Crazy Organization (Sunday, July 29th, 2018)

Oh my, we are in for some craziness today!  

When we packed the trailer of "treasures" a year and a half ago, we had no idea what our youngest daughter would be doing after graduation or what kinds of things she would actually need, so we packed everything we thought she could possibly need.  And now that we know she'll be moving into an apartment with a friend, we need to reorganize everything we packed initially and then repack the trail with only the things she will actually need/want.

We decided to divide the trailer into four piles.  One pile with the things our daughter wants now (which we combined with the things we just moved from her Ft. Collins apartment), one pile of things we will continue to hold onto for her, one pile of tools and things that would be useful at the cabin, and a pile of donations (you know, the things we can't really believe we packed into this trailer in the first place).

So we started unloading the trailer into the garage and onto the driveway.  It was like Christmas in July! We honestly couldn't even remember what we had loaded into the trailer for her since we moved out of our house in such a hurry.  And for her it was an even bigger surprise because she was away at school when we packed up the trailer, so she really had no clue what was in it.

Concerned neighbors kept wondering by, asking if Steve's parents were moving out.  So his mom had an opportunity to tell her story to everyone about her last grandchild.

When we had completely unloaded the trailer and had everything organized into the appropriate pile, we started reloading the trailer with only the things that she would be taking with her to her new apartment.  Her apartment isn't ready yet, but when it is, we will be ready for it!  

After a big day of organizing and reorganizing, we decided it was time to have a little fun, so we headed over to the golf course to hit some balls.  

Our daughter found it hard to find the time for golf while she was in school and working three jobs so she was really looking forward to a little practice again.

Then as evening rolled around, we took a few minutes for some home repairs while we enjoyed our happy-hour appetizers and beer that a friend of Morgan's had given her.  It was Kona; Big Wave Golden Ale.  It was really, I mean really good!

It's so nice to be here and spend time with everyone!

Starting a New Chapter (Saturday, July 28th, 2018)

We arrived in Fort Collins this morning at 9:00 to help our daughter move out of her final college apartment.  One of her room mates had already moved out, but the other three all worked together and had a great time packing, hauling and cleaning.  Steve and I were the only parents there, and we had a great time with the three girls.  We are so excited for all of them as they start the next chapters of their lives.  The girls turned in their keys and we all parted ways at 2:30, and the three of us headed back to the Denver area.

When we got back to Denver, Steve's mom had a fun celebration waiting for us.  They wanted to celebrate the college graduation of their final grand child, and a very exciting future for her. 

Then we all enjoyed a wonderful homemade dinner together.  Filet Mignon, grilled corn on the cob, beans and watermelon.  It was so nice to spend this time with some of our favorite people.

It's hard to explain how great it feels to be back here, enjoying this special time with our daughter and Steve's parents!

Heading to Denver, (Friday, June 27th, 2018)

Well, we are back in Lake Havasu, and it is HOT!  

We've done a little bit of golfing, but it's almost too hot for that because there is no breeze, and boating is even tough because everything you touch burns you.  So mostly we have been enjoying pool time with friends.  It's probably our favorite way to spend our time in the heat of summer.  But now that we've been home about a week, it is time to head out again.

This time we will be heading back to Colorado to help our youngest daughter move.  She graduated in May, and started her "Big Girl" job in June, but she is making a horribly long commute each day, from Fort Collins to the Tech Center in the south part of Denver.  It's 2 - 2 1/2 hours each way.  She says she doesn't mind it because it will make her appreciate a much shorter commute some day.  And we are so thankful that day is now almost here!

Our first day in town, we met our daughter for lunch at a little place called Marcos Coal Fired Pizza down near her work.  They have a beautiful patio, which of course we love, so we sat out there and enjoyed a fantastic lunch with her!

Who can resist an Arnold Palmer and a hand-tossed margarita pizza?

When we finished lunch, we headed over to her new apartment building to talk to the management, and since we ended up with a little extra time, we also toured the model so Steve and I could see it.  The models are always so perfectly furnished, so it will be really fun to see what two new college graduates can do with the same space.

After our tour, our daughter headed back to work, and we headed out to pick up a trailer that we packed for her about a year and a half ago when we moved away from Colorado.  It is full of odds and ends of furniture and housewares that we no longer needed that she was very excited to have.  They have been waiting for her at our ex brother-in-laws house all this time.

It was a beautiful day for hooking up a trailer, and our ex brother-in-law said he would be home to help us out.

He has two Anatolian Shepards, which are known as the strongest dogs in the world.  We are always very careful to make sure they remember us before we get out of the truck because they are GREAT watch dogs.  This is Steve's foot next to Turbos head.

We picked up our trailer and had a fun dinner, then headed back to Denver.  The weather got a little crazy on our way back, and washed the mud off of the truck and trailer nicely.

Our daughter will be heading back to Fort Collins tonight to have a fun final night and sleepover with her college roommates. Tomorrow brings another fun adventure!

Our Final Day In Puerto Vallarta (Tuesday, July 17th, 2018)

 Today is our final day in Puerto Vallarta! When we finished breakfast, we headed to the office and checked out, and left our luggage with them for the day. We are doing another bus adventure today, just to keep us busy until our flight takes off at 6:00 tonight. We walked up the hill and caught the “Walmart” bus on the north highway 200. Several buses went by before we saw the right bus. 

We rode the bus for about half an hour, then got off several stops before the “Sams / Walmart” stop. 


Our goal today was to find Costco without a Taxi, and to check it out to see what they carry.  After getting off the bus, we had to walked about 3/4 of a mile to get to the Costco, and some of it was kind of jungley, but with nice sidewalks the whole way.

When we went inside, we were amazed, it was so much like the Costcos in the US. As we entered, they had the photo and optical center, and as we wandered through, almost everything else was the same as well. It was super clean and very well air conditioned. We didn’t need anything (especially since we are leaving tonight), but we walked the whole store, just browsing. 

The parking lots aren't nearly as busy as in the U.S.

Quail eggs.  You won't find this in a U.S. Costco!

Chili Rellanos and some Mexican dishes.

We stayed and shared a ceasar salad at Costco, but then it was getting late, so rather than taking the bus back, we chose to grab a taxi. 

 A man at the entrance to Costco went out to the main road to call a taxi for us. I asked the driver how much from Costco to the Romantic zone for two, and he quoted us 80 pesos about $5 US. That seemed like a bargain, so we jumped in. He drove us on a road called Calle Francisco Villa, which circled up above the city, and through the “Nuevo” tunnel before dropping back down into the romantic zone. The ride was super quick, so instead of going directly back to our hotel, we went for a quick walk down to the water taxi stand to get some fresh air. The beach was very busy today! Not what I expected on a Tuesday. 

After wandering around the beach for a few minutes, we headed back to the hotel to grab our bags, then headed right across the street to the taxi stand to get a taxi to the airport. Again, I asked the driver how much for two people to the airport, he said 200 pesos. That is 145 pesos cheaper than the ride from the airport to our hotel. I think there are a lot of fees that the drivers have to pay at the airport. 

Our driver had a nice, new Toyota with great air conditioning. It felt good after being out in the heat all day. Again, our taxi ride was very quick! We got checked in at the airport and headed up stairs to go through security. Security was a bit unorganized, and there wasn’t a separate line for TSA PRE, but it went quickly and was no problem at all. Once inside security, there was a Subway, a Starbucks and a Sborro (if I remember correctly), then as we made our way down to our gate, there was another pizzeria restaurant and a Johnny Rockets hamburgers. The airport was really clean, including the restrooms, which was great!

We arrived back in Los Angeles about 20 minutes early.  We made out to our car and headed back to Havasu.  We arrived back home a little after 1:00 am, just as a monsoon storm was coming into town.  Lightening and thunder everywhere around us.  We were too tired to care so just jumped in bed with lots of great memories of Puerto Vallarta in our head!  We will definitely be heading back!

The Mystery of Mesa Del Mar (Monday, July 16th, 2018)

Twenty years ago, when our kids were little, we used to visit Puerto Vallarta quite a bit.  We loved the hotel where we stayed, and have always wondered what's up with it now.  So today's goal is to find the old Mesa Del Mar.

When we first arrived here in Puerto Vallarta, we walked down to where the hotel used to be, and tried to figure out the mystery of Mesa Del Mar, but we were pretty confused, and really didn't have much time, so we gave up and saved it for another day.

Now we are back on the beach, by the sea horse statue once again.

This hotel is called Vallarta Shores, it is on the very end of the beach.  When we think back, it seems like there might have been one more hotel after Mesa Del Mar before the beach disappeared into the rocks, but we really can't remember. 

So we went into Vallarta Shores and asked them what they knew.  They said that Vallarta Shores has been there for about 40 years, and Mesa Del Mar used to be right next door.  

She said that it was torn down several years ago, and is now being replaced the a new hotel and beach club called Almar and Manta Mar.  The tall white building in the background is the new Almar Hotel.  It is still under construction, so there is a little evidence of what used to be there at the beach level. 

The entrance to Mesa Del Mar sat high on a cliff, with the floors coming down the face of the cliff to the beach.  The restaurant was on the second floor just above the beach, then there were stairs to get down to the beach from there.  On the right side of this little building, you can see what looks like a chimney.  We are pretty certain it is what's left of the stairs coming down to the beach.

Steve and I made our way through the construction zone to see if we could get up the mountain to the entrance of the new Almar hotel.

We found a path and some stairs that headed up the cliff, so we took them. No gates or signs so what the heck!

The only entrance to Mesa Del Mar was on a cobble stone street off the highway that dead ended at the hotel.  They have now put a new road in coming from the other direction and leading down the hill into town.  It is actually the same road that our hotel is on.

This is the new road coming in.

When we got to the top of the hill, we went into the hotel to inquire a further.  They confirmed that they had torn down Mesa Del Mar and built the Almar Hotel in it's place about two years ago.

When we left the hotel, we walked on past it, and continued on the old portion of the road that used to come in from the highway.  It isn't used much any more and isn't in very good shape, but it does still lead out to the highway.

We had a very leisurely afternoon at the beach, enjoying the incredibly warm water and the lulling of the waves carrying us along with them.  It was so relaxing!

We decided to try a new restaurant for dinner tonight, so I did some research and came up with a place called Bravos.  It looked like they had a nice selection.

As we walked along, we strolled by several of the same taco stands that we have passed on other nights.  

When we got to Bravos, the sign said that they are closed on Monday's, and the sky was looking very stormy.  So we looked up to see where else we might be able to duck and and find a good meal before the rains started, and right across the street was...you guessed it, Martini En Fuego.  I won't go into details tonight, but again we received an appetizer on Chef Roberto, and 

An amazing meal, that we shared to avoid leftovers. Look at the size of the platter.  The fork and knife are dwarfed!

And as we ate, the skies poured.  We were so happy to be in out of the rain, and we couldn't beat the food either!

At the end of our meal, Chef Roberto brought by his home made tequila, but this time instead of pouring us a glass to share, he poured us a glass and then left bottle on the table for us.

So how does the pear get into the tequila bottle?



Chef Roberto told us that they take the young pears and place them inside the bottles.  Then as the pear develops and grow it remains in the bottle.  Sounds like a very interesting process...maybe something we can see someday!