A Second-Grader Makes My Day

Today must be Monday because the awesome housekeeper, Marina, arrived to "save the day" and "save the casa" with her hard work. (Thanks so much, Marina! We really appreciate you and all you do!)

After our omelets, we headed out for a "driving tour". We headed north through Puerto Vallarta and through the mountains. It was yet another beautiful, sunny and clear day with temperatures in the eighties. (Sorry for our snow-bound friends at home. Truly wish you were here, too!) 

Our brave driver, Ladd, faced the crazed Mexican drivers and took us safely over unbelievably curvy mountain roads. The scenery, especially looking down from cliff side to the ocean below, was breath-taking, and we stopped many times to take it all in and for some photo-ops, too. We passed through many little towns like Boca de Tomatlan, El Tuito, Playa Mayto, Playa Yehpa, Playa Chimo, and Playa Corrales. ("Playa" translates to "beach" which will give you an idea of both the location and the beauty of these towns.)

We saw two huge rock formations in the middle of ocean. They have cave-like holes in their centers, and you can ride through them in a boat.  

We "oohed" and "aahed" at incredibly expensive, privately-owned casas (a.k.a. mansions) on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. (Se vende...for sale...IF only we'd win the lottery...ha!)

Tour buses brought visitors for "Canopy Tours" and zip-line adventures. (We've "been there/done that" re: zip-lining when we were in Belize, so I say let's not press our luck and tempt fate with another zip-line experience...ha!) 

We passed a very large soccer field and stadium. What made it even more interesting was seeing young soccer players kicking their soccer balls down the road heading to the field/stadium for a practice or game. 

At one place we stopped to take in the views, Bob got a coconut filled with cold coconut milk and four straws. Yum! Refreshing!

My personal favorite stop of the day was at a road-side "strip mall" <g> : seven or eight little "tiendas" (shops) all in a row selling Mexican products. We stopped and walked through all the little shops. With the help of our "Master Negotiator" (Ladd), Sandy and I ended up buying BEAUTIFUL Mexican-style dresses! (The vendor even gave us pretty scarf-sashes to go with our dresses!) 

But what made this my favorite stop of the day was not just the gorgeous dresses we got, it was our interaction with the little boy in this shop. He was seated at a table over-looking the ocean doing his homework. (Talk about a location that helps make doing homework WAY more tolerable!) I talked with him about his school and his homework. He is in second grade and takes all his courses in BOTH English and Spanish! (Here I go again, but WHY on Earth don't we do this in the U.S.??)

When I tried on the Mexican dress over my clothes to be sure it fit, the little second-grade boy said, "Oh! Wow!" He smiled, and we all laughed. I knew then and there that it must look O.K....sold! Then as we were talking with his mom the little boy held out his snack to offer us some! Now it was my turn to say, " Oh! Wow!" Here is a boy who has SO MUCH LESS than we do, yet thought to and was gladly willing to share with us! What a special kiddo! I will NOT forget him and will think of him when I wear the dress. Now Sandy and I are waiting till we go out to dinner somewhere to try out our new dresses...ha!

Back at the casa, Ladd prepared a FOUR STAR (if that's the TOP rating) dinner for us. We had the tuna steaks we bought at the La Cruz Market yesterday. Half of them Ladd braised and half he did on the little charcoal grill. Both were melt-in-your-mouth awesome! We had sauteed beans, onions, peppers, and mushrooms with the tuna steaks. The fact that we had no left-overs is strong testament to just how delicious the dinner was! (Here's hoping my new Mexican dress still fits...LOL!)

Heading off to sleep full and happy! Buenas noches!