Based on a modular design, the houses were prefabricated in Puerto Vallarta and then brought by boat to the site. Once on the site, constructing the houses required no moving of soil or excavating as the houses were designed to be lofted on V-shaped stands planted into the ground.

More than 30 years ago during one of our first visits to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, while browsing through a small souvenir shop, we noticed a handful of small black objects high on a back corner shelf. They were covered with dust and obviously hadn’t been touched for years. We asked the owner of the tienda what they were and he indicated that they were obsidian artifacts; insinuating that they were very old and that obsidian was quite rare and virtually approaching extinction.

Krystal started as a yoga teacher at a hotel in the northern hotel zone doing classes on the beach and then expanded her capabilities of include massage therapy. “There were maybe two other people in all of Vallarta who were doing massage therapy back in the mid-1990s. I opened my business, Body and Sol, in 1995 in a location very near the popular Rizzo’s grocery store on the south side of town. It was great for walk-in traffic and also had Access to parking, which was a real plus.”

Puerto Vallarta is situated on the shoreline of the 25 mile diameter Banderas Bay which is surrounded by the Sierra Madre Mountains. There are approximately 35 miles of coastal land, much of which has very scenic adjacent hillside property that has been privatized for foreign purchase. Retirement property ranges from beachfront condominium towers to mountainside villas, all of which have panoramic views of the city, the Pacific Ocean, and the Sierra Madres with their native fauna and flora.

Living in Phoenix means it’s an easy, 2-hour flight to one of the greatest cities in the world for delicious, healthy food, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The fruits and vegetables taste like they were hand picked at dawn, and often that is the case. The seafood is right out of the ocean, while the menu choices are fresh, flavorful and often qualify as healthy food.

With the country in recession, and major airlines like Air Canada cutting flights and some jobs, WestJet seems to be flying through the economic storm with little to no turbulence.

Robert Palmer, the public-relations manager for WestJet, said some mid-week, low-capacity “fringe” flights have been dropped in Canada, but Abbotsford will not be affected.