Like I mentioned in the last blog, we were going to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary for the whole month of April. So the week after we got back from a great weekend in San Pedro, we hopped a flight up to Houston. From Houston, we headed over to the sunny shores of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a few days.

We have been to a lot of different places in Mexico before, but this was our first time in Puerto Vallarta. The main town was a little too busy and congested for us, but we had a great resort about 20 minutes south of all the hustle and bustle of the main city.

We did venture into the main part of town one day to do some shopping and check out the Malecon. The Malecon in Puerto Vallarta is pedestrian only and stretches for twelve blocks. It was a great morning walking along the beachfront checking out all the different shops, restaurants, and watching the street performers. We did get to see the  Papantla Pole Flyers which was quite a sight watching them climb a huge pole and then slowly spin upside down towards the ground.

And once again, since we were at the coast, we had to get our fill of seafood. We enjoyed calamari, shrimp a few different ways, grilled octopus, scallops tostadas, almond-crusted mahi mahi, tuna & mahi sashimi, and a couple of other great dishes.

We drove about 30 minutes south of our resort to Boca de Tomatlan. It is a great little cove with a couple of beachfront restaurants, a lot of water taxis, and other boats taking people out on different tours. We spent a couple of days there with the waves hitting our feet as we enjoyed some cold beers, Yellow Fin Tuna sashimi and just kicking back on the beach.

The weather was just perfect, not too hot during the day, and a cool Pacific Ocean breeze at night. And yes, we did sit around the pool and even had mimosas for breakfast. I know you’re trying to imagine us doing that, but yes we actually did. Anyway, we met a lot of new people and there is a chance we would go back again sometime as long as we stayed away from the main part of Puerto Vallarta. There are a bunch of great-looking quiet little beach towns north of the city that we wouldn’t mind checking out next time.

After getting enough beach time in Mexico we hopped a flight up to Phoenix to see some friends and especially the grandkids. The grandkids are growing up and changing so fast that it’s mind-boggling.

While we were up in Phoenix we had the chance to see Roger Clyne and PH Naffah of the Peacemakers do a small show at a bar I used to go to some 40 years ago. They had a special guest Mark Zubia of the Pistolero’s performing some of his old stuff and some new songs. Halfway through Roger’s set, Nick Scropos (bass player for the Peacemakers) showed up and joined them on stage. It was one of those shows where they were just goofing around and having fun.

We got to see our good friend Armond and meet his new wife Pam. We haven’t seen him in about seven years or so, but they had just moved to Arizona so we should be seeing a lot more of them in the future. It was only fitting since 40 years ago Armond was the best man at our wedding.

Our son and his wife have some classic cars and I really love helping them work on them when I’m up there. This time it was putting the motor back in the 59 Cadillac. We got the motor dropped in and then I helped button it up during the week while they were at work. We got it fired up just before we left, but like with anything that is 60+ years old, there were a couple of little setbacks.

They also recently acquired a 1948 all-original International pickup. He got the fuel tank back after being cleaned and flushed, then got it back into the truck. It didn’t take long for that old flathead motor to come back to life. I believe they are going to leave the truck just the way it is, which is very cool in my opinion.

While we were gone I had Ruben cut down a couple of big Cohune Palms that were overtaking the back patio. He saved the heart of palm out of them and was going to make tamales. We have never tried heart of palm tamales, but he said that they are delicious. Maybe in a few months, I’ll have him cut another one down just so we can give them a try.

April was a great fun filled month, but here it is May already, and time to get back to what we do. As soon as we got home it was time to pick bananas, cacao, coffee, and a few other things. Besides picking everything it’s also time to get new stuff planted. Since April and May are the hot dry months down here, everything is going to need a lot of water. With all the tending to the yard and such we should stay very busy for a while until we decide it’s time for another getaway.

Happy Cinco de Mayo! It was thirty years ago on Cinco de Mayo that we bought our house “Bedrock” in Cholla Bay, Mexico. It was also six years ago on Cinco de Mayo that we sold Bedrock and got ready for the big move to Belize. So today we will raise a glass of tequila to all of our friends we made throughout Mexico. Salud!!!