PUERTO VALLARTA

May 6, 2016

I could hardly sleep all night, tossing and turning.  Threw my blanket to the floor.  Jumped out of bed.  The clock downstairs was striking 3.  I met the milk man at the door.  And then all at once we stepped off the elevator on Deck 9, used the Purel -- washy washy -- and lunged into the Panorama Buffet.  And there it was!  Wal-Mart!  Sam's Club!  The first thing we saw of Puerto Vallarta was a shopper's paradise.  And a mall just to the left.  We have enjoyed a Price is Right dream come true!  Do they offer this hilarity on Wheel?

Actually, we had a fun day.  We did go over to Wal-Mart.  No Dew, no Mello Yello.  More Fanta Orange.  We met Dana and Grayson coming out and arranged to meet them later and take a bus to the Old Town to see Our Lady of Guadalupe and do some other sight seeing.

The blue bus we rode to the Old Town and back to the ship reminded me a great deal of conveyances we've traveled on through Russia.  Bumpy.  Lumpy.  Air conditioning with the windows down.  A sauna with the windows up.  But it got us there and back.  And you know how buses have scrollers above the driver's window showing stops?  Every bus in Puerto Vallarta flashes "Wal-Mart."

When we got to the church, the Friday noon Mass was in progress so we waited until the service had ended.  Bonnie shopped while others prayed. 

We crossed a swinging bridge into a little market where we bought an ice cold Coca Cola (reminded me of the old green 6 ounce bottles we'd plunge our hands into a bucket of ice and draw one out) and some more souvenirs.  I'll let Bonnie tell you about the swinging bridge.

Back on the blue bus and back to Wal-Mart where we bought a few snacks and came back on board.  A light lunch and then supper and now blogging (no show tonight).  My talk is at 10 in the morning so we will rise early.

It was a fun day.  And now I will turn the keyboard over to She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Oh, my aching everything!!

Well, we rose up at 8 and went to breakfast. Some cheese, a piece of slightly over done toast and a strawberry yogurt. Puerto Vallarta was spread out before us. There gleaming the sun was a Wal-Mart Superstore right beside a Sam's club. Amy you would love the parking lot. The first set of spaces all have a blue cover over them. Probably 100 or so of those. Well, as were approaching Wal-Mart Dana and Grayson were coming out and wanted to know if we wanted to go to Old Towne and see the Church of Our Lady of Guadeloupe. We said sure. So we made a quick stop in Wal-Mart, bought his drinks and chips and exchanged $20 at the bank inside for 316 pesos. We got some small change because we knew we were going to ride a bus. "What does it mean exact change, Captain?" (for all you Star Trek fans). David went back on the ship to drop off the stuff and I waited on the street for him to return and I looked for our friends. Couldn't find them, David seemed to take an eternity and the guy sweeping the street asked "Are you waiting for someone?"  A pick up line??  I said yes and continued waiting and moved so he could sweep.

Well, soon here comes David and our friends from inside. Well, we headed down the street, found the bus stop and got on. It was 7.50 pesos (about 75 cents) each. I had that in coins and we each handed the driver our fare and took a seat. Well, the roads are very rough, the bus seats were metal and every time you hit a bump it was like riding on a jerky roller coaster. If you leaned up when he hit a bump it didn't hurt the back so much. We rode for about 20 minutes. Then, after Dana had a conversation, with a lady on the bus about where to get off we exited the bus. Well, we were outside the Tequila place, where they do a production about how it is made and show you all about. We went in and asked about prices but decided it was a little expensive and left and proceeded  to look for the church.

Well, we had gotten off the bus too soon and it was about a 10 block walk to where we wanted to be. But we were only 2 streets up from the ocean and there was a beautiful side walk area with sculptures, flowers, stores and sand sculptures and the ocean so we decided to walk.  It was not too hot and we had a good time walking. Finally we arrived at the street where we could see the church above us. After stopping for a bit of shopping (Dana bought a pair of sandals and I got a short set), we proceeded to the church. Mass was going on, so we waited and stood just inside the door and listened. They did communion and it was a beautiful church. After the mass concluded and people exited we looked around and I took a couple of pictures.

Grayson and David walked up the walk at the side of the church to try and get better pictures of the tower. Dana stopped in a tourist office to see if she could get a better map. Emerging she said were just a couple of streets from a house Richard Burton had bought for Liz. We didn't go all the way up to it because there were many, many steps. Instead we walked down to the end of the street looking for the market in Old Towne. Well, we found it. We had to walk across a swinging bridge. Wooden slats with spaces between them held up by twisted iron cables and the sides covered in chicken wire! I crept across the bridge and some children sitting on the rocks along the creek under the bridge watched and took great delight in my fearful walking. Laughing actually. Oh My!!  Well, I made it across and the booths were very nice. Fortunately, we went out the other side of the market on to a regular street and began looking for a bus stop.

Finding one we boarded a bus. It is quite amusing you know where the bus is going because they write on the front windows the destinations. Almost every bus says Wal-Mart.  These buses race each other from one bus stop to the next. The streets are narrow.

Going back to Wal-Mart there are these tiny narrow streets and this bus though a little less bumpy is a wild ride. We rode again for 7.50 pesos each and it took about 30 minutes in stop and go traffic. The bus did indeed take us right into the Wal-Mart parking lot. We  exited and went shopping again. This time I got some diet cokes, and 2 kit kat bars and he got a snickers bar, Doritos and peanuts. We spent all but 5 pesos. great job.

Getting back on the ship, a quick bite of lunch, then off to the Mexican entertainment show at 4:15. A national group of entertainers came on board just to a show for us. Very nice. When the show was over it was supper time. Good supper had baked chicken with green beans, shoe string potatoes and a roasted tomato.

Being very tired we are now in our room. Great Day!!

Well, she is finished.

Well, TTFN!