Christmas with family, New Year's Eve, and moving back on the boat

After the wedding, Sara and I slipped away for a few days alone. Mini-honeymoon. The Sitch family stayed in Bucerias for another few days, and unfortunately the Fullers returned to the US.

Happy couple

Sitches exploring without us

We rejoined the Sitch family in downtown Puerto Vallarta at the 2nd rental. My parents rented a three-story place just three blocks off the beach, in a wonderful area of town.

Home sweet rental

What a view!

Much like the week previous in Bucerias, we did as little as possible. We relaxed, played cards, talked, and went on only one excursion the whole time. John heard of a town called "El Tuito" just a short bus ride away. Tweety town? Lets go!

$1.20 for a 90-minute ride

Tweety town!

Jane introduced everyone to a card game called Russian Patience. Two people play with two decks; it requires total concentration and is exactly the type of game to start family infighting. Needless to say, we loved it.

Sisters square off

We get addicted too

We went exploring a lot too, walking around PV, looking at different art galleries and trying different restaurants. I'd like to install the gun shown below onto the foredeck. I think it would totally work for fishing. Pirates too!

Sara was being a punk

Foredeck cannon

For Christmas we decided to all cook tapas-style meals and spend the whole day eating. It was great. I made my famous ribs, maybe the best set yet.

John goes parasailing!

Best. Ribs. Ever.

After Christmas we took the family out for one last meal together. It was fantastic, two weeks in PV was enough time to really hunt down the best restaurants, and El Bruja is a winner!

John looks a bit nuts

One big happy family!

The next day, the 27th, Sara and I took two trips with everyone to the airport and boat, transferring a ton of stuff back onto the boat. It was good to be home, but it took us a full day to repack and store everything.

So much stuff, so little room

What are we going to do with this?

Despite our best efforts over Christmas, we still have a ton of booze and beer left over from the wedding. We now have a fridge stuffed full of beer, a locker stuffed full of beer, and something like 24 bottles of liquor in a third spot. We're not big drinkers, but with this much stuff we probably need to start!

Note the beer cans the bottles are stacked on

Three cases of beer packed with towels

We did another reprovisioning run, only two carts and $230 this time. With only two of us on the boat, we have so much space for stuff! Still doesn't stop Sara from destroying the kitchen while experimenting with a new dish.

Two carts = food for a month

Sara's a great cook; messy, but great

On New Years Eve we took the bus into town and met back up with Sean. His family is here for Christmas and the new year, and it was great to reconnect and hear what he's been up to! We all had a fantastic dinner together before we sprinted back to a special spot we found right next to the fireworks.

Bussin into town

Sean jumps with joy

We were RIGHT NEXT TO THE FIREWORKS. No barriers. No tape. No one telling us to "get back".

We weren't worried about it, but we probably should have been!

These guys were awesome

See?

The guys setting off the fireworks were using their cigarettes to light the fuses, and then they'd just run away! They didn't seem to care who was nearby. I guess the legal system doesn't protect idiots here.

See him smoking?

See him running?