I called an old boyhood friend, regaling him about a place in the jungle called Puerto Vallarta. The first paved road there from Tepic had just been completed. Using advanced calculus, with gas costing 15 cents a gallon and sleeping on the beach costing nothing, I estimated we could do a two-week trip from San Diego for about $100 each. So off we went in my 1966 VW van with no jack, a case of beer, and four bald tires. I had no idea then that this trip would come to define my life.

This was long before all of the freeway-like toll roads in Mexico, so we drove through every town and village along Highway 15 heading south. The term hadn’t been invented yet, but this was “rural tourism.”

Beyond Puerto Vallarta: Cabo Corrientes

That first trip I took to Puerto Vallarta spurred a life-long fascination with Mexico that endures today. I recently went back to Puerto Vallarta for about the hundredth time, exploring an area a short distance south of town called Cabo Corrientes. You may know it as home to the town of Yelapa, which was once primarily accessible only by boat. Today, the entire region can be reached by auto, although most of the roads are dirt.

The Albuquerque International Sunport won’t be so international come next week. Its only flight across the border to Mexico is coming to an end.

Less than one year of service to and from Chihuahua, Mexico, and Aeromexico is hitting turbulence. Soon, the airline will cancel its three day a week route which never gained much popularity.

“I think the average was about 20 percent on a 50 seat regional jet so the numbers were really not ever there,” stated Daniel Jiron, a Sunport official.

The state was pitching in to subsidize the flight, setting $300,000 dollars aside to pay for up to 23 empty seats. According to state officials, about 175,000 taxpayer dollars will have been spent by the end of this month.

Though the Sunport will keep its “international” designation, officials there envision plenty of sand and sunshine in their future.

“Our numbers definitely show that Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, those types of places definitely have the numbers to support it,” said Jiron.

Thousands of Americans are increasingly traveling to resort towns like Puerto Vallarta, in Mexico, not for vacation, but for the cheap health care. In many cases, reports Ray Suarez, for care they couldn’t afford in the United States.

You might not find the Riviera Nayarit on a map, because the name was coined just three years ago to describe the 190-mile coastline north of Puerto Vallarta. But development began a decade earlier, and this is now one of the hottest vacation home destinations in Mexico.

Puerto Vallarta sits on the Bay of Banderas, one of the largest bays in Mexico, at the northern tip of the state of Jalisco. A popular cruise port, the city is heavily developed for tourism and day visitors. But just north across the border in the state of Nayarit, more than 30 miles of less-developed beaches line the bay.

Essentially a suburb of Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta is the first community over the border in Nayarit, and as you head north things quickly become more rural. The bay ends with the Punta Mita peninsula, home to Mexico’s premier luxury residential community, but the Riviera Nayarit continues north for more than 100 miles.

via:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/secondhomes/2009-12-10-riviera-nayarit_N.htm

Luxury Destinations: Puerto Vallarta offers visitors a broad spectrum of authentic Mexican experiences, with a wide range of spectacular landscapes, fantastic food (and tequila, of course), and the chance to see some of the rarest animals on land and at sea.

As one of the most responsible, ecotourism locations in the world, doing more to protect and conserve its natural landscape than almost any other destination, Puerto Vallarta stands as a leading example for exotic escapes world-wide. From conservation programs for endangered species to organized eco-awareness days, both the local government and community are involved in taking care of one of the most beautiful areas on earth.

The area has made considerable efforts to protect many of the species that call Puerto Vallarta and its surrounding areas home. Puerto Vallarta is the birthplace of the Humpback Whale and every year, from December to April, humpback whales return to the area to breed. Visitors are offered the once in a lifetime chance to see the whales in their natural environment on a whale-watching excursion in the calm waters of the bay.

via:
http://www.justluxe.com/travel/luxury-vacations/feature-247556.php

Brooklyn’s beer taps (The Denver Post | CYRUS MCCRIMMON)

Farley, 52, is one of Denver’s best-known artists, his name being synonymous with action paintings of sports heroes. He grew up in Denver — except for a stint during junior high school in India, where his parents were teachers and missionaries. He started painting at 4, but he was hoping to become a professional athlete. Painting won out. He’s married, again, expecting a new child with his wife, Amoy, 36. They split their time between Denver and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where they are building a school for needy children. He’s co-chair of the Mask Project Acquisition Committee, rounding up bold names to paint faces for the Hospice of Metro Denver’s gala May 1. “It’s like collecting baseball cards,” he says. He orders a glass of wine. “A great big red heavy cabernet.”