My Day So Far ...

I got up early this morning (8AM) and donned my running shoes for a long, power walk on the Malecon. I took the stairs at the top of Fca. Rodriguez and nearly killed myself! They are all mossy and slimey from the rainy season ... I won't be doing that again soon. There was still quite a bit of water around from last night's rain. I guess it continued on into the night and early morning hours although it had stopped by the time I left Que?Pasa last night around 10PM.

So I hiked up Ignacio Vallarta, over the bridge, to the Malecon and up all the way to the Rosita and back to the dolphin statue in front of Los Arcos. That is considered "one lap". I did two and came back behind Los Arcos and across the new bridge. The sand in front of the Molina de Agua was hard packed because of the rain so it was kind of nice to run on. I think I was gone less than an hour but I was sweating when I got home.

Did a few stretches, took a shower and brought my breakfast of mango yogurt and banana down here to check my emails. Then Andrea called. Once I got business out of the way, I headed over to check out my new digs effective October 15th. Kevin called and said he was up (he is home late because he owns "La Noche", a really cool martini/cocktail bar). I wanted to see the apartment again because it has been a while since I was in it.

Getting in is a bit tricky in the rainy season. More slippery, slime and wet leaves on the stairs but I managed. It is going to be really nice once the rains stop. Pray for an early end to the rainy season will you? So, for those of you that don't know, the apartment has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 entrances, 2 living rooms, shared kitchen/dining room, washer/dryer, cable TV, phoneline and high speed internet cable. I will be sharing with my friend Colleen. :)

After I left there (the place is in chaos because Kevin is packing!), I went to the San Franciscan Hotel at the top of Olas Altas and Pilitas. I met with the owner, David Rhodes, and got a tour of the facilities. This is a great place to stay! Beautiful, well appointed rooms, great location, pool, gym, yoga classes, beauty shop, etc. The link is www.san-franciscan.com. David and I sat and chatted for hours about mutual friends. This is NOT an exclusively gay hotel but rather an adult only hotel. Unfortunately, it is not equipped for small children. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a short or long term stay in southside Vallarta!

To continue ... yesterday was an action-packed day! I came home for lunch and met the new guests from Colorado who arrived at 2PM. BTW, it was snowing in Fort Collins when they left ... LOL!!! After deciding on a room for the next three weeks, I offered to show them where the grocery store was so we all walked over to Rizo's. I left them at the small restaurant across the street while I picked up a few things and then joined them for a Coca Light before heading back to Casa Andrea. I tried to "siesta" (is that verb?) but couldn't sleep.

I finally got up, made a few phone calls and headed over to Que?Pasa for some of Brenda's home cooking but she wasn't in. Then I walked down to Viva so say hi to my workmates. Tried to locate another friend for dinner and he wasn't home. Now I didn't know what to do! A lot of my favourite places are closed for September, with most re-opening on October 15th. So I decided on Greek food and went over to Karpathos for their Combination Plate! Yummy! After a fabulous dinner and a glass of wine, the owners, Ruben and Soccorro, arrived so I had another glass of wine while we sat around, chatting about everything that has happened since we last saw each other.

Coco offered to drive me home in her brand new SUV. Unfortunately, she is still not entirely comfortable with the standard transmission and the steep hill up to Casa Andrea proved too much for her. The road was slick from rain run off and when she put the truck into reverse, she lost control of the vehicle and it slammed in the high curb on the other side of the street and slid down a few stairs. She could not get it unstuck! I ran back to the restaurant to get Ruben and, with the help of all the neighbours, we managed to get her back on the road. The back bumper looked a little bent but everyone was OK. The whole neighbourhood came out to help and that is how I found out the mother of the woman who owns the laundromat I frequent lives across the street! Vallarta is SUCH a small town ... really! :)