Much Ado About Nothing

After all the hype about staged airport security protests and long lines, we can report that our trip through Sky Harbor was seamless -- a piece of cake!

Amazingly, there was no line at security, and the new scanner booth was not there. I was shocked. We zipped through without being scanned or groped. An agent at the gate told us T.S.A. had removed some of the booths at Sky Harbor. She thinks it was due to the possibility of more lawsuits? She said the latest debacle was that security had made a breast cancer survivor remove her prosthesis right out in the open. That's after mortifying a woman with a colostomy bag last week. I don't know if she's right about the reason for the absence of the new scan booths at the B security gates, but I have to wonder.

We boarded a small plane that some of the passengers described as dollhouse size. It was a little claustrophobic, but I can take anything for two hours. That's the smallest plane I've ever flown on to Mexico. Before I could finish the crossword puzzle, we'd landed in Puerto Vallarta and climbed down the stairs from the plane onto the tarmac and into the terminal. Immigration took about 15 minutes, customs less than 5, and we were in a taxi in a matter of minutes.




And soon, we were caught in a huge traffic jam. The taxi driver drove on the shoulder, took detours through side neighborhoods, wedged himself in front of buses, etc.... I actually enjoyed the ride because we were going slow enough to see all the sights. I spotted this older VW Bug,




And a truck stuffed with poles and dried palm fronds. And there are also guys hidden in the back of that truck!

As some of you know, the main bridge north of the airport washed away in torrential rainy season storms, so northbound and southbound traffic are sharing the southbound bridge now. We inched along in a rush hour traffic jam for what seemed like an eternity. At one point, I noticed these concrete lawn statues on the opposite side of the road. Angels, mariachis, and topless women!

Once we cleared the bridge detour, we were in Bucerias in a matter of minutes.

We arrived on our balcony just in time to admire our first beautiful Bucerias sunset.

Can't wait to wander the beach tomorrow morning! I don't think we'll cover the entire 14 miles of sand, but hopefully we can cover a couple of miles before heading out to find a fruteria and bakery.

Ahhhhhhhhhh. As Craig says, he can feel the corporate world melting away with each crash of the waves.