More adventures

Tom (known on AllVallarta as Sky King) and his wife Marsha are in Puerto Vallarta for 3 weeks or so. We had volunteered to make a dentist appointment for Tom and gave him a ride out there the first time. We have taken several adventurous trips with Tom and Marsha. We went to the Marina one night (OK, not that adventurous) and walked around looking at all the yachts. We ate at Victor’s and had a good meal of fish fillets. We have also eaten at Taste of Italy, one of their favorites and a place we hadn’t tried before. The sub sandwiches and spaghetti are all good and the prices reasonable.
The kids from the RISE shelter are going to go on a fiend trip next week. There is a ranch along the river outside of Las Palmas called Rancho Capomo. They have a restaurant, river access, horseback rides, a playground and plenty of room for the kids to run around. Chris had the name of the place and the location, but no phone number. We went to the ranch to “warn” them that 40 kids and 20 adults would be coming next week. Harold, Tom, Marsha and I walked down to the river, enjoyed the scenic surroundings and had a snack at the ranch. The terrain near Las Palmas is not at all like the coastal area. Many trees, huge rocks in the river and very scenic!
After lunch, we thought we’d see if any progress is being made on the mythical new road to Guadalajara. There is a lot of road construction going on, so maybe the road will be a reality some day.
We drove through the small town of Las Palmas and ate lunch at a restaurant Harold had seen an ad for in the paper. We shared coconut shrimp dinners. The price was reasonable and the food was good and filling. Great mango sauce for the shrimp, too!
Another day, we drove up the very steep hill near our house. The houses at the top have a fabulous view. We watched a kid scrambling up and down a hillside that would have been a recipe for disaster for any of us it was so steep.
We have also sat on the balcony at their apartment on Olas Altas. They have a perfect spot for people watching.
Twice we have taken the dogs to walk along the Pitallal River. Denny told us there was a dirt path along the river all the way over to Pitallal from the Holiday Inn. It is really more like a dirt road, very wide and smooth. No cars can get on the road, at least from the west end. We walked down a ways and then there is a place you can easily walk to the river. The dogs have a great time running around leash-less and chasing birds. Both times we have been there we have see very few other people. It appears a number of workers use it as a short cut to bicycle from Pitallal to the hotel zone.
The weather has been very strange, many days have been cloudy. And don’t laugh you northerners, but one night it was actually cold in the wind! This afternoon, after walking the dogs, Harold and I were going to go to the beach but it is overcast and cool. He is squeezing oranges for juice instead. I bought the oranges this morning from a guy driving through the neighborhood in a pickup truck. A couple days ago we bought strawberries from another truck - 20 pesos a kilogram. That’s about 80 cents US per pound.
Since I haven’t yet figured out how to put pictures in the blog, you will have to look at my Webshots http://community.webshots.com/user/sioux4noff for photos of this stuff!