Puerto Vallarta

Arriving just before 1:00 PM we disconnected the Jeep and checked out the space we hoped to use as we knew that site 3 was clear of trees in the line of sight for the Starchoice satellites. Problem. The coconut tree that that overhangs the patio and parking areas was loaded with ripe and over-ripe coconuts and the ground was littered with those that had already fallen. Too much risk of damage to the rig or ourselves, so we parked in site 3.

A nice enough space but there were a couple of trees that could be a problem for the satellite. We got the slides out, water and power connected and Art activated the dish. It went round and round and up and down then finally gave up and stored itself in the down position.

Later on the neighbour offered us the use of the one remaining output from their dish. We accepted with thanks, and ran a cable through the driver's window. The receiver we are using has two inputs which allows reception of two channels at a time, one to watch and one to record, or record two different channels at the same time. Art disconnected one of the input cables from our dish and replaced it with the one from the neighbours. We had a signal.

Or did we? 299, the default channel was fine but when we changed to 358 to watch the news from home there was no signal. We were a bit surprised but tried a few other channels to find that half of them worked and half didn't. Very confusing.

After playing around for a while Art noticed that the channels that the had a signal and those that did not alternated! For example if there was a signal on 299 and we switched to 358, then 358 would report no signal. Moving on to say 336 (Global BC) it would be fine. Going then to 299, which first worked, would now show no signal! Going from there to 358 would result in a signal! Weird! Still don't know why, but all we have to do is go to random channel before selection the one we really want to watch. Art will mess around with it another day to try to figure out what is going on.

We didn't have a lot planned for PV other than a visit with our friends. We called Melchor and Marta to see what was on their schedule and the same with Bill and Anita.

Bill and Anita were a Punta Mita for the weekend, we thought we could visit them on Sunday. Saturday morning Art strolled up the block to Melchor's Language School and caught him just before class started. They had a quick chat and arranged to meet after class.

A few minutes to one we arrived at the school and waited out side for class to finish but Marta saw us through the glass and brought us inside. Class was running late so we sat and took in ten minutes or so. As always we were impressed by how effective this lesson arrangement is.

They advised that tonight (Saturday) would be the best time as Marta had plans with her mother on Sunday. We asked if they had a favourite restaurant and they both quickly said with a grin “Oh Yes!”, El Cafe de las Artistas. They told us that it is very expensive and that they had been there before but only as guests. We decided to splurge and invited them to join us.

We settled on a plan: Melchor and Marta phone to make reservations and would come to the RV Park at 7:30 and we would take a taxi to the restaurant as parking was difficult. We arrived at 8:00 to find that they had written the reservation down for two people instead of four. A few minutes wait and we led to our table.

The menu looked promising and was not as expensive as expected. Not cheap but not outrageous.

After we had all received our drinks and had made our dinner choices we were presented with a “l'amuse bouche”, (amuse mouth), a very tiny appetiser; a salmon sushi which we all pronounced delicious, except that Gillian's contained bones!

Starter courses were up to expectations, though Melchor at first was a little surprised when his soup plate arrived. The next moment he looked a lot happier.

Art's chicken and quail pairing was perfect, the others too much enjoyed their meals. The bottle of Pinot Noir we ordered was not available but surprise surprise they had another from another company that was listed at 160 pesos more but they could give us a better price! The wine was very good, well worth the price as was the entire experience.

We had a marvelous evening chatting, catching up; Yesi is now 20 and still at university in Morelia, Alex is now 18 and attending university in Puerto Vallarta. He was unable to join us as he is also working. We remember the first time we had met their children, Alex not yet walking or talking, sitting and mostly sleeping on Art's lap throughout dinner! We think that we first met Melchor and his then girl friend Marta in 1987 or 1988.

We took a taxi back to the RV Park and continued our visit in the mororhome until the small hours. We only get together for a few hours each year but our friendship somehow endures.

Sunday Art remembered to look into the problem with the electrical connection to the Jeep. A volt meter to the outlet on the back of the motorhome showed no electrical power at all. Getting down on to look below he made a discovery. It appeared that an electrical harness had passed under a frame member. Something had obviously some solidly against it, severing the cablle.

The good news was that Art felt that this repair was well within his ability, the only question being "Did he have enough of the required connectors or would he have to wait until Monday to get more?".

The answer was "Just!".

Happy that the job had gone so smoothly Art wondered what would go wrong next? We leave for Mazatlan in the morning.

He should have suppressed that thought. There were more "RV Moments" or as Gillian likes to say, "Blog Fodder", yet to come.