January 30
7:30! I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked at my watch again! Yep, it was 7:30 and I hadn't slept in this long for a great while. I got out of bed quietly and went to the bathroom. The water was hot and the water pressure in the shower was great. After dressing myself in summer clothes - shorts, a light top, and sandals, I headed out.
On the open balcony of our floor was, as there was on all 4 levels of the hotel, a 20 litre bottle of purified water. As I was filling my water bottle, I glanced out at the ocean to see if the waves pounding in on the shore were as large as they must have been from the sound they made crashing in on the beach. About 500 metres off shore, I saw a dorsal fin break the surface of the water of Banderas Bay. It was followed quickly in order by 3 more fins. Soon you could make out the forms of 4 orca whales as they made their way north in the bay as they rose and fell while moving forward with their powerful flippers.
So the first full day in PV was off to an auspicious start! I made my way down to the beach and experienced the sound and the fury of the waves from closeup. The red flag was flying to warn people about not entering the water. Besides the ferocity of the waves, there was the danger of a strong undertow during high wave times.I took a few mental pictures and many camera photos but the photos do little justice to the power the ocean was exhibiting.
Back in the room Patti had wakened and got ready for our shopping expedition to Lays Supermercado a sort block away from our hotel. As we had no refrigerator in our room, the first item on our list was a styrofoam cooler with a lid. Because we would be in PV for 3 weeks, we planned on eating most of our meals in our room, with the occasional dining out experience. It can be expensive to eat in PV if you patronize the tourist reastaurants. Fortunately there are many places to dine if you are willing to eat at the places the Mexicans eat at, and the prices are substantially lower.
After filling our cart with all our supplies and buying a large bag of ice, we headed back to our hotel and set up our cooler and foodstuffs and refreshments. We enjoyed a sandwich kind of meal and then while Patti and her sisters went exploring some shops in PV, I went down to the pool for some sun and water exercising.
At 6:00 p.m. we were meeting at CC's down by the pier in Old Vallarta. This meant a walk of a mile and half for me. So I left at 4:00 p.m and slowly made my way down the Malecon taking in all the sights and sounds and aromas and at my pace which is rather painfully slow at times because of my spinal stenosis.
I arrived before the appointed time and soon there were14 of us sharing 3 tables on the beach with the waves breaking not far away on the shore. The custom for the group is to toast the sunset. But on this night it was not to be as the sunset was hidden by a large cloudbank far out on the Pacific.
The group then decided to eat out and we all headed inland a bit to the Fajita Republic.
There we had to break up into smaller groups because there was no table available to accomodate all of us.The food was excellent, the service was great but we all felt rushed - there was a lineup on the street waiting for tables. As the restaurant is open to the street one feels that one shouldn't dawdle. As well I felt the price was too high. But since we wouldn't be doing this too often, we tried to enjoy ourselves.
Most of the others were going to walk back along the Malecon to our hotel but I couldn't see me doing another long walk. I took a bus for 7.5 pesos, about $0.75 and I was soon back at the hotel. I typed up my January 29 blog, worked on a New York Times crossword (in pen), read a little from my novel on my Kobo, and then shut it down for the night.
7:30! I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked at my watch again! Yep, it was 7:30 and I hadn't slept in this long for a great while. I got out of bed quietly and went to the bathroom. The water was hot and the water pressure in the shower was great. After dressing myself in summer clothes - shorts, a light top, and sandals, I headed out.
On the open balcony of our floor was, as there was on all 4 levels of the hotel, a 20 litre bottle of purified water. As I was filling my water bottle, I glanced out at the ocean to see if the waves pounding in on the shore were as large as they must have been from the sound they made crashing in on the beach. About 500 metres off shore, I saw a dorsal fin break the surface of the water of Banderas Bay. It was followed quickly in order by 3 more fins. Soon you could make out the forms of 4 orca whales as they made their way north in the bay as they rose and fell while moving forward with their powerful flippers.
So the first full day in PV was off to an auspicious start! I made my way down to the beach and experienced the sound and the fury of the waves from closeup. The red flag was flying to warn people about not entering the water. Besides the ferocity of the waves, there was the danger of a strong undertow during high wave times.I took a few mental pictures and many camera photos but the photos do little justice to the power the ocean was exhibiting.
Back in the room Patti had wakened and got ready for our shopping expedition to Lays Supermercado a sort block away from our hotel. As we had no refrigerator in our room, the first item on our list was a styrofoam cooler with a lid. Because we would be in PV for 3 weeks, we planned on eating most of our meals in our room, with the occasional dining out experience. It can be expensive to eat in PV if you patronize the tourist reastaurants. Fortunately there are many places to dine if you are willing to eat at the places the Mexicans eat at, and the prices are substantially lower.
After filling our cart with all our supplies and buying a large bag of ice, we headed back to our hotel and set up our cooler and foodstuffs and refreshments. We enjoyed a sandwich kind of meal and then while Patti and her sisters went exploring some shops in PV, I went down to the pool for some sun and water exercising.
At 6:00 p.m. we were meeting at CC's down by the pier in Old Vallarta. This meant a walk of a mile and half for me. So I left at 4:00 p.m and slowly made my way down the Malecon taking in all the sights and sounds and aromas and at my pace which is rather painfully slow at times because of my spinal stenosis.
I arrived before the appointed time and soon there were14 of us sharing 3 tables on the beach with the waves breaking not far away on the shore. The custom for the group is to toast the sunset. But on this night it was not to be as the sunset was hidden by a large cloudbank far out on the Pacific.
The group then decided to eat out and we all headed inland a bit to the Fajita Republic.
Most of the others were going to walk back along the Malecon to our hotel but I couldn't see me doing another long walk. I took a bus for 7.5 pesos, about $0.75 and I was soon back at the hotel. I typed up my January 29 blog, worked on a New York Times crossword (in pen), read a little from my novel on my Kobo, and then shut it down for the night.
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