Jan 8-11

 We have been having very cloudy days, still warm though, never need a sweater or long sleeves. Have not had any great sunsets lately. Also we have not really seen any whale activity this year.

Funny though locals think it's cold. The lady who sells her homemade baked goods in the morning, yes Dave has bought some, was very bundled up the other morning. I was headed for my morning walk in shorts and tank top, she had on a winter coat, heavy scarf wrapped around neck, winter hat and gloves!

We have been enjoying the abundance of fresh fruit, but discovered you can't use fresh pineapple inside of pancakes. I thought it was a great idea, but they would not get done, just gooey and had to throw away, what a disappointment!

Had a delicious, lovely last dinner with Kylee at El Barracuda before she headed off to other destinations.  So fun to hear about her upcoming travels.

We had lunch at Los Lirios, one of our favorite places.

Have done many walks around and taken pictures of cute animals.

Looks like the "happy music playing bicycle man that puts a smile on everyone's face" got a new fancy bike!

Saw crocodiles in the river below the Malecon bridge!

We went to the zoo, have not been for years.

We took an uber to the zoo but walked through the town of Mismaloya to take the bus back.

Lunch at Pepe's Tacos, in centro, it was delish!

Jan 4-7

 We have been enjoying the wonderful weather, beach time, pool time, lots and lots of walking, reading, eating, getting caught up with our neighbors Wayne and Ian, visiting with Mo and Charlie at the pool who we just met this year, guess they were here last year. 

We had a beautiful dinner at Casa Isabel on Wednesday, we were served by Hector, who also works at a public park during the day, then waits tables here at night. 

Thursday we walked to the Marina, 6.5 miles! Can't believe we did it round trip a couple of times in the past. We had originally headed out to find and explore a farmers market behind Walmart, but we got a late start so decided to just go to the Marina. We will try the market again! Had lunch at Victors in the Marina, then took the bus back to town.

Friday- cleaning scheduled for 9:00 so we went to breakfast on the beach at El Dorado. Then walked to Ley's for some groceries.

Dinner at Cafe De Olla, snagged a table outside, always get a good greeting from one of the waiters, have no idea how they remember us!

Saturday- Went to the Farmers Market for some savory pies from the British Pie Man, bagels and some ground coffee, then and ran into Kylee while we were listening to the band playing and watching Rambo dance.

Walked the beach to La Playita for lunch, Kylee joined us, had a great time with her!

We have acquired a new pet.....a gecko Dave has named Jimmy. He is always hanging around! He basically greets us every time we arrive to the condo after being gone!

Made dinner in, burgers, slaw and potatoes.

Sunday- after breakfast we went out for a walk, going up the hill towards Casa Isabel, back down to walk along the river, crossed the river to check our a huge new condo on the other side. The security guard let us in to look around, very nice place, seems it is mostly empty and not completely finished.

After lunch in we went to the beach for a few hours, so quiet today, the crowds have really thinned.

Kylee joined us at Chictini for happy hour followed by tacos at Los Mojecties.

We have had a great relaxing first week! I even finished a great book, West with Giraffes.

Puerto Vallarta 2024

 We have arrived, actually a few days ago! Arrived on the 30th, airport was a zoo at baggage customs, took forever for cab to arrive at Villa Olivia due to traffic. We had a great chat with Denise at check in, found out owner Hubert and Mariette moved out and back to Montreal in October so Denise is running the place by herself and seemed very worn out. For their sake we hope they get the villa sold soon. Dinner was at Fajita Republic.

Sunday, New Years Eve Day. We had breakfast in our room then walked to the fish market for Mahi-Mahi, enough for the next 2 nights dinners that we planned to make to avoid the large crowds here for the holidays. After returning to our place to get fish in fridge walked the 3.5 miles to Costco and Lacomer for groceries, stopping along the way at Daves new favorite place, Yessi Huaraches for lunch. Both had a chicken tinga and a res hauraches and chatted with the owner who remembered us when we walked in. He is now growing and making huitlacoch, a fungus corn that he gave us a sample of, very good.

Costco was a zoo so we left and went to LaComer, also a zoo but manageable! 

We walked around a little before dinner.

Dinner on our balcony followed by amazing fireworks around the bay and a band going down our street!

Monday- Went for runs/walks, amazing how cleaned up the streets are after the big party last night.  Had lunch at Sea Monkey, the crowds are huge as well as the waves. Had pool time, very quiet at Villa Olivia, had pool to ourselves. Made dinner in again, fish tacos. 

Tuesday- breakfast at Freddy Tucans, walked around and bought delicious bread at the bakery by Collins Meat Market. Packed our lunch and beach stuff up and spent a few hours on the beach, crowds and waves continue to be huge. Yesterday there were ambulances heading to beach, we went down there and heard a lady telling people there was a rescue, 12 or so people made a human chain to help save someone, also read a report of a drowning, we just swim in the pool! Construction is going on in the slide site finally, reports are that the road will be put back in, fingers crossed, we love using it to walk to Conchas Chinas.

Dinner in again tonight. We have been playing cards and doing a lot of reading. Just enjoying really doing nothing but enjoying the weather, sand, walks, the sound of the surf!