I seem to be on an every 2 (or 3) week blog posting schedule. I was thinking of posting weekly but I am loathe to be on the computer so much. On the other hand all the goings on are more fresh in my mind if I post weekly. Hmm, you will all just have to wait and see where I land on this. I am also looking at buying the domain for the blog so there won’t be all those irritating ads. Stay tuned for that as well.

So what have we been up to? Nick continues to live his best life and spends his days as a man of leisure while I toil away at work. Kinda true, kinda not. He is busy sourcing all the things we need like a new phone charger, groceries, a wireless keyboard and when he isn’t doing that then he’s chilling out and researching bike routes for us to take. Or places to stay. I on the other hand have a 2 hour time change with work so I start early and take a bigger break in the mid morning or afternoon for a bike ride and then close out the day in the evening. By then it’s almost 7pm and we head out to wander the neighborhoods.

We stayed in CDMX until January 6th and then hopped on an overnight bus to Puerto Escondido. The bike ride to the Northern bus station was an adrenaline rush to say the least as we were in rush hour traffic and going through tunnels, multiple lanes of traffic, and merging into larger thoroughfares. It was a little stressful on heavy bikes but while the cars, buses, and motorcycles drive very fast they were also courteous and gave us way. Except for the taxis; they’re a bunch of assholes.

The bus to the coast was 12 hours and largely uneventful. Our bus driver was super cranky and we were told we couldn’t bring Nicks pannier on the bus and it had to go in the hold. No real reason from what I can tell. So we got settled and decided to lie and tell him that I have medication in the bag. So I got off the bus and told him a bullshit story about my health and tada I got the bag. We played some scrabble, went to sleep and woke up gloriously warm on the coast. Away with our sweaters and scarves! Jammed to the bottom of the bags!

We stayed on Playa Zicatela for 8 days in a little hotel about a block from the beach. It was okay; very clean rooms and all the mod cons but there were just little things that were not as advertised that set my teeth on edge. One was the internet, it was very spotty and considering we explicitly asked about a strong connection for my work it was disappointing. So I was a wandering remote worker, overstaying my welcome in cafes all over town.

And it was HOT. So wonderful. We would ride in the morning before it hit 30 degrees and then I would go to work and Nick would go do his thing. We ate out a few times but mainly cooked at the hotel. One place we ate at was Persia in La Punta. So good! If you like Persian food and are in La Punta, eat there. The Zicatela market at the top of the hill is also very good. About a dozen restaurants to choose from and the views are amazing.

As our days on the coast wound down, I started to look forward to our return to San Miguel (SMA). I just feel at home here and really appreciate the modern conveniences that inland colonial cities have. We have two house sits booked in SMA, one for 5 days in the area Ojo de Agua which is in a very hilly area of beautiful homes and then 4 weeks just around the valley in a gated community. Both are walking distance to town and I am happy to be settling in one place for a while.

So back on the bus for us; first to CDMX on the overnight bus and then transfer to another bus to SMA. On thing to note, you have to buy a bus ticket from Puerto Escondido to the South terminal in CDMX; it’s the only option. But just stay on the bus and it will continue to the North station. This is on the ETN bus lines. Our bus left at 6:30pm and we arrived in SMA at 2pm the next day. Ugh. We were looking (and smelling, I imagine) rough by the time we cycled up to our sit.

Now it’s time to settle in; reconnect with friends we made last time, Nick is going to take a painting class, and I am finding a gym to go to. And I found a hiking group, hopefully getting out on the weekends.

We spent another 10 days or so in Bucerias and continued to explore the area by foot and on our bikes. I am working during the day so it means an early start on the bikes and then usually followed by an evening walk. We also started watching sunset from Sara’s amazing rooftop and it was super fun to go up there with Sara and her pups to take it in.

There is a beach walk that starts at the south end of the beach in Bucerias and it ends in Nuevo Vallarta. You have to be committed at the beginning as there is no exit once you are on it and round trip from home was just under 13km. It is a fairly flat beach though so easy walking and we opted to take the road back and walk through Nuevo. Obviously morning is better before the heat sets in and I still had time to eat, shower and be ready for work.

We did a few early inland rides out to a coffee shop we found. It’s called Proyecto Darwin and it is a coffee roaster/shop, gallery space, and climate action advocate. It’s located on the highway towards Valle de Banderas in a rural area but the space itself is very peaceful; there is great music playing, good food, and amazing coffee. The buildings are a mix of wood and metal and the vibe is very chill. As is true in all Mexican establishments there are the resident cats and dogs just hanging out.

The ride out to Punta de Mita was great, I hadn’t been out there before and I had a picture in my mind of what it would be like. It wasn’t like anything I imagined. First, the road out is pretty hilly and the cars drive fast. Very fast. Thankfully the road is pretty wide and the shoulder was in pretty good shape. I thought it was going to be a bustling upscale community since it services all the fancy resorts out there. Instead it is a pretty depressing town with not much to offer outside of the beachfront which is filled with hawkers and restaurants. We did stop for breakfast which was very good and had a great view.

Punta de Mita is on a point and it has been bought up by developers so now it is all gated golf communities and regular folk can’t access the waterfront for a large part of it. Granted it is pretty rough waters out there and the beaches are rocky. The surfers love it though and both La Cruz and Punta de Mita have a big surf culture. Round trip the ride was about 55km and once we reached Bucerias we went straight into the ocean for a cool down.

Later that evening we went to the local tienda to watch the world go by. We bought a couple beer and sat on the curb and before we knew it we were surrounded by the local dogs who all came to visit. It’s amazing how friendly most dogs are down here these days, I always have my guard up after years of being chased by them but so far I’ve only been chased twice on my bike.

We were slated to leave on the 29th and Nick sorted out bus tickets for us to take the 11 hour ride overnight to San Miguel de Allende. We couldn’t figure out if this particular bus line would let us take our bikes so one morning we rode out to the station to ask and our instructions were to dismantle them and wrap them in paper. No joke, paper. Yeah.. that’s not going to happen. So instead we just arrived on the 29th, popped the tires off and taped some padding onto them and we were good to go – no problem.

The first class buses in Mexico are pure comfort. The seats are super wide and recline almost completely and the bathrooms are top notch. We had a great sleep and in the morning we were just pulling into Leon and got to see the sights as the sun came up. We have travelled through this area before but it has been about 9 years now. It looks the same in the countryside but the urban area have certainly grown. The bus pulled in to San Miguel de Allende (SMA) at 11am and when we stepped off the bus it was freezing out compared to the coast.

I get my first daily wake up call at about 5am by way of a dog barking across the street. This in turn alerts the roosters who take up the torch and the morning cacophony begins. I generally get up around 6:30 as the sky is turning pink; I make coffee and head to the roof to watch the sunrise and listen to the town come alive. It’s a glorious way to start the day. Then I am usually out the door by 8am to walk the beach or go for a bike ride. This morning Nick and I explored by bike and then we stopped for tacos. Tacos for breakfast is also a glorious thing.

We definitely arrived in the shoulder season and last week there were not a lot of gringos in town. But a planeload arrived on Sunday and it is decidedly busier in town. It’s great for the local businesses who really rely on tourism to pull them through the year. Our friends from Dawson City and Vancouver also arrived and we are busy getting caught up and making plans for sunset meet ups. Otherwise, we have settled in to doing nothing. I have read 2 books already and spend a lot of time on the beach, in the ocean and poolside.

We took Madeline to the airport on Sunday, it was hard to say goodbye and of course we worried about her flying alone for the first time. But it all went well and she chit chatted with her seat mates and had a welcoming committee pick her up in Comox at 2am. That constant angst of worrying about your kids whatever their age is the worst. We had rented a car for the day to drive her there and took the opportunity to explore a little and drove out Playa Cocos and La Manzanilla for a look around. The road to Playa Coco is washed out in places and considering the end of the road is a very fancy resort one would think it would be repaired by now. However, this is Mexico….

The towns are certainly looking better than the last time we were here. The roads are paved and generally it appears that the standard of living is improving for most people. The cars are newer and there are motorcycles everywhere. Even the dogs seem to have it better. By and large I haven’t seen the starving pathetic dog that has historically been a staple of travel in Mexico. They still run free and are everywhere but they look fed and generally all right. Oddly though, there are way more cats than I remember. They are everywhere and I wonder if a spay/neuter clinic exists for them?

My mom is loving it here and is having a great time trying out her Spanish on the locals. It is very funny to watch and listen but she confidently continues to try and it often involves charades to get her point across. She rented a bike and is out exploring a few times a day and visiting different tiendas to see what they have to offer. Though for some crazy reason she goes out in the heat of the day instead of the morning. Rookie mistake but she can’t seem to get moving very quickly in the morning. Now there is talk of her coming back in February to spend time with friends just north of PV. I think it is a great idea as who the hell wants to be in Canada in February!

The next few days will surely look like the last few. Relaxing, reading, swimming, and wandering dusty back roads broken up by an afternoon siesta. Perfect. Then we are off to PV on Saturday for mom and Gigi to fly home. Nick and I will spend a few more days before we head back as well. I still need to source a ride back to PV and book a place to stay there.

And then deal with Westjet when I get home….I’ll worry about that later.

72 hours. That’s how long it took to us to rebook our fights once we realized that Westjet had cancelled ours leaving from Comox.

Here’s how it all played out…. we realized at 8:30pm on Saturday night that my mom’s flight was cancelled which therefore meant that ours was too although we had no communication from the airline. I immediately called Westjet and was placed on hold. For 6 hours. No joke. We all slept in shifts and finally got through at 2:45am. The call was pointless as there were no other flights to get off Vancouver Island and the best they could do was a flight leaving on Tuesday and overnighting in Calgary. No bueno.

In addition, Westjet didn’t really know what was happening with connecting flights and there was no guarantee that those flights would be leaving either. At any rate we kept Westjet on the phone and at the same time booked a seaplane for 7am with the hope that it would get us to Vancouver for our connection at 11:30am to Puerto Vallarta. The rep at Westjet was updating our status because we had already been pulled from the Vancouver flight as our original departure had been cancelled. We now needed new boarding passes. We finally got off the phone at 4:30am and woke the kids up to drive to the seaplane in Nanaimo.

We arrived in Nanaimo with plenty of time only to wait and finally hear that the flight was cancelled due to high winds. This is when I cried a little. It’s like the gods were conspiring against us. I called Westjet again to let them know that we wouldn’t make the connecting flight and sat on hold for another 8 hours. I did speak to someone at one point who was trying to get through to reservations to book us on a different airline and she too eventually disappeared. My guess is that her shift ended and she went home. By this time it was Sunday night and I had an Airbnb booked in Mexico starting Monday. We felt defeated, exhausted and over sitting on hold. I resigned that we weren’t going and went to bed.

Monday morning and I woke up feeling depressed and started once again to look for outgoing flights. Then my phone rang and it was Westjet returning my callback that I had requested the previous day. Nick and I decided to rebook our return flights with Westjet and look for an outgoing flight only. I actually got better return flights and paid less than what I had originally paid. We tried to book through Air Canada, Flair and AeroMexico – all sold out. OH THE DESPAIR!! It was really looking like we were back at square one.

Then I found a flight direct to PV but it was out of Seattle at midnight. We did quick math to figure out the ferry and realized if we left immediately we would make it. I booked a reservation on BC Ferries out of Victoria and frantically left 20 minutes later. All this was going on while a rare snowstorm hit the Island and all the ferries were cancelled leaving Nanaimo. Good grief. We raced to Victoria and got on the ferry!!! Step one complete! Then we drove to Seattle, dropped the car at long term parking and shuttled to the airport. And that’s it friends – the flight left at midnight with us on it and we flew to Minneapolis and then on to PV arriving on Tuesday afternoon. Just 36 hours later than we were supposed to arrive. We hired a cab and drove the 4 hours to Melaque and got to the Airbnb at 6:15pm.

Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived and went to the Red Lobster for dinner. It was just as we remembered it, delicious and still owned by the same family. Madeline and Nick walked to town to get a few groceries and we all went home to bed.

Day One in Melaque – amazing. Beautiful day, super hot and Nick and I spent the morning biking around town visiting old haunts and getting the essentials. We were all poolside by 1pm with a drink in hand and having a giggle at my mom trying to get in and out of the pool floatys. It was a lazy afternoon with siestas and then out to taco row for a feast. We had several dozen tacos between us all and they were so damn good.

It’s still pretty quiet in town, the bulk of the snowbirds haven’t arrived yet and the beach is deserted except for the occasional Mexican family. The girls are working on their homework during the heat of the day and the rest of us are hanging out reading, swimming, going for walks or bike rides; really just settling in to relaxation. Tonight we are off to Barra de Navidad to watch the sunset and have a look around town. It’s good to be back, it has been a long time since we have been here and while much has changed, much has also stayed the same.