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| Last PuRR Project Charity Event |
April is a time of new beginnings and it brought so much change to our lives with friends leaving, a new car, and a change of home! We filled days with leaving dinners, get-togethers and meeting up with friends who only live here during the winter months. And there were a couple of late charity events as well. Many of our friends go back home or stop by home and then travel to other countries from April through September. It’s quite a busy time of saying good-bye until they return next October or November. We also had a good friend come to visit for a week in April. She’s thinking of retiring next year, and Puerto Vallarta is on her list. We tried to show her what “real life” might be like if she decides to move here, so it was trips to a market, a grocery store, other shops and markets and of course, we did do a bit of touristy stuff too. We spent part of a day at the local botanical gardens.
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| New Mexican Car |
April also brought the delivery of our new Mexican car. We are going to be applying for our permanent residency soon, so that means that we had to get rid of our American imported Japanese car. Steve did his research, and because of the surrounding hills, 4-wheel drive is a must. Also, a must is high clearance because of the serious topas (sleeping policemen, speed bumps, traffic calming – whatever you call them in your country) in some areas and pot-holes in other areas. We placed an order for a Kia Sportage and were told to expect delivery in 4 to 5 weeks. Steve next had to plan to drive our Honda Fit back to the US to sell it. Timing was critical when booking his flight.
As it turned out, we were notified over 10 weeks later that our Kia had arrived, and we were to take possession – but first, they needed full payment in cash. Steve said he wouldn’t pay until he saw the car. When he went to inspect the new car, it wasn’t the right spec, because the interior was the wrong color, so they had to find a new one. More delays as they searched for one in Guadalajara!! A couple of weeks later, we were notified that the new car was available and again, they wanted full payment in cash before releasing the car. This time the car was correct, needed some polishing and buffing out a scuff that occurred in transit but that only took a couple of days. So Steve was off to our bank to get enough cash in pesos to pay for the car. Where else would you be withdrawing thousands in cash to take to a car dealer? You have to love Mexico!
Steve then drove to San Antonio, TX to sell our Fit. Of course, he’d done his research so he knew exactly where to go for the best deal. After driving for 1 ½ days, he spent 1 ½ days in San Antonio, then had the deal done, did a bit of US shopping and was on a plane back to PV.
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| Balcony - ready for a party! |
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| Main room looking out over bay |
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| Jazzuci and view of bay |
About the same time as all of this was happening in April, the owners of our condo notified us that they would be moving back to PV so of course, they needed their condo back. It’s an incredibly difficult time to find long-term rentals as it is still considered peak time. Peak season rates means that most condo owners won’t consider a long-term rental. We are friends with several real estate agents, so I put the word out, plus we went to several rental agents downtown the very next day. One agency had a condo that we were very interested in, but the specs said they didn’t accept pets. I’m friends with a couple who live in that same building who have 3 cats, so I emailed her to ask if that was true. She said no – not true, and immediately got on the case and got us an introduction to the owner (through a guy who lives next door and also rents from them – everything in Mexico is a long story).
But bottom line is that our friend is Chairman of the Board at the condo complex so things progressed quickly. The owner is a lovely Mexican woman and her son. We started dealing directly with them, and a couple of weeks later, we had a new condo. It was a bit of a challenge as they don’t speak much English and our Spanish is very limited. Also at the time, it was occupied, and the residents wouldn’t let us in to see the condo. We were able to view the condo on the day they moved out, and the deal was signed then and there.
We are excited about the move, and everything is already packed. The new condo is so much bigger, more than 1,000 sq feet bigger than our townhouse in Maryland, plus it has a large outdoor area with our own dipping pool/jacuzzi. I can’t wait to see our cats’ reaction to the pool. We also have a much broader and better view – didn’t think either of these was possible (within our price range). It is further up the hill and not as close to the beach, but then neither of us are “beach people”.
Several of our friends have all moved within the past few weeks too, so we’re planning a whole round of house-warming parties. Guess this won’t be a boring summer!
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| Seattle bay |
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| Flower Market - Pikes Place |
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| Fish Market - Pikes Place |
I went to Seattle the end of April to work a conference for a company that I’ve provided on-site management for now for nearly 5 years. I went a couple of days early to do some shopping and then had the grueling hours of a week-long conference. The conference went well, and I managed to escape early on the last day to explore down-town Seattle. It’s a lovely city, and I especially loved Pike Place Market. It was also great to catch up with colleagues and clients.
As soon as I arrived home, it was packing time for our move. Stay tuned for more moving episodes and photos!
This was written just before our move so there will be a “moving episode” coming up shortly!!
