Click on a photo to enlarge it.
We only spent a few more days in Teacapan before travelling down to Rincon to go to the dentist again. We went to Heidi and Jacques
for a sunset meal. There wasn't a sunset to write about but we enjoyed our meal of salsa, guacamole, tortilla chips and salad. We took
along the Mexican variety of Philadelphia cheese with chipotle which went down very well with Ritz biscuits and chocolate cake for
dessert!
Kirsten went fishing but it was a very cold, cloudy and windy day. The waves were so high that she got thrown over in the boat as they
tried to get it into the water and ended up with a very large bruise on the back of her thigh.
Kirsten and Agnes complained about the cold and Helmut finally brought them back but it took over an hour because they were going
against the wind and only have a small motor. At least they managed to catch a few fish.
We also walked over to the other beach for Agnes's birthday. We sat inside their motor home as it was too cold for a beach fire and
had meatballs and egg salad. We took along freshly squeezed orange juice to mix with the champagne and banana cake for dessert. We
had to walk along the road on the way back because of high tide and it was really cold.
The next day we drove south to San Blas and our fridge door came open whilst driving! The spring inside the door handle had broken!
We've had the fridge for less than 5 months so we were not exactly happy and had to rig up a solution using an elastic band and a
screw! At this rate we'll need 20 springs to last for four years!
We drove down to Chacala to check it out. We'd heard that there was no longer a camp ground and the reports were correct. It was also
packed full of people and cars with nowhere for us to stay so we drove to the Pemex in La Penita to stay for the night.
At the dentist Helen found out that her gum was inflamed as food had got stuck in a gap that had opened up after the surgery and then
went through a series of injections and drilling for the impressions. She was told that the inflammation will go on its own and the
next appointment was for 10 days later when the crown will be fitted.
We met up with Lyle, Ursula and Kasi whilst we were in Rincón and also handed in our curtain material to a seamstress to get her to
make our blinds. We had drawn diagrams with measurements so that the material we had could be cut and sewn into three blinds, a door
curtain and two skylight covers.
We stayed at a camp ground in Los Ayala to do our washing, upload videos and contact Dometic, the manufacturers of our fridge who told
us we would have to contact Camping World where we bought it as we are under warranty.
We drove further south to Puerto Vallarta and took a wrong turn. Actually we went straight on when we should have turned left and
ended up driving through the main town on very bumpy cobblestones. We managed to find a place on a street near to the camp ground
which looked as if it had closed down and Helen went to the bookshop to swap books.
The next morning Kirsten went for a walk on the beach front and got some money from the bank.
One way to earn money. You gotta be tough though!
Then she went up to Elizabeth Taylor's house to take photos. With her eyes looking through the viewfinder of the camera she forgot to watch where she was walking and stepped
right onto newly laid concrete leaving two footprints behind!! It was like Hollywood Boulevard, leaving footprints for posterity.
She should have put her hand prints in it too!! We decided we would return in a few years to see if they are still there!
We drove out along the main road, with all the traffic, and went out to Punta Mita. We were here about 5 years ago when the road was
being built but the restaurant where we parked up was no longer accessible so we drove to the end of the road and went to the beach
front.
It had all been newly done and there was plenty of parking spaces. We asked at one of the restaurants who told us that we could stay
for the night without a problem.
We went for a walk along the beach and watched numerous surfers and then went to the restaurant only to find out that they are on
Puerto Vallarta time here which is one hour ahead, and they were about to close!
According to the map, the time zone is just west of PV but there is an agreement that they use PV time north along the coast as far
as Lo de Marcos. We didn't bother changing our watches and cooked for ourselves that night and went back to the restaurant the
following night for a meal.
We drove further north to Sayulita. Everyone has told us that it's a great place to stay but we found it far too crowded and too
touristy for us. It didn't help that the rains last year had taken out the bridge and we had to go back to the main road and take
the north entrance into the town to get to the beach. One of the photos shows a house on the beach that had been knocked over by
the floods.
We went back for the final dental appointment where Helen got her crown fitted and Kirsten had her teeth cleaned. Helen does not
want to go to the dentist for the next 20 years ... we'll see!
The good news is that we finally got our blinds done after years of trying to find new ones. They only cost $18 (about 13 Euros) and
that price included a new zip in a pair of Kirsten's shorts! A quote we got in Tucson was for over $100 without the new zip!! Our new
blinds really make a difference and we are really pleased with them.
We drove back up to San Blas via the really bad roads again and went through one town where they had set up an impromptu road block
and we had to drive on the wrong side of the road. The problem was that the traffic coming the other way didn't have any signs telling
them they were going to meet oncoming traffic!!! The Mexicans must be used to this because everyone took it in their stride!
