We leave for Puerto Vallarta bright and early tomorrow. You have to understand that I hate to travel. The instant I get off the plane, I start counting down the days until I can get back home. Jenny Lake Lodge in the Tetons is the only place I never want to leave, but I'm happy to report that PV is moving into that echelon. Let's talk about the reasons I'm looking forward to this trip.
-Getting to DIA early and having breakfast at Elway's on concourse B before boarding. Janet and Bud usually show up halfway through my breakfast burrito and we have bloody marys together.
-The flight to PV is relatively short and painless. If we can manage to score a seat in the emergency exit aisle, it is even comfortable.
-It is quick and easy to get through the airport at PV and I like having a car waiting to take us to Villa del Palmar.
-Getting into our adjoining (usually) rooms and changing into shorts, teeshirts, and flip flops and meeting at El Patron, the mexican restaurant on property. As of this moment, I am promising myself to drink only cokes on that first night. I don't react as well to long trips as I used to. I remember two years ago Bud and I were a little too celebratory and Bud somehow ended up fully dressed in his bathtub. I still don't know how Janet extricated him.
-Going to bed early on that first night and not having to worry about being party poopers. The four of us allow each other a lot of elbow room. I can't imagine better travel companions than Bud and Janet Simmons.
-Waking up early. Getting to the gym by 7, out by 8:30, walking on the beach by 9, amazing breakfast buffet by 10 and spending the rest of the day reading by the pool. I'm bringing Jill Lepore's new history of the United States. Not exactly a poolside read, but I love Jill Lepore.
-Walking on the Malicon and checking out all the street entertainers. I especially like the sand guys playing chess by the big Bustamante sculpture.
-Sitting on Bud and Janet's porch and bullshitting our way through an afternoon.
-Meeting Eric and Terry for dinner and talking and laughing for hours. I want to go back to Daquiri Dick's this time.
-Speaking of. Fish on a stick at Daquiri Dick's, the simplest and best snapper you will ever find. In fact, everything at Daquiri Dick's. It is a horrible name, but a great restaurant and on weekends they have really good jazz.
-As long as we're talking about food, the breakfasts at La Palapa. I think it is the most perfect place for breakfast we know. I think it is even better than the breakfasts at Meadowood in Napa. We always go here on our last morning.
-Layla. This is my favorite restaurant in town, run by this warm and wonderful lady who remembers us and always stands ready to give hugs. Layla has the best oyster preparation I have ever had.
-Vallarta Eats. The best food in town is on the street and Vallarta Eats is the best way to discover this. It is impossible for me to recommend the food tours, especially the morning taco tour, highly enough.
-Rhythms of the Night. We don't do this anymore, but when we did we loved it. You take a great power boat ride with the stars flooding the sky and end up at an outdoor theater and buffet dinner. The show celebrating the indian ancestry of the place and the sumptuous dinner that follows are surprisingly wonderful.
-Tino's at the lagoon. Great fish place. Janet absolutely loves the place. So do we all. If you manage to sit at a table overlooking the lagoon, you might luck out and see a crocodile or two slithering by.
-Catching a game at the sports bar on property. We used to have to go all the way downtown, but now a playoff game is only a short walk on property away. They have good burgers and fries. There aren't a lot of places in PV you can say that about.
-Wednesday night art walks. The art scene in PV is terrific and the art walk easily fills up an evening with a surprising variety of things. Bring money.
-Detoxifying. I don't smoke any dope down there, although I have been offered. I also don't drink much unless we are at a restaurant. On the other hand, I drink an alarming amount of water and eat all the fruit and fish I can get my hands on. And since we manage to work out every morning, we come home healthier and (a little) thinner than when we left.
-Fasting from the news. I don't read any papers. I am never on Facebook unless I am posting photographs designed to provoke envy among my FB friends. I try really hard not to engage in anything resembling a political conversation. I recommend it.
-I am so happy that the four of us are not All-Inclusive Types. The thought of going to a place as varied, vibrant, and wonderful as PV and never leaving the hotel is unbearably depressing.
-I also like getting back home and having one of my kids pick us up.
-I like opening our front door and finding that the floor hasn't been flooded, that the furnace has not exploded, the pipes haven't burst, the roof is intact, and the television turns on at a flick of a switch.
Life is good.
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