Viny and I got home just at dark today, we left the car full of stuff, we will get it out tomorrow.  We had a wonderful trip, I will try to write a somewhat complete description over the next few days, as it will take a while, and I have other things to do.  I have already watched last Sunday night's The Good Wife, it was good, as always, about my favorite television show.

We left here just before ten on Monday morning, last week.  I was determined to avoid driving through Mexico City, as we almost always have trouble with the police there when driving.  So, we drove to Cuernavaca, headed north, through Huitzilac and past Lagunas de Zempoala, and on to Toluca.  We got onto the toll road to Guadalajara without any problems, and headed west.

The toll booths seem to come every few minutes, with tolls ranging from maybe 11 pesos to 150, each time.  So, it add up.

My driver's side windshield wiper was not working well when we left, I knew that before we left, but this is not the rainy season.  However, it rained some.  I find it difficult to replace my windshield wipers, or I would do it more often, such as when they need replacing.  Also, my gas gauge does not work properly most of the time.  Sometimes it seems to work fine, and then it will suddenly drop to zero with the warning light on, and that of course concerns me, so I try to fill up when this happens, unless I am pretty sure I have plenty of gas.  When I do fill up, it usually stays on empty until the following day, for some reason.

It was a four land divided highway for the most part from Toluca to Guadalajara.  This side of Guadalajara, we stopped at a Subway and ate.  We wanted to spend the night somewhere around Guadalajara.  We bypassed Guadalajara on the highway.  I saw a nice looking motel, I think named Kar, but passed it by, as we still had some daylight and I wanted to go a little further.  We headed toward Tepic, I asked the girl in the toll booth if there were any hotels on the toll road, she said, no, we would have to take one of the exits.  So, we took the first exit, which just happened to be Tequila.  This is also a magic town.  We liked it a lot.  I feel a little disloyal in saying this, as I love our little Tepoztlan, but Tequila is much prettier.  I think it is more prosperous, the streets and buildings downtown are in much better shape.  We found a little place to stay and walked around some and had supper.

The next morning, we drove to Tepic.  We could have taken a shorter route, down the mountains before Tepic, but we decided to go on to Tepic.  The road was better, this way, I think.  We came back the other way.  From Tepic we then turned and went down the coast to PV.

The first part of our trip, around Huitzilac and past the Lagunas de Zempoala, were beautiful, with hugh pine trees still filled with bromeliads and ferns, no sign of the dry season there.  And the latter part of our trip, down the mountains through the palms and banana trees, was also extremely beautiful.  We did not actually see the ocean until PV.

We got to PV just after noon, found our hotel, put on our shorts, and headed to the beach to find Greg and Gordon.  They were there, with Doug.

We only had one day of sun, Saturday, after Greg and Gordon left on Friday.  It was cloudy again on Sunday.  One of the days we left the beach when it started sprinkling, and on our walk of several blocks to our hotel, there was a downpour.  The streets were several inches deep with water, we had to just wade through it, as it would be that way for a while.  We finally got to our room and showered and put on dry clothes again.

One evening Doug fixed a wonderful dinner for us at his beautiful house in Conchas Chinas.  He has lived there since October.  Or rather, in this house since October, he has had two previous homes there.

His house is six levels, we only saw four.

This is Gordon, Viny and Greg in Doug's living room.

This is Gordon.

This is Viny on the beach.

A little portion of the beach.

This is Doug's pool in the foreground, some of his neighbors in the background, with the ocean.

This is by Doug's pool, with his house on the right.  Just to the left of center is his wonderful little dog, Max, a Habanese.  Until he starts walking, it is sometimes hard to tell which end is which.  

I guess there are two bedrooms on each floor, perhaps one on the main floor, with the living room and kitchen.  The living room has large doors which completely open towards the pool, the living room is two stories tall.  It is called the Palapa House, as the outside has the palapa palms roofs.

Each of the bedrooms has balconies and views of the ocean.  Also huge bathrooms and closets.

This is looking back to his living room.

Doug in his kitchen, with Greg.

Viny and Gordon.

One of his chandiliers, I wanted the photos, they are somewhat simple steel, but with some crystals tied to them, for a nice touch.  

Gordon and Greg on the beach, playing cards.  Greg always brings the tablecloths.

Gordon, Doug, Greg, me.

Viny and I drove south to the PV Botanical Gardens, it was more than worth the trip.  We have many of the plants we saw there, and how we have this one.  I hope it survives.  

There were many orchids in bloom, I thought the color of this one was especially nice.

I had not seen Larry Wade for a few years, it was great to see him again.  He had several Canadian friends and I hung around with them after Greg and Gordon left, both on the beach and for dinner.  One night we went to a little Mexican place.  Our 18 year old waitress, the daughter of the owners, has this little baby girl, and Larry held her for a remarkably long time, maybe 25 minutes, before she finally wanted her mother again.  

Paul, who is from Germany, Tony, from Guyana, and Dale, all three of whom live in Montreal.

Dale again, and Luigi, from Italy, and Olivier, from France, all live in Montreal.

Viny and I had breakfast at La Palapa.  I think Greg would like to eat there every morning, but he only got to once this trip, I think.  I took these photos of one of their rectangular palapas, to remind myself that palapas don't have to be round.

Above my breakfast, below, that of Viny.  Excellent food.  I love La Palapa.  And next door, Dorado, has been totally remodeled, I did not get to try it this time, maybe next time.

After five nights in PV, Viny and I left and drove to Tlaquepaque and found our B&B, La Casa del Retoño.  While I have been to Tlaquepaque several times, it has been years since my last visit.  It has changed a lot, and for the better.  I loved it before, but it is just beautiful now.  The shopping is great, but pricey.  I just mainly look there.  There is a three block stretch of shops that I think must be the Rodeo Drive of Mexico.  But, instead of clothing, it is furniture and decorative items.  Beautiful things that I do not see elsewhere.  And the buildings themselves are beautiful.  

Viny.

Our B&B has a little dog, Benji, who is 14 and went bling from glaucoma three years ago.  They also have this two year old rabbit, named Rabbit by their little daughter, who roams the place freely.  He or she is quite tame, this is Viny petting him or her.

More shots of the beautiful shopping street.

Two of the beautiful buildings.

One of the kiosks in one of the squares.

This morning we headed for home.  We stopped at the place below for lunch.  We got lost in Toluca trying to find the right highway to avoid Mexico City again, and wasted an hour or two, but we found our way home, after asking various people along the ways.  We will do it all over again, we hope, in a year, and we will do better next time, although it all turned out great this time.