Beautiful Hostels... Winding Roads... Exquisite Beaches... Jackass in the Back Seat

We made it to Puerto Vallarta in good time, though the road was all over the place. From Tepic down, we wound back and forth through beautiful rolling farmland - learned the fine art of passing cars in Mexico (they could give a damn about the lines between lanes). Once we arrived, we made our way to the Oasis Hostel, the first place of its kind on our trip. It was nothing short of wonderful - free breakfast and internet, good conversation, and a short journey to anywhere in the city. For a little under $30 a night, we got a private room for two days and began meeting our fellow travelers.
There was David, the aging British movie producer who had lost his wallet at the airport and was waiting to hear from his friend in Baghdad about a Western Union wire. He had a hand in producing "The Life of David Gale" among others, which is one of our favorite movies! We also met Jo, Jess, and Charlie - three girls from the UK who were touring Mexico and Central America by backpack. We got a chance to go on a snorkeling excursion with them - unfortunately the water at Los Arcos (the arches) was a little less than optimal. Okay, it was terrible - like diving in pond water - but the day was still quite fun getting to know the girls. We also met a guy named Ben from Buffalo, NY who was on somewhat of a 'vacation yet to be decided.' He had landed in Puerto Vallarta for the time, but he was planning on making his way to Puerto Escondido on the south shore at some point. After a night of chit-chat, we offered to give him a ride around the coast in exchange for his portion of the cost.
The city of Puerto Vallarta was quite beautiful - old buildings, cobblestone streets, and such - but it was rather touristy. After the fifth teeshirt shop in a row sporting "I ate the worm!" type goods, we kind of lost interest. To us, the town really shined because of the people we met.
On our second night, we took out our mini-BBQ, went to the grocery store, and got all the fixings for kabobs. The Brits pitched in with a huge salad, and we all sat on the roof overlooking the city and ate until we were stuffed.
The following morning, we got an early start and set out along the coast, our new passanger in tow... Lets just say the first day of travel was really enjoyable... We wound through small towns (you could hold your breath and pass through them before you had to let it go), bought some CDs for Ben's stereo, and chatted about the things that brought us to this place. Unfortunately, after that, his true colors began to show. I don't even know how to explain the extent of his obnoxiousness! I think it all started when he explained that he, a 29 year old, was no longer dating anyone over 30; in fact, his ideal girl would be a 16 year old whom he could ' show the world,' who would love him for it, and never leave because of her complete dependence on him... The conversation just went down hill from there - the merits of prostitutes, the complete idiocy of all Mexicans, their lack of ability to keep anything clean, his need to buy a machete for protection (when we haven't had ANY trouble)... By the end, with Ben weilding a large blade out the window to 'ward off would-be bandidos' and Thai threatening to kick him out of the car, I got the pleasure of chauffering us silently through the most beautiful and remote part of Mexico.
And it was beautiful... From Puerto Vallarta, we drove to Manzanillo, then onto Lazaro Caredas, Zihuantanejo, Acapulco, and finally arrived in Peurto Escondido last night. We stayed at the cheapest places we could find - anything from $30 all the way down to $14 for all three of us. We made a game of food, finding the local hangouts rather than paying inflated prices in other restaurants.
Our first two stops were rather nondescript. Manzanillo has a bit of a touristy feel, but not much, and Lazaro Cardenas has none. Ben and I (Andy) made our way to a local bar in LC where we listened to a couple local teen rock bands cover American hits (the first American music we had heard since leaving the states), but that was all that was happening on a Friday night. Acapulco, we found, is past its prime - trash everywhere, dirty water, deteriorating high rise hotels. We stayed outside the bay mostly - saw the cliff diving show and explored Puerto Marques, the local place to get away from the hype.
Yesterday, we pulled into Puerto Escondido, found a place - Hostal Shalom - for $6/person a night, and went about separating ourselves from Ben. Although we are still staying in the same dorm room as him, the added freedom to roam apart has made it a much more livable situation. We went snorkeling at nearby Playa Manzanillo last night at sunset - the first real snorkeling that Thai has ever seen (Los Arcos does NOT count). We even saw a few manta rays among the rocks! Then we capped the evening off by going to a bar with some newfound friends from the UK, Spain, and Canada. Today the plan is to rent a couple of surf boards ($8 for the whole day!) and explore Playa Camarizalillo where the waves are supposed to be the best. Anyways, I'm burning precious daylight writing all this out, so I need to get going. Love to all! Hasta proximo!

Burnin' in Heaven

Hola from Mexico! We finally crossed the border! Yeah! After a few hiccups in Tiajuana - traffic and road signs are disorganized to say the least - we set out on our way South. By nightfall, we found a flat patch by the highway outside Sonoyta to camp for the night. We were surrounded by beautiful desert scenery - cacti for miles, and such - but it was a rather sleepless night. Note - camping on the side of the highway is a rather noisy endeavor! We stirred and whined about the choice of location until the first light of dawn. Then we got back on the highway and drove until dusk, pulling into Los Mochis for the night. This time, we sprang for a $25 room - just a bed and a bathroom, but much quieter than the night before.
By the next day, we arrived in Mazatlan, the first tourist trap on our route. Absolutely beautiful! Especially when you get a little off the beaten tourist path. We spent a night on the main strip, then made our way to Stone Island - la isla de piedra. It was amazing to say the least. Its this nice secluded beach/island. We camped there for a night, played in the water and ate the most delious food around - Andy got this chicken with nuts and pomegranate cream sause at the Copa de Leche. If you ever come the Mazatlan you have to stop here! We took an embarcadera - a ferry - for 20 pesos or two dollars. It was a cheap and enjoyable place to stay. We spent a total of 20 dallors in a full day. In the evening, we went coconut hunting amidst the palm trees and drank the milk under the sunset. Thai befriended one of the locals, a cute little puppy that followed us around until its fleas got to be too much for us. We could absolutely get used to living on sandy beaches and playing in the ocean til the sun goes down.
We were going to camp a second evening, but we returned last night to find our site usurped by a pack of local surfers - they had dragged our tent 150 feet towards the water to use as shade... Don't know why... Anyways, they seemed nice, more naive of our anxiety over the situation than maliscious. They greeted our questioning faces with smiles and helped us move it back to where it had been. Either way, we opted to retun early and spent the night in a cheap motel ($18 will get you a private bathroom, but no door to divide it from your bed).
Today we are leaving Mazatlan for Puerto Vallarta. It has been three beautiful days and nights. We are completely burned - a nice shade of ruby red. Aww how every good tropical adventure should start. We are having a lot of fun, but we can say honestly we're a bit homesick at the same time. We miss all of our friends and families very much. And we absolutely plan on dragging a few of you back to our little amazing island paradise the next time round.... Bring sun block!!!
Oh, and don't forget to check out our slideshow at the bottom as we will be updating it with the latest pics. And click on the link to see the rest! Love to all!!

LA LA-Land

We pulled onto our friend Alvin's street in North Hollywood last Tuesday, April 8th. Since then, we've been ambling through old friendships and familiar streets reacquainting ourselves with the city we used to call home. While plenty has changed among those we know, it has been reassuringly easy to fall back into familiar chit-chat. Aside from a new baby (give Matthew a kiss for us, Adrine) and a smattering of new jobs, it is literally as if we never left! And thank God, too, because we've been terrible at picking up the phone over the last couple of years (sorry guys)...
Between catching up with everyone and seeing the sites, we've also managed to try a few new things. We attended an anti-war art installation in the warehouse district. It was a collection of pieces - graffiti, silk screen, painting, and film - from local artists. Interesting enough, but a lot of the same. A collection of painters were working simultaneously on a few canvases, making their individual contributions to each and rotating between them. We watched them work for a bit before deciding to catch a bite to eat. And that is when Alvin introduced us to Philippino fast food (Jollibee... the things that make you go hmmm...) - fried 'Chickenjoy,' hot dogs in spaghetti, and noodles in (shrimp?) gravy. Well, at least we can say we tried it...
We also celebrated Songkram - Thai New Year - with Alvin and his friend Polly. Hollywood Blvd was closed from Walker to Normandy yesterday to make way for the festivities. After touring the stalls, we got a bite to eat and headed for the beer garden overlooking the Muy Thai boxing ring. There we soaked in the sun over a cold beer and enjoyed the high caliber of people watching that only Hollywood can offer. In Thailand, the new year is brought in with a week-long water fight where anyone on the street is fair game. Security at the beer garden must not have been aware of this, or at least they didn't seem to appreciate Alvin's attempts at bringing the tradition to Thai Town. We decided to duck out after their not-so-subtle warning.
Tonight is our last night in town. Alvin is making dinner - Pig's Blood Soup with Liver. Now we'll see how Philippino fast food compares with the real thing! Later we will be heading to Venice Beach to sit in the sand and hang out like we used to. Hopefully we can rustle up some people to go with. Then tomorrow morning we are off to San Diego to meet Lindsey. We're getting close to the border, guys! Get Excited!

In Search of Hot Springs

Yesterday we managed to break Nic and X away from Fresno to go hot springs hunting along the nearby Kern River. It was gorgeous! Nothing but beautiful weather and rustic scenery. The river lies at the bottom of a steep canyon in the otherwise arid desert scape of central California. The four of us, along with their friend Nikki, spent the day driving lazily between Lake Isabella and the canyon walls in search of the illusive Remington Hot Springs. And it WAS a search... These springs are completely unmarked and are typically known only to locals. We arrived in the area at roughly 2:3o in the afternoon and didn't even find the thing until 8! Funny, even when we set out mid-day we never manage to find our way to springs until dark.

By the time we landed, we ended up crashing in on a bachelor party of partially clad, thoroughly drunk 40-somethings who were wiling away the man of the hour's last free days in sun and sulfur. The company was "mixed" to say the least - but festive! Then again, that's part of the whole experience! You truly never know what ilk of man you will meet. Thai and I settled into conversation with what must have been Al Yankovic's Puerto Rican cousin who was more than interested in our travel plans. We had to refuse the invitation to stick around for the bon fire, however, as Nic and Nikki were growing a bit uncomfortable with some of the partiers. Somewhere between the middle-aged nudity and intermittent drunken leers/jokes, we lost them.

All-in-all, a wonderful day. And now we know where to find the hot springs for the return trip. We'll just make sure to get there during the day!

What Up Fresno!!!

So we finally got out of Salem and landed in Fresno on the 1st :) That puts us 740 miles and twelve and a half hours deep into this thing! It has been a fun filled time in the sun. Hanging out with our good friend Nicole whom we haven't seen in years. The weather is beautiful here - not too hot, not too cold - which has given us a chance to break out the shorts and skirts. We are having a bit of a hard time finding things to do while Nic is working, but her hubby X has been more than helpful - trying to stretch your money kinda limits the options. So we've been taking walks to parks and crashing in on Nic at work. She's bored there anyway - we might as well help a friend out. Who knew life at Fred Meyer Jewelers was ever less than scintillating?

As of now, we are thinking we will be in Los Angeles on the 8th. Then we'll really have a budgetary battle of will power! So many friends/bars, so little time/money. The plan is to stay there with our friend Alvin until the 14th or so. Then we'll be on to San Diego for a night. Well okay, the person we're planning on staying with there doesn't know yet (actually we haven't talked to her in years, but surprise!). We're pretty sure it'll work out, though - hmmm, we really should let her in on it...
Oh, and for all of you with a drink in your hand, a toast to the Oregon DMV - where would we be without their diligent efforts? No, really, where? Mazatlan? Acapulco maybe? All we know is Nicole applied for a new title through the California DMV two days after we did, and she received hers four days ago! Oh well, ours is set to arrive in two weeks or so. We shall just have to wait and see. We're getting good at that!