L.A. to Puerto Vallarta

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After a few more days of good visiting with Steve's family, it was time to move on to the next leg of our trip. (By the way, if you are ever on your way to Desert Hot Springs, stop at Hadley's dried fruit and nut store, about 20 minutes before the city. They have the greatest date shakes!)

The flight was uneventful, and we arrived in PV under partly cloudy skies and 85 degrees F (about 29 celcius). We pushed the button at customs and got a red light, meaning they wanted to search our bags. There was no problem, and the fellow chatted with us as he did a cursory check. Minutes later he wished us a good trip and sent us on our way.

The taxi driver wasn't sure how to find the address we gave him in Bucerias, but the GPS helped to find it. He was very impressed. Between his broken English and my broken Spanish, we had a good conversation. Everyone here speaks some form of 'Spanglish' so we are getting on quite well. Our second floor apartment is quite spacious and lovely, with a deck almost as big as the living area. Our hosts are friendly and helpful and have provided maps and suggestions. The streets are not paved in this part of the town, so walking is a bit of a challenge - especially since they have had some rain and the roads are wet as well as pitted and rutted. But, that is part of life in a small Mexican town.

The other part of life here is the chickens. We haven't figured out if they are wild, or if people own them and they just run around wherever they like in the roads. In any case, at first we thought they were so quaint and cute. I am a city girl. I thought roosters only crowed when the sun came up. I was wrong. Stupid roosters walk around and crow all day long. They get quiet at night, about when all the dogs start barking. They start up again early - last night it was 3:45am when the crowing started. Steve thought maybe chicken could be on the menu by the end of the week 😱

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