January 23rd - Zihuatanejo

I'm up early and my buddy Chris drives me to the airport.  Yeah, couldn't figure out why I couldn't get my boarding pass early, but found out there was a mistake on the year of my birth.  Ah well.  Off we go.

The layover in L.A. is uneventful and the flight starts off that way too.  I snooze at my window seat, and after awhile begin to observe the people around me.  That's when this cute, petite girl next to me, starts chatting me up. She and her father are going to visit relatives that live 3 hours from Zihua.  She tells me about the town and the festival that they have there.  Her Dad is a bit of a celebrity, having relocated to the States. She also tells me of the love story between her Mom and Dad.  She had lived in a neighboring village and they fell in love.  But she decided she wanted a different life in the States, and left.  He couldn't live without her and followed. Unfortunately, she passed away some years ago.  But he travels back with his daughter to visit home.

She also told me of a drink they do.  A little Hershey's Milk Chocolate powder in a glass, squeeze milk from the cow into the glass and add some tequila.  What can I say...Natives are hard core!

We come in for a landing and the airport is old school.  From the tarmac, the plane pulls in toward the terminal and they bring out the stairs for you to descend. I descend into the warm, humid sunshine. It's a small airport, so getting past the timeshare people was no problem.  I just walked with a purpose and out the door. To the left of the exit is the cab stands.  I ended up paying 450 pesos to get to my destination, although I had priced it in the high 200's online. Ah well.

The drive was about 20 minutes, as the airport sits below Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and we travel north to get to the resort.  Driving in does not disappoint.  It is a beautiful place with a grand wide entrance.  I'm greeted with a cold refreshing cloth for my face and a beverage.  She goes over the usual details and I'm escorted to my condo.

OMG!!!  I enter and off to my left are huge bay windows with a stunning view to Zihua Bay. You can see Las Gatas beach across the way (more on that later).