(too many) pictures from paradise

Jay did this back in December one evening while I was working.

 He found us a trip to celebrate our 35th anniversary.

We left in a snowstorm, and came back to the remnants of another one--school was even cancelled again--but then in between was this:

This is the boardwalk in Puerto Vallarta.  In this town, buses run all over, and a bus ride costs eighty cents.   The route is written right on the windshield, and if in doubt, just ask.

 These two guys were trying to take down that seriously huge concrete block with just a single jackhammer.  Jay has one exactly like it.  It was pretty inadequate to their task, but they kept at it.

In the morning the sun would hit all the buildings across the bay and turn them pink.

There's the restaurant over to the right, the pool on the left and the ocean right beyond.  It was so lovely to sit there in the dark, listening to the waves, the fresh breeze exactly perfect, music, delicious meal.

That's the pool bar, open in the afternoons with snacks and  burgers.  We had nachos there a couple times and took our plate down to the sand to eat.   Teenagers congregated in that pool toward the end of the week, screaming and laughing.

I like kid noise.   They made me happy.

 More of the boardwalk:

 This river flowed toward the ocean.

And here are the babies, playing in the shady water under the bridge. To the right of the picture is the ocean on the other side of that sand, but in the shallow shady part--that was just right.

Here he is resting after a lunch where they served some margaritas, "Two for one!"

It was a restaurant along the beach with a kid just about Tim's size holding a puppy.  I asked how much to pet the puppy.  "Oh that's my son. Pet the puppy for free, but come in and eat!" 

Who could refuse that?   A ten year old, a puppy, and lunch on the beach?

Well, the margaritas, I drank one and a half, and he had two and a half, and as we headed off, that was too much, so we decided to sit on this bench in the breeze for a while.

 At lunch the vendors would come by selling stuff.  One offered jewelry, but shoot, no thanks.   And then her baby came with a basket of gum.

She must have been about two with big brown eyes, and a straw hat on.  The way she carried herself reminded me of p.j. 

Okay, I'm done.  

I paid her a dollar for a tiny square of gum that probably was supposed to cost a penny, and kissed the top of her hat.   She squinted at me and waved and ran back to her mother, who also waved.   Shit, fool.  I think I paid a buck to kiss a baby's straw hat.

Then I thought what a money-making machine my own grandkids could be in a set up like this.  My Sweetie could tell jokes.   b.g. could sing--and his little brother could just smile.   Psssht.

 Here we are yesterday morning, everything packed, waiting for time to leave for the airport.  We sat in the sun one last hour, and this mom took her little kid down to test the waves.

And then we came home. 

Sigh.

It's good to back with the kids, that's for sure, and winter is very pretty.

I like looking at pictures of winter.   But Puerto Vallarta I like BEING IN too.  

February is half over, and so is this much anticipated celebration of a trip.

Happy Anniversary, Buddy.   I could not love you more, Val