May 23, 2008. Nuevo Vallarta. Speed.

This whole week our speed was put at the slow speed. I am not sure why, but we enjoyed the lack of hassle. We did not go into the big town, Puerto Vallerta, nor did we get on a public bus. We did not go to any new restaurants for dinner, instead we ate out for lunch and brought a box of left over food to pick at dinner. We did not go to the exercise club. So everything we thought we were going to do this week turned out to be false. But what we did do was helpful and pleasant and healthful.

After breakfast we read for a couple of hours, then we walked for an hour or two, usually ending up at some very nice restaurant for a late lunch, More reading in the afternoon in the apartment, a drink down by the water, another walk in the early evening followed by a very light dinner. Yesterday on our late afternoon walk, we spotted an iguana about two feet long, also a great blue heron. Our journey took us along a new road, where the houses fronted on the canals, and I tell you, this is a good way to feel poverty stricken. These houses are huge, and beautiful. And the boats parked by their docks are spectacular. Once again we took the new tourist trolley to a new restaurant on the other side of the canal. After our delicious lunch we strolled around the canal and met a couple who were selling a condominium. Turns out they are both agents, although she was nursing their new baby, but the husband, Aldo Zaldo, showed us the condo, which was for sale for $235,000. American, on the Marina. As we rejected Marina living in the past, we admired the unit and thanked him for showing it to us. But we are spoiled by the bold Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific sunsets.

The best part of the week was that we walked every day. The second best part of the week was that we did not over eat. Now tomorrow we go to the lake house in Texas, where David and Suzanne and the four girls will be waiting for us and where we will be delighted to see them.