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April 01 Puerto Vallarta ContinuedSorry for the delay, I got home and I had to hit the ground running.
Back to Mexico... so Thursday was a fun day, we got up and had breakfast and then headed to the spa for an hour of luxurious massages. It was great fun. I felt so relaxed, and after a bit of lunch we went to the beach to sun ourselves. C played in the water quite a bit and then decided to play a game of soccer. He ended up in net and played a mean keeper. Unfortunately, he paid for that later and realized he was not 15 anymore. Oh well, we enjoyed a nice supper and watched a mariachi band. It was a lot of fun. We also returned to our favourite bar (Hemingways) for fantastic drinks. That bartender is by far the best on the resort, make sure you visit him if you end up at Palladium Vallarta.
Friday morning we went on an ATV trail ride. It was a lot of fun, especially since it was just C & I and the leader. We raced along the back trails and then up and down the beach. C had a great time. We stopped in a wee village for a beer which cost a whopping 40 cents, and then made our way home. I was covered in dust from head to toe, but I had fun so what does it matter. After a shower and a bite to eat I was back on the beach, while C had a nap to recover from soccer. That night we found our friends again and ended up closing down the disco. It was alot of fun, but the music was mainly really bad. It was a good thing I was drinking margaritas. Saturday was bit of a sleep in day but as usual I ended up at the beach. C joined me and we tried to learn how to play bocce. It reminded us of curling and lawn bowling. There were some fierce little old Italian men who were ferocious at this game. It was funny to watch them interact. We went to the Mexican restaurant for supper and had a FANTASTIC meal. Actually, every single meal was fantastic at this resort, and I didn't have any trouble eating vegetarian at all. The view was so perfect as the sun was setting just as we were dining. I had a Mexican coffee and they put on a big show for us. It was delicious. We hooked up with our friends again, they had extended their stay for a few more days as the weather was so bad back home they knew they'd be delayed in an airport overnight getting home and decided to enjoy the warm weather for a couple more days until the snow was cleared. They moved themselves into the new wing the Royal Suites and wow, were these suites ever luxurious. They had the biggest bathtub I'd ever seen not to mention the size of the rooms were larger that I think any apartment I'd ever rented. We stayed up really late visiting with them.
Sunday I had booked myself another much needed massage and I took care of that first thing and ended up at the adults only pool. Chad caught up with me and we basically spent the day there. There were a lot of characters in this pool and everyone actually got into a lot of trouble from security for being too loud. The funniest part was that there were about 30 Canadians in this pool and 4 Americans, and the discussion became heated over hockey and the 4 Americans were louder than all of the Canadians combined. I really wished I'd had thought to video tape this day, it would have been interesting to watch over afterward. The bad part was that my nose started to run again (I didn't outrun my cold like I'd thought). We had our supper and had our usual nightcap, but I had to beg off early and get to bed as I was not feeling so hot and I knew tomorrow was travel day.
Monday we got up early and packed up and then took one last walk around and along the beach. We will miss Mexico very much. Now we need to work on our 5 year plan and come up with some money to buy a place down here. March 06 Puerto Vallarta the beginning....Monday - Well our trip started off on an interesting note when as our plane was taxi-ing to the runway, a man behind us had a freak out and started saying he couldn't breathe and then he ran up to the front of the plane screaming. He wandered back with an airline host and just said "I'm sorry honey" to his wife and turned around and walked off the plane (as it had turned around and returned to the gate by this time). So the wife is crying by this point and the kids are starting to cry and then the pilot tells us we have to wait as we have to remove his baggage (which is also hers and the kids). This delays us an hour as they had checked in very early. He finally decides that he should Fed Ex her the luggage as the earliest she'll see it is in 3 days and by this time a lot of us were thinking about doing some permanent damage to him for causing this entire event. The weird thing was 1) she never said anything to him at all, 2) the kids never said anything to him (nor he to them), 3) and the rest of their travelling companions (there were at least 8 more of them) never said anything to him or he to them either, and lastly 4) we were such polite Canadians no one even squawked about the delay (although after the fact, C and our neighbouring passenger decided in hindsight that they should have held him down and forced tequila into him until he calmed down). We were off to a rough start but fortunately things got much better as we had a tailwind and made up half an hour.
We flew directly over the Grand Canyon and it was a pristine clear day so we could see the vast beauty of this amazing part of the earth. We landed around 4pm and successfully located our luggage after it didn't show up on the correct carousel (of course was being loaded in on Mexican time), and then we managed to get away from the timeshare bandits to our bus. Off we went through the edge of town and then through the winding roads of the Mexican coast, farmland and mountains. What a beautiful country - and the area around Puerto Vallarta totally reminds us of Vancouver (Mexican-style). We were the last group off the bus as our resort was almost at the tip of the crescent and WOW what a fantastic resort! I completely recommend anyone thinking of going to Mexico to consider the Palladium Vallarta if they are planning a vacation. It's about 30-45 minutes from the downtown, and basically in the middle of nowhere, but the resort itself has all you would ever need. Look it up online thru Signature Vacations for more details as I don't want to sould like I'm selling you a timeshare.
Tuesday - We went to our little welcome meeting in the morning and booked our restaurant reservations as well as booked a tour of the city. We returned to the beach and caught some glorious rays (someone turned close to the colour of the Canadian flag but it was not me - hahaha!) and then continued to explore this vast resort. It was basically a lazy beach day and we had no complaints at all.
Wednesday - Was our tour of the city. we were picked up in the morning and gathered more and more people from the various resorts as we made our way towards downtown. Along the way we learned that the first road in Puerto Vallarta was built in 1970. Up until that time you had to fly into the city or take the ocean. In the mere 37 years the city has dramatically grown, the locals have witnessed their fields, farms, lagoons, ponds, homes and memories go the way of the wind. We learned that while one could be bitter over this, some chose to see the plus side. They all have jobs and the ones with jobs have homes, even the ones without jobs have homes as their country can now afford to help those who need help (like unwed mothers). They also have excellent education systems for their children and the government funds much post secondary education or the employers assist employees families with education and medical requirements. Puerto Vallarta and Mexico do have much to thank for becoming a tourist destination.
We visited the original church of the city and a fantastic silver store as well as the market and the boardwalk area. We got back on the bus and went up into the mountains to a restaurant in the middle of nowhere and had the best lunch I can remember in a long time. We continued winding along the coast learning more history, facts and whatnot until we came to a tequila factory where they still make it by hand. This factory does not sell their product in stores, you have to buy it on location and of course after tasting 4 samples everyone was buying some to take home. We now know the difference between good tequila and what we think is tequila  We returned to the Palladium after a full day and then kept things to a dull roar. We met some new friends from Iowa and watched a Mexcian musical version of Grease - it was great!!!February 20 soon I will be in mexicoIn less than 1 week I will be sitting on the beach in Nuevo Vallarta. I will be thinking of all of you suckers stuck in Canada between sips of my margaritas. I promise to take a lot of photos to make you even more jealous. Seriously though, this has been a long time coming and I can't wait (especially after the winter we've had out here). Try not to hate me too much.... February 02 bad hair daysDo you recognize this guy with Denise Richards? I was shocked, shocked, shocked when I found out it was Ritchie Sambora. Dude, keep you clothes on...and you should never have left Heather (what were you thinking??) January 26 ramblingsOn Tuesday I decreed that there would be no more snow this year. It looks like Nature listened and brought out that thing they call the Sun for a couple of days. People all over the Lower Mainland are going into fits of shock as its been weeks since we've seen blue sky and the Sun. The citizens of the neighbourhood near where I work are acting up and causing mass chaos with a lot of the businesses downtown. The Sun always does this to them. They are not used to the rush of vitamin D in their systems and they get a bit psychotic. Oh, and the fact it was their "payday" on Wednesday so they are all junked out doesn't help either. I really wish soemthing could be done for these poor people. Maybe Bruce is right, maybe the embarassment of the Pickton trial in the world media's eyes will be enough for the city and provence to finally realize there is a major problem with these addicts and homeless and actually do something instaed of push them aside and ignore them. January 05 snow? again??It snowed again this morning....I'm officially done with winter, spring can come anytime now. I'm sooooo looking forward to Mexico. December 09 I'm ready for ChristmasMy shopping is all done, my gifts are all wrapped and have been sent to those that are out of town. I feel really good about things this year, hopefully we won't get anymore snow. Brunch with the gang tomorrow. See you all there! December 01 Dec 1 World AIDS dayNovember 28 It's the ApocalypseWell between a typhoon, power outages, a boil water alert, the Rolling Stones, 2 feet of snow, more power outages and "hell freezing over" record temperatures it's been one hell of a week and a half. We survived the typhoon, and our water was fine to drink after half a day unlike the water in Vancouver, Burnaby and the North Shore, but then it started snowing and didn't stop until it we had two feet piled up meanwhile we were at the Rolling Stones show (will upload some stuff later). Speaking of which... I've never seen so many messed up Boomers in my life - it seemed like there were more at that show - the last Stones show of their Bigger Bang tour - than at the original Woodstock. Now today it's unbelievably cold, it’s not even funny. My sister couldn't believe it when I told her (she lives in Calgary), she agrees it must be the Apocalypse and both of us are now just waiting for the Locusts to start raining down on us (maybe later this week as I hear we are due for more precipitation). Oh and of course to top it all off trying to get to work is a complete nightmare as the skytrain is packed tighter than a sardine can and people are starting to get nasty trying to push their way onto the trains. I know it's a drag having to wait for 12 trains, but you know what - we all have to wait for trains. I live near the end of the line and even I have to wait for 3 or 4 trains in the morning so we all just have to deal with it until people start driving again or stop going to work/school/ whatever. Bah humbug! November 14 Shut Up and SingWell yesterday was a stat. holiday for many folks here in Canada - but not us as we will have the US Thanksgiving off instead (which I don't mind taking as we will end up with an extra day off this year). So Bruce decided to give us a bit of a break and took us all on a field trip to see "Shut Up and Sing". What a fantastic documentary. I think everyone should see it, especially if you live in the US. We have discussed the movie today with great extent and whether you support Natalie's beliefs or not, you have to give it to her and the girls that they stood by what they said. What is so amazing is how things got so blown out of proportion, and how quickly the American's took after one of their own for using their right of Free Speech. And as an added bonus, this documentary was the smartest thing these "stupid" girls could have done to cope with this whole mess. Rock on Dixie Chicks, rock on!
http://www.dixiechicks.com/06_dcmovie.asp
November 03 Rainy VancouverLooks like the rainy season has begun, it's been pouring rain for a while and things are starting to get pretty soggy. Keeping in with the water theme please check out this youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPkvsw84tes of an artist (Todd Hannigan) my friend Tony manages. I wish he'd come to Vancouver to play so I could see him play live. Oh well, check him out, you might be pleasantly surprised. September 14 this explains alot about meClick through to this link, it explains a lot about what's wrong with me...
September 10 September UpdateWell it's a bit late, but better late than never... The last week of August was a beautiful one here in the Lower Mainland and I was able to doubly enjoy it as I was also on holidays. I spent the week hanging out with my sister, brother-in-law and their two kids, see picture section for a sampling of how things went. Karen spoiled me by making me not one but TWO birthday cakes which were both equally delicious. My birthday was also a lot of fun, we went to Bear Creek for a picnic and some water fun with Jo and Keely on a lovely hot and sunny day. This past week I've been trying to catch up on work, laundry and tidying up. My auntie stopped over for the night on Thursday on her way to Mission for the day on Friday. Saturday ended up being a very lazy day as I finally attacked the Davinci Code. I read Angels and Demons when in Maui and now have become hooked on Dan Brown's style. I'd better get back and actually do something today or this entire weekend will be a writeoff. August 17 How Cynical Are You?
August 06 MauiWell I survived Maui despite record high temperatures and the threat of a hurricane.
I've uploaded a bunch of photos from our trip.
I'm sure I will have more to add once I see what everyone else took.
(I think I had too many Chichi's as some of mine ended up being rather blurry -  heh!) Happy BC Day!July 24 it's HOT, but I'm not complainingit's HOT! but I'm not complaining. I don't have much new to tell all of you. I've been too lazy to upload some pictures I took earlier this month - I'll get aroudn to it I promise. In the meantime, check out my best friend Sean's new baby boy named Arran www.sibbet.com
July 11 380 ways to freak out your roomateI found this today and wished I'd had this list earlier in my life - enjoy:
July 05 Happy Canada Day!Well I enjoyed a fanatastic 4 day weekend, I feel very refreshed. C's sister came to town Friday for the weekend, it was good to see her. Saturday my Aunties came by to check out our place and then Saturday night the three of us and the three dogs all went to Cultus Lake for the evening. Had a very fun ride on one of these : http://www.seadoo.com/en-CA/SportBoats/2006/Utopia.205/Introduction.htm they can do a 360' turn on the spot - it's crazy.
Sunday, Sean and Kat and Jo and Keely came over for visits, it was good to see them all and to see Keely meet Lizzie, Satchi and Zeus (who apologizes for scaring Keely with his loud bark) and then we went to Steveston for some fish and chips with the Auntie's and my Uncle. Monday was busy with a trip to Walmart with Ang and a iced coffee and then a drive up to Port Moody to see Jo's new place - very cute I have to say. Tuesday I tidied up and took it easy before my short work week :). The Save-On near us is busy no matter what time of day it is - I discovered that as well.
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