after a 6 hour delay in San Francisco - Puerto Vallarta!

fog in San Francisco delayed the flight - imagine that

down to one working runway the plane coming in that we were suppose to take out

could not land

it finally had to go to San Jose to re-fuel and get back in the cue

at least we got to wait in the airport, on the way home I was not so lucky

got to Vallarta at 9 pm instead of 3, glad I told Ariel not to pick me up

what to do?

Walk to the Plaza Marina, cross the street and wait for a bus to Las Palmas

do not shop at commercial as you are seriously late already

and it is staring to rain

at the bus stop you ask about the bus to Las Palmas

understanding that the buses to Las Palmas are on strike and

good luck finding a bus....

there is a cab there at the end of the seats of the bus stop

por favor, que pricio para Las Palmas?

thinking since this is outside the airport in Vallarta

and my dedestination is not only far, but not on the tourist trail

Cien pesos. Cien pesos? Sweet. 10 bucks.

It started feeling cooler once we got out of town

oh did I say it was sweltering hot?

when the rain started, soft and gentle at first

the driver and I agreed that it was mas fresca, more fresh

I did not exactly know how to direct the taxi to their house, so I got off at the church and

remembered how to walk there

they were glad to see me, nonplussed as the Mexican are about the late hour

or the rain.

Their house is also hand designed and hand built - it is wonderful!

it has been fun to see it go from one bedroom to a 2 story

L shaped house

this vine is one of my favorites

check out the flower, I love the color

I am growing it in Florida but it is not blooming.....

they too have a gorgeous view from their open air kitchen

Ariel in her kitchen on the phone like any young person these days

Monaco, after a nummy lunch of tacos from downtown

Las Palmas has the best food - really!

the guest room and massage room,

I love the bamboo Ariel and her mom painted

please come to my house and paint the same thing

I love it!!

we all went to Vallarta and got a room the next night

Angel had a blast in the pool

he literally had a water blaster and we had a great time

the water was warm and it was a little cloudy so we did not have to worry about sunburn

we ate dinner by the pool and guess what,\

it was happy hour too!

we had so much fun

sunset from our room

next - picking up Betsy and being tourists in Vallarta



after Sacramento -  Inverness, California and the gorgeous home of Willi's sister and brother in law

they have a very lovely home

they designed it

built it and have lived in it a long time now

it feels hidden and secluded in the front

and it has a great view out the back

we celebrated Willi's birthday which is only 4 days

after his mother's

it was a most wonderful chocolate cake

nummy drinks

brother and sister had a great time

thanks for having us

Next - on to Puerto Vallarta from San Francisco....

5 trips in one!


first - we fly to the west coast for Willi's Mom's 90th Birthday.... Sacramento, California, June 9th, 2011

balloons, 3 kinds of cupcakes and orchids

the birthday lunch

the birthday girl with her kids

the birthday girl on some birthday long ago.....

wow, even I am speechless.

tomorrow next post  - trip 2 :  visiting Willi's sister and brother in law in their hand made house in west Marin

curlers and curlers

the passion plants have amazing curlers....

growing like mad in the sun and heat here

and we have a girl with curlers

she just discovered them, she has always wanted curls

 it has been about 20 years since the last time I set someones hair

came out pretty good if I do say so myself

hard to go wrong with a pretty face like that...

we found that curls do not slow a girl up either

well the passion vines are taking on a life of their own

I can feel them grow

we are starting to get one or two flowers a day

the vines are filling in thick

they are over the top now

don't stand near them for too long

you wonder what else have we been doing this summer

playing barbies (is that capitalized?)

watching movies



swimming in the Gulf of Mexico

 sometimes sitting in the shade

going to the casino with my parents for mom's 81st birthday

they don't call it sunny Florida for nothing!

Bob Dylan turned 70 today!

70!! 

Thanks Bob, I couldn't have done it without you.

Arbor Up-date

the vines on the arbor are growing like crazy

this is the right side looking out

it is filling out nicely

so is the other side

is is hard to show the power of their growth

you can feel it, sometimes it seems if you stand there too long

they start heading toward you...

 they are normally wrappers, they send out long tendrils that wrap around things

to help them climb

the arbor is too big for them to curl around so they have various

methods to hold themselves on

it is like you can see them think

amazing.