Valentine’s Day in Mexico! How romantic. The perfect day might include a nice long beach stroll with your honey, followed by drinks on the beach. And it seemed like that’s what everyone in Nuevo Vallarta was doing, including us! We needed to find some beach hawkers selling sunglasses (anteojos de sol), so that we wouldn’t loose our good Oakleys in the ocean during our sailing experince and there’s none to be found in front of our place.

We found some public parking near a restaurant called ETC Beach Club & Restaurant, where you can get to the beach without having to sneak through an all inclusive (nearly impossible with security). We walked for about 35 minutes down to our old neck of the woods (Paradise Village-where we stayed last year and for family vacations in the past), bought some faux-kleys (fake oakleys), and made our way back to the car. The beach was crowded, the waves were decent, a slightly overcast sky kept the temperature tolerable, and it seemed like the reading week holiday was treating the resorts well. Last years beach was a different sight, with minimal crowds, empty palapas, and few people in the water. We stopped to watch a couple of kite boarders, which I could maybe see myself trying at some point, and then settled down for a GIANT daquiri and a beer at the ETC Beach Club under a shady umbrella (paragua).

As far as Valentines’ day goes, the flower shop was hopping, chocolates at Walmart were in abundant supply, and many restaurants required reservations for their special dinners. It’s not too much unlike home. We were planning to try the Italian place in La Cruz, but opted for a short walk down to the palapa restaurant for our weekly meal of chicken quesadilla’s instead.  With great views, a gentle sea breeze, and chairs more comfortable than at home, we enjoyed the experience as much as any night.  For desert we enjoyed some chocolate ice cream, while watching the Olympics from a lawn chair (the one Josh pulled into the living room to replace the looks-nice-but-isn’t-couch).

This morning we took Nixon for his first car ride in more than 5 weeks, and he was almost forgiving that he didn’t get to swim this morning, until we arrived at the vet, and he was lucky enough to be spared a thermometer in the butt. Over the last couple of days we’ve noticed Nixon shaking his head quite frequently, so yesterday I tackled him for a look under the floppy ears and noticed a lot of wax and quite a bit of redness. After he swam I tried to wipe it out with a cotton pad but it seemed overly sensitive so I didn’t accomplish much. After doing some online research to determine the source we decided to head to the vet for an exam. We went to the vet on the east side of the highway in Bucerias (just south of the lights near the Guadelahara Farmacia on the opposite side of the road), where we’d bought food a few weeks ago. The vet speaks pretty good english and confirmed the infection, more so in the right side. Nixon was prescribed antibiotics for 10 days, and warned not to swim for 1 month, and I think its more punishment for us than for him, having to listen to him whine, and whimper and chase us around the house breathing his hot smelly dog breath in our laps and faces. “PLEASE momma, PLEASE papa, I NEED to swim. It’s my turn, come on, let me go!!!!”

Anyway, I’ve put an email into our vet at home to check on the length of this unfortunate drought, as I understand the need to keep him out for a couple weeks. At least until the infection is gone. But then I’m wondering about letting him have short dips a couple times per week followed by a thorough drying of the ears after each time, but we’ll see what they say, and how he’s doing mentally after two weeks having to stare out the window at his favorite thing. The vet experience was a good one, as far as I can tell at this point (we’re supposed to return for an ear cleaning and follow up in 8 days) and I’d recommend that location if the need arrises (as long as your issue doesn’t occur on a sunday or holiday). He also carries a good selection of Royal Canin dog and cat food, including the large adult breed bags. However, I still can’t believe how expensive food is around here, it’s no wonder pets go hungry! If we have extra food when we head home, perhaps we’ll make our rounds and donate it to those many pups in need.