience, to take us out the the Marieta Islands, a wildlife preserve. We got some great views of a wide variety of birds, including blue and green footed boobies. We snorkeled at both islands, enjoying some coral & a wide variety of bright fish. Katie took to snorkeling like a fish. I did a back flip off the boat at the 2nd snorkeling spot, which dislodged my mask. Stupidly, instead of turning back to the ladder on the boat to get it back in place, I began swimming toward shore, with water in mask & snorkel. I grabbed on to a volcanic rock to rest, cutting my pinky enough that it was bleeding on return to the boat, after our observant skipper threw me a life jacket . After several minutes on board, I ventured back in the water for another short snorkel until the gals returned, having visited the beach via a short tunnel of lava.

Marieta Islands pics -
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During lunch in an idyllic open restaurant along the palm-lined beach, the gals negotiated with merchants for pendants, ear rings, bracelets & other hand-made keepsakes/gifts. On to Sayulita, a beachfront town half an hour further up the coast. Known for surfing and counterculture, we were offered a marijuana pipe on arrival at the beach. Mid-afternoon, the heat seemed especially intense there, so we didn't linger, turning our Dodge Attitude back south to retreat to the AC of our rooms at Club Regina.

Tuesday we make our way in to the Mercado Central in PV for shopping. I drove around for a while, looking for Gringo Gulch, joining the gals for lunch at Loncheria Viejo Don Jorge, where prices didn't seem so much the bargain as our visit 5 years ago. It rained some at mid-day, which made the decision easy--to not press on for a snorkeling expedition south of PV. Instead, more pool & beach time at the resort, including henna tattoos. . I got in my first volleyball game. The one net has lots of players each evening. I was on a losing team, which meant we didn't keep the court (winner stays). My serves won a couple of points. Another brilliant sunset.

Wednesday morning the sky was blue. We headed south, following HJ Joe's recommendation—to find the beautiful beach at Maito, on a new, good road just north of El Tuito. The good road lasted about one kilometer, from Highway 200 in to town. About to depart Tuito, we saw a sign that said 37 km to Maito. We stopped a policeman, to ask about road condition & travel time. He said “mas o menos”, which means pretty bad, about an hour. Turning back, we stopped for 7-Ups & coffees in El Tuito. I got a second opinion from cabbies hanging out at the zocalo. They said about 70% of the road to the coast would be good, about 30% unpaved. And Joe seemed so knowledgeable!

We turned in at Mismaloya Beach on our return north. We found parking and an escort to beach chairs at surf's edge, sol o sombra (choice of staying in the shade of umbrellas or out in the sun). $2 beers & a laid-back waiter that didn't rush us to re-order. 'Can't say the same for the perseverance of the various vendedores (sellers) of jewelry, sarongs, clay flutes and ironwood carvings ( I bought a palm tree). Deanna & I snorkeled along the shore. Water was murky. Some schools of small fish. 'Not nearly as enjoyable as the Marietas.

Mismaloya-Town pics later

In spite of his bum suggestion about Maito, we followed Joe's lead to Joe Jack's Fish Shack in old town PV, for an early dinner of fish & chips. Nice upstairs veranda, generous, tasty pieces of snapper. Some final shopping (Katie got a colorful alebrije—carved cat—for husband David) while passing through town. Back at Club Regina in time for sunset & making a deal for a boat ride Thursday, our last full day, IF weather permitted.

Alas, Thursday dawned rainy, so we had to scrap the 9 a.m. departure across Banderas Bay, in search of dolphins, snorkeling & sightseeing along the picturesque south shore, dotted with exotic palaces built in to the the jungle-glad cliffs. As the weather started improving, we found a skipper who said he could take us, but the initial offer of “You don't see dolphins you don't pay” was no longer promised as we were about to board, so we declined. Wisely, I think—bouncing over the rough bay at high speed in an outboard isn't my idea of a good time. We hung out at the pool & beach, more merchants finding us, for numerous more bartering (jewelry, a pretty wood cutting board). Mary & Deanna got massages from Maricela. They raved about how good she was, so after showering following an hour of volleyball on the beach, initially without sunscreen (until Deanna jumped on to the court & spayed me), I had Maricela work on my sore neck, which has gotten better during the trip. A generous half hour for 200 pesos (less than $20). She doesn't have a business card, but you may be able to find her massage tent/table on the beach at Club Regina.

Mary was ecstatic about her commissioned oil-on-tile painting for Songbird Java Roasters by the paint-by-finger artist. Time to pack, taking care to protect delicate items. My orange liquor, in a corked bottle, got transferred to an empty plastic pop bottle with screw top. I ended up with extra room in my bags, in spite of transporting 2 kilos of coffee for Mary.

https://picasaweb.google.com/wrinkles45/PV2011HClubRegina

Thursday night we drove in to PV, for a last visit to Bodeguita del Medio, the Cuban bar. The band we enjoyed our first visit had been replaced by a louder, more frenetic group, but it was still fun. Mary decorated waiters & band members with bracelets of neon (Mary always fits a few tubes of light sticks in to her carefully packed bags). We were also entertained by a lightening storm as we sipped our mojitos, at our table next to the railing overlooking the Malecon & bay.

Friday, day of departure, started out rainy, but was partly sunny by mid-morning. I visited near-by Marina Vallarta golf course, to take pics (for upcoming St. Clare Hospital fund-raiser/tournament at Tacoma Country Club, where our vacation offerings are major auction items. I want to update my collage of courses near Raintree resorts, to spur bidding). The pro shop did NOT confirm what the desk at Villa Vera told me—that as a Raintree member, I'd get 50% off going rates. Mexico golf is not yet welcoming of Golf.Now. 18 holes at Marina Vallarta will run you $129, “only” $97 for twilight after 2 pm. Add $50 for club rental. And, Marina Vallarta is the budget course in the area. El Tigre is $174/$114 twilight, Vista Vallarta is $196/$136 twilight. For you true high-rollers, the 4 Seasons will be $225!

Marina Vallarta & Golf pics later...

Deanna had arranged to drop the rental car at the airport, which was a blessing. We made 2 trips. Deanna & I left before Mary & Katie. We made the most of our 1st class status. Our 4-hour layover went by pleasantly in the Alaska Board Room in LA. Mary & Katie fared (pun intended) far worse. Their plane to San Francisco was late departing PV. Reportedly, their flight on to Portland was also going to be late. As it turned out, they held the Portland flight for them, so they had a rush thru SF Int'l, with all their heavy bags, only to find that their 1st class seats had been given away & they were stuck in the very last row in the back of the plane, with seats that didn't recline & flight staff that didn't even offer them anything to drink until they were approaching Portland. I'll find out on Monday what my Gold membership with American Air will do for me, to compensate for their partner Alaska's misbehavior.

On our travels, we have a tradition of problems with car keys & cameras. While we had a narrow escape early on (I had left the key in the car, while loading the trunk—Deanna thought that unwise & grabbed it. 'Good thing—the car locking system automatically locked the door after a couple of minutes). With the trip all but over, Deanna took a picture of her drink on our PV-LAX flight. On arrival home, her camera is missing! No word yet, if the call to Alaska lost-and-found will locate it. Worst case, the rest of us will be giving Deanna cd's of our pics, some consolation.

In summary, another memorable trip. Our sleep disorders cropped up some, but we all felt rested, for the most part. Deanna had one day of tourista symptoms, but all-in-all we stayed healthy. I avoided sunburn, despite little to no sunscreen & ended up almost as dark as Deanna, who sought out every opportunity to bask in the sun. The weekend in the sierra was a nice change of pace. The variety of staying at both Villa Vera & Club Regina was a bonus. We were on the go, but avoided over-doing it. 'Nice to retreat, after busy days, to spacious lodging with super air conditioning & showers with massage-strength water pressure. At Club Regina we also had a spacious private Jacuzzi with great jets. Katie caught on to our pace, first trip in decades & first ever to Mexico (she visited Victoria many years ago, her only other international travel). At 13 days, this was an extra-long break for Deanna, from her head teller job at the credit union. She's thinking of applying for a flight attendant job. Besides returning to the new Saturday coffee gig at the farmer's market, Mary will settle back in to handling crises of clients whose rough edges threaten to land them in some kind of institution. I return to fill that apartment vacancy, renew efforts to rent or sell vacation lodging in Whistler, be Juliet's Papa.

'Til next trip...

John
wrinkles45@comcast.net