Mark & his mother celebrating the holidays

OK, that was a long break. We took six weeks off from blogging and really from our normal travel routine. We’re back on the road, now, so here’s the quick update.

Mark & I left Costa Rica just before Christmas and flew to San Diego where my brother and his family live out in the suburbs. My parents were there for several weeks – it’s warmer in San Diego in December and January than in Duluth – and my sister and her two kids were flying in for Christmas. Then right after Christmas Mark’s family – parents, siblings, spouses, and kids – came to spend a week in Carlsbad, the next town north from my brother’s place.

My sister Rebecca & sister-in-law Anita taking a very brief break from feeding us and taking care of … everything

Mark & I are nothing if not efficient, and how much more efficient can you get at visiting with family than seeing damned near all of them in one swing through San Diego. So that’s what we did, 12 days driving around San Diego freeways, half at my brother’s house and half at the Sullivan family rental.

My niece Lily on Christmas morning, growing into a beautiful and charming young woman

We had a great time with all of them, even spending one afternoon mixing the St. Georges and the Sullivans in my brother’s back yard. Don’t let them fool you about San Diego weather, though. It was pleasant enough some of the days, but on a few days it was downright cold, in the 30s to start the day. Still, a nice visit with family.

A special treat was meeting up in La Jolla for lunch with my long-ago coworker Bart & his wife Nina

Early in January, then, we flew down to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for four weeks. We’re going to a wedding in Chicago in early February (yeah, Chicago in early February), so we figured we’d stay close to the States. We’d stay in PV for four weeks, Mark would study Spanish, I’d go to the beach, maybe rent a bike for a few days. Well. Mark didn’t like the Spanish schools when we got there, and they don’t bicycle in Vallarta. So we went to the beach. A lot. Beach, food & drinks, sleep. Repeat for four weeks.

There you are – feet, sand, water. That’s really all you need.

There were few breaks in the routine. I flew back to Duluth for a weekend to see family, and Mark’s parents came down to Vallarta for a week to share some meals and a few drinks. But mostly it was beach, food & drink, sleep.

Now we’re in Ajijic, a little colonial lake town in Jalisco state, not too far from Vallarta. We’ll spend a couple days here, a few days in the capital city of Guadalajara, and then – after a brief stop in Chicago – off to Bangkok, our favorite Asian travel hub. Then it’ll really feel like we’re back on our adventure!

Kids would come down to the beach most mornings and surf

There are great restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. This was a Nicoise salad with seared tuna that I loved. In the background was a Caprese salad that was as good as anything you could get in Italy.

We had a little two-room apartment in a hotel just a block off the beach. The little kitchen was perfect for making breakfast. And no, the bottle of Maker’s Mark was not for breakfast; it was left over from last night’s Happy Hour.