Señora Jimena

Turns out there's a Category 4/5 hurricane in our general vicinity. It looks like Hurricane Jimena will pass by us without too much ado, but we're already feeling some of the side effects. The usual 2-4 foot waves out back are expected to possibly reach 12 feet tonight. Just in the last couple of hours they have grown to about 6 feet. It's going to be an especially noisy night.

It also turns out that Google Earth can track hurricanes - I had no idea.


The star is where we're staying in Puerto Vallarta. The two middle red dots on Hurricane Jimena's plot represent her approximate locations at 2 AM and 2 PM Pacific today - Monday.

Jimena's course also happens to intersect with our flight path tomorrow night. I hope we go around it.

Lightning in a Bottle

Every night in Puerto Vallarta thus far has brought with it extreme lightning storms. It's weird, the days are sunny and gorgeous, but when night falls, the lightning begins all over the place. Don't believe me? I took this picture on our pocket point-and-shoot no less than 20 minutes ago - 10:30 PM local time (read: it was pitch black except for the lightning). 



That's not a screencap from a video. I just happened to snap the picture at the same time as one of the many lightning flashes.

I've got a great video of the lightning for you as well, but I'm having trouble uploading it to YouTube from Mexico, so it may have to wait [all done now that I'm back in the USA]. It gives you an idea of just how much lightning is coming down. It feels other-worldly. Like something Captain Kirk and crew might encounter on some inhospitable planet. And the video just shows one small section of the sky. Each flash is a lightning bolt visible somewhere in the surrounding sky - but not necessarily in the view of the camera.








Frankly, I'm surprised we still have power and an Internet connection.

YouTube Gems - Mex vs. BC

In honor of our current sojourn beyond of the Rio Grande.





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Buenos Dias

Good days indeed. Sara and I are fortunate enough to be vacationing on the beach in Mexico for the next week and a half.

I couldn't begin to describe the scene. Here's a short video of the house where we are staying. Our bedroom is the left half of the balcony. The little rotunda/turret is above our bathroom. Photos to follow.