The Best Part of a Cruise Ship is Getting Off a Cruise Ship - Puerto Vallarta

Alternate Post Title: Pat's B-Day Cruise, Part III

The first stop of our cruise was Puerto Vallarta. I was happy to get off the boat and have some freedom to explore. The boat is fun and all, but I'm not a big fan of being stuck on it.

We started our day checking out the town and beach. (Brian and Irene went scuba diving and Pat's parents went to a resort for the day.)
There were lots of cool statues along the beach walk:


Jamie and Laura hung out with us in PV until we stopped for lunch, then they went exploring on their own. A well-fed and happy Travel Troupe: Steven found us (Me/Pat, the NFBF's and Steven/Elaine) a cool dune buggie excursion in the afternoon that was cheaper than what was offered from the boat's excursion list. Lunch took a little longer than planned and we were in a rush to get to the dune buggies on time. My NFBF led us quickly through the streets of PV directly to the dune buggie rental place, as if he had lived there his entire life. My NFBF has amazing map reading skills. We heart him.

Once at the dune buggie place, we signed our lives away and the boys got a quick lesson in how to drive the machines of death. When NFBF pointed out that his passenger seat belt didn't work, this very helpful guide pointed out, "You're in Mexico now."
While the boys received their "safety" training, us girls just stood around looking super-cool. Everyone knows that an eye patch is the coolest accessory going, but in lieu of that, I suggest big helmets, big goggles and a bandanna for looking super-cool.

Me and Pat in our dune buggie/death machine (notice there are no rear view or side mirrors):We were expecting more of an off-road adventure, but we received more of an on-road (and on-highway! gulp!) adventure. I don't think these things are street legal. It was quite exhilirating driving in traffic in a low vehicle with no brake lights. See the bus on the left? The busses were everywhere and they don't care about any other vehicles. We were cut off at least three times by busses pulling out and separating us from our group. Kinda scary!

We went through most of the town and lots of neighborhoods:
We did do some off-roading, too. We went through this creek and we got soaked! It was awesome! My NFBF went through so fast that he killed the engine and they had to tow them out.
We stopped at a tequila factory halfway through the ride. The boys were very muddy.

They offered a tequila tasting (3-4 shots of tequilas) because the only thing more fun than driving death machines in Mexican traffic is doing it after tequila. Safety last!

Back into the dune buggies and off through the streets and highways of Mexico again. I like living on the edge and this certainly counts as living on the edge. It was a blast! LOVED IT!