Puerto Vallarta - Monday Pirate Adventure

This post needs few words. Cory took me on a pirate adventure dinner cruise. Fun times and free drinks were had by all.

Pirate Ship in the distance

Pirate ship up close - where all the pirate fights take place

Posing at the helm with Puerto Vallarta in the background

Downstairs for dinner

Stay out of pirate jail!

I missed photos of the pirate fight and fireworks, but I'm sure you can imagine what it entailed. And as with any Mexican boat ride, the trip back was a dance party/booze cruise with a ton of energy!

Puerto Vallarta - Sunday Scuba

The fun didn't stop with Cory's proposal. The next morning we had to be up early to go scuba diving at Las Marietas Islands. We got on a large boat with about 50 other people and headed away from shore for an hour and a half to get to this Biosphere Reserve. The Mexican government has made it illegal to hunt or fish on these islands, so there's an abundance of wildlife both under the water and on the beaches.

Ready to dive!

We wanted to go on two dives, but they only had enough air to take us on one. The visibility wasn't great, but we still saw some neat stuff: a moray eel, a ton of puffer/balloon fish, and a sting ray were the highlights. Cory just got certified and it had been three years since my last dive, so just getting under the water for 30 minutes was fun too.

The morning was cloudy, but the sun came out during our dive to warm us up.

Post-dive happiness

Only a few of us on the boat were actually diving. Others came on the tour to kayak or snorkel. Once everyone completed their activity, we had the option to go to a beach on one of the islands to hang out. It was beautiful. Blue-footed Boobies, a bird commonly found on the Galapagos Islands, were everywhere.

Blue-footed Booby - My Mom is jealous as she loves these birds

The beach was beautiful and the large rocky islands made for an impressive backdrop. As did Cory.

My attempt at an artistic shot

Cory - God of the Sea

After our excursion to the beach we had lunch on the boat. Then the party started. Apparently the ride home turns into an open bar/dance party, which was fine with me. It turned out to be really fun. I've decided we need to try to get Carlos, the "entertainment director" for this boat, to DJ at the wedding. He did a fantastic job of getting everyone to have a good time.

Carlos leading his crew in a dance number

We also saw a mother and baby whale swim right up to the boat. Apparently whale watching season is over and these two humpbacks were making their way north really late.

Baby humpback whale twirling under water

A very small section of Mama Whale

By the time we were nearing Puerto Vallarta again the photographer had already convinced us to buy the pictures he took on our scuba/boating excursion. Hey, it is our engagement trip and all... So we had him take a few more pictures for good measure.

Sepia makes everything seem extra special

A Puerto Vallarta Proposal!

On Friday morning, Cory woke me up at 6am and told me to pack my bags because he was taking me somewhere warm. It took a little convincing, but once he pulled out my half-packed suitcase I realized it wasn't just a mean joke - its been rainy and crappy in Seattle for months now - and we really were going somewhere with sunshine.

The realization

Turns out he planned a surprise trip to Puerto Vallarta!

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico

After getting to our hotel and soaking up the last few hours of sun, we called it a night. Cory had our first full day all planned out. We took a taxi about 40 minutes south of town to Boca de Tomatlan. From there we were going to take a water taxi to Quimixto - or so we thought. 

 

Waiting for the water taxi

Due to a language barrier, a lack of communication, and how things are done in Mexico in general, the water taxi driver didn't stop at Quimixto and we didn't realize it until we stopped at the furthest beach - Yelapa - and everyone got off. So much for local public transit.

After a brief argument and the demand that we pay again if we wanted to go back to the correct beach (even though the taxi was going back anyway), we decided to stay put. Our waiter, who interjected to help us communicate with the water taxi driver, assured us that it was "no problemo" and Yelapa was better than Quimixto anyway.

Cory's perspective from Yelapa

I didn't realize that Cory had planned to take me on an hour-long hike into a remote waterfall at Quimixto and propose there. He didn't want to tip me off, and the waiter had told us there were waterfalls we could hike to in Yelapa too, so Cory decided to roll with it.

The wrong waterfall

Unfortunately, the waterfall in Yelapa - although very nice - was just at the end of town. There was a restaurant overlooking the area, a few different groups of people around, and a bathroom in sight just up the hill. Not what Cory had in mind when he formulated the plan to propose at a remote waterfall. He decided to wait.

View from our balcony

We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon at the beach and made our way back to the hotel. I cleaned up and got ready for dinner, then went to sit on our balcony and read. Cory knew he had to propose today for the sake of his nerves. He wanted to relax and enjoy the rest of the trip, so he decided a pre-sunset proposal on our balcony overlooking the ocean would do.

I think he made a good choice.

Pre-engagement photo

He brought a bottle of wine that we had been saving for a special occasion and opened it up while we were enjoying the view. Then he started telling me all the nice things that boys say to you before they propose, got down on one knee, fumbled around a second or two for the ring, and asked me to marry him. I said, "Of course!"

The moment - I'm glad I had just showered!

The ring!

Cory must have blacked out the entire proposal because once his heart stopped racing he had to make sure that a) he got down on one knee (I had to assure him that he did) and b) that I said "yes". When I told him that I said "of course" he made me confirm with an actual "yes" so there was no possibility for confusion.

We went to dinner at the hotel to celebrate and came back to the room. It was a fairly early night since we had to get up early to scuba dive the next morning. 

I realized just before we went to bed that we hadn't taken a post-engagement photo, so I set up the self-timer and snapped one in our room. We had to document this momentous event!

Post-engagement photo

The End

Stay tuned to find out more about our trip, including scuba diving, zip lining (aka canopy tour), and a pirate dinner adventure.

Pre-scuba diving

Flying through the trees!

Arrrrgh!

Operation: Ocean Shores

Last week Cory had to stay overnight at the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino in Ocean Shores, WA for work. Since Ocean Shores is about 130 miles and a little over 2 and a half hours from Seattle, he stays here when he's calling on doctors in this territory.

Quinault Beach Resort

I won't start comparing Washington beaches to the Southern California beaches that I'm used to because it'll just take us down a bad road. However, this hotel is right on the beach and since it happened to be the first nice day in about 3 months, I decided to put on my adventure hat and drive down after work to meet Cory. This meant I would have to leave at 6:30am to be back in Seattle in time for work the next day, but I figured, "what the hell, it'll be fun."

And it was!

The drive was beautiful (and sunny) and when I got there, although it was cold, Cory and I pretended to run on the beach by using the resort's indoor gym that looks out onto the ocean.

Approximate view from my elliptical machine

After trying to find dinner at 8pm both at our hotel and in town - and realizing everything was already closed - we settled for a beer and some bar food at the hotel "lounge".

All in all it was a quick and fun trip that reminded me that I need to keep a little spontaneity and flexibility in my life, even though it's not always the most sensible or convenient thing to do. It adds a little variety and a lot more fun!

Curling Fun

Who has ever heard of anyone curling (other than in the Winter Olympics of course)? I haven't. I only think about it every 4 years. At least until now...

Granite Curling Club - Seattle, WA

Apparently curling is quite popular in the Seattle area. I guess that's not a surprise since we're so close to Canada, but I still find it hard to believe that it's popular enough to have a curling club that's been around for 50 years.

According to our curling instructor, the Granite Curling Club is the only dedicated curling facility in the U.S. "this side of North Dakota" - potentially my favorite statistic ever.

Cory throwing the stone

Nick and Cory - Ready to sweep!

A group of us were invited to tag along on a birthday party for a friend of a friend since they needed 30 people to rent out the whole place. We had 6 people and one instructor to a lane.

After learning the basics from our Donald Sutherland look-a-like instructor (ironically named Don), we split up and played a very serious match. Don was very pleased with our athleticism, new-found curling skills, and competitive natures. I only fell over while sweeping once, but I think that's what cost my team the game. Blue lost to red - 6 to 5. Although you do normally play to 8....

I'm a natural!

Meet Ace

My friend Delinda got a Betta fish and named him Gary.  While deciding on a name, she also decided that her fish must be gay. She thought Gary was a great name for a gay Betta fish, but couldn't put her finger on why. The best part of the story is that a few short days later the water in Gary's tank turned pink from one of his plants. Coincidence? You be the judge.

I promptly decided that Gary needed a cohort in Seattle, in case he ever came to visit. So - without further ado - please say hello to the newest member of the Smith/Legg family:

Ace the Betta

Ace, his water conditioner, food, and Tiki man (the most expensive item at approx. $5) all came home on Wednesday night.

I don't think Ace is gay though

I've already learned a few things from Ace:

1. He can fit inside the Tiki man's mouth, which seems very small.
   
2. He likes to hide between the Tiki man and the side of the jar.
   
3. I don't think Pounce cares about him, just the water in his bowl. Or, Pounce is lulling me into a false sense of security.
   
4. Most Importantly, I learned that Cory will call my bluff when I tell him that I really, really want a fish. I forgot I had made this declaration. Then, after dinner with some friends, he drove me to the pet store and said something to the effect of, "Ok, go get your fish." Obviously I couldn't back down. Now we have Ace and I love him.

Babies Galore

The babies have arrived. Our Pregnancy Party back in January was the precursor to the baby parties we will be having now. Unfortunately Cory and I missed the "baby open house" that one of our friends had last Sunday, so we have only met 2 out of 3 babies.

Baby #1: Gage Jameson Whitney. Cory has no problem with babies, but isn't particularly interested in holding other people's babies just for the fun of it. Here he is enduring:

Cory and Baby Gage - only one of them is happy

Baby #2: Aspen Lyn Moore. Aspen is pretty much the cutest baby ever and easily has the best hair. She already has a punk rock mohawk. Baby Aspen was stuck in the hospital for a week due to an infection, but she's home now and happy as a clam...as long as it's not feeding time.

Aspen's 2nd day out of the womb