We discovered that some friends from Dallas, Lin and Russ, were staying in a time-share just down the road in Nuevo Vallarta. NV is, as the name implies, a new section of condos and hotels on the beach just north of Puerto Vallarta. Unfortunately, the road into NV is riddled with pot holes. No attempt is being made to fill them in. I guess they figure that as long as the construction continues, the trucks will continue to tear it up. So, why not wait?
We made arrangements to pick up Lin and Russ and give them a personal tour that wouldn’t be offered by the hotels. We drove south about 45 miles and picked them up at 9:00 AM. We immediately headed north to tour some of the smaller towns and beaches. Our first stop was the very touristy town of Rincón de Guayubitos. This is a popular destination for North Americans and Mexicans alike. Every weekend brings dozens of busloads in from the interior. The shore is lined with hotels and the streets are one shop after another, generally selling the same stuff. We ate breakfast down this street somewhere, on the left.
Visitors from the US and Canada are finding this town to be the perfect spot and are tossing up McMansions in great numbers. The typical house in this area is between $750,000 to $2,000,000. and that is US dollars.
From there, we headed to Lo de Marcos. It was a little chilly and very few were at the beach. We were also able to give Lin and Russ a tour of our current home RV Park.
From here, we stopped in the quaint village of San Francisco, also called San Pancho. It is more rustic than most of the towns in the area, but it is also the only one with a hospital.
Then it was back to our old stomping grounds in Sayulita for a chilly lunch at Don Pedro’s, the beach restaurant we used to frequent when the Cowboys played football.
We discovered that we were low (nearly empty) on power steering fluid, so we made only one more stop this day at Punta de Mita. We spent a few minutes walking on the beach and then we headed back to Nuevo Vallarta. Lin and Russ returned to Punta de Mita a few days later by bus. They took a whale watching tour on a small boat that could handle six people. Apparently they had dozens of close encounters with the huge humpbacks. From what they say, we may have to try this tour. More information on humpbacks can be found at:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/whales/species/Humpbackwhale.shtml
A couple of days later we picked up Lin and Russ for a lunch in Puerto Vallarta. We left the truck at Walmart and took a cab to PePe’s Taco Stand. Unfortunately they didn’t open until 5:00 PM. So we headed to the beach and walked about a mile to the main downtown strip, the Malecon. After looking at every menu along the street, we settled at the “No-Name Bar and Grill”.
From our vantage point on the second floor balcony, we were directly across the street from a very long pole sticking up in the air.
On top of the pole were four men, dressed in traditional Mexican Indian outfits, playing flutes while sitting or dancing.
Notice the large spool of rope. That should tell you that there is more to come. After they find that a large enough crowd has gathered, they drop themselves off of their perch fastened only by one heel and spiral down upside down.
This process took about ten minutes. This shot is as they approach the ground.
Believe it or not, they played their flutes the whole way down.
Upon reaching the ground, they scattered, along with some associates, to collect tips from the fascinated crowd. They even found us on the second floor balcony.
From our same perch on the balcony, we were treated to a seagull feeding frenzy. In the background of this photo are two gulls diving into the water. I hope they don’t have the same target in mind.
Followed by a large splash.
We wondered where seagulls went when they were not stalking your snacks.
We really enjoyed visiting with friends from home. Thanks Lin and Russ for your vacation time spent with us.