Welcome to the mid-holidays issue of OnVallartaTime! It’s hard to believe, but Thanksgiving has come and gone, and it’s December already! Here in Puerto Vallarta, one day eases into the next. We always seem to have something to do, even if it’s just parking ourselves on the beach for the day, and before you know it there’s another beautiful sunset and we start all over again. But today is a rainy day, the first we have had this visit, and it’s a perfect opportunity to let all of you know what we’ve been up to.

A rainy day today…

We had a wonderful time on Thanksgiving! Once again we were invited to our friend Kai Doyle’s house in El Tuito, a small ranching town in the mountains not far from Vallarta. Kai has a house there, Casa del Árbol, so named because it has an avocado tree growing up through the middle of it!  Every year she invites a group of her friends for the holiday. She provides the turkey and dressing, and everybody brings something. This year there were 22 of us.

Kai in her beautiful garden in El Tuito.

Here we are gathering for the feast, and taking advantage of what everybody has brought for the bar.

It’s Julio’s birthday, and here he is with his beautiful wife, Angelica, as we are about to sing Happy Birthday.

Putting the last touches on the dinner display! That’s the avocado tree trunk with the lights on it.

Time to start loading up our plates!

We have a very tasty and fun dinner as the sun goes down behind Kai’s banana trees.

As designated Entertainment Director, Bob Price arranged for this classical violinist to play after dinner.

This year we spent the night in Hank And Vicki Lindsey’s guest house in the center of El Tuito. This is the outside of our temporary abode; sorry I didn’t get any good pictures of the inside. We were very comfortable.

We gathered the next morning at Hank and Vicki’s main house, Casa Victoria, for coffee and quiche.

Another view of people gathering on the patio.

A glimpse inside the house. Nice, huh? By the way, Hank and Vicki  visited us last summer in Lincoln City, as did Kai.

A beautiful wild ginger plant just off the patio.

Here’s (most of) the whole crew! That’s Hank Lindsey front and center. Vicki is taking the picture.

So that’s why we are so thankful to be in Puerto Vallarta — fun, friends, and festivities! And it’s such a beautiful place. Here are a few more pictures to close out this post.

Here’s our fruit salad waiting to happen.

A Mexican flag VW bug, for Mexican Independence Day.

A serene sunset at the Los Muertos pier.

Peggy and I were resting, having ice cream for lunch at the Galerias Mall, when a youth mariachi band gathered, part of the mall’s anniversary celebration! That’s Peggy in the back under the Thrifty Ice Cream sign.

A sure sign Christmas is coming — the mall is decorated!

And finally, this gem:

Santa is on vacation in Puerto Vallarta, strolling the Malecón!

Well, that’s it for this issue of OnVallartaTime! Hope you enjoyed it! See you next time!