Puerto Vallarta, Mexico      November 9, 2023

Today was a good day.  

After breakfast we headed to Costco via public bus.  It cost only 10 pesos which is 78 cents which is about the best deal going.  The Costco was pretty much the same as in Saskatoon with some things costing less but most things costing more - way more. 

I often buy my parents roses and at home they cost around $22.  Here they are $15.45-

Pecans are $16.23 which is a good deal too-

However Christmas trees?  This tree is tall at 2.7 meters with 2700 lights and costs $1211.  I’m not kidding-

A little taller one is $1863.  It has 4400 LED lights and is 3.6 meters tall-

Who in their right mind would pay that?  A tabletop one is $ 217-

I don’t eat at Costco but the hotdogs weigh 1/4 pound and are $2.33, a slice of pizza is $3.11 and an 18” is $15.45.  Other food items seemed like good deals too-

I went there looking for sunglasses.  I have bought sooo many pair in the last few years, mostly because I lose them.  This time the leg broke and it was glued once but has broken again.  You can’t be in Mexico without sunglasses.  Because I am having cataract surgery in early January I will, hopefully, not need a prescription yet without a prescription, polarized glasses would still cost over $300!  I do not understand how or why anyone would shop there especially Mexicans make 250 pesos per day on minimum wage - that’s $19.40.  As the taxi driver explained, they really count on tips and commission from we tourists and I am not a tipper.  Maybe I should start!

From Costco we caught a cab to a local mall where I bought some glasses for about $85.  Hopefully they make it home with me!  We took a bus to another mall and Lynne found a pretty pair of pink Birkenstocks and then we came back to the hotel and cooled off in the pool-

We visited with a very interesting couple from near Montréal.  He was a dentist and they lived in Dubai for 8 years.  He also worked somewhere in Africa and made “bags of money”.  They came home when the kids entered high school.  Eventually they bought a farm and started raising geese, however they didn’t think through what they were going to do with the 200 geese once they matured so they ended up making terrine which is cooked and canned meat usually eaten sliced.  That was a hit.  They have since sold the farm and last winter bought an RV and spent 5 months in windy south Texas and this winter are here for 5 months in a condo without a pool so they paid for a day pass to swim at the Rosita.  Louis had a great sense of humour and was always cracking jokes.  Their  daughter lives in Vancouver and their son in Montreal.  One has dyslexia and the other Asperger’s.  I was fascinated with their stories.  Louis quit being a dentist because he has Parkinson’s and she studied all kinds of things once back from Dubai - hair dressing, tourism and pastry chef to name a few!  I loved listening to them talk.  

Our room is good-

and the view is fine but I can’t imagine ever sitting on our deck-

Supper was next door on the beach. I forgot about the hasslers trying to sell stuff.  I had delicious guacamole-

Afterwards we went walking and came to Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe where there was a small market-

a band playing while local couples danced-

and another memorial to Catrina-

We stopped at my friend Vivian Moos’ condo which is at Molina de Agua, probably the primest spot in the city, but she was out walking her dog.  I met Vivian at the gym last time I was here and we really hit it off.  Hopefully soon we will get together.

Walking home on the Malecon we walked past four bars with loud music blaring-

It was interesting how each one played different music but once passed, you couldn’t really hear it nor did one place’s music interfere with the next.

No rain so far tonight which is neither here nor there as we are on holidays and having fun and enjoying ourselves.  Tomorrow we are going to Bucerias!

P.S.  For Hayes the moo lover at The Flying Vaca-