Mexico

As I mentioned earlier, we were extremely fortunate to be able to go away this year to a hot destination! And I gotta say - I am kind of understanding what all the hype about vacationing is. While I have been a few different places around the world, as well as taken quite a few road trips with Tyler to different destinations, we have never been together on a holiday where our biggest worry is whether or not we forgot our towel cards in our room. Yep, it was that type of vacation. I'll give you an idea of how much relaxation went on - I cracked the cover of not one, not two, not three, but four books, and finished three of them (400 + pagers). That hasn't happened in...years! Even better, Tyler actually fought me to read the Hunger Games - and finished it in a couple of days! He even started the next one in the series. I don't know if in all the years I've known him he has ever read a fiction novel cover to cover, so this was very impressive.

So it all began last Saturday, when we were brought to the airport by Ty's parents in the afternoon. I was in the backseat next to Hudson, making him giggle and singing to him, because I know how much I would miss those things over the following week. Unfortunately he fell asleep just minutes before we pulled up to the departure ramp, so Ty wasn't able to say any real goodbyes to him.

A very unimpressed Hudson on the day we left.

 Once on the plane, Ty began to make conversation with the man sitting next to him, and lo and behold, he was once a fellow Rosenorter! His family doesn't live there anymore, but we found out he is the uncle of one of Ty's best friends from high school days. Seriously, a trip to Mexico wouldn't have been complete if we didn't meet at least one other person from Ty's teeny tiny (but oddly pervasive) hometown. The flight actually went by pretty quickly, especially because the staff were constantly offering us snacks, meals, champagne, and wine. Ty said to me, "Wow, if this is what the plane is like, can you imagine our resort?" He was a pretty happy clam with this all-inclusive business, needless to say.

Four and a half hours later, we bumped and skidded (seriously, most harrowing landing ever) our way into the aeropeurto in Peurto Vallarta, cleared customs without getting our suitcases ransacked, were met with a wall of steamy, dense air, found our bus, and were on our way to the Riu Vallarta! I took in the surroundings on our way from the airport, and it reminded me so much of the brief, but amazing, time I spent in Guatemala 9 years ago. In fact, one of the first things I spotted was a Pollo Campero. So there you go!

When we entered the front lobby, we already knew how much we were going to love staying there. Everything was very "art deco" and quite beautiful. We had absolutely no expectations going into it, but I think we would have been just as impressed even if we were seasoned vacationers. We (the two of us and a whole group of other travellers) had a quick orientation from the hotel manager, and then it was off to our room - as it was already almost 2:00am.

The view from one of the hallway windows - love those swayin' palm trees!

Hall.

The front lobby.

I've heard in some resorts you get a welcome bottle of wine. Or even some sort of napkin folded in the shape of a swan to greet you on your bed. Pillow mints wouldn't even have been out of the question. But instead, we were greeted with...sandwiches? It was a little strange, and I wasn't very tempted to eat it, as it was 2:00am and who knows how long they were waiting there to greet us, but I'll give an "A" for effort.

Meat. Cheese. Unrefrigerated. For 2+ days. No gracias!

I won't describe the goings-on of every day (seeing as they were a general rotation between buffet, beach, pool, and shows) but I'll highlight a few things:

One of my favorite days was Monday, the day after we arrived. We had heard in our orientation that there were going to be fireworks out in the water by the boardwalk in downtown Peurto Vallarta, so we headed out that evening to check things out. We found out from our Sunwing reps that we needed to take two buses to get to downtown, so we grabbed our map and caught the first one that drove past. We realized right away that there wasn't going to be very much clear communication going on, as this was a regular city bus, with a spanish-speaking bus driver, and our spanish-speaking abilities at that point were pretty much limited to hola, gracias, si, and no me gusta. It was clear we were going to have to do alot of pointing at our tiny map to get where we needed. Well, we made it to our second bus okay, but then we had to try to communicate that we needed to get off by the boardwalk - which they had no spanish word for on our map. In any case, our somewhat confused bus driver dumped us off where he perceived we were pointing to, which ended up being a dim, rundown area of Peurto Vallarta that looked like it wasn't really meant for tourists. We were told by many people that our area of Mexico was really quite safe - just as safe as Winnipeg, in fact. But I wouldn't want to be dumped off by a bus at night time at Higgins and Main either - get my drift? In any case, we were ready for an adventure, so we started off in the direction that made the most sense to us, and soon a man walking by took pity on us and asked us where we were headed (guess we looked a little lost!). We told him we were trying to get to the boardwalk, and it turns out it was only about five blocks away. After we found it, we decided to explore some of the shops along the cobblestoned strip.

Ty loved these skeletors! Unfortunately some were 1000 pesos apiece.

You'll understand the significance later!

We also wanted to see if we could find a restaurant called Pepe's Tacos, which had been recommended by our friend from the plane ride. While we were in a cigar shop the owner said that if we tried to get into Pepe's at that time of night, it would likely take over an hour and a half to get in, due to it's popularity. He recommended another restaurant, Gaby's, which was just around the corner and had excellent Mexican food. So we went there and had a great meal, and on a rooftop to boot!

After that, we explored the boardwalk a little more, and found out the reason why there were clusters of policia everywhere in the downtown area. Turns out el presidente was coming to town! This was also the reason for the fireworks, the crazy (but good!) Mexican bandstand/big screen, the roped off intersections, and the crowds of people. This was a bit of relief to me, as I wondered how safe a city could possibly be, if there had to be police trucks on every corner. But I loved being part of the throng! Nothing like a good throng.

Odd, but cool statues down by the malecon.

Very creepy picture of a headless Stefanie clicking her heels.

The fireworks started about 11:00pm, and they were incredible! Probably the best fireworks I've seen - next to Symphony of Fire. But it was a close rival. We were so glad we were around for that!

 Our next little excursion off of the resort was an hour-each-way trek down the beach to the markets. It definitely felt like a long way to go on sand (at least one activity besides the aquarobics was burning off some of the daily guacamole and pancakes!), but it was a lovely walk to take at sunset, and the markets were pretty neat. And I was much better at bartering than I thought! Must be all those episodes of Pawn Stars floating to the surface.

Aquafit in the pool. Can you find me?

Doing a silly dance on the way to the market.

Poor little puffer.

Bartering for a wrestling mask.

 Unfortunately after we arrived back to our room, I realized I had been struck with a certain...health issue that would not resolve without the immediate consumption of antibiotics. No, it was not TD - but it was seriously uncomfortable (ok...horribly painful) and if not dealt with, could turn serious. We had a reservation at the resort's Asian restaurant, and we were very hungry after our market trek, so we decided to go anyway, and then we would stop at the front desk to see what they could suggest for getting medication.

However, we were not even a few minutes into our meal, and I knew I couldn't make it any longer. So we left our table, and went to the front desk, where he called us a cab so that I could find a farmacia to get some meds from. Problem? No prescription. But we were in Mexico, and I had seen signs at certain places advertising meds with no prescription (even narcotics, like Tramadol, were just sittin' on the shelf next to the Advil!), but just not antibiotics.
Anyways, in seconds a cab driver pulled up. Well, I assumed it was cab driver. It was actually an unmarked truck. But he seemed to know the staff at the resort, so I figured it was all good. And I was desperate. I probably would have ridden in the basket of a squeaky bicycle with a leering, toothless, moustached man at that point, if he promised to get me to where the drugs were!
First we were brought to the closest pharmacy in proximity, and while our cab driver (who blessedly spoke perfect english) waited for us, me and Ty scrambled into the building (me in my short dress and high heels and him in his dress clothes - no time to change). I went up to the counter, and met the pharmacist, who spoke a little english. Somehow we managed to communicate, and I discovered that in order to get antibiotics, I would need a prescription. Fiddlesticks. So back into the cab we hopped and asked the driver to go to a clinic that the pharmacist had directed us to, in order to get a Rx. We drove past the clinic, saw that all the lights were out, and knew it was closed. Wah-wow. What then? Sensing my dismay, the driver asked what I was looking for. I told him I needed medication - but I did not have a prescription. He thought for a moment, said "Ok!" and then peeled back into traffic. Soon though, traffic thinned and all of a sudden we were edging through dark, pot-holed alleys, and I realized that if anything were to go awry, Ty and I would really be prime pickings! After a silent prayer or two, the driver thankfully pulled back into a lit area, and parked at another pharmacy. Again, Ty and I scrambled inside to the counter, and again I pleaded for the pharmacist to help me. She looked a little incredulous at first when I said I needed medication, but did not have a prescription - however, after I clarified that it was antibiotics that I needed, she said that would be ok. Thank you Jesus!! First thing I tried was spelling out co-trimoxazole for her, but that was a no go. So I opted for Cipro, another one that I was hoped would work - even though last time I was on it, it did nothing for me. We paid, and then were outta there, and back on the road to the resort!

Determined to get a pretty picture of my favorite dress despite the discomfort!

Didn't really happen though. Couldn't crack a decent smile.

After all that, we were exhausted, but unfortunately I was only getting sicker, even after I double dosed myself with the first round of meds. I was praying as hard as I could that these meds would work this time around, because I didn't know how I would be able to make it through that night and into the next day before I could see a doctor who would give me another medication to try. My problem was getting worse by the minute, and I thought there was a good chance the antibiotics were not doing  their job. But finally(again, praise Jesus!!), about five hours later (1:00am) I finally started to feel a little better, and was able to relax enough to sleep for a couple hours. And then by the next afternoon, I knew the medication was working, and I could get on with enjoying my vacation!
The one downside was that the antibiotic caused me to develop photo-sensitivity - which means with any sun exposure, I would break into a red, itchy rash. My feet confirmed this when I accidentally had them sticking out of the shade for a few minutes in the heat of the day. So this meant that I would have to spend the rest of my time soaked in sunscreen (or decked out in my awesome poncho), and keep myself shaded. But when one is in Mexico, lying under a palm tree on a beach chair with the waves crashing all around, one mustn't complain!

Hangin' out in the shade with my mango-on-a-stick that my sweet hubby got for me (with a mix of pesos, american cash, and canadian coins - they kept saying down there, "Money is money!" Wonder if I could say that up here and use up my extra pesos?).

So - those were basically our experiences away from regular resort life. The rest of the trip was wonderful too! There was nightly entertainment, daily beach volleyball matches (all Ty on that one!), fantastic staff, good food, beautiful weather, and an amazing husband to spend it all with. It was incredible to spend that time with Ty, and only Ty, and refocus on us. I love that we are at the very base of it all, great friends. We talked alot, laughed even more, relaxed in comfortable silence, and just enjoyed one another. I think we needed this. We missed our third little family member like crazy though, and the last day and a half I wasn't much for company, because I was really quite ready to get home to Hudson, and regular life altogether.

First day at the resort. We didn't take many pictures of the room, but it was really nice. Can't beat an ocean view, and letting the sound of crashing waves lull you to sleep!

Fountain in the court yard.

Superstar hubby and his daily beach volleyball matches.

Cesar, posing for the "paparazzi", as he called me. He was my favorite of the entertainment crew.

Sweet pool chairs!

PV is on the Pacific - so we didn't get aqua waters like on the Caribbean side of Mexico, but it was still fun to play in!

Mmm, handsome!

We took several strolls by the water at night time. There was always really eerie buzzing/chirping going on and lots of pointy things in the sand. But it was still soooo nice!

Part of the aquafit class.

"Hey you, wanna take a picture of something weird?" Muscleman pose. Click! "Five dollars please!"

Hotel lobby.

I only could get poor pictures, but this was the Grease show the dancers put on for us. It was great! I'm quite happy I left the camera in the room for the one night that I whipped out my bra to help out the guys team in a Men vs. Women audience participation show!

Our second last night - enjoying it while I still could!

 The flight back was not especially awesome, due to the fact that it was an overnight flight on an extremely crowded airplane, but what can you do? Oh, I should mention that another Rosenort couple (a different one than the first) were on our plane ride home with us! Typical!

And then we had a big surprise waiting for us at the airport! We were told that Ty's dad would be there at 5:15am to get us (gracious man!), but when we got through the doors, there was also my mom and Hudson waiting for us too! I was so happy to have that boy in my arms again. he gave me the cold shoulder for about a minute, but soon warmed up, and I got the hugs I had been waiting for.

So happy first vacation to us! Hoping there will be more to come!