Aren't I supposed to be wiser? Or at least taller...

Well those of you who know me know that since I met Jade I have had some pretty incredible birthdays. You could call me a little spoiled. And especially after we spent the last two years in Hawaii and then Catalina Island for my birthday  let's just say that I am pretty blown away that I get to be lucky enough to celebrate my birthday in this tropical paradise. 

So we were gearing up for another awesome day of festivities. 

My first thought was to surf all day but alas, I didn't have a board yet. I could rent but that's kind of a hassle. I had settled on the choice to buy a soft-top foam board from Costco but they were currently out of stock. I expected some in any day so I decided to put off surfing for now. 

I knew how amazing it would be to spend the day deep sea fishing! I've never been and Jade's family are enthusiasts. Jade even has a trophy bill mount from a 421 pound Marlin he caught in Hawaii when he was 14 that resides as a decoration in our house! 

But okay, okay! I'm not THAT spoiled. We don't have jobs, after all. 

But I do LOVE boats and exploration adventures. And seeing the Marietas Islands is something on our To-Do List this summer so Jade looked into it. He found an ad online for a company that takes customers out on a tour to the islands. It was a great price so we booked a trip for my birthday. 

The trip includes a catamaran ride out to the islands, breakfast, lunch, snorkeling and kayaking gear, a small boat tour around the islands, and a ride back about 7 hours later. 

The islands are just out off the coast of Puerto Vallarta and are famous because the beach is in the inside of the island. 

This is a photo I found online. 

We thought we should  get all ready to leave the night before since waking up WAY too early was an unfortunate part of the plan. Of course, we were doing an excellent job of procrastinating getting ready when my first present arrived in Chacala the night before our trip.

Chuck and Colleen Edmunds bought me the most GIGANTIC Tres Leches cake cake I have ever seen. Chuck brought it back from a bigger city that he had visited that day. I think it was made buy a guy in his church. They called us over to pick it up and I nearly had a heart attack at the sight of the thing. 

In Chuck's infinite wisdom he thought we should split the cake since it was made for a family of 20. I tried so hard... (*cough cough) to get him to give us much less than half. He has 3 kids who I assumed would scarf it down. But no, apparently not many of them are fans of Tres Leches. 

So we took half (YES, pictured below is only HALF the cake) and headed home to start our celebration. There were no candles so I stuck a match in the cake and we lit it with uncooked spaghetti.

So this is where the story gets good. 

Because of ALL the cake we had to eat but mostly because of our unparalleled procrastination skills, we didn't actually get anything packed and ready for our trip the next day. We had started to make small piles of things that we knew we would need but we were so tired and knew we had to rise SO early (because of the long drive and the time difference to Puerto) so we decided to hit the sack and try to wake up early and finish everything. 

So...

1. We went to bed late because we are terrible procrastinators.

2. That night was the loudest thunderstorm I have ever witnessed. It kept me up for hours and I even had to plug my ears a few times because it hurt my eardrums. 

3. That day both Jade and I actually started feeling like we had a sore throat. Sicknesses always seems worse at night and that was another reason why I hardly got any sleep that night. 

4. I set 2 alarm clocks on my phone so we would be sure not to miss the trip. Both of which, I did NOT hear. We woke up at exactly the time we were supposed to be driving away. 

5. As we got ready at lightning speed (good thing breakfast would be served on the boat because there definitely wasn't time!) we remembered that part of our wake-up-early plan was to get gas. We were running low and although we were sure we could get to the next town, we definitely could not get all the way to Puerto Vallarta. So we knew that would make us another 10 minutes late. 

But we jumped in the car anyway and just hoped for no traffic or cops. We got about 8 minutes up Chacala Road towards the highway and the car sputtered. I thought Jade was slowing down for the turn but the car slumped to a stop. No juice. 

The engine turned over as Jade tried to restart the car several times. Still nothing.  

6. We were broken down on the side of an empty road. 

Six reasons why, apparently, we were not supposed to be on the boat that day. 

Jade tinkered with some things under the hood. Obviously not something I can tell you much about. The ending to that story is that nothing worked. It was 6 am in Chacala, too early to get much help. 

We called Vallarta Adventures and they said it was even too early for us to reschedule our trip. We weren't supposed to be there for another hour. We tried explaining that it would take an hour and a half to get to them and our car was currently parked with the hood up. They still asked us to call back later.

That was when Jade's unimposing, kind side came out. We knew we would call the Edmunds for help (Thank Goodness for friends!) but Jade didn't want to wake them up. "Let them sleep," he said. "We can't make our tour now. We don't have anywhere else to be. It's too early for a mechanic. We might as well hang out here for a while." (What a sweetheart, huh!)

So we sat and talked. Jade tried a few more things with the car. A few people drove past us but traffic still hadn't picked up. 

There was a farmer that drove by to check on us twice. He was on the land right across the street from us. He offered us waters and even gave us a pineapple so we wouldn't starve there. He practiced his English with Jade telling us about his family in Oregon. He offered to tie a rope to our car and tow us over to his cousin's house! "Son mecanicos," he told us, "They are mechanics. We'll fix your car!" He was the sweetest guy and our conversations with him made my day. 

"I am 65," he told us later as he strung a big basket full of pineapples on his back, "can you believe it?" Jade teased him saying that he couldn't be more than 30, although he really did look young and strong. "It's because I eat of lot of fish. Fish and shrimp and only a little bit of cerveza." I guess that's the secret to youth, seafood and pineapple farming.

We hung out there for an hour, giving the day a chance to wake up a little. Still, it was only 7 am but we decided to get started. We called and rescheduled our trip for the following week with no problems. Chuck came quickly to our rescue. We tried adding some gas. The car had acted like it was out and it could have been possible since we were low. But the gas light hadn't come on yet so it was unlikely. Still worth a shot, though, but no cigar.

We drove into Las Varas and got the number for a tow truck off the side of a building. Nothing was open yet so we headed back to Chacala. Chuck sent us the number for a mechanic.

All of our intentions to get something done early flew out the window when I got home and saw my bed, so inviting. We had a nap for few hours and then got back to it. Chuck gave us a ride back to our car. We called the tow truck and waited there for about another hour. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the tow truck. I honestly half expected a rope tied to the bumper. : )

He got us into Las Varas to a mechanic and the guys started looking at it immediately. But it was about closing time for siesta and since it was Saturday they wouldn't reopen again until Monday. 

 They told us to call Monday for an update and we walked down to the highway and took a taxi back to Chacala.

Exhausted, we decided to sit back and enjoy a dinner on the beach. We sat at one of the restaurants, our toes in the sand, and enjoyed a much deserved, delicious meal of fresh fish and coconut shrimp.

 We walked on the beach, got caught in the rain, and cuddled up to a cute chick flick, my choice of course.


The car is fixed now. It took the mechanics about a week so we rescheduled our trip again. Luckily Vallarta Adventures has been very nice about it.

Our tour of the Marietas Islands is actually scheduled for this Wednesday, 2 days from now. There will definitely be pictures to come.

...I think I'll start packing now.

I didn't end up getting a foam board from Costco. I got a fiberglass board that is MAGNIFICENT. Pictures to come.

I seriously hope that someday I can repay Chuck and Colleen for all the help they gave us. Having them to rely on was the ultimate blessing on my birthday. Without them I think I would have been a wreck.

And if you are wondering what happened to all that cake....
I'd say we did pretty well. I am going to have to jog back to America to burn all these calories. But when you are given the most delicious Tres Leches you've ever tasted... it's totally worth it.