After a fantastic time in adorable little Sayulita, it was time for some big resort living. Just two nights in a Marriott in Puerta Vallarta, but we were excited for less bugs and more hot water.
We were offered an upgrade to a room with a view. We declined and found our room still had a pretty spectacular view from the balcony.
We are pretty good at resort life.
I really wanted to go down to the boardwalk, but Tom wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with the crowds. I may have pulled the emotional card since this was a special place for me and my dad. But it worked and we all were very happy we went. We got there just in time to catch the sunset.
We literally jumped out of the taxi and ran down to take it in.
Then we walked along the boardwalk to take in the sights.
Including these guys...
We also enjoyed these cool sculptures.
Serafina telling secrets to the giant ear.
We ended our stroll at a pretty fantastic restaurant that the concierge at the hotel recommended.
I mean, Sayulita is great but you're not going to be served flaming dancing fajitas.
The musicians were terrific and they played Guantanamera, which is a song my dad loved to sing along with whenever he heard it.
Again, we loved Sayulita but they didn't have a night market with a cake booth.
Saturday we woke up early and headed to the port to go on an excursion called "Outdoor Adventure". This outing started with a 20 minute speedboat ride to a small beach south of Puerta Vallarta, which I wasn't thrilled about because of my earlier boat barfing, but I did just fine.
After the boat, we loaded onto these Unimog trucks to head up into the jungle.
At "base camp" we geared up for the day. Harnesses and helmets on!
But we still needed to travel further up the mountains into the jungle. For that, we rode mules. Yes, mules. Mine was named "Mosca", which is a slang term for fly (my dad taught me that). Mosca decided he wanted to run up that hill and I wasn't a fan. My thighs were sore the next day from squeezing on for dear life. Serafina apparently almost slide off her mule too. And Leo's mule was the slow poke and brought up the rear. That certainly wasn't my favorite part but we made it, and it was on to the rest of the adventure. We took nine ziplines through the jungle, rappelled down a waterfall, and finished off with a waterslide that required we wear hockey masks with full face protection. Oh man. It was scary, exhausting and so much fun. We definitely made some memories. No phones were allowed on the course (with good reason), but I don't think any of us will ever forget the experience.
Oh boy, did we need this vacation. We planned it for many months and were excited. But both kids passports expired in May so we went to the library to have all the documents submitted and paid to have the renewal expedited. But with less than two weeks before our trip, we still didn't have the passports. That kicked off one of the most frustrating, anxiety-inducing periods of my life. It involved calling the National Passport Center multiple times, with each call requiring a two - three hour hold. One morning I woke up at 5am to call, and still was on hold for almost an hour. I scoured Reddit message boards for advice and contacted my state Senator's office to file paperwork to assist us. There was sleep lost, tears shed and hope fading. We made the decision not to cancel or change any of our reservations in hopes that the universe would allow this to work out. And then, with less than 48 hour before our flight, we received the passports. Oh happy day! I had found out the day before that they had shipped and the weight lifted off my shoulders was indescribably.
So when we had to wake up super early on Sunday (6/4) for our flight to Puerto Vallarta, it felt like a privilege and a dream. After an easy flight, we took a cab about an hour north to the little beach town of Sayulita. I used to visit Puerto Vallarta with my dad in my late teens and early 20s. We visited Sayulita on a day trip, along with other beaches to the north. But in the years since, Sayulita has become a popular little beach town with amazing food and a fair number of tourists. We stayed at an Airbnb on the north side of town, away from some of the hustle and bustle of downtown, but still just an easy walk to amazing food and shopping.
Our home away from home was very unique. The upstairs and downstairs living spaces were open air, including the kitchen. The bedrooms were enclosed with locking doors, attached bathrooms and (thankfully) air conditioning. The best part? It was just steps to the beach.
The best part? It was just steps to the beach.
Heading out in search of some dinner on the first night.
Saw this beautiful mural on a morning walk.
Leo absolutely loved being in the ocean. He spent every moment he could in there. Including a sunset swim at the end of our first full day.
Tuesday we took a boat to Marietas Islands to do some snorkeling.
Unfortunately, after these pictures I got seasick and stayed that way for a while. Part of the outing was a sit down lunch at a restaurant back in Sayulita. The waitress took one look at me and said "I'll bring you a box". I sipped on a Sprite and felt slightly more human. Not a highlight for me.
Dinner was fun though. We ate at this tropical outdoor....well, shack.
Dessert was ice cream tacos from the cutest little food trailer.
Wednesday, Tom and the kids took a surf lesson with Chimio. I follow him on Instagram.
Here they are getting some instruction on land.
Then it was off to conquer the ocean.
I had so much fun watching them because they were doing really well and it seemed like they were having a good time.
Here's a video of Serafina.
Here's Tom.
And Leo.
Successful surfers finishing up.
Thursday I made my family walk to Playa de Los Muertos. It's a beach right next to a cemetery. I thought it was one I had visited a long time ago, but it wasn't. It was lovely, but small and the walk there was pretty hot.
We got a good view of Sayulita on the way.
Almost there. I loved this, of course.
This beach was a more protected cove so there weren't really any waves. Leo preferred the more exciting beach by our Airbnb.
My gorgeous girl in a gorgeous spot.
We stopped by the colorful town square on our way back so we could get tacos from our favorite place, but it was closed.
Tom found a different favorite taco place for dinner that night.
Frida and Diego bench.
Ahhh, colorful Sayulita.
This is about the time Serafina was sick of my picture taking.
Giving me a smile because we were in line for gelato.
Here's Tom having a final cup of coffee on Friday morning before we left Sayulita. He loved being just steps from this spectacular spot, even though none of us really loved the "outdoor" living of the house. We would absolutely go back, but probably pick a place with walls.
We didn't have to check out until noon so of course there had to be one last visit to the amazing hotel pools and the warm ocean.
Waiting for the airport shuttle after a successful Mexico vacation.
We went for a quick walk to grab some pastries and I had to document the pizza place that was a lifesaver on two separate, sweaty nights. My kids couldn't do Mexican food every night so delicious slices for just 25 pesos came to the rescue.
We had a long bumpy flight from Cancun to Salt Lake City during which Leo lost a tooth eating a piece of candy.
Love a photo op and we kinda love Delta now for their individual TVs in the back of each seat with a huge selection of movies. It made the long travel more tolerable.
And that concludes our amazing Mexican vacation. I just love Mexico so much and it was wonderful to show my children such a special place. It wasn't without it's challenges but they were outweighed by good times and natural beauty.
