Into Vallarta

Friday,  January 30

Another mellow day hanging around Los Arroyos. Started off sipping tea on the front porch and tending to the dogs. The sun was blazing by the time we took off on a long walk exploring a part of the colonia behind the car wash that we hadn’t been to before. Plenty of lots for sale and loose dogs to avoid. In truth, not a very pretty area. Too close to town with lots of trash and a smattering of graffiti.

I made a peanut butter sandwich and got in some solid hammock time reading my book. There are lots of new arrivals. Strange faces wandering around exploring the grounds and checking out the bungalows. The new guy on the end moved in a local boy toy and there is a lot of drinking and high pitched laughter into the night. There are people in Casa Pitaya across the way for the first time. I got a peek inside when the maids were setting it up, really nice set up. Completely open like ours but maybe twice the size.

I commandeered the five o’clock shuttle and Joaquin dropped me up near my AA friends house and he was waiting in his newer SUV to drive us into Puerto Vallarta so he could chair the 6:30 meeting. About a kilometer outside of Mezcales where the new bridge is going up, traffic came to complete stop. It took about a half an hour to traverse the mile or so to get past the clog and start moving again.

Some frenetic driving from there got us to the meeting about 5 minutes late. Someone had already gotten things started and I relaxed into a comfortable seat and listened to people share. There was a birthday, a guy with 29 years. He spoke for 15 minutes then opened things up for the group. Good place for me to be on a Friday night.

After the meeting, we walked down a few blocks and ate some shrimp tacos. The AA club is in the zona romantica, a more bohemian part of town. Lots of hippies and alternative life styles. It is a fun place to wander around and check things out. Maybe not so much for my friend, an older, conservative guy from Arizona. He seemed a little uncomfortable with the whole scene. 

Drive back was smooth. On the path to the casita, I noticed that even the airstream trailer had guests in it.  Took the dogs for a walk around then read for a while until the neighbors in Zamora quieted down then got to sleep around midnight.