Beach Crossers Gives Back.

People are so kind and gracious in their support of our Beach Crossers mobility rental business. Our customer's often give us a bonus because they "want to support what we're doing." This week, we went to buy a scooter that we found on Craigslist in Tuscon. We were road tripping a second accessible van down to Vallarta.  The owner of the chair had just lost his Mom a month ago. He listened to our story and then gave us part of our money back along with a shower chair and some cold drinks for the road. This kind of generosity happens often. We are so thankful for the donations of money and equipment that have allowed us to keep our costs low and be able to give back to the community. We always recognize the smiles on peoples faces when we have given them something special, but we don't always realize that it has become part of who we are as Beach Crossers. Lately, we've had some good reminders of that so we wanted to share a few of our stories.

From the beginning we have donated use of the chairs to people who couldn't or wouldn't have ever dreamed of going to the beach again. Amazingly, there are people who have lived right here in Vallarta for 50 years that have never been on the beach. We often see families carrying loved ones with mobility problems from the pavement to the sand so they can sit on a towel and enjoy the sunset. The first time we gifted the chair, we had only one chair in Mexico and were staying at Paradise Village. We were sitting in the lobby when a lovely woman in a wheelchair checked in with her daughter, son in law, and grand daughters. She reminded me of Mom. I told Sheri, "We're giving her the chair." She laughed and said, "Of course we are." We approached the family and told them we weren't selling anything, but wanted to let them use the beach wheelchair for the day. They were pretty sure we were scamming them at first, but finally decided that we were legit and took the chair. They were to return it to our room at dark. When 10:00 rolled by, I started getting nervous, when 11:00 came along I started making calls. It turns out that they had walked down the beach, gone into the pool, dipped in the hot tub and then gone back to the beach. The daughter said that her Mom was having the time of her life. She and I cried together. Sheri and I knew from the beginning that this business was always about Mom. This was the first time we saw that commitment in action. Mom would have loved that beautiful woman in the wheelchair and would have been proud of us for helping her to the beach. 

This became a normal practice for us. We look around and try to find someone to loan the chair to. I wish I had a picture of the first woman, but here is a beautiful picture of a gentle man who we loaned the chair to.  He was sitting by the pool with his son, daughter-in-law, grand children, and great grand children. I would guess he was in his 90's. He was non-verbal and no one in the family spoke English. I did my best with Spanish and gestures and got the point across that we wanted to loan the chair to them so they could take "Abuelo" to the beach. His smile was priceless. The family took tons of pictures and insisted that we be in their photos. It was so much fun and so rewarding to see his smiling face. He gave us the "it works in every language" thumbs up and waved excitedly to us as we were leaving. 

We still love this game and on days when we aren't busy or if we are staying at Paradise Village with family or friends, we take a beach wheelchair and look for someone to gift it to for the day. Try to imagine how fun that is. 

We have had the opportunity to help with World Access Project for the last 2 years. Here's a link to some information about their project  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYX7aXoDtfY  

Richard Dennis is the founder of the organization. They bring wheelchairs to people in the area, teach them how to use them, put on a sports camp, and bring them to the Malecón. That's where we come in. We have our beach wheelchair at the Malecón and shuttle people to the beach. The first year that Sheri was in Vallarta by herself. She had help from some of our friends and was able to shuttle most people to the beach. The second year, Sheri was in the states and I (Terrie) was in Vallarta for the event. I recruited help from friends once again and also put the word out in the Facebook community. With the extra help, we were able to get people not only to the beach, but a few actually made it into the bay for a swim. 

When it comes to paying it forward, I think these two pictures speak volumes. The young man, the picture speaks for itself. The older woman? It took almost an hour to convince her that it was not a burden or inconvenience to take her to the beach and that we didn't mind helping her from one chair to the other and back again. She had a wonderful time. 

   

These are some examples of how your rental with Beach Crossers helps others. We appreciate your help in allowing us to do what we do. 

Wheelchair Accessible Sayulita

Yesterday we took some clients up to Sayulita for lunch. First, let me say that I always enjoy time in Sayulita. The beach is beautiful, the people watching is top notch, the food choices are varied, and it has a great Bohemian vibe that is exciting. Yesterday, however, we wanted to take an honest look at accessibility.

We picked our clients up at the RIU Jalisco in Nuevo Vallarta and loaded 2 scooters, a wheelchair, and 4 passengers into our wheelchair accessible van. Yes, we were loaded and dragged across a few of the many speed bumps, between here and there. We were happy at how the 2 scooters fit side by side and everyone still had plenty of room. 

Some time last season, we rented a beach wheelchair to a nice family who were staying in Sayulita. We met at the Mega in Bucerias, so we never got a chance to see the Debug around Sayulita. At Beach Crossers, we try to match people and chairs and knowing what the area is like is really helpful. They told us that the chair worked out really well on the uneven pavement and that they would definitely recommend it as an option for Sayulita. 

Yesterday, we did not spend the day with our clients, but we saw them a number of times as our paths crossed in this small Mexican Magical City. Our clients were able to take a few steps, so here and there they would stand up and some nice people would show up to help them over a bump or down a step. That's one nice thing in Mexico, people will come to assist you without hesitation. On the other hand, there is a lot of help needed. 

When we arrived in town, we pulled down a very narrow street that there is no way in the world I would have driven down, but Sheri is an expert at squeezing the van through tight spaces so she didn't even hesitate. We pulled to the end of the street, stopped right in the middle (no one was likely to come down that street behind us) and dropped the ramp. We unloaded the 2 scooters and off they went. Sheri and I drove around town a few times before heading out of downtown to find parking. We ended up parking on a dirt road that would have been passable for the scooters, but not good for them. I wish clients wouldn't take our equipment on roads like that. 

It wasn't too far to walk back to town. I should have taken pictures, but as Sheri and I walked around we saw that most ramps had cars parked in front of them, or sign boards standing in the middle of them. In a town that is so parking congested I don't think this can really be helped. It was interesting to see ramps that lead down to steps, or a ramp on one side of the street and a curb on the other. There is a bridge in Vallarta like that. They call it the "Miracle Bridge" You can roll up one side and you must be healed at the top to get down the other side where there are about 30 stairs. 

So, I don't think there was any area of Sayulita that I would say was accessible. With that said, we did see one restroom in the downtown that was accessible. I didn't go in, so I have no idea if there were support bars, but the door was wide enough for a wheelchair and there was no step. Like most restrooms in Sayulita, there was a $5 peso fee to use it. There is a fee for most everything in Sayulita, I don't really mind paying $5 pesos to use a clean bathroom that has paper, soap and towels, but where we stopped yesterday for $5 pesos had none of the above. We got paper and if you didn't mind reaching over the dirty dishes you could wash your hands at the restaurant sink, but there was no option for drying them. 

There were many restaurant choices as most have tables in the street. The streets are cobble stone. There is some random water running in there street here and there. We haven't had any rain, so I'm not sure of the source. The traffic moving quickly so it's not a casual stroll down the street. Some of the side streets are too narrow for a car, but perfect for a wheelchair. As you get close to the beach there are some streets that have big speed bumps. I don't think it would be possible with a scooter or wheelchair, but the beach wheelchair would go over it without any problem. 

Overall, I think the beach wheelchair would be a must. It would allow you to cross the small curbs, maneuver the cobble stone, and access the beautiful beach. Unless you have an all terrain wheelchair I wouldn't recommend anything else. The dirt, water, cobble stone, and random obstacles would make a visit to Sayulita frustrating. 

At this time we deliver and pick up from Sayulita for a $40 fee, (that's $20 USD each trip). That is added to your shopping cart when you make your reservation. 

Totally wheelchair accessible options in Vallarta

Okay, so this post will have a lot of edits at time goes by. I want to talk about places that are totally wheelchair accessible for the clients of Beach Crossers Mobility Rentals in Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta. I've asked a lot of people and there isn't anything out there. Please comment if you have something to add. This may seem like I'm rambling and disorganized, but perhaps in the future when I have these scribbles to look at I will put together something more organized. Hopefully, even in this rough form this will be helpful to locals and visitors of Vallarta who are using a wheelchair to get around. I'm also going to mention places that we've found that are NOT accessible. When I have a good compilation, I'll figure out some sort of organization.

Nuevo Vallarta/Bucerias and North

Resorts
I'll start with Paradise Village because it is my top recommendation in the entire bay. They have some beautiful, fully accessible, and fully ADA compliant rooms when there is no such thing here in Mexico. You can roll up to the sink in the kitchen and bathrooms, there is a roll in shower, the microwave is lowered, etc. It's the most accessible room I've seen in Vallarta and I've seen several of the resorts. . To add to this description, I'll mention that I have not seen another resort that has a ramp into the swimming pool. This is great, especially if you rent the Hippocampe or Sand Rider that can go into the water. There are definitely some things that could be better (like people park on the sidewalks or in front of the ramps, but ... what can you do?) The thing to note here is that no one made them comply with ADA standards. It is a philosophy. That's why they are my top recommendation.

The RIU Vallarta (according to our clients) has doors that are less than standard size. They had to take the wheels off of the Debug beach wheelchair in order to get it into the room. The rest of the resort is very accessible though. If you have a narrow chair this might be a good place. The lobby and common areas are accessible. The ramps to the pool and beach are located on each side of the lobby. It's not the most direct route to the pool, but they do have ramps and they are manageable. The elevators will be a challenge for large scooters.

The RIU Jalisco has very small and very slow elevators, but we have rented a variety of chairs to clients at this resort who have stayed without complaint. From our observation there are ramps and wide hallways and a very helpful staff (although the wait to get help can be lengthy). This is probably a good option.

RIU Palace, like the other RIU properties has very accessible common areas. I don't know about the rooms or pools.

The Hard Rock Nuevo Vallarta has very accessible grounds. The common areas are easily managed with any type of mobility aid. The rooms our clients stayed in have been large enough that they didn't need to reserve an accessible room.

Villa del Palmar Flamingos also has beautifully accessible grounds. The staff is helpful and the resort has a nice ambiance. Unfortunately, there is no ramp down to the beach. I don't know if all of the resorts have ramps, but I know that this one does not. The staff is eager to help get a beach wheelchair to the sand and back, but it is a bit of an inconvenience.

Marival Residence and Spa has accessible grounds. We rented a rollator to a guest there, but never saw the rooms. We've been around the grounds a bit and it seems to have mobility built in. I would need more information before making a recommendation.

Marival Resort has a ramp that has a sharp turn. Not all scooters will be able to make the corner without adjusting. The elevators are too small for most scooters, but wheelchairs should fit fine. The grounds are pretty open so getting around seems good. Some of the curbs are not accessible and ramps can be a distance away. As an all inclusive resort, be aware that not all of the restaurants and bars are accessible.

Dreams Villa Magna. We've had a couple of clients here, but only with rollators or walkers. I really don't know if there are ramps, accessible rooms, accessible common areas, restaurants, etc. This will have to wait for another day.

The Royal Decameron in Bucerias worked out well for our clients. The room was moderately accessible, but this client was able to transfer, stand, and walk a few steps. We've been around the grounds, which are pretty accessible. Getting to a ramp isn't always convenient, but it seems possible to get around by going just a little bit out of your way. It's pretty accessible and is a good choice in Bucerias. We did have a beach wheelchair on the beach there. There is a sidewalk along the beach so this is easy access once you get to that level. Just a word about Bucerias, there is a lot of cobblestone and the market has dirt streets.

Vidanta. So, I hate to even add this information, but it must be said. We tried for 2 hours to deliver a wheelchair to a very nice man who was staying at the Grand Luxxe. He was 81 years young, a retired physician, and had fallen and hurt his leg. We chatted with them on the phone and headed to the Vidanta complex to deliver the chair. When we arrived at the gate, the security called the room and talked to the guests to confirm that they were expecting a wheelchair. They then informed the guests that they would need to come to the gate to get the wheelchair. Really? He needs a wheelchair, that's why we're here. Um, he's not able to come to the gate. The guests informed security that they would not be coming to the gate and that they needed to figure out how to get the chair to their suite. Well, we had 2 chair with us as we had no idea what size the gentleman was. Their first suggestion was that they would take the two chairs, collect the money and bring us back one chair and the rental fee. Well, that wasn't okay with us. We like to meet our clients and fit the chair to the rider and show them the features of each chair. So, after 45 minutes of trying to get permission for us to come on ground, the security guard apologized and sent us around to the employee entrance to see if we would have any luck there. By sent us around, I mean we had to go across the river to another state and back around to get to the employee entrance which was walking distance from our location. Anyway, when we got to the employee entrance a nice man met us who was under the impression that he was going to take the chair to the guest. He had no idea that there were two chairs and that we were not surrendering the chair to anyone other than the client. Another 45 minutes later we had a security escort (2 guards) put our chairs in the back of a golf cart, A concierge who brought us two wrist bands and took our driver's licenses and off we went. When we got to the guest the guards accompanied us into the room to oversee the entire interaction. It was a little awkward and the guests were completely embarrassed. We made arrangements to meet them at the airport to retrieve the chair so none of us would have to endure this again (yes, we were told it would be exactly the same the next time and that we would not be allowed onto the property). Well, they escorted us off the property, cut off our wrist bands and then HAD TO CALL FOR PERMISSION to give us back our driver's licenses. Seriously overdone. "Fort Vidanta" or "The Grand Jail" are common names for the property on social media and in conversations around town. The Grand Mayan, Grand Luxxe, Mayan Palace and Grand Bliss are inside this security gate. Guests have told us that it is just as difficult to get out. That they want to walk to the restaurant that they can see, but security will not let them leave the property without taking a taxi (that charges double the usual rate. I don't feel like I can remove this portion as the plan hasn't really changed. However, we have been successful delivering wheelchairs if the client is with us. We stayed at the resort and found that accessibility is not too bad. They have a couple of wheelchair transports that can take you and your power equipment from one place to another. It's important to note since the property is huge. If we are picking up clients, or dropping off clients we are allowed onto the property. If we are dropping of or picking up wheelchairs then there is no system in place for that. All of that aside, the property is beautiful, the restaurants we visited at the Grand Luxxe and around the pools were very accessible. I did not see any lifts or ramps in any of the pool areas, but the resort is large so I'm not going to say they don't exist.

Grand Velas doesn't get it's hotel rating for no reason. The grounds are beautiful and quite accessible. There is no access to the pool if you have limited mobility and I don't know about a ramp to the beach, but the grounds and rooms are manageable.






Shopping
Paradise Plaza is mostly wheelchair accessible. Not much handicapped parking, but there is a parking garage with an elevator. There are some nice restaurants fast food, and a grocery store. The grocery store isn't perfect because you have to enter through the exit, but it has wide isles once you get inside. Some of the boutiques are too stocked to allow a wheelchair access, but they are happy to bring items out for you to see. Again, not ideal, but pretty all around accessible.

Lago Real is another accessible option for Nuevo. Walmart is the anchor store. Not all of the stores are easily managed from a wheelchair or scooter, but overall it is accessible.

Restaurants

I'll have to work on this section. There are some accessible restaurants in 3.14. There are some restrooms in the center section of the building that are shared by all of the establishments. They are accessible. La Dolce Vita and Mr. Cream's are both accessible as is the yogurt place and other smaller restaurants.

Sonora grill has some accessibility, but you will not be able to order your own food because the first step of the process requires just that, a big step of it's own.

House Mama is accessible for the enclosed outdoor seating. They have a good breakfast and I've heard the dinners are good. The indoor seating is not accessible, but the outdoor seating is very nice, so it's not a negative.

D at Marival is accessible with outside seating shared with Nikkson.

Insu at Marival Residence is accessible and has a view that is worth the trip to the rooftop restaurant. The elevator will probably not accommodate a large scooter.

Fajita Republic was accessible. It has a dirt parking area, but is accessible.

Puerto Fish and Wings Army are accessible and have outdoor seating.

There are many more accessible restaurants in the area.

Outdoors
There is a fantastic path that is mostly finished that goes throughout the resort area. It is in the middle of the tree lined median with nice ramps to transition from each area. You could walk or roll the path for a few miles.

Also definitely worth mentioning is the free tourist shuttle. It looks like a trolley car and has a wheelchair lift. It takes you from Paradise Plaza, past the Mayan properties where there are many restaurants and shopping (we'll have to explore, but there is at least a good attempt at accessibility). It goes past 3.14 and along Paseo de los Cocoteros, the street with all of the resorts on it's way back to Paradise Plaza. It's about a 40 minute route and they will let you off and pick you up most places along the way. It's a fun, accessible, free tour of the neighborhood.

Marina/Hotel zone

Beach Crossers often goes to the Marina for the Thursday market. It can get pretty crowded, but not a problem getting a wheelchair around. The sidewalks are a little bumpy, but passable. There are ramps that go up on the inland side of the marina. They get you into many stores and restaurants without any problem. We never did find an accessible restroom, but there may be one. Our best suggestion here would be to go into the Starbucks and use theirs. The door is wide enough to get a chair through and there are hand rails for support. More importantly, it is the only restroom I found that didn't have 5-10 steps to access.  I'll keep looking :)  There are a number of great restaurant choices here. Note that the accessibility comes from the inside walkway and not from the marina side.

Resorts

The Mayan Palace in the Marina is pretty accessible. The room doors are narrow and some areas have walkways that are also narrow that make turning around a challenge. The elevators are equally narrow. That being said, the grounds are pretty good and the room we were in, although not ADA was far more accessible than some other resorts.

We had a client (para) stay at the Westin without any complaints. The grounds were definitely accessible. The room was manageable, and he got around without problems.

Casa Magna Marriott seems accessible. We pushed a chair around and found ramps everywhere we went. We talked to some people who were using a wheelchair and they said they were not in an accessible room, but that the rooms were spacious so using a chair was not difficult. I'm not sure what the bath or kitchen are like. I know they have accessible rooms because this pair had stayed in the accessible room the year before and opted for a standard room this year.

Melia has beautiful accessible grounds. They have an accessible room (maybe more). We haven't seen the room for ourselves, but out clients said it was manageable.

We have a client at Villa Del Palmar that says the room is NOT very accessible. She is a para and has had some real challenges at that resort. In addition, they told the resort multiple times that they would need a wheelchair accessible van to go on the timeshare presentation and they showed up with a suburban expecting to lift her into a seat and her custom chair into the back. They didn't go on the tour. They did pass along the Beach Crossers information so maybe they would use our accessible van in the future. Who knows?

Canto del Sol is NOT accessible. A great staff and they certainly try to help, but the rooms are small and not accessible. The grounds are pretty accessible and again, the staff is wonderful, but probably not the place if you are using a wheelchair.

Pelicanos has beautiful grounds that are accessible. We did not see the wheelchair accessible rooms, but the room we saw had plenty of space. The hallways and doors were a good size. The elevator was kind of small, but we have certainly seen smaller. We would need further information before recommending this resort, but our friends that stayed her loved the small size and when we visited we didn't seen any major challenges for someone in a wheelchair.

Now Amber and Now Secrets were very disappointing. 700 rooms and only 2 accessible. For a newer build in the area that is very disappointing. In addition, the common areas are not fully accessible. There are a few places where there are small steps that could be a problem. We wouldn't recommend these properties for limited mobility clients.

Fiesta Americana has accessible common areas, but we don't know much about the rooms. We have had clients with power equipment that had no problems. I think there is only one accessible room, but the other rooms are roomier than other resorts.

Krystal is another resort that we don't know much about. We have had both beach wheelchairs and power chairs rented to clients who stayed there and heard nothing negative. Perhaps it is a good choice.

El Centro

To the North of the River Cuale there are some restaurants that have sidewalk level outdoor seating. The restaurants are not accessible, but there is accessible seating. There is a place called Day Off that has music and drinks. Unfortunately, the restrooms are not accessible.

The Malecon
This is pretty funny, because if you ask people they will tell you that the Malecon is completely accessible, but it is NOT. The 12 block beach walk is beautifully accessible, but very few of the businesses could you get into with a wheelchair. Where there are ramps, they are steep and sometimes have a 90 degree turn somewhere along the way. There are ramps down to the beach and to the restrooms, but they are for both coming and going and if someone is walking down or up, there is no way to get a chair through. People are good about waiting at the top or bottom so the chair can pass, but ...

Being a Starbucks fan I'll say that we took Mom in her wheelchair to the Starbucks near the main plaza many times. It appears to be inaccessible, but through the entrance to the East of the store is a side entrance with a ramp. In addition, there is a restroom in that same area that, although difficult to get into, is open enough inside for a wheelchair to maneuver. I don't believe there are any hand rails however.

Beach Crossers took a walk of the Malecon from Starbucks to Starbucks. Recently restaurants have moved tables down to the pedestrian area. This makes many of the restaurants that are not accessible a good option. I don't know if this will be a permanent move, but as of now they have tables that any wheelchair can scoot right up to. We also found an ice cream place with a ramp and room to get in and out with a wheelchair. There was only one souvenir store that a wheelchair could get into and only part of the store had aisles wide enough to maneuver. There is a flea market like area just south of McDonalds that has a ramp and the stores there are mostly accessible.

Romantic Zone and South
My best experience with an accessible place in downtown is V 399. It's a long story how we ended up staying in this very upscale condo complex, but we did. The room was accessible, the building accessible, and the rooftop terrace accessible. In addition, the neighborhood right around this building has mostly improved sidewalks with realistic ramps and wide sidewalks. You know sometimes in Vallarta there is a ramp that has a pole right in the middle of it? That would be a whole different blog. LOL.

Andale's Dance and Dinner
Our clients started at the North end of the Malecon looking for somewhere to have a drink and listen to music. They ended up all the way south in the romantic zone at Andele's before they found someplace where she could get her chair inside. They wanted to do some dancing. There are some other places along the way that maybe they missed, but for a place to dance without a cover charge they ended up at Andale's.  There are definitely other places to have a drink and listen to music.

Daiquiri Dick's is fully accessible. You have to go outside to move from the upper inside seating to the lower outdoor seating, but it is possible to get there. The restrooms are fully accessible.

La Fuente del Puente is on the river. You can roll right in. It has pretty authentic Mexican food.

Pipi's restaurant is worth stopping by if you can take a step or two. They have a ramp up to the restaurant and then there is a step to get inside. They will lift even the heaviest scooter to get you inside and are used to doing so. It's not the most authentic and I would even call it Cal-Mex, but the guacamole made fresh at your table and the entertainment is fantastic.

Gaby's restaurant has authentic Mexican, but it is far from accessible.

Roberto's in the romantic zone does not appear to be accessible, but according to Roberto himself, he has a ramp he uses when someone needs it. It may be the same with other restaurants in the area. There is just a small step and maybe they have a small ramp.

We stopped by Los Arcos with a scooter just to see how it would go. We were not able to get the scooter into a bathroom in the lobby area. The staff showed us two different bathrooms that we could try, but it just didn't work. Kudos to them for a good effort.

Villas Mediterraneos has to be mentioned because we stayed there. There is NOTHING about this place that is accessible. Stairs up, stairs down, stairs up again. It's beautiful, but if stairs are an obstacle then this place is an obstacle course.

Garza Blanca.  We had some clients stay there and there were definite challenges. The room they had reserved was on the upside of the road. There is a shuttle that runs, but the shuttle is not wheelchair accessible. Fine if you can transfer, but impossible if not. The part of the resort that is on the ocean side of the road. is mostly accessible, with the exception of some small single steps here and there. They have a ramp that they built for our clients that is now available if you ask. They worked very hard to accommodate.

Today we retrieved a beach wheelchair from Suzie at Hyatt Ziva on the south side of the bay. She is a para staying in a non-accessible room. She told us that although the room was not classified as accessible that it was great. The resort is all inclusive, so there is no kitchen, but the bathroom was large and manageable. There are two towers in the complex. According to Suzie, one is very accessible and the other not so much. All but one of the restaurants (Asian) are in the accessible tower so they were happy with their choices. She did say some of the ramps were quite steep. We only made it to the lobby, but the ramps were wide and not too steep. The common areas appeared to be wide and without unnecessary obstacles. It looked like a good choice for an all inclusive on the south shore.

Other areas

One of my favorite restaurants is very accessible. It is a bit out of the way, but worth the drive. Just about 15 minutes East of Las Juntas in El Colorado. It is owned by a Martha who uses all of her mother and grandmother's recipes, uses natural ingredients and is bilingual. The restaurant has a flat parking area, wide areas between tables, and accessible restrooms. Well worth the drive.

A Beach Crossers Thanksgiving in Vallarta

As I promised I am going to share our experience having Thanksgiving in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I've had people ask if "they" celebrate Thanksgiving in Mexico. Well, the answer is that Thanksgiving is a truly American holiday celebrated exclusively in the United States.  It was a meal shared between the pilgrims and the indigenous people. I'm not sure what the menu looked like and after sharing a meal with my friends and neighbors here in Mexico, I wonder if we have it anywhere near correct.

Anyway, we were chatting about Thanksgiving one day and decided to invite the neighbors in our small apartment complex. Of course it is the end of November and usually the weather is wonderful, so we went with the "more the merrier" philosophy and invited friends of friends as well. Sheri and I were in charge of the turkey (we had to cook 2), stuffing, gravy, and Sheri's famous sweet potatoes. Stephanie was fixing a ham and cranberry sauce, Erik and Kalahari were in charge of mashed potatoes. After that, we told people to bring whatever they wanted. We heard promise of tamales and fresh tortillas. What showed up were beautiful salads, green bean casserole, home made pumpkin pie, key lime pie, chocolate cake, dinner rolls, apple/mango pie, quinoa salad, fresh sangria, red and white wines, coke, sprite, and  flavored water along with a number of things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

The food was obviously delicious and mostly home made. But it wasn't the food that made the evening so special. It was the people. Several people mentioned that they had "never had 'that' before" indicating the whole turkey. Turkey is a common enough meat in Mexico, but most people do not have ovens, so a roasted whole turkey was something they had only seen pictures of as a US tradition. We were especially pleased that Alfredo and his family joined us. There are times in Mexico where the old ways are endearing and times where they are infuriating. Alfredo and his wife are hard working, wonderful people who are often treated badly by some of the elitist Mexican middle and upper class. We were so excited to have him and his family join us as equals at a table of Thanksgiving. How much more to be thankful for when he brought his children and his mother along. I can't think of anything to be more thankful for as I know that was a huge indication of the trust he has in our genuine friendship and our ability to provide a safe, non-threatening, non-class-based evening with all friends and family welcome at the same table.

Another highlight of the evening were meeting some of the neighbors from the US. It turns out that in one of the 14 apartments in our small complex there are two people from our home state of Washington. One from Seattle and one from Sunnyside, kind of cool since we are from the Yakima area.  They are self proclaimed "anti-social" and although we have both lived there for over a year we had no idea that we were from the same state.

In addition, it was nice to spend time with other people that we definitely consider our Mexican family. Life here in Vallarta would not be the same without your guys.

Some of the neighbors said that we were like the pilgrims come to a new nation to share a meal. How heartwarming is that? I hope our presence here is a blessing for many years to come and that we continue to devvelop deep relationships with both the local people and the expats who now call this tropical paradise home. Beach Crossers is blessed to live here and as far as Thanksgiving goes, this is one for the memory books.

Beach Crossers mobility rentals in Vallarta continues to grow

We've blogged about starting a new wheelchair business in Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta, but there is so much more to keeping it going.

When we started Beach Crossers we learned so much about all of the hoops you have to jump to have an international business. The banking, website, shopping cart and so on. The SSL, SEO, SAT, IRS, TRV, and other acronyms became common parts of our language.

Now that the beach wheelchair business has a year under our business belts there are new things to learn.

Understanding the cultural differences in the area we are working is a process. One of the things that has been interesting is that if we don't do business at a resort for a couple of months they think we are out of business and no longer call. We have to continually go back to each resort and remind them that our wheelchair rental business is still active and that we are around to assist their guests.

I'm not sure what happens to the old rack cards that we drop off, but each time we visit they are completely out. Did they give them to guests? I don't think so because that would have resulted in at least a few calls. Maybe after another year they will keep our promotional materials. I actually wonder how long that will take.

There is some competition in town. We spotted another wheelchair accessible van. We've since found out that they charge far more than we do so we're not too worried about it. There is also another wheelchair rental company, but they've been around for years and rumor is that they don't answer their phones. We are trying to be uber available to the concierges and guests. We're also getting active in the expat medical community. I'll write again as the medical expo comes around. That is going to be an interesting experience.

Today we actually had 6 products rented at various resorts. That was a new record for us. Someday hopefully that will be our average. We are definitely going to need more scooters. It's weird, but when we started this business we thought that beach wheelchairs would be our primary product, but now we rent more scooters, power chairs, manual chairs and walkers. I would have thought people would bring those things with them when they travel, but it turns out that they always get damaged on the flight so people would rather rent. The accessible van has been really busy too. We are planning to have another before the season next year.

So for now I am thinking that quitting my teaching job in Washington State and moving to this tropical paradise of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to start a mobility rental company has been a dream come true. I wish I had done this 10 years ago, but all things in their own time.

As a side note, as all of my friends back in the states are posting pictures of fresh snow I can honestly say I am thoroughly enjoying these warm temperatures and sunshine.

I will definitely write about celebrating Thanksgiving in my next blog. I am so very excited to share this holiday experience with my good friends and new family here in Mexico. They are equally excited and have begun to call us the pilgrims. It feels like a true Thanksgiving to have two cultures come together to share food and fellowship. I have so much to be thankful for.

Hurricane Patricia disrupts Beach Crossers wheelchair rental business in Vallarta

"Was it all a lie?"  That's what someone asked me after Hurricane Patricia didn't destroy Vallarta. Wow. It's hard for me to understand how someone can think that the most powerful hurricane of all time was fiction. Is it any less impressive because we didn't lose billions of dollars in assets or thousands of lives? I find it more impressive actually. It was amazing being in the Vallarta area when the impending threat headed our direction. I was fascinated to see how the authorities efficiently evacuated thousands of people who were not only unfamiliar with the area, but many of whom did not speak the language or have any awareness of local emergency procedures.

Like many residents of Vallarta we have seen hurricanes come our direction before; most often with blue skies and calm breezes. We are blessed to have the magnificent Sierra Madre mountains to the south that function like the Great Wall of China to keep our enemy hurricanes from crossing into our beautiful paradise. Patricia was different. She seemed determined to circumvent our protective mountain range and crash head on into the heavily populated tourist zone. The bay is large. For years, we've been told that if a hurricane arrived right on target that it could spin around in the bay for a while causing incredible damage. 

So, I'm running errands around town with a few of my neighbors and it starts to rain a bit. We are sitting at Starbucks at the Marina laughing hysterically about, "it's just a Category 4 drizzle!"  We certainly see more powerful rains than this on a regular basis. Flooded streets and broken branches are common during the rainy season. It is the tropics after all. By the time we left Starbucks, it had stopped raining. We decided we should have T-shirts printed that say, "The rainy season in Vallarta is just a category 4 drizzle." 

Patricia was not to be mocked however. When we arrived back at the apartments and settled in with our Costco dogs for a BBQ we each began to get calls and messages from family and friends. Patricia was gaining strength and headed our way. The song began to reverberate in my mind, "Should I stay or should I go?"  But the calls kept coming. It's hard to enjoy a BBQ when the whole world is telling you to get in the car and head to high ground. We talked about it for about 30 seconds before we decided we should pack up and go. There were just too many people we love concerned for our lives. We agreed to meet in one hour. It's kind of crazy. What do you grab in one hour. You need to tape windows, put important paperwork in dry bags, unplug everything except the refrigerator, grab valuables, move vehicles from under trees, find the cat, and answer the non-stop text messages from friends and family members who are concerned. Oh yes, and some clothes. That's a good idea. I probably should have grabbed more than one change of clothes. Ever the optimist. 

So, we have decided to take our van, and head ... hmmmmm, good question. Erik has been on the phone and we are leaving the driving to him. Amy and I throw blankets, pillows, ice chests, etc. in the back of the van. Stephanie packs some snacks and drinks. One hour and 2 minutes later we are in the van headed to the nearest Oxxo to grab a few more bottles of water and drive to Talpa. There are 4 of us in the van. Three of us have never been to Talpa. Three of us have no idea where Talpa is. A question that we would all be asked many times over the next 12 hours. Erik says it's about a 2 hour drive. As we drive past the Pemex with our full tank of gas I am praying my first thank-you. There are lines at the pumps that remind me of gas shortages long ago. People are flipping U-turns, obviously hoping that the next station won't have the long lines. I ask Erik, "Do they ever run out of gas?"  "Of course." he replies, and I realize that a full tank of gas could possibly be the difference between survival or not. What a weird realization. Well, we have a full tank and seem to be well ahead of any evacuation traffic. We actually don't see too many vehicles fleeing quite yet. Patricia isn't supposed to make land for at least 12 hours. Maybe some rain ahead of that, but we aren't in too big of a hurry. We stop a couple of times along the way to stretch our legs and get a breath of fresh air. Most of the drive is pretty uneventful, but at one of our stops, I ask Stephanie, "Do you usually just let your cat out?" "What? Do I look like an idiot?"  "Okay, but that cat looks a lot like Tim and it's headed into the corn field!"  Thankfully, Tim comes when he's called and we don't have to find a way through the barbed wire and explore a field that was never meant to be a corn maze. The roads aren't great, but aren't too bad. There are of course random speed bumps, cows, and pot holes to avoid. The true dangers of driving at night in Mexico. Erik is familiar with the road and other than the fact that the brakes smell like a semi truck headed down Snoqualmie Pass, we make the drive in a speedy 4 hours. Yes we did stop a couple of times and there was the bit of a drizzle, but I'm pretty sure we are not setting any records to be proud of with that pace. On the other hand, we listened to a very eclectic mix of music and laughed about Tim getting out of his carrier and other just as insignificant moments in life that are the bricks of friendship. 

When we arrived in Talpa, it was late. Erik had arranged a room with 3 beds for us girls and he was headed to sleep on the floor at a family home. Our room was delightful. Three double beds, a beautiful shared space on the balcony and a view that was breathtaking. Over the next 24 hours we learned a lot about Talpa and the pilgrimages that happen around All Saints Day. My catholic upbringing resurfaced as I remembered what the different bells signified from the cathedral. And, we visited the market to buy fresh fruit, rumpope, local candies, local cheese and fresh (pulling it out of the oven while we were there) hot bread. The people of Talpa were so kind and I can honestly say that it is a place worthy of an extended stay. It's small and I wouldn't see myself living there, but 3-6 months would be a wonderful life experience. 

Internet was intermittent at best. We could get a few updates, but couldn't really keep up with Patricia's progress. I asked friends and family to post what they found and tag me so I could read about it the next day. Thanks to those who did just that as I found the reports very interesting. 

Vallarta was spared.

It was hard to remember that we weren't on vacation in that beautiful little town, but responsibility was calling me back to Vallarta. We needed to get a new tire, check fluids, have a bite to eat and head back down the mountain. There were a few things I needed to do for Beach Crossers that evening. We had some products rented to people who had evacuated and we needed to make new arrangements for collecting those wheelchairs. Being back in phone reception was important, but not so pressing that we couldn't stop and enjoy a few sites along the way. 

There was such a positive energy everywhere we stopped. It's difficult to describe. It's like watching the man crawl the last half mile to finish a marathon. Everyone feels more alive. That's how it felt after Patricia didn't wipe us all off of the planet. "Was it a lie?"  Not at all. It was an opportunity to be thankful for what we have, for what we didn't lose, for the friendships that grew stronger, for the promise of tomorrow, and for the Sierra Madres or "Mother Mountains" that protected her children and their beautiful playground. 

Living in Vallarta with Beach Crossers

It's interesting living in Puerto Vallarta, well actually Nuevo Vallarta. Since we started our beach wheelchair rental company, Beach Crossers, we have learned a million things. This week it seems like we are going to learn about the mapache (raccoon).

The first night I was back to Vallarta, I had a visitor. I never saw the visitor, but it got into the kitchen trash and made a bit of a mess. Not too big of a mess as having just returned to the apartment, there wasn't much in the trash. Many people tried to convince me that it was "Google" the cat, but I had never known him to get into the garbage before so I was skeptical. The next evening as I was sitting at the dark dining room table with my computer, the slider opened. I casually said, "Hi Googs." but quickly smelled the odor of a wild, trash eating, pest of a raccoon. I knew without a doubt that it was not Google coming in, so I jumped up from the table and backed away. I'm sure I startled the animal, but with the lights out I had no way to know if it had left or not. I grabbed a flashlight, turned on all of the lights and began to search. I knew that shaking the patio chairs would not send him scurrying if he was holed up. Well, after about an hour of searching, I concluded that he (I truly have no way of knowing if it was in fact a he or a she) had left. I closed everything up tight even though it was still stinking hot and headed to bed. For a few nights I kept the house closed up. One night the frisky visitor came in through a bedroom window that I had left open about 2 inches. Yes, I put a stick in the window. I showed the opening to the grounds keeper in the morning and to one of my neighbors. Both were certain a raccoon could not come through that small opening, but I had seen it leave that way, so I was certain that it could ... and did come through that opening. So, even a small amount of air was out of the question :(  This morning when the neighbor's cat, Google got up to leave at 6:00 in the morning (he spends the night here sometimes since his owner got a puppy... with permission from dad of course!) I decided it was probably morning enough to open things up. Five minutes! It took five minutes for the bandit to find his way to the slider and come in. Of course I had barely made my way back to bed so I bounced up and once again told it to "get out of my house." It turned it's little raccoon head around and looked at my from my dining room table to see if I meant what I said. I clapped my hands a few times and he moseyed back out of the door. What to do?