Going to Puerta Vallarta!!

Jordan and I were finally able to get away by ourselves and visit the beautiful place of Puerta Vallarta. My mom was kind enough to fly in from California and take care of the kids while we got away. We were able to spend 8 glorious days at Puerta Vallarta at a beautiful resort called Villa Del Palmar Flamingos. We didn't know what to expect but we were pleasantly surprised. Puerta Vallarta is a place that has beaches but it also has the mountains. So, we had a lot of time laying out by the pool and go to the beach but were also able to go and take some time to go up into the lush green mountains.

So, we started off our vacation by getting off the plane and being snatched up by a guy wanting us to do a time share presentation. Just a little background about Jordan and I when it comes to time share presentations. We have sat through a ton of them, so going to a time share isn't a big thing for us. So, we went to two time share presentations while we were at Puerta Vallarta and because we went to these presentations we got all of our tours and activities paid for by the time share companies.

Some of those activities we participated in are the following:

Snorkeling

Sierra Madre Tour

Swam with Dolphins

Massages

Dune Buggies

City Tour

All of the activities we went on were fun. Here are a few pictures that we took (I have to admit I didn't take a lot of pictures because I hate pictures of myself)

This is the resort that we stayed at during the week. It was gorgeous and a ton of fun!

We went on a tour called the Sierra Madre. It was a beautiful tour where we explore the mountains as well as go to the beach. This is a picture of what it looked like on the way up the mountain.

Here is the place that we went snorkeling. I haven't really gotten sea sick

before, but the ride to go snorkeling what very choppy and extremely rough.

There was a hurricane coming toward Puerta Vallarta so the water was

extremely rough. After the first 15 minutes on the boat, I started feeling really

sick. The ride lasted about an hour and a half one way but it felt like 10 years. About

20 minutes into the ride the little boy next to me started throwing up. Then another girl across from me started to throw up and then it was like a domino effect. People were very sick and were throwing up. I closed my eyes and tried to make myself feel better, but it didn't work. Once we finally made the destination for snorkeling, I wanted to die. I thought getting into the

water would make me feel better. I was wrong. The water was really rough and I couldn't handle

it any longer. I threw up in the water while everyone was snorkeling. I am sure a few people

caught a glimpse. I was miserable. I couldn't go through this again. I wasn't going to get back on the boat and go for another boat ride that would last another couple of hours. So Jordan used his Spanish and got us to go back to town with a local Mexican guy. We had to take a water taxi and then take some local buses to get back to resort. We really got a glimpse of real Mexican life. It was very informative and actually very interesting. After this snorkeling trip we canceled all of our water tours and rebooked them for activities on land.

Here we are taking a water taxi back to land after I spewed in the water. YEAH!

One of the tours that we also went on while in Mexico was a Dune Buggie tour. We had a tour guide take us though the city and back country on a Dune Buggie. Within 2 seconds of getting into the vehicle we were completely covered with mud. Obviously, I didn't have a clue of what this tour would be like because I wore a white T-Shirt. That T-Shirt was thrown away after the tour because it was stained brown by the time I finished.

Jordan had a fun time driving the dune buggie and considered the experience a good time. I wasn't as thrilled about the experience but I can mark it off things I have done in my life list. One thing I did realize about myself from this experience was that I don't like getting completely dirty. Being clean makes me much happier.

Here we are before we started the tour...

Here we are after the tour. We even washed ourselves

half way through the tour in a river but we still got mud

all over us by the time the tour ended.


Here I am trying to clean off some of the mud and filth that I had

covering my entire body. I felt like a new woman after this little dip in the water.

Jordan and I after our dip in the water.

On the Sierra Madre tour we got to visit a private beach where all the locals go and visit.

It was really beautiful and very quiet.

Here is the vehicle that we took to go on our Sierra Madre tour. Jordan was

totally impressed with the vehicle and wanted to drive it soooo bad. Unfortunately the closest he

got to the steering wheel was when we took this picture.

Here is a picture of a little crab. We ran into several of them at the resort. They are endangered

in Puerta Vallarta so they don't touch them or do anything to get rid of them. I thought they were funny looking and I found it intriguing to watch them walk around and interact with people.

Here is Jordan and I at a little village in Mexico.

Jordan hanging out with the local Mexicans in the little village from above.

He fits right in.

One of the things that we did every night was go to a nice restaurant. Jordan was in heaven.

He got to try a whole bunch of really good food and experience the ambiance of fine dining.

Here we are at one of his favorite restaurants during the trip. We got to eat outside and view

the ocean while eating great food. This was one of the highlights for Jordan.

One of the tours we went on was to get in the water with dolphins. We got to touch them, they

gave us kisses on the check and we were able to watch them do several tricks in the water.

The tour lasted about a half hour but it was fun and we had a great time. The only bad part

was that they wouldn't let you take pictures with your own camera. They had their photographers take pictures of you and then charge a fortune for the pictures (a CD with 8 snapshots was $100.00 dollars). So, we don't have any pictures of us with the dolphins but I did get a quick snapshot of the dolphin.

Overall, we had a great time and it was a just what we needed. I feel so lucky to have had the

opportunity to see a different part of the world and create a ton of great memories.