Yes, the time has finally come to leave the snowy northern climate and go on that 2 week holiday in Mexico! I had trepidation at leaving the home & native land for so long, but we paid for the tickets… so off we go. Dayna’s dad rented a three bedroom condo in Bucerias, so he (Barrie) & his wife Helen, the three of us (Dayna & Dean, Eric) and Dayna’s brother and family (David & Jennifer, Drew, Matt, Emily) are all going to spend two weeks there in the sun by the ocean.
So the flight is at 07h00 on Wednesday the 22nd. That means that I start to pack Tuesday, right? Well I did do some on Monday, as we had an ERLPhase Christmas party on Tuesday evening (Celebrations, was good!). We scramble to get some last minute packing done, then crash around say 23h30. Well, Eric didn’t crash, he still had laundry to do (a man after me own heart!). We’re up at 03h30, had a stretch limo show up at the house at 04h15, off to airport. Why a stretch limo? Well any old limo would do – but a stretch is what they sent. With the three of us and our big suitcases (yikes we have dozens of suitcases but we must have picked the three largest ones!), we did not want to ride with suitcases on our laps.
Anyway, a quick trip to the airport, check in, through security, and… ugh, wait wait wait! Check this out, do I look tired, or what? Fighting it, but in vain…
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| Half asleep in airport, waiting for departure! |
We had a direct Westjet flight from Winnipeg to Puerto Vallarta, nice nice. The flight was good (no real food though), even most of the children on the flight were behaved (wow there were quite a few children, let me tell you). I could not sleep, actually I rarely sleep on planes, oh well. We arrived in Puerto Vallarta (nice airport), and met Barrie & Helen there. Now, Dave & Jennifer & co. were arriving two or three hours later (they flew Air Canada through Toronto), and you have a choice of a taxi to take up to three people, or a van to take seven. Helen took a taxi with Eric and I and all our luggage, with Dayna & Barrie to wait for the others and take a van. It worked out well. We got to eat lunch and get started on the beer, before everyone else arrived!
I got unpacked and had a snooze before the others arrived. We wandered down to the ocean, dipped our toes in, then back for dinner. Eric wandered off and got a dozen Coronas, “just to get us started.” Hmm, best vacation ever, I’m starting to think!
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| Beer and lunch! What more could you ask for? |
After dinner, we went for a walk down the beach to the town square. They have what passed for a Christmas tree here in Mexico, actually it’s OK although it looks somewhat out of place amongst all the green vegetation.
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| Let the ocean wash your worries away! |
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| The waves feel good on the feet. |
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| Looking down the beach towards the city centre of Bucerias |
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| Christmas tree in the town square in Bucerias |
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| Looking back from a foot bridge in Bucerias out onto the ocean |
We all turned in early, by about 21h00. It turns out that Eric has to sleep in the living room, as does Matt, Eric on a futon and Matt on the sofa. So once it’s their bed time, we might as well all retire.