Sayulita, Mexico - April 1-7

On a whim I purchased a week long stay in Sayulita, Mexico at a silent auction eons ago and I finally cashed it in. I had no clue where Sayulita was but I didn't care. It was on the coast and there were beaches, what more could I ask for after a cold, very long Alaskan winter! So after some careful planning I headed to Sayulita, which by the way is 45mins N of Puerto Vallarta, for an all girls vacation. Kara, Stephanie and Andrea came in from GR and Lisa who also lives in AK and had had enough of the snow. After a very long unplanned layover in LA (never fly Delta, it blows!!! and I wouldn't recommend LA either, people are rude!) I finally made it into Vallarta, paid an arm and a leg for a taxi and rolled into Sayulita at 930pm. I was supposed to have gotten in at 4pm, met up with Lisa at the airport and met the realty guy Theo to get the keys to the house so I was praying the girls had managed to find the house and Theo. I shouldn't have worried, Kara being the resourceful woman that she is had remembered to bring the address of the house with her, met the housekeeper and obtained the keys. I on the other hand had gotten ahold of Theo in LA to tell I would be delayed but did not have the address to the house, hee hee. Thankfully my kind cabdriver lent me his cell phone so I could call Theo from Sayulita and get directions to the house. As much as I scorn cell phones they are handy =)! Unfortunately my very kind cabdriver did not believe I had the directions right, go figure. (You should also ask Lisa about her cabdriver Oscar and about Casa Mirado) so we drove around town for a bit before I convinced him I should check up the first road I thought the house was on and of course it was and I was joyfully reunited with the girls. It was so good to see them all again! I slept like the dead that night after exploring the house and catching up with everyone.

I must toot my horn a bit, I picked a fabulous house. I did. Besides the roosters that crowed at all hours but mostly between 3-5am and the occasional dog fight I had no complaints. (Earplugs were definately the way to go!) The house was gorgeous! Situated on Gringo hill (that's it's actual name) it overlooked the town and you had a nice view of the ocean in the distance. It had 2 BR's, sweet rock shower, kitchen, LR and a patio on the roof with a hammock and chairs and was 5 mins walk to the beach. It was heaven. I would have loved to have spent another week there, one week was just way too short. We didn't really do too much and it was fabulous, it was a true vacation. As those who have travelled with me in the past know I like to see as much as I can but I actually relaxed and did nothing, it was beautiful. We explored a few days and checked out the shops, hung out on the beach, Lisa and I got fried (what do you expect from pasty white girls from alaska) and Kara and I tried out surfing which was a blast. Paddling is really tiring, my arms were dead after our 2 hour lesson, which is actually pathetic because my instructor usually gave me a shove in addition to my piddling paddling. Surprising since I have such huge guns, eh Sarah? I did do well and got up on over half the waves I caught with a good low postition on the board according to what the instructor told Kara. North Shore here I come...ok maybe a few more trips to Sayulita to practice are in order. The biggest challenge was not running into the hoards of people in the water. We ended up coming during Semana Santa (Holy Week) so it was busy but not just with tourists but with locals as well so it was a nice mix.
I loved using my spanish again, my taxi driver told me I spoke with a Spanish accent and discovering that I wasn't as rusty as I thought I would be. I would definately recommend Sayulita to anyone. Just bring me with you when you go, ok??!! I'm not kidding, really!

Here are a few pics til I get more from the other girls. All of us enjoyed these giant pineapple drinks that Andrea and I are displaying. I loved these flowers, they were everywhere but I have no clue what they are. Mom what are they? Next we were coming back from Playa de los Muertos-Beach of the Dead, so named because you have to walk through the cemetary to get there. And this last one is of Kara and I standing ontop of this cool rock at Playa de los Muertos. You might need sunglasses to ward off the glare of my white skin but I can happily say I'm nice and brown now =).