Christmas - Mexican Style

I never considered spending the week of Christmas in Mexico. It just sort of happened one day while Jim and I were talking about what we were going to do this year. It was such a great choice!

We left on the 21st of December. Getting up at 3:00 am for a 5:45 am flight was not fun but we managed to do it. We were curious to see how busy the airport was. Luckily, it wasn't bad at all. Unless you were flying American (which we were not). We had no trouble on our flight from Nashville to Houston and then on to Puerto Vallarta. We grabbed a cab and headed to our little boutique hotel. Zona Z Boutique Hotel in the Zona Romantica district (Old Towne). Cobblestone streets, right on the beach. We were extremely pleased with the hotel but couldn't wait to get down to the beach. Even though the room was beautiful and there was a pool outside our door with amazing murals, it was a nice 82 degrees outside and that's where we wanted to be!

We took it easy that night so we could rest up for the next day. We signed up for a 4 hour ATV tour followed by ziplining. Yes, me. Ziplining.

The ATV tour was great. They make you sign your life away stating you won't drink, you aren't on any drugs, etc. Then during the tour, we stop way out in the middle of nowhere for a tequila tasting. We had a blast! Jim was driving with me on the back. First, we drove through town to get to the trail. Then we got to the fun stuff.

Somehow I managed to keep my shoes "somewhat" white.

We stopped at a restaurant for lunch and then as I mentioned before, we stopped for a tequila tasting. When we made it back to town and then had to hop on a tourist truck with two other people to take a 45 minute drive up to where the zip line begins.

Now you must note, I am petrified of heights. My legs start shaking, my heart starts beating and my mouth goes dry. But I was willing to try. I really have wanted to do this for a long time so I didn't want to chicken out.

I'll try to make this short. I did it! I zip lined 5 out of the 8 lines. The climbing on top of the anxiety made me rest and skip a couple of the lines. Jim, on the other hand, did all 8 and one while he was upside down! We have a lot of photos but mine are all horrible because I have a look of sheer terror on my face. I'm only going to post a couple.

Yes, the last one is Jim upside down!

When we were finished, I was so proud of myself. Neither of us had ever zip lined and we both did great! It was so much fun and yes, I would do it again!

The next day we got up very early so we could get to the marina and head out on a whale watching tour. Everyone told us it was not a guarantee that you would see any but we wanted to try. We made friends with the security guards while waiting for our captain and ended up having a great conversation while we waited.

There were about 15 people on our tour and about 6 staff. We headed out to sea! They served a light breakfast of fruit and pastry. The captain told us the day before they were out 50 minutes before they saw a whale. We enjoyed the ride and the scenery. We met a wonderful woman from Atlanta who we talked with a lot. She was there by herself and was so much fun. Finally, about an hour and 10 minutes into the trip we saw a whale "blow". The captain steered the boat toward it. He told us the next time we saw the whale, we would be a lot closer. We didn't realize how much closer! He had landed us right in the middle of a pack of whales! They were surrounding us and putting on an amazing show for us!

These photos do not do any justice to the magnificence of the whales. They are so beautiful and graceful. We watched them for quite a while before they finally decided to take off and go underwater. I was so grateful we got to see them.

Christmas Eve we decided to do our own thing for a while. I walked along the Malecon (the boardwalk along the ocean) and Jim climbed a mountain.

We met up for an early dinner and enjoyed the rest of the evening on the beach. We watched the most amazing sunset! Again, the photos do not do it justice.

Christmas morning we woke up, got dressed, packed all our clothes so we would be ready to leave and headed out to find breakfast. Most places were open so we sat on the beach and ate our breakfast. There was two large blankets on the beach that were spread out and had toys all over them. Children were coming and choosing a toy for Christmas. We found out later this was a Christmas Toy giveaway on the beach. It was so fun to watch the children choosing a toy and then walking away with it. Such a great way to end our little vacation.

It was an incredible trip and we can't wait to go back again. The vibe of Puerto Vallarta is what we like!

~ rl