La Cruz

A nice looking Villa just behind the Marina

Wednesday morning after I finished catching up with the blog, Rick, Harley and I went to the Port Captain's office to check in with all of our paperwork/documents. No problem! According to the clerk behind the desk, we really don’t need to “check in” unless we are going to be staying anywhere in Mexico for more than a week. Otherwise, we can just call in on the VHF radio.  We have not officially checked in since Ensenada and we’d heard you’re supposed to check in to every place you stop (which we’ve been blowing off).  So my mind is now at ease….we’re not in trouble and we’re not getting carted off to a Mexican jail.

After we left the Port Captain’s office we walked around the marina to see what it had to offer. Just a few feet away was a huge fish market with freshly caught fish being cut at a rapid pace and with such precision right at the counter. People were standing in line and picking out which piece they wanted.

A walk alone the Breakwater

As we walked further we saw a cool outdoor restaurant over looking the Marina.  We thought we’d have to try it out at some point during our stay.

This Marina is big, very clean and well laid out. There are lots of cruisers here who seem to have made a home here and some who are just moving South and some people getting ready for the Puddle Jump.  The Marina has lots of activities available. There is free movie night, free yoga classes, writing groups, women cruising groups, swap meets, free seminars about sailing, stretching classes, Spanish lessons, poolside music night, farmer’s market on the weekends, and more! They have lots of fun activities for kids as well. As far as we have seen there are three restaurants here and one deli. You really don’t have to leave the marina if you don’t want to. Everything you need is right here.

Marina Riviera La Cruz

We walked out of the Marina and down some back streets looking for a groomer for Harley. That was the first priority once we got into town! We heard there was a good one only a few blocks away from a fellow boater who also has an Australian Labradoodle. 

We got a little side tracked and checked out a few other places. We stopped and bought tickets to listen to live music at Philo’s Restaurant for later that night. We got the last ticket! We bought some fruits and veggies from a street vendor and we went to a Canvas shop to see about re-stitching our dodger, which was almost threadbare (when the dodger was built, the seamstress did not use UV marine thread).

Along our walk

Finally we made it to Dr. Dunia’s (the vet/groomer).  She was so sweet and fit Harley in right then and there.  It was going to be a few hours until she was finished so we walked back to the boat and dropped off our groceries and headed back into town to grab a bite to eat. We ate at a restaurant right across from the groomer’s.

I walked across the street to pick up Harley while we were waiting for our food to come to the table. When Dunia brought her out from the back I hardly recognized her. She was almost shaven and looked more like a poodle than a doodle. But Harley seemed so happy to be free of her matted, and sandy hair! She was spinning in circles and running in and out between my legs.

Modeling her new do

When it came time to pay the bill, Dunia said that it would be $370 pesos, which is about $21.00 US. Wow! That was so cheap. Back home when I get Harley shampooed and groomed it runs me about $60.00 (and I think that’s cheap compared to most places in town to begin with).  I gave her a $5.00 tip, which she thanked me for profusely.

Harley loves Dad!

Harley came and joined us for our meal back at the restaurant and then we all walked back to the Marina to take showers and get dressed for our evening out!  (I even blew dried my hair and wore make-up). Date night.

Rick and I walked back into town and made it to Philo’s almost an hour before the music started. They were serving dinner when we arrived but since we had such a late lunch we didn’t eat. Rick just had bottled water and I had a Limonada. 

The band, Luna Rumba, started right at 8:00p.m. As soon as they started playing I immediately got goose bumps because the music was so outstanding! The band consisted of four people. Two played rhythm guitars and sang, another played the bass guitar and a five-string violin and the fourth played the bongo drums. Their music was a mixture of Mexican and Spanish music.  The main singer, Cheko Ruiz had an amazing voice. Every time he sang I would melt. They also had a dancer that would come out periodically dressed in different costumes each time and would dance. She was fun to watch because she was constantly smiling, having fun and dancing so fluidly with the music.

I loved their music so much that I ran out to the front of the restaurant where they were selling their CD’s. I bought two! Rick even asked the lead guitarist at the break if he would sign our CD. He not only signed it but also got the rest of the band to do so.

Rick and I left as soon as the last song was just ending and headed back to the boat. We made a brief stop on the way at another restaurant that we saw playing music. It was decent rock n’ roll music but nothing can really compare to what we had just listened to!

We got back to the boat and into bed by midnight. Late night for us!

Thursday morning we woke up just in time to listen to the Net. This is held on the VHF radio, station 22 at 8:30 every morning. This is where all the cruisers talk about weather, sailing conditions, medical inquiries, things for sale, events taking place, lost and found, boat projects, people looking crew, anyone needing a ride into town, or needing mail to be taken to the states and so on.

After drinking tea and listening to the radio we had a day full of chores! Rick took everything off of the boat and scrubbed the decks, the cockpit, and topsides with soap and water.  It was quite an undertaking since it had not been done since Ensenada and everything had gotten so salty and dirty! I stayed down below and cleaned the entire boat inside! Took up all the carpets, blankets, pillows etc and just started from one end of the boat to the other dusting, sweeping and mopping. I also got all of the laundry together which filled two huge Ikea bags to the brim. Along with a months worth of dirty clothes, I washed the towels, bed sheets, blankets and mattress cover.  We dropped off the laundry in the VIP lounge where a laundry service comes and takes your clothes and brings them back to your boat the next day neatly folded. The cost is only .20 pesos per kilo. Such a deal!

Rick walking the streets of La Cruz

After a day of cleaning and scrubbing we took a little walk and then came back to the boat to eat a seared ahi tuna salad out of the fresh fish I bought at the fish market in the afternoon (my break from cleaning).

Friday morning we got up early and walked to town to drop off the Dodger that we were having re-sewn at the Canvas place in town. After getting that chore out of the way, we walked to the main road to the bus stop where I got on a bus going to Puerto Vallarta and Rick and Harley walked back to the boat. I was going to PV to go to Costco originally, which turned into going to Sam’s Club, to stock up on provisions!  

The bus ride was interesting. It’s more like a small van than an actual bus and it seats 9 people only the driver kept stopping to pick up more people at each stop and we ended up with 15 pretty large bodied people in the van. I’m just glad I had a window seat with a window that opened. I was feeling a little claustrophobic.  The seats were basically non-existent due to overuse I guess. There was no stuffing inside the seat cover left at all.  You were just sort of sitting on thin material that loosely hung over metal and springs that held the seat together. It took the slightest of bumps to feel the metal and we went over a lot of bumps on the way…large speed bumps at that!

Along the ride I was enjoying what I could see through the window but also trying to pay close attention to where I was supposed to be getting off the bus. We passed two Sam’s Club’s on the way, which had me wondering if I should have gotten off at one of them. But I just sat in the back of the bus quietly waiting.  I turned out to be the last one on the bus and became real concerned. Was there a Costco? I snuck up to the front of the bus to ask the driver, “Donde esta Costco?” He looked at me like I was speaking Chinese. We went back and forth with me repeating my question and him looking at me like I was crazy. So I finally gave up and took the ride back to a Sam’s Club. Good thing about the ride was it only cost .17 pesos for the 45-minute ride. That’s basically one US dollar.

I walked to Sam’s Club from where I got dropped off by the bus. Inside the store, I had to purchase a membership card in order to shop. I think that was about $40.00 US. Sam’s Club is Sam’s Club anywhere I suppose. The price doesn’t change. Anyway…after I bought the membership, the clerk handed me a plastic container of purple glazed donuts. They looked hideous to me but I took them and thanked him.

After shopping at Sam’s and spending $2,000 pesos, I strolled my cart over to Wal-Mart where I bought a few more other items that I could not get at Sam’s.

Next was hailing a Taxi. There were about 6 Taxi’s out in front of the Wal-Mart and none of them were jumping for joy to give me a ride to La Cruz. Finally someone obliged and drove me the long drive to La Cruz and dropped me off at the Marina. This fare was not as cheap as my ride to PV. It cost me $400.00 pesos and I tipped him $100.00 pesos. Oh…and I also threw in the purple donuts. He seemed to really be pleased about that! He said, in Spanish of course, that his children would love them!

Rick and Harley greeted me in the parking to help me with my purchases.  Thank goodness for dock carts!

After unloading the cart and packing the bags on the boat, somehow I managed to find a home for all of the food I bought. Amazing! Who knows if I’ll ever find where I put some things, but they are in!

The day was pretty much spent after my excursion to Puerto Vallarta. Rick had been doing a few things on the boat while I was gone and so we both sat in the cockpit and drank ice tea to relax.  We later took a walk along the breakwater since there was a cool breeze blowing and the sun was about to go down. I was hoping to get some good photos of that.  I really did not get a clear view so I did not take any pictures after all. Besides, not many pictures of sunsets can compare to the ones you see out at sea!

Today…Saturday has been uneventful. Rick is not feeling 100% so he is resting and I am typing quietly on the computer. I do have the project of polishing the stainless on the boat, which for some reason I am slow to get started on. Rick has a few things that he’d like to get done too. We still need to order 30 bottles of water for the boat. Each bottle contains 5 gallons. So…we need a lot! And Rick needs to change the oil. But we can do these things tomorrow as well. We are here ‘till Tuesday.

Thanks for following along!

Love,

Maryalice, Rick and Harley