dia 14 y la cuenta por favor

ok we´ve been having a lot of fun for the last couple of days hanging out at chris´ place in cabo. it´s time to get back on track knock out some serious miles and do some blog updates. I know you´ve all been craving them... so basically cabo was unbelivable, i think clay is going to cover most of it so i´m not going to go into detail but all i have to say is that the mango deck kicks some serious ass. if you ever vacation in cabo make sure you spend an afternoon at the mango deck.

day 14, we awoke on the Chihuahua Star which is a real jem let me tell you... (sarcasm alert) Clay took a shower in our cabina which i refused to do based on what i thought the probable water source was, then we packed up our stuff and and rode off the back of the boat into the port of Mazatlan at 630 in the am. Let me tell you, I´m glad we did not take the boat to Topolobombo because that thing gets into port at like 3am and even at 630 in the morning the port town of mazatlan looked pretty rough. after spending about 30 minutes navigating our way around speed bumps and stray barking dogs we finally made it to the main toll road mex 15 which took us south east and then dropped us off to mex 74 which leads directly into to San Blas. San Blas and the sournding southern towns are completely amazing little agricultural wonders .

Clay really liked San Blas as did i there is a beautiful old church in town as well as an amazing town square puntuated by a blue painted community center. the beach at San Blas is not great because the town is actually sheltered by a cove, but as you continue south towards Puerto Vallarta along mex 12 you escape the cove and the water front opens up to the full pacific ocean.

Mex 12 is an incredible road that i would put on par with the PCH HWY from Carmel to San Simeon, it is incredibly twisty and has some amazing ocean and tropical views. After completing 281 miles we rolled through the resort section of Puerto Vallarta and on into old town PV were we found a resonable rate of 500 pesos for the night at the Marlin Hotel. We took a stroll down the Malecon (boardwalk) and found an amazing local taco place to eat. Only 170 pesos for 4 beers and 2 plates of tacos at 14 to 1 exchange rate. you do the math pretty much unbeatable. the amazing thing is that in the non resort towns unlike PV the prices are even cheaper.

a comment about La Cuenta por favor, which mean the bill please in spanish. Clay and I have become very accostomed to saying this phrase during our trip. This is because in latin or mexican culture it´s considered very rude or impolite for the server to drop the bill before it is asked for. Receipt of the bill is kind of like saying ok it´s time to leave now. It does not matter how long you have been done with your food, it does not matter how many times you stare the server down or how done you are, until your say la cuenta por favor you are not getting that bill. I kind of like it that way to tell you the truth, I don´t feel rushed, I can stay there and mellow as much as I want and wait for clay to to finish his cafë. it´s kind of nice, i know i need to ask for the bill so its no problem. I think the USA should adopt the la cuenta por favor rule and everyone would have a much more enjoyable dinning experience.