Kev and I had found a pretty good restaurant in San Blas. Freshly prepared grilled chicken and fish to perfection, so, we did not see a need to screw with a good thing! Here the chicken actually tasted like chicken, and not a processed piece of white meat that could be fish, chicken or pork! They are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and we had planned on grabbing and early breakfast before heading out to La Manzanilla today…..but, we had a slight hiccup! Loading up the bikes Kev noticed that I was missing one of my gas cans of my peg packers….damn! Oh well, of all the things that are secured but accessible and could have been taken of the bike like, the radio communications, the sleeping bags and hammocks, chain lube, bike oil, a nalgene bottle with sterilized water, 8 tie down straps in my smily sanchez tube that doesn't lock, I thought that I got pretty darn lucky! So there was a little kafuffle with the staff at the hacienda…me communicating with them, they communicating with staff and god knows who on the phone…and none of us really understood each other. Seriously, it was like a really, really bad game of charades played by the blind! A little peeved, I gave up and gave the universal sign of time by tapping my pretend wrist watch. "Let's get some breakfast before heading out", I said to Kev….so that is what we did!
My bike missing a red gas container
With a later start than we intended we stopped to remedy the situation with Chorizo and eggs... just and awesome combination of protein to start a day of riding. We rode out of the cobble stoned San Blas and turned onto the coastal road towards Puerto Vallarta. WOW is an understatement ….this is fabulous riding! We slow down for the topas in the rural country towns which not only allows us to keep upright on our bikes, but give us that extra moment of roadside and town absorption. I am fascinated by how many people have roadside stalls selling exactly the same items advertised at the same price???? How do they get a break? Everyone seems happy and smily enough waving and giving us the thumbs up as we putt and sticky beak through. The coastal road never disappoints…..and when you add the lush vine ridden tropical fauna, these clean dirt swept country towns, and the sight of the ocean, it brings your days riding experience to a completely different level. I immensely enjoyed this mornings ride and I know Kev did also.
On our way to La Manzanilla we planned to stop in on Cynthia & Bob, some friends that live in San Pancho, a small town about an hour north of Puerto Vallarta. We turned off the highway and entered this cute, surfy, Los Gatos/Torquay feel of a town. I heard my name being yelled, stopped in the street to see Bob approaching me…it was really a great fun feeling when you get a chance to visit familiars in your travels! Kev and I really enjoyed our brief visit with Cynthia & Bob in their lovely spanish palapa home and wish that we could have stayed longer, but we still have 4 solid hours of riding ahead of us today if we plan to make it to La Manzanilla. We attentively rode the very busy single laned highway 200 towards Puerto Vallarta, and were not making the time that we though we would. Kev and I hit peak travel time entering down town Puerto Vallarta, famished and decided to grab some food from a local grocery store, have a little parking lot picnic and reevaluate our plan. The time is now 4:45pm There comes a point when you have to say…Well shoot, it is just not going to work, lets get a room, cool down and enjoy a margarita! Time was really against us today, not only from a travel stance but we actually lost an hour when we crossed into the state of Jalisco! There was no way that we were making it to La Manzanilla by sunset, so we decided to get through the taxi bustle and polished stoned streets of Puerto Vallarta, that, by the way, has grown up so, so much since I visited it 20 years ago, then choose a place for the night. Teresa…..We passed Ocho Cascados...Wow…that brought back great memories. Maybe we should have rode to the top, but memory serves it is hella cobbly and steep…hmm, I'll just look up!…ha ha ha. "How about here", I radioed Kev. I spied a Best Western on the curvy coastal road not far out of PV that seemed to have secure parking. We checked it out, and decided to check in just…phew, just in time to watch the sun go down! La Manzanilla…we'll see you mañana!
Cynthia & Bob
Late late lunch, almost dinner in Puerto Vallarta
Buenas noches Puerto Vallarta!…the Township is actually the other direction :)