K. Starkey's List #3: A P-M-I for Ten Days in Mexico

Katherine here after ten days in Mexico. I thought I'd do a standard Plus, Minus, and Interesting list as a treasure of our time there. Here goes:

The Plus Side of PV:
1. The Extreme Outdoor Adventure. We began by taking a Zodiac powerboat across the bay and then hopped into an army-style transport truck that took us up through a canyon and part way up a mountain. A mule trip up the next part of the mountain was followed by a finishing hike to the top. With zip-gear on and appropriate training (a five minute lecture with weird cheers about how much fun we would have), we then started zipping down the mountain. I have height issues, but I've done this before and did nicely enjoying the view and looking cool for the photographer haunting us throughout the process. About midway we needed to repel down a waterfall. Now my fear of heights raised its ugly head and I quivered clearly as the guide told me to just sit down over the open air behind me. Somehow I did it and the other two repelling stints. It was great. Even the zip down into the water pool wasn't as horrible as I imagined, but I didn't get scraped up and lose my shoe like Jim did. We were clearly the oldest people on the tour and there was some weird pride in being able to do what the youngsters along with us were accomplishing. It you go to PV, do this.

2. Reading by the pool. Not much sun, but warmth and a chance to polish off four books. I re-read Inez of My Soul by Allende (see List #1). I read The Lacuna by Kingsolver (see Jim's last blog). I read Year of Wonders by Brooks about an English town in the 1500's that chose to endure the plague and not leave because that would infect the entire country. It's based on a real story. A great book. I read After You're Gone by Jeffrey Lent. A man loses his beloved wife and finally meets a new love who also lost her great love through his deceptions. They both finally gulp and try to love again when disaster hits one of them and the survivor must repeat the process. I'm haunted by this one and keep worrying about what will happen to me if I lose Jim. I've re-written the ending in my head endless times to no avail. Finally I started The Girl Who Played with Fire (sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo) by Larrsen (see list #1 and Jim's last blog), but I'm so worried about the characters I'm struggling to continue and am working on a mountain climbing book instead.

3. Eating. There's a great shrimp place in Ixtapa after a culturally rich bus trip inland. For $9.00 you get mounds of shrimp (garlic, diablo, and fried) and side dishes. You also get a bottle of tequila and shot glasses and can drink as much as you want or can as part of the price. I can never remember the name of the place. Las Carmelitas is above the town--the taxi takes $180 pesos, but is well worth the view and food. Ahhh. Tino's for fish is incredible. We went to the lagoon location on the way to Nuevo Puerta. Daiquiri Dick's--stupid name, but great food.

4. The sculptures on the Malycon. I love Sergio Bustamante and the one he has with surreal folks climbing a ladder. I love his studio shops as well.

The Minus Side of PV:
1. The "horrible, horrible, oh most horrible" time share experience. Bud and Janet wanted us to go to get discounts for tours and stuff. At one point a man told me I could not cross the room to tell Janet we were leaving and would meet them downstairs. Did I say this was horrible?

2. The pirate ship dinner/show thing. Bud and Janet have been down there 15 times and hadn't done it and we were game. The ship looks cool gliding through the bay. Don't do this. Ever. Even though lots of folks recommended it, the food is disgusting and the shows pathetic. I used to like the word "ARGH," but this has ruined it for me.

The Interesting Side of PV:
1. Cassandra Shaw's jewelry shop. We took an interesting walk around Old Towne to find the shop because Franny had liked it when she was down there with Ken. Cassandra is an ex-patriot from Canada and her shop is so cluttered it's hard to see anything. I managed to find earrings for myself and F. though.

2. Watching the Broncos lose at El Torrito's sports bar. Lots of Dallas fans work in the bar and there were a ton of Denver folks who had found it for the game. Everyone except us ordered ribs which seem to be a specialty. We found out too late. We also saw a lot of the GB/Arizona game with very sad BG fans all around. At least there was no talk of Bret Favre.

3. The old people around the pool. One said he was Brittney Spears' agent and was looking for a spot in PV that held 60,000 for a performance for her. No one like that would stay at a place like we were staying. Old bull-shitters are even more pathetic than young ones and I've known a lifetime of young ones. These old farts love bashing Obama and talking time shares made me roll my eyes like when I taught sophs--cute, but come on now.

4. The PV airport. It's not bad at all. It used to be a nightmare. Our first time down there I bought a decorative sun that was carefully wrapped in cardboard. The airport wouldn't let it on the plane and charged us six bucks to re-pack it in different cardboard. The lady after me had her decorative moon re-packed in my old cardboard. I liked the new airport much better.

That's it for today.