-= Honeymoon - Puerto Vallarta =- Day 1

Monday - October 27th

After a long series of flights we finally set down on the tarmac of Puerto Vallarta on a Monday afternoon. Indiana was now far behind us. Spending the last few hours of cramped quarters aboard the plane I reassured myself it was all worth it. After all we were about to spend our honeymoon at a private all-inclusive-resort off of the Pacific Ocean!

Before we could set foot outside the plane we glanced through the portal windows and could see the heat radiating from the tarmac below. The workers were all in shorts and were drenched in sweat. This definitely wasn't Indiana.

Stepping outside the heat and humidity hit hard. Still in jeans and jackets our layers of protection were now working against us. Everything felt wet.

After navigating through immigration we found a driver who worked for our resort. He was a very friendly native Mexican who was very chatty. He talked to us about the town and its history. He specifically mentioned how the southern part of the town had been permeated with the gay lifestyle. Due to this recent development this part of town was now being revitalized as a "romantic zone". He mentioned this since this was to be our destination.

Our driver was out of control as he zipped up and down the Mexican roads. The rough cobblestone road jarred the car every inch of the way across the town. There are little laws of the roads in these parts, and coincidently there were many banged up automobiles streaking by us. We seemed to be staring in the world's largest demolition derby. A rental car would not be on our itinerary on this visit.

The taxi made its way through the town and began to ascend the jungle-covered mountains. With a seconds notice we came upon our blind turn. Tires screeched behind. Paradise waited ahead.

We caught sight of the Dreams resort and immediately realized it was even better than the online photos we had found advertising the resort. We exited the taxi and thanked our driver. Turning around the bellboy grabbed our luggage. "You're on vacation now, relax."

The resort was pushed as far south and away from the city as physically possible. Within a wide bay we sat isolated in our own little world. 500m of private beach stretched out in front of the resort flanked by the steep rocky walls to the north and south. To the immediate east was the base of a mountainous jungle that rose quickly to elevations I have never witnessed. To our west, the beautiful majestic Pacific, framed slightly with ghosted images of mountains trailing off into the vista.

The resort was a private gated community. They kept tabs of everyone entering and exiting the complex. I felt even more secure. This also meant no time-share people in your face and no pushy peddlers, though there were a few quiet and infrequent peddlers that were part of the resort. I couldn't complain though, all the reviews I had read before prepared me for in my face sales. They surface only one at a time along the beach, every 15 minutes offering their wares, which weren't for the most part that half bad.

View from our balcony

We checked in at the front desk and got our room assignment and vouchers for a free return visit. This was part of an error on their part booking us in building that was going to be remodeled and having to relocate us to another. They "downgraded" us to a huge corner room with large walkout balcony overlooking the resort, ocean, mountains and jungle from the 8th floor. It was rough but we took the deal.

Not wanting to rush into things we unpacked and took advantage of their 20-hour free room service. Food was prompt and we helped ourselves to beverages in our unlimited mini fridge, which also happened to be free. Cervases anyone?

After digesting a bit we changed into our uniforms for the week, beachwear and sunglasses. We headed out. The beach had a small group gathering and we went in for a closer look. Upon arriving we realized we would soon be individually holding and releasing baby sea turtles into the ocean. Wow, how is that for timing? We fought with these feisty little critters as they desperately tried to make a run toward the sound of the ocean. Both George and Herbie were rearing to go! On the count we stepped forward and released them onto the beach near the water. George took a slow start but made Herbie look like he was standing still, but in due time they all made it in as the sun began to set over the ocean. Walking along the beach little sand crabs scattered as we watched the sun finally descend.

We found our way to an upper level bar lit by candles. Open on 3 sides we sat along the railing and drank daiquiris by the light of candles. It was very romantic. All of our servers were very friendly and eager to get us anything. The drinks began to flow and as we found out would never stop.

After quenching our thirsts we then spent the evening poolside reclined on a few lounge chairs before heading to a bonfire on the beach. It was a rough first day but we managed to scrape by. We turned in for the night so we could get an early start on Tuesday.