Full Moon at Alta

Nammy's House

While Jill and I were in Puerto Vallarta we stayed at the old Hotel Tropicana which gave us a great chance to go up to Casa de lso Abuelos.  I knew it would no longer be there because I had seen the blank spot on Google Earth and was somewhat prepared for it not to be the same.  We followed the same old road up behind the Hotel Tropicana which was very much the same as I remember it.  As we came around the corner we could see the new Casa de Los Abuelos kind of looming.  It has a somewhat funny looking conned palapa and a huge "infinity" pool.  In the photo below, the blue stripe is the edge of the pool which is cantilevered way out and you can see, takes up most of the ground floor. (note that you can click on the images to make them bigger)

There is a new optional entrance from the street.

I took this panorama standing at the top of the old brick stairs leading down to the beach.  I think that the whole section on top of the pilings is the pool.  John will be pleased to hear that they have finally completed construction on the man-hole cover at the top of the stairs.

The old tree remains in the middle of the road below where the pool was.  I think that was one of my favorite things.

The gate was unlocked and Jill and I walked up the driveway and found a group of Mexicans working on some wooden shutters.  I tried to speak with them and they went inside and got the care-taker to whom I explained who I was and asked if I could see the new house.  I cannot remember his name, but he said that he had worked at the old Casa de los Abuelos for about seven years before it was torn down and that he loved the old house.  He said that the new house is now a

private home and that the owners would not allow me to come inside.  I let him

 know that I understood and thanked him.  As I said good bye and before I walked back down the drive way it kind of sunk in that I was only steps from the very spot where the gate at the top of Nammy's driveway used to go inside and where you used to be able to see the pool, the bar, the courtyard and living room.  Before I walked back down the driveway took a moment enjoy being in the exact same location, even if very transformed, where I had so many fond memories.  I was sad, but was also glad to be able to return to the location where it all happened.

Return to the Nayarit Coast

A New Year

The Round Up

This was a pretty long ride for me. We should have teken better care of ourselves with more water, food and shade.

Got Salt?

Jill's Father made his way up through Utah to visit for the weekend and we drove out to Bonneville to attend World of Speed.  Always a great trip. We had a great stay in Wendover and hit the geocache up by Jackpot.  Someday I would like to go to the old historic airfield in Wendover.  Need to zoom in and crop more while shooting.

A Toast to the Toothbrush

We had a great weekend up on the ridge with Jill's Father Henry.  We worked on the deck, cooked ribs, told stories and played with Lizzie.  On the first day you could not see any yellow at all in the aspens.  The next morning, there was a little frost and you could clearly notice a sea of yellow starting to form.  The leaves were turning right before our eyes!  Lizzie was good, she chased some deer, cows and horses but she always cam back and the horses just ignored her.  We also went on great walk up to the beaver pond.  Overall it was really fun to show Henry all of it.

Never Go Here

I do not recommend that anyone ever to go to this forsaken place.  It has no name. There is nothing to see here.  The water tasts funny, the bugs are terrible and the plants so

 impenatrable and covered in thorns that not even Lizzie could get through. The trail is not marked well at all and in some places it is very uneven.  Its was so crowded that you couldnt spit without hitting pair of Tevas and we had to wait for 45 min in order to park in 12$ overflow parking.  The campsite we reserved looked nothing like the picture on the website.