All Good Things......

.....must come to......

(Sorry, I just can't bring myself to say it.)

But say it or not, it happens - even if only for a short while.  After our 5 weeks in Bucerias and surrounds, we're hoping against hope that it will be only a SHORT while.

It's not our intention to be members of the Mexican counterpart of the American "visitors' bureau", but it IS our intent to tell our readers that if you've never visited the Riviera Nayarit you should do so before you die. (Maybe we shouldn't be telling everyone, so we keep it as "OUR" place??  Oh, well, too late....)

But today is our last day and with as many wonderful memories as we'll carry home with us, it's difficult to feel sad. But feel sad we do in knowing that in a matter of hours we'll be northeast bound back to....well, forgive us for one last Scarlet O'Hara moment and the proverbial "bury our heads in the sand...."

It is our final day, but one filled with more never-to-be-forgotten memories.

We decided to take Bob and Sandy for their first-time visit to Puenta La Mita Centro, Las Playas,  a short detour to La Cruz Centro and some of the surrounding streets and neighborhoods.

After our driving & walking tour, we headed to "Karen's Place" for our last, (of THIS trip), beachfront happy hour.  Our amiga, Rosa, bartender extraordinaire, was working alone this time. The place was packed, and Rosa was working to fill orders 100 miles per hour! (Rosa, I want you to know that if I had been the solo-worker, I would have cried and quit!) Rosa not only keep up with the demands, but also remained calm and even managed to find time to chat with us.

We then took a very short break from happy hour to go to the Gecko Car Rental (GREAT Guys, and highly recommended BTW) store to settle up and switch vehicles for the trip to the Aeropuerto in the morning. We had to switch the car for a Suburban in order to get all our luggage and "treasures" to the airport. I lost my "record" for having the heaviest carry-on bag to Ladd's mother. I lost my "record" for packing the most clothes to Sandy. Then Ladd and Bob set a new "record" by buying more items than Sandy and I did. They even bought Mexican shirts!  However, I still retained my "record" for bringing the most pairs of shoes! Ha!    
Not being "quitters" we headed back to "Karen's Place" to enjoy every last minute of the happy hour. It was definitely hard to say our goodbyes to our Amiga Rosa and new friends, Rick and Darlene. We truly hope we will see you again! 

We then headed back to Casa Lucia, as I still had to face the dreaded task of packing. Sandy was already packed, so she did a huge random-act-of-kindness and made our dinner!  Attempting to "clean out" our refrigerator, Sandy created an AWESOME, tasty dinner that did NOT seem like left-overs! Thanks, Sandy!

After doing the dishes, we KNEW we must head down to "our" corner cantina, "Mi Lola", for one last visit with our amigo, Mario. We chatted with Mario and his boss about how sad we were to be leaving. I told them to make sure they KEPT "Mi Lola" on that corner and STAYED there so I could be sure to find them when we returned!  

When we first arrived at Casa Lucia we would hear little bells tinkling. Then we "discovered" "Mi Lola", met Mario, and found out the bells were ringing for the wait staff to pick up orders.
I told Mario that whenever I heard those little bells I felt as if they were ringing to call me/us down to "Mi Lola's".  (Calling us there for some "munchies", right, Mario? Ha!) 

After a final-visit picture, hugs, and sad good-byes, we started walking back to Casa Lucia. All of a sudden as we were walking away, we heard MANY, MANY BELLS RINGING from "Mi Lola" to say "good-bye" to us...or to call us back again???!!! I wanted to turn around and go back to tell you how very much that meant to us, but knew the tears would get in the way and make it even harder to leave. 

We're hoping you read this, Mario, so you can pass along this message: Thank you, thank you, thank you to Mario, his boss, and all his friends at "Mi Lola"! You are kind, SPECIAL people, who truly made us feel like amigos!

We'll really miss you, Mario! Take care of yourself, and do well in your studies. We  hope you'll take us up on our sincere offer to visit sometime and stay at our "casa" in N.Y. 

Puenta la Mita
Another gorgeous beach & surfer town

Bob found a new car!

Think Bob will give them a ride in his new car?? LOL

Bob & Ladd got their hopes up thinking perhaps oysters were coming...again!

Not this time. Just some rock explorations.

Yes, please!

Chairs set up outside a "middle school" for some outdoor lessons.
(When a boy, perhaps on his way to the bathroom, saw me taking this picture, he smiled at me, gave me a thumbs-up, and stayed there until I got back in our car. I could imagine his teacher saying, "Why were you gone so long?" And the boy attempting to explain about some "loco Americano woman" taking pictures! LOL)

Happy hour just starting at "Karen's Place"

Our amiga, Rosa: bartender extraordinaire!

Sandy & Bob with Rick, one of our new friends

Good-bye hug for Sandy & Rosa

Good-bye hug for me & Rosa

Thanks for all the great fun, Rosa!

Good-bye hug for Bob & Rosa

An awesome left-over dinner created by Sandy!

Put a lid on it, Bob! Ha!

A last, delicious margarita at "Mi Lola"

When Ladd ordered a tequila with limones, Mario apologized saying they were out of limones. So Ladd hurried back to Casa Lucia to get our left-over limones & brought them to "Mi Lola's " for Mario! The great wait-staff at "Mi Lola" got a big kick out of that!
(Ladd was hoping maybe you'd hire him, Mario, so he could stay! Ha!)

Good-bye (for now) to our special friend, Mario!
Thanks for your kindness and all the wonderful memories!