Back home after a fun trip to Mexico. Stan and Mary Frazer are friends that Darla made when she and Mary worked together at Alta. Funny thing is that I met both Stan and Mary when Jennifer was in middle school and she was friends with their daughter, Lindsay and they lived close to Diane. They still live in Folsom. They were great travel companions, open for everything and ready to travel, swim, drink or eat.
We had some issues early on in the trip. We flew out Sunday morning at 6:00 AM and ran into our neighbors from behind us who were on their way to Cozumel. Our flight was to Phoenix and we had a layover there. When I walked off the plane, I went to the Departures board and saw the flight to Puerto Vallarta was at Gate A-7. We went and had our travel docs checked and approved at the gate and then went to have breakfast. We finished and ran to the gate and were boarded after having our boarding passes checked. We were one of the last groups on the plane and we had another couple already in our seats. I called the flight attendant over and she checked both their tickets and ours and said the seats had been "double booked", but there were plenty of seats available and we just moved up three rows. As we were getting ready to push back from the gate, I looked out at Gate A-9 and saw our flight number and Puerto Vallarta as the destination on the neon sign on the Jetway. We were on the wrong plane!! The jet pushed back and we took off.
When we arrived, our luggage was not on the plane as we were on the wrong flight. We waited for the correct plane 90 minutes later and our bags (and my clubs) were not there either. We filled out lost luggage paperwork and took our carry ons to the resort. Darla and I had packed swimsuits and tank tops in the carry-on and were able to swim, but I had to miss golf on Monday. They called us Sunday night and wanted to know where to send our luggage. I told him Nuevo Vallarta and he said that we did not check in for our flights and they pulled the luggage off the plane. I told him we checked in on the earlier flight and to send it. He said they had no record of that and how did he know we were in Puerto Vallarta? I told him we checked in on a US Airways flight and perhaps the TSA might be interested in how lax their security was in Phoenix. He told me our luggage would be on the first flight in the morning and would be delivered to our resort.
We had to go without our toiletries and went out Sunday night and bought toothpaste and a toothbrush, deodorant and some sunscreen. Stan and Mary bought swimsuits and other clothes as well as toiletries and plan to bill it to US Airways. We spent the day at the pool and our luggage finally arrived at 4:00 PM. The bags and some of the clothes were wet and we found out that it had rained in Phoenix the night before. We called and told them to add that to our claim.
It got much better after that and we had a nice meal Monday night after getting to clean up and Darla having all of her hair products and makeup.
We bought the meal plan again this year and were able to get 6 dinners and 6 breakfasts for $300. It's a great deal as the dinners include an appetizer, main course and dessert. We ate well and had 4 dinners at the resort and 3 breakfasts. We did go offsite to PV for lunch one day on a bus tour of PV which included a tour of the city, the set of the Night of the Iguana (from 1963!!!), a tequila factory tour and a lunch at Las Cascedas. The first five pictures are all of this venue. The food was good and the views and the ambiance even better.
Darla and I did go to the member's update, which is an excuse to upgrade your time share. We tried to upgrade to the Grand Bliss when we were with Dad and Shirley, but did upgrade this year to the Grand Luxxe. I get free golf and Darla gets 2 for 1 massages and spa specials. The Grand Luxxe has a larger suite and a junior suite on the lockout that includes a small kitchenette and a living area. We have two weeks that can break out to a month if we use the lockout. We are very happy with the deal that we got and the resort is expanding to become the largest in Mexico and they will add two more golf courses, one designed by Greg Norman and the other with Tiger Wood's new course development company. The Greg Norman course is being graded now and is expected to open in 2012 and will be exclusive to Grand Luxxe owners. I can access any of the courses, but Mayan and Grand Mayan members will only have access to the current course.
They now have 18 holes open and it was worth the wait as the course is a nice combination of wide open fairways, sand, waste bunkers, water and the jungle surrounding it all. I played twice and shot 81 and 83. Stan is not a golfer and shot 122 and 124, but seemed to really enjoy himself.
Bob and Debbie were along with us, but unfortunately, Debbie was sick a big part of the trip and missed out on a lot of our stay.
We did make it up to Buscerias, the small Mexican village about twenty miles north of Nuevo Vallarta. We really like Claudios, Maison Bay, a restaurant on the beach that makes large margaritas and great Mexican food. We went there with Dad and Shirley . We found out that they have a special on Fridays that includes (for $20) all of the margaritas you can drink and all of the Mexican Food you can eat. We were there on a Thursday and our bill for 6 of us was $114, which was less than the special and we had a shrimp stuffed avocado appetizer that was to die for and the girls had coconut shrimp that they really enjoyed and the guys all had mixed fajitas. We will go back next trip as well. We were all a bit loopy after two margaritas and a double shot of blue agave tequila that was on the house.
I have some pictures of Samantha and Jennifer that I will save for next week. Jen's job is going well and she is enjoying having weekends off. I will check in with all of you next week. we got home at 11:00 PM last night and we were both pretty tired today. Be well. Ciao.
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