North to Puerto Vallarta to visit family and get finance advice

PUERTO VALLARTA, Jalisco, Mexico - We left the safe confines of Arroyo Seco for a trip to the big city over the weekend, visiting with Dustin, Cami and Sasha at their palatial home in Nuevo Vallarta. Our projects had reached a point of stasis in the rancho and so we wanted to get in a good visit with the family before we go up for our final trip at the end of the month.

After that, we catapult to upstate New York where our pontoon boat, the Spirit of Louise, will be launched within days of our arrival.

Of course, in our haste to leave last minute for Vallarta, we forgot all the paperwork we needed to do various things in Puerto Vallarta - like register my motorcyle for the highway - and so it turns out we will zip up the highway again next weekend anyway.

Quelle dommage! (French)
Que lastima! (Spanish)
Oh! Crap! (American English)


Sasha with Grandma Sylvia

As part of our hiatus in Puerto Vallarta, we went for lunch at the famous Vallarta Yacht Club in the Paradise Village Marina, the same marina where we docked Sabbatical for several years..

OK, it's not really famous, but they have a great deck overlooking the channel and the food is very good. We were greeted by the same staff that has worked there almost since it opened and in some ways, it's kind of like going home when we visit there.

Across the channel, we watched a couple of fishermen throwing nets, after bait fish we figured. Given the number of boats that dump their toilets directly overboard into the marina, we hope they were after baitfish anyway. (NOTE TO CAPTAIN: Do not eat the fish sandwich special at the Vallarta Yacht Club - ever.)


Wading in the channel - with the crocs

We did watch one intrepid fisherman casting his net while knee deep in the water, right next to the sign that warns about crocodiles in the water.

Normally I would be skeptical about such signs, except that some amigos at the yacht club - dining at the next table - said they had seen about a 12-foot croc lounging on the rocks about a half-hour before the fisherman showed up and started throwing their nets.

No croc action during our lunch - but then we didn't stay all that long.


Sasha chows down some breakfast

After breakfast Friday, I decided to chat with Sasha about economics, how long she thinks the current recession will last and when we can expect an economic recovery.

Ok, she is only 8 months old, but her opinion might be as valid as the Council of Economic Advisers. I have been asking everybody and no one seems to have very good answers.

The Council

Here's a short video of what she told me.