“Feed that dog and he’ll be with you all summer.” The best advice I have been given since I got to this village yesterday was given to me by a local restaurant owner earlier this afternoon.

We were having lunch at Chac Mool where we met the owners, Arturo and Amelia, and their gorgeous 1-year old Chloe. The pizza we ordered was amazing but that may have been in part to the fact that all we had eaten were ab&j's (almond butter and jam), apples, and pop-tarts since we crossed the border nearly 2 days and 1,000 miles ago.

The dog that was begging for scraps was a well-known stray. Cute as the little guy was, I knew Arturo was right. If I fed that dog I would never be able to get him to leave my side. And being stalked by a hungry homeless dog is not exactly what I am looking forward to this summer.

What I am looking forward to is catching waves, making lots of friends, and taking long naps on the beach covered by a seemingly permanent, thin, crusted layer of salt. 

 

So what brought us to this tiny little Mexican village of Chacala and to venture into my first-ever blogging experience?

We got lucky. Vicki might say that the stars aligned and the certain planets were in orbit… but I’ll get to that.

It all started with Lolly and Pops. They were offered the chance to house sit for a friend of theirs but were not really in a position to do so, having just moved back to Vegas and were facing new jobs and many life changes. When Jade and I heard they were going to turn it down we sarcastically (although totally seriously) offered up our assistance.

The house belongs to Vicki, Tandy’s mom, both of who were great friends to Lolly when she ventured out here to Chacala 2 years ago for 3 months all by herself. Vicki and Tandy are both energetic, loving ladies who catch me off guard with nearly every hilarious, sarcastic, comment that flies out of their mouths with their sweet Georgia accents.

Tandy is a nanny in California right now and Vicki decided to flee the humid summer heat and visit the states for a while. When Pops emailed her suggesting that she consider us as a replacement she seemed thrilled.

Vicki’s life hobby and interest is astrology. She is very aware of how energy in the universe feels and how it might be affected by the alignment of certain planets or other heavenly events. So the stars must have been in our favor because she quickly accepted and we began preparing.

We quit our jobs, packed up our lives and waited until we could hit the open road.

We decided to drive to Mexico so we would have the freedom check out different surf spots and take shopping trips without having to worry about all the restrictions that a bus would give us. We traded our Prius and our Tacoma to Pops for his Honda CRV.

We bought an INVALUABLE map from a website online that gave us turn by turn directions on the toll roads from Nogales, Arizona to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. 

We mistakenly thought it would be easy to get Pesos from American banks so we put that off to the last minute. In case any of you might need to know this for future reference, the banks have to order the Pesos for you and it can take a few days to get what you need. Luckily Lolly came to the rescue and had some left over from a previous trip.

The drive was long but not unbearably so. I read an entire James Patterson novel aloud for the first day and a half. For the rest, we enjoyed a book on tape, Enders Game.

After 8 hours of driving, the first night we stayed in Nogales, Arizona. We crossed the border at about 5:30 am on the second day and drove all the way to Mazatlan, Mexico, arriving around 8:00 at night (which is 9:00 local time and we had been unaware of the time change) where we had a fantastic night’s sleep. We were so tired we hardly noticed the surf competition going on right outside our balcony at our beach front resort. It was a gorgeous place and we enjoyed waking up late and sitting by the water to unwind a little while.

We left Mazatlan around noon and drove into Chacala around 5:30 pm on our third day. What a gorgeous drive!! South of Mazatlan was so green and lush. We drove past countless farms, orchards, and rivers. We crossed mountains and drove through a cloud for about 2 hours. On the short road from the highway to Chacala I felt like I was back on Kauai, my paradise, and couldn't have been happier.

We went up to Lance’s house where we were scheduled to spend 2 nights. He’s very friendly and was a warm welcome in this new place. After getting settled a little, we headed down trail path to meet Vicki. What a delight she is.

We sat and talked for hours and returned first thing the next morning for more time with her. She was leaving to PV for the day to pick up Tandy from the airport so Jade and I just walked on the beach, got some delicious pizza at Choc Mool and had 2 naps. We considered the day a success.

I hadn’t met Tandy yet and I had heard her name so much from Lolly and Pops that I felt like we were family already (Jade met Tandy and Vicky when he visited his mom when she was here). So even though it was late and we were excited to get to bed we swung by Vicki’s again that night after they had returned.

They were stressed and packing up for their long drive the next day. They always drive because they take their children… I mean their dogs, which are as loved and cared for as children. We got some last minute instructions and said our goodbyes. It’s funny how you can love a person so soon after meeting them. I sort of wished they we going to be in town while we were here so we could be better friends.

The next morning we moved into our new home.

What a blessing!! We already feel so comfortable here and happy. The people that we have met are very nice.

My heart feels rejuvenated just looking at the jungle that is our front yard and surrounds our house. When my feet hit the sand I feel I am home and when I hear the ocean waves crash I wouldn't rather be anywhere else.