"No, No, Gracias"

The next day we had a leisurely morning drinking coffee on the balcony before heading out to do a little shopping along the River Walk.  It's a walking street set back a ways from the ocean that is lined with shop-huts and people trying to get you to come in a buy something.  On the way there we saw an iguana!

Because it goes along the river, the area is very lush with trees, plants, and beautiful flowers.  After a little ways, we decided to stop at an old favorite, The River Walk Cafe, for some chips and guacamole.

We made it to the end and had to cross a wavy, rickety swinging bridge to head back to our hotel.  The locals could walk right across without wavering, but we were lucky there were fences to hold on to along the sides!

Once across, we were back to the main streets where we passed this really cool house with animals painted onto one of the balconies.  And as we kept walking, there were more and more houses worth documenting; either for a pop of color, balcony flowers, or just interesting design.

After a while it started to get dark and cloudy so we figured it was time to head back to the hotel for a little balcony time.  That night we ventured out again for dinner but were all pretty tired from the first full day and called it an early night.

(photos by e.hunt, r.hunt, and d.barney)

Guacamole Time

As soon as we were settled, everyone hiked up the two flights of stairs to check out the rooftop pool.  It did not disappoint.

After a little unpacking, we decided to venture out and find a good spot for margaritas and guacamole.  Our hotel sits on one end of The Malecon, an oceanside street that is closed off to cars and filled with street performers, little touristy shops, and palm trees.  It also is host to a string of sculptures spaced along at every few hundred feet or so.

While walking we came by a second floor restaurant that looked nice and breezy and had a good margarita deal.  Cheers to our first night in Mexico!

(photos by e.hunt)

Viva Puerto Vallarta!

The other thing I've been spending my free time doing is getting ready for Mexico!  It's been six years since Debby, Mom, and I have traveled together outside the country, and boy was it time!

Our last trip was in Europe.  They met up with me in Geneva, Switzerland after my excursion in Paris and Cannes.  From there we went on to Italy, Sicily, and a few of the islands of Greece.

On Tuesday we woke up at 2:30am (which is even early for me!), to make our 5:30 flight to Houston.  We had a three hour layover, meaning we had time to meet up with Debby's friend who was joining us, and eat a satisfying breakfast burrito.  We arrived in Puerto Vallarta at 1:30, took a taxi to our hotel, and immediately went out to the balcony.  What a view!

(photos by e.hunt)

In the Land of Mordor Where the Shadows Lie

Hello everyone!  Welcome back to Kindof Maybe, a journal of the life and times of me.  A journal that I've been too busy to upkeep over the past couple weeks!  That time has been filled with work, hanging out with friends, collecting last minute travel necessities, making a trip or two to the pool, and going home for dinner.  With what little downtime I have, I've been spending it on the balcony.

These particular photos were taken on Memorial Day.  I was off work and decided to have a beverage before heading home for a barbecue fiesta.  This cool peach and salmon floral dress that I'm wearing is a new one I found at my favorite thrift store.  I don't wear this color too often but sometimes it's nice to switch it up.

At one point my phone decided to jump off the edge while I had it standing up for a photo and it self-timed a pic!  I looked over o see if it was still in one piece before running downstairs to retrieve it.

And after photo time I decided to do a little sketching.  After a quick warm-up, black ink sketch of the plant, I thought a drawing of the color pencil variety would be fun.  And what better subject is there than Lord of the Rings?!!  I thought about a scene in Hobbiton, or my favorite Middle Earth culture, the Rohirim, but for some reason I was in the mood for the darkness of Mordor, with the bright Eye watching from above.  I haven't used colored pencils in a while so it was a fun exercise.

(photos by e.hunt)