On Monday the 30th we went with our friends Bill & Brenda on “Tahnoo” to a local rodeo.(the 1st National Charro Championship – D) We shared the ride in a taxi to a brand new stadium up by Las Palmas. It was a lovely ride through the countryside and little villages. Then, the driver turned off on this dirt road out into the middle of nowhere!! He kept going & going & going, and we realized we would have to have him come pick us up afterwards because there was no way we were walking all the way back out to the road to get a bus back. Here in the middle of nowhere was this brand new rodeo stadium!! Go figure! It was interesting, to say the least. There weren’t that many people there and I have to say, they weren’t terribly skilled cowboys. Everybody was having a good time though. They took a break after about an hour and the break lasted for over an hour. The cowboys were mingling with their families in the stands and drinking LOTS of tequila. (The gentleman in the seats in front of us insisted on sharing his with us -D) This was the last day of the rodeo and I think they were more performing and having fun than competing. (I more than think – D) They had their kids riding on horses around the ring and the young boys playing with their lariats. Aside from that the food was great :-). Our taxi driver, Oscar, came to pick us up perfectly. Yay! (Our camara batts were dead, so unfortunately didn’t get any pics.)
We moved into the marina here in La Cruz on Sunday, before the Super Bowl started, to do some things on the boat and take some day trips on land without worrying about Journey going “walk about”.
We enjoyed the Super Bowl at the restaurant here in the marina with all you can eat tacos and all you could drink beers & margaritas for 140 pesos each (wow) (About $12 - D). A great time was had by all. We called our friends, Don & Amanda, whom we have been going to their home for super bowl party every year until now ( It seems like forever, great memories – D), and talked to all our friends there. That was fun!
I got to sing with a band at a restaurant called “The Britannia Pub” last Tuesday night and will get to sing with them again. There is another restaurant in town that does karaoke, so have been having fun with that too.
We took the bus to Nuevo Vallarta to visit the Paradise Village Marina to see what it would mean to bring Journey over there. It is really nice. It is very touristy and full of resorts and condos. The marina is part of the Paradise Village Resort. You get to use the resort and all its amenities when you stay there. It will be fun to stay there for a while.
As it is with cruising, you keep running across folks that you’ve gotten to know. We were coming back from a bus trip and saw some folks waiving at us on the street. As we got closer, we saw that it was our friends from the boat “Shanti Ana”, Bill, Shanti & Keene. If you remember our stories from La Paz of Keene playing guitar in “The Shack” restaurant, that’s them. Anyway, they finally made it here and had just arrived. So, it is nice to get back together with them. Keene & I are going to work on a couple songs to perform together.
We also got together with some friends, John & Gilly, whom we met through Yvonne years ago. They left for Mexico on their boat “Destiny” in 2007 with the “Ha-Ha” and we had met them at the HMBYC that Labor Day. I had also met Gilly with Yvonne on our boat that year before they left. They were on the “Ha-Ha” this year after having spent the summer in San Diego, so we got to chat with them then. They have a condominium here in Punta de Mita (which is just south of La Cruz). So we took a bus over there and met them at their place. (The buses here are an ongoing source of adventure, entertainment and occasional white knuckle experience. Like crossing over to the wrong side of the road to avoid a speed bump in heavy traffic and they do love speed bumps here, they come in all sizes, shapes and colors – D) We walked down to the main road there in Punta de Mita and had a lovely lunch. They had plans in La Cruz that evening and their boat is in the La Cruz harbor, so they drove us back over here. They are going to be staying on their boat and cruising around the Banderas Bay and participating in the Regatta here in March.
(We also continued to eat our way through La Cruz, there is a lot of great food here. More on this in the next blog –D)
We had the stainless steel on the boat cleaned and treated by some locals for only $120 US dollars (THE WHOLE BOAT)! (A team of five all day – well worth it – did a great job – D)
I got to talk to my Ya Ya Sisters last night, Fri. night, on the phone at their get together. What a treat! Thanks ladies for the early “Happy Birthday” serenade! Love you all.
We are going to stay here in the marina for the next week at the most and then move back out to the anchorage. Stay Tuned…….
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