Feliz Navidad 2019

Santa has arrived!  Happy Holidays!

The PŌNO Suite Is Now Available!!

We are super stoked to now have our rentable first level Suite available for nightly rentals!  It has been long time coming and we are finally ready to offer it to friends, family and visitors to Sayulita.

We took some pictures a while back and you can see them HERE.  Yes, we have made some small additions and improvements since then and we will have pro photos done in the near future.  For now we are LIVE on Sayulita Life and you can see our listing by clicking on the link.  The page has all the details about the Pōno Suite including calendar, nightly rates, photos etc.  Check it out or even forward the link on to anyone who may be headed this way in the near future.  Oh, BTW, we are also on Facebook and Instagram so check those out too!

The SIC Gorge Paddle Challenge Race Wrap Up - Part 2 of 2

Part 2 of 2.

After a great two days of paddling and the success of our Grom athletes the previous day, we got ourselves up and out the door after breakfast for the day's pre-race meeting for all competitors.  Another beautiful Hood River day was in store for the Sunday event.

Trace is still dry after warming up.

Alex and Trace would race at the same time today racing a course that would take them around a zig zag course of buoy markers and at the same time battle the ever increasing wind that was already building stronger and earlier than it had the previous two days.  We mulled around with some other SUP parents while Alex and Trace got some warm up turns in before the race hoping they wouldn't fall into the water this early in the day.

Alex after some warm up strokes.

The race would start and finish at the same beach at the town's Waterfront Park where the downwind race finished the previous day so there would not be any transporting boards and driving around this day. All the Groms(ages 12-14) and Super Groms(ages 9-11) would start at the same time but the older group would do a second lap through the course.

All the kids lined up with mostly parents and friends in attendance and they were off.  Trace and Alex were quick to get up to speed and were at the front of the pack with a local boy named Bodie, who  had won the Grom downwind the previous day.  We met Bodie at the Pacific Paddle Games last year and is a paddler to watch for now and in the future as he quickly left the pack behind with Alex and Trace chasing.

Fighting a brutally stiff wind and having smaller, less experienced kids literally blown off the course, Alex and Trace managed the race with skill looking every bit the young, trained SUP athletes that they are.  Make no mistake, it was not easy but from the beach they looked to have things under control.

Alex finished first in her division since there were no other girls in her age group.  She was disappointed in that she was the only one.  We tried to get her to do the Women's Open race but that ran right after this race for another chance to compete but she was a bit tired.  Next year we will have more experience with this and know that if her division is lacking paddlers she will sign up for a more competitive division.  This really wasn't an issue in the Pacific Paddle Games or The Carolina Cup so we learned something.

Trace finished third in his race having some problems being a lighter competitor in the windy conditions but he was pretty happy about how things went.  After the kids were done we were able to watch the many Open and Pro races that would continue into the early afternoon followed by the awards.

Trace with some SUP friends he has met along the way.  Bodie from Hood River on left and Rob from New York on right.

One of the things I really like about traveling for these events for the kids are the connections they have made along the way.  Even though we have traveled from the west coast to the east coast USA we see several of the same youth paddlers and parents at events and have made an effort to introduce ourselves.  After all, we are all going to be on the beach together so we might as well get to know each other a bit.  One of Alex and Trace's favorite young paddlers is Jade Howson.  She is only 17 and one of the best women paddlers on the planet and always makes time to say hi to our kids and pump them up before races.  I love seeing the older JR Pro paddlers(15-17 year olds) too encouraging the up and coming Grom paddlers.  Many of them were at the finish line providing hi fives to the younger kids.

Trace receiving some pre-race encouragement from Jade Howson or maybe he is trying to get her phone #.

With no timing drama this race at the medal awards, the day concluded late Sunday afternoon and we decided to hit yet another brewery for dinner and celebrate the weekend's efforts.

When we first started planning the trip Ashley made sure we had an extra day to look around.  We thought we might head into Portland to tour and stay the night near the airport but we decided to stay in Hood River the extra day and head up and see Mt. Hood.  Ski race training was still happening at this time of year and it would be super fun to take a chairlift up to see the view and put the kids on snow again.

Mt. Hood's is a volcano and it's last major eruption was in the 1790s.   Snow skiing is available 12 months a year so it was odd to see people clomping around in ski boots in August outside the the famous Timberline Lodge.  Ski teams use the year round snow field to train in the offseason and we saw lots of youth coming down off the mountain in their race gear.  As the ski race kids went by our SUP kids I couldn't help wonder if Trace or Alex would have pursued competitive skiing the same way they have paddling.  We will never know.

Timberline Lodge

Riding the chairlift was great!  Trace rode with me and he was not really sure about the whole thing.  The height, the wind, if the safety bar was really safe, how to get off, what happens if it stops/breaks, do the cables fall off the wheels etc.  I really do not think he could grasp the idea that I lived on chairlifts every day, all day, all winter for a long time before he came along.  It was fun being back on a lift, especially when my feet were not frozen.

We arrived at the top of the lift and got off the high speed quad with no issues and walked over to where some grooming equipment and snow machines were parked on a thick patch of snow.  Ashley and I marched onto the white patch of slushy snow and it was the first time I had been on snow in 8 years.  The kids followed but it was like watching a baby deer take it's first steps on ice.  The kids don't really comprehend icy or slippery as much as they would have growing up with winter.

Alex was not all that interested in the snow and was more interested in making sure that she had some good video about the whole experience but Trace had other plans.  He wanted to climb up and slide down the mountain like he was skiing.  I think he would have been a good skier if given the chance.

The trip to Mt. Hood was a great extra day tourist activity and it rounded off our trip nicely.  We headed back to town and had some fantastic sushi at a place next to the hotel.  Trace could easily live at the hotel, ride his SUP on the river and eat sushi for weeks if he had the choice.  Early to bed for us since we had an hour drive to get back to the airport in Portland and check in at 3:45 am for our flight back to Puerto Vallarta.  Ashley dropped us off to check the baggage and she returned the rental but we met up with her on the other side of security and she headed back to Atlanta.

So that wraps up our trip to Hood River for the SIC Gorge Paddle Challenge.  It was a great 5 day trip for all of us.  We really like having an excuse for the kids to race and see new places at the same time and Hood River fit the bill.  Good event, good weather, good food, good beer, relatively easy to get to and good scenery.  Will we return?  We would all like too and Ashley has already suggested a longer visit.  A bit longer visit since many of the athletes arrive a week early to train on the river before the competition begins.  It would be fun to see the kids train for several days and cross paths with the SUP racing crowd that shows up early just to paddle the World Class "downwind" conditions.  The past year they have been making lots of connections, friendships and slowly getting more "cred" amongst competitors and suppliers and we'd like to see that continue since we like the families and competitors we have met too.

The kids have now completed the "Trifecta" of big races in the USA.  The Pacific Paddle Games, The Carolina Cup and now the The Gorge Paddle Challenge.  They are the three biggest races in the country and the kids have brought home medals in all three.  It might be a little while before we can travel to another race.  The kid's Team ramps up again next week so they will be busy with that.  Other activities start as well like basketball, horse jumping and of course school.  We(I) won't suggest thinking about the next race for a little while at least...probably  We are super proud of our paddlers and hope they continue to prepare and keep learning what it takes to be good at what they like to do.  Maybe next year we will bring some of our team along too.

A video from Total SUP of the weekend.  No shots of the kids but fun to watch.

The SIC Gorge Paddle Challenge Race Wrap Up. Part 1 of 2.

The boards, paddles, fins, leashes, pfds and Team sweatshirts were packed and we were off to the airport Thursday before the weekend competition.  We knew we had seats but getting the kid's oversized race boards on the airplane was a big concern for me so we were at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter 3 hours before our flight to check in.  Alaska Airlines?  Yep, this time around we knew we needed to get to our destination and there was no room for getting bumped from a flight flying standby on Delta. Ashley was meeting us at the Portland airport with an SUV to carry the boards if and when we made it.

Alaska Airlines was great!  When we walked into the PV airport an Alaska Airlines host of some sort approached us and guided us through everything.  We really didn't need it but with two boards to lug around he was very helpful.  Before we left the ticket counter our boards had been taken by this gentleman, baggage tags applied and handed off to the baggage crew.  In less than 10 minutes, without so much as a second glance at these 13' surfboard bags we had boarding passes in hand and were off to the security line hoping that we would be seeing our luggage in Los Angeles later in one piece.

Alex catching a nap on our second flight.

After  doing the customs/immigration dance in LAX we had to recheck our bags on to our domestic flight from LAX and after a three hour uneventful layover we were off to Portland.  Ashley was waiting for us as scheduled outside the airport and we strapped the boards to the roof of the rental SUV and we were off to Hood where the race would be held.  By this time it was close to midnight Sayulita time, even later for Ashley, so we were eager to get the long day behind us and get to our hotel in Hood Oregon.

Ashley and Trace walk along the river in Hood.

Our hotel was right on the river and only about a 10 minute walk to the event site. The Columbia River is massive and is surround by steep mountains on each side.  Stunningly beautiful and a wind corridor.  After some breakfast, needed coffee and a quick walk to take a look around we decided to get the kids on the river for their first real "downwinder" experience.  With the wind behind you and the current coming toward you, a very unique set of conditions presents itself to the racers so it takes some practice but it is supposed to be a thrilling ride.

I was quite nervous about letting them run the river themselves but I knew they would have to race alone the next day anyway so it was time to just let them go and use their skills and training for this kind of race.  They were together, had floatation devices, boards and there were lots of other racers in the water training as well so they were not exactly alone.  Plus, I had seen both of them conquer much more demanding conditions here in Sayulita then they would see on the river.

The town of Hood as seen from Washington State.

We got them to the State Park where the race would begin 8 miles upstream from town.  After settling some nerves and battling some ripping windy conditions that made carrying their large boards a challenge, they paddled out into the river and were quickly moving downstream at a surprisingly fast pace and gone!  Videos can be enlarged to full screen.

Seeing just how fast the kids were moving downstream Ashley and I also had to move along to get back to town and find a spot to see them come in to what would be the finish line the next day at the Waterfront Park.  Trace arrived first and was absolutely beaming when he told us about his experience on the river and how many waves he caught along the way and how long he rode them.  Alex took a while longer to get to the Waterfront Park and it appeared by her body language and how wet she was that her trip down the river had been a bit less successful but as she paddled closer to shore was smiling just as much as her brother.  This is what we came for.  Epic conditions, new experiences, stories to tell and smiles.

Post day one training run.

The next day was the race so after the training run we picked up the kid's race registration packets and went to an early dinner so we could be in bed early and recover a bit more from the previous day's travel.  It was so great to have good craft beer in a brew pub eating pizza wearing a sweatshirt and jeans rather than sweating in our house in Mexico.

Saturday morning we slept in a bit but the pre-race meeting was scheduled mid morning so we all walked over from the hotel for that.  We found out that Trace, by Oregon law, needed to be wearing a life jacket and not just a pfd waist belt.  We try so hard to be prepared for these race and hate it when important information like this is not relayed so we can be ready.  The same thing happened in 2017 at the Pacific Paddle Games when it was announced all the kids needed helmets to compete...as we were standing on the starting line!  We like to have information.  Luckily we were able to rent one for Trace for two days right there at the park though he was not too happy about it.

After getting the race breakdown from the organizers we arrived a little while later up at the start where we were the previous day. The Men and Women Pro divisions had already left and the kids would start at the same time as the men's open and women's open races.  This posed a real challenge in Trace's race since the shoreline was small and fitting over a hundred men with race boards along the river bank would pose some problems.  It was clear that the the paddlers farther down stream where Trace was would be at a disadvantage at the start.  Most of the other youth boys were already in position in the much more desirable location upstream where they would get a clear chance to get into the current with little or no traffic.

After some brief organization and cold minutes in the water the horn blew and Trace was off.  As predicted the upstream paddlers were already 50/60 meters ahead and taking advantage of the current by the time Trace was even able to get some space to paddle and get into the race.  Lesson learned on that one.

Alex was next and though the women's field was smaller the same advantage of being in the right upstream location was true.  So she also started downstream at a bit of a disadvantage to begin the race.  Alex was clearly nervous and almost forgot to even put her leash on before the beginning of her race.

The horn for Alex' race went off and just as quickly as her brother she was off paddling into the wind and current.  Ashley and I went up to the parking area and were off to drive to an overlook on the way back to Hood to try and pick out the kids on the river. We made it to the overlook and the little orange and pink race jerseys of the racers were scattered all over.  The view really made you appreciate just how big the scenery was as the racers looked like little specs floating along the river.

It's hard to believe but there are at least 2 dozen racers in this photo.

After we were able to spot both kids as they went by we headed to town to wait for them to arrive. Having started first, Trace came paddling into the finish line looking strong and just as energized as he did the previous day.  With his hair up in a ponytail and thinking his name was pronounced as "Tracie", the announcer mistook Trace for a girl and declared him the first woman overall to finish in the Womens Open class.  You can hear the announcer on the video.  So hilarious to hear and Trace had a good sense of humor about it but the story gets better.

Alex arrived at the finish line shortly after.  The announcer, seeing that Trace and Alex had the same last name and thinking that they were "sisters", was asking for some clarification about the "Ostrowski sisters" which made Ashley and I just crack up and Trace continue to cringe.  Again, you can hear the announcer on the video.

Everyone finished with smiles and we hung out and waited to see the professional racers come in after their second run and who would be declared champion that day.  We got some lunch, looked around at some of the vendor booths and awaited the posted results of the race.  That is when things briefly went sour.  Trace's time was totally missing from the posted results.  He name was not to be found anywhere.  We assumed he placed 2nd or 3rd in his division since he was sure he made up the distance and passed the racers who had an advantage at the start of the race.  All timing was done manually and racers were logged in at the finish line.  This is much different from any of the other races we have been to where timing chips were worn.  We are not really sure why such a big race runs this way but we were able to convince the timers table just where Trace finished in the race.  We had video as well.  Problem averted but this caused some other problems.  The young racer who thought he finished 3rd did not know the results were updated once Trace was correctly placed back into the results so when the top three kids were announced he came running up confused as to why he was not included in the top 3.  He didn't know what had happened after the results being edited.  Kind of an uncomfortable moment, especially for Trace, and one that might have been avoided had the race had timing chips. So, after a few moments of uncertainty the race organizers figured out a solution and everyone was stoked!

Alex improved immensely from her practice run.  She was in a division that unfortunately did not have a lot of participation and competition for her but she was pretty happy about the way the first day of racing went for her as she stood on top of the podium that afternoon.  Looking at her time, she actually finished finished 4th overall for women on 12.6 race boards.  She was pretty proud of that.

A very successful day for the kids at their first downwind Gorge race.  As usual, Alex and Trace took on the challenge and made the best of it so we celebrated that night by finding another brewery and ate well preparing for the next day of racing.  The course race for the kids would be in the morning and would be the very first race to run so we had to be ready for another long day.

Part 2 on it's way soon.

Another SUP Race North Of The Border. The SIC Gorge Paddle Challenge!

Back in March it was announced that the SUP race the kids looked forward to each October would not run this year.  The Pacific Paddle Games(PPG) was a chance for our SUP Team's Elite paddlers to go north and test their skills against kids from all over the world.  It was special for many reasons.  The Elite Team came together early in the season and trained hard to be ready for the two races that would run over the fall weekend.  The race provided focus and energy to a group of kids who hardly ever got to paddle against kids who are not already part of the SUP program here in Sayulita.  The last two years the kids have made relationships, though distant, with other youth paddlers from the west coast to the east coast US and it is always fun to see those friendships rekindled at each race. Many of the kids recognize each other and keep in touch via social media like Instagram.  Lastly, it is just fun to travel with the Team and support each other in all the age groups and classes the Team would compete in.  A great bonding session.  The parents have a great time too!

After the PPG cancellation and the Carolina Cup completed back in April we were looking at a period of time where there would be no north of the border races for the foreseeable future.  It may, in fact, be a year, year and a half or possibly even longer until the kids competed again on the world stage against their SUP peers.  Living here we just do not get to race anywhere near the amount some of their SUP friends do in programs up north unless we travel.  A calendar year or more is just a long, long time to train without a goal to focus on and push towards for anyone.

One of the big three races in the USA is The Gorge Paddle Challenge in Hood River Oregon.  The other two races, The PPG and The Carolina Cup, the kids have already competed at. This year the "Gorge" will be sponsored by the brand of board the kids race on, SIC Maui, and be held the 17th-18th of this month.  We saw this as the last chance for a long while to go to a race plus we get to see a part of the country we have yet to see, the Columbia River Gorge.

Problem was the $1000s of dollars required to travel with lodging, food, airfare and race fees etc was just not available after spending part of the summer traveling around Mexico.  To solve this the kids volunteered their savings account balances to pay for the costs needed to get there and back.  Of course we would pay the amount back over the following months but the cash available would prevent us having to put things on credit cards or digging into house funds to head north to the race.  Traveling to international races is not cheap!!  Creative financing for sure!

Photo from The SIC Paddle Challenge FB page.

The "Gorge" race is famous for being a "downwinder".  This means the racers will be aided by a tailwind but they also have to navigate challenging currents and water conditions.  The Columbia River Gorge is a world class location for all things "wind" so the event will be a new challenge for the kids since experiencing the epic conditions at the race really cannot be duplicated near us.  This gives a big advantage to racers who train there.  Several pros are already at the race a week early to develop some strategy and understanding of the conditions they will see come race day.

Photo from the SIC Gorge Paddle Challenge FB page.  Hood River Waterfront Park.

The kids will finish up training in the first half of this week with their offseason trainer/coach, Ryan Helm, and then we will be off.  Ashley will fly in from Atlanta to meet us and have a rental SUV ready to accommodate the kid's race boards and drive to Hood River where all the race activities will be held at the waterfront park.  Our hotel is just a 10 minutes walk from the event! Fingers crossed that we make our connections in LAX and Alaska Airlines (yes we bought tickets) will allow the oversized baggage on the plane.  Should be a super fun event.  We just wish other team members were making the trip with us.  This one is going to be up to us to represent the Sayulita JR SUP Team.

Our Alex is 14!!!

Our artist, activist, athlete turns 14 today.  She put together this video on her own to look back on how much she has grown the last 14 years.  Keep doing what you are doing sweet Alex.  We love you!!

Enlarge to full screen.

Alex And Trace Training - The Next Level

Growing up I was almost always coached by capable people I respected and looked up to.  Alex and Trace, though in small town Mexico, have had exposure to good coaches in all their chosen activities.  With Sayulita  being the epicenter of water sports like surfing and SUP racing in Mexico, there are more than a few pros and former pros who are out there to provide guidance and advice to the kid athlete population here.

After the kid's SUP race back in April it was clear to me that should the kids want to continue to compete in SUP just going to practice was not going to keep them competitive against their competition.  Up to this point, SUP training had only come twice a week for one hour each session.  There was very little other structured training outside of practice.  At the kid's age I was going to practice 5-6 days a week for my chosen activity so I knew there was room for additional time and effort working on technique and some beginning strength training so I began to look for options.

In the last year a new gym opened in town.  Sayulita Fit.  There was a membership special this spring so I asked the kids if they were interested in joining.  They were both eager to give it a go.  I was always training in the gym growing up and working in clubs as an adult so I knew my way around enough to be sure they were doing things correctly and not injuring themselves.  Plus we found out some of their SUP team mates were also already training here and the friendly club owner was happy to have more Sayulita youth athletes training at the facility.

A pretty swanky facility that occupies the whole top level of a building at the entrance to town, it offers lots of cardio machines, free weights, machines, spinning as well as various classes.  Plus, the gym has AC!  The bonus was that a little strength training in the gym would also help their other interests like Trace's basketball and surfing and Alex' equestrian pursuits.

The end of the school year saw the end of the SUP Team for the summer until it picked back up again in the fall when families would be back in town for the school year.  What were the kids going to do for SUP training?  The Team coaches were out of town and I was really interested in having the kids get an professional analysis of their paddling mechanics and racing technique.  I knew there was lots of room for improvement and they were just not getting as much help from their coaches on their specific needs as I hoped.  So, I sought out yet another world class athlete in town, former pro surfer and SUP racer, Ryan Helm.

With his signature hat with the brim slightly turned, Ryan is a bit different from the other pros in town in how he approaches training.  He is in his 40's, built like a brick house and understands that there are consequences to poor form and technique later in life.  Plus, he build athletes that will be strong and be able to maintain good technique longer when fatigue begins to set in. When athletes are younger they can get away with doing things that may contribute to problems down the road months or years later and we didn't want that.  We were already seeing Trace having issues with his shoulder due to improper technique and no correction.

After working with Ryan for only a month I can already see a change in the way Trace paddles and he is super stoked to be in the water again without shoulder pain.  So happy to see Trace start to get his stoke back for paddling.  Alex fortunately had not been injured like Trace but her situation was more about getting more energy out of each stroke.  Her technique was inefficient, slow and going into the future that was not going to help her against older competition that she would be up against.  She has made some super positive changes too.

So, with school out it has been good to get the kids on a new and better path for their activities of interest.  We have a race coming up in the third week in August and we will see how they do and feel about what they have learned and are continuing to learn.  Placing is not the goal, the goal is following through on the process and hopefully between the gym and a personal coach they will see a difference if not at this race but at a future race or with their other activities.  

What The Heck Is That?!?!

The summer rains have begun and with it a cleansing of the jungle and town.  Water fills the streets and the river fills again bringing everything and anything with it to the ocean.  This summer something happened that was out of the ordinary when the first heavy rains came.

San Pancho lagoon

In our neighboring town of San Pancho, the river mouth was thick with water lilies.  When the first rains came the lilies were swept out to the ocean and the currents brought some of the large green mass of vegetation to Sayulita's beaches.

Like some scene out of a movie, the estimated 20+ tons of lilies covered the beaches and swimming areas.  Townspeople and local authorities teamed up to remove the huge amount of vegetation and restore the beach to its normal appearance.

The situation was purely an "aesthetic" one.  There have been concerns over the sargassum situation on the Cancun side of the country and the situation spreading to the Pacific side.  Not the case here and everything was restored to normal in a few days.  All photos by others.

School Is Out. Time To Travel! Part 1. Tequila!

It has always been Ashley's passion to travel once the kids were old enough to really appreciate it.  When the Park City house sold last fall, the green light for adventures was lit.  To this point, we had experienced so little of Mexico other than some close by excursions to places like Guadalajara, San Sebastian del Oeste and a trip to Oaxaca City a few years ago.  It was time to change that.

Some of the places to visit that we had on our list without getting on an airplane were to Tequila, San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato City.  So, we dedicated some time this summer, made some AirBnB reservations and got the car tuned up for our summer 2019 road trip.

Tequila

Tequila is more or less the same distance from Sayulita as Guadalajara so our first destination was just a half day's drive.  Famous for one thing, "tequila". We were in town for just one night and our hotel was just a few blocks from the central Plaza.  An older place built hacienda style with rooms surrounding a central garden and courtyard.  Not the nicest place but for one night it was fine.

Tequila is a "World Heritage Site" for the town's history and culture behind tequila production.  The Plaza and downtown area was a mix of old Mexico and a recent influx of cash by some of the big tequila names in town.  Market tents, entertainment, cheap tequila drinks and the occasional gimmicky Tequila tour bus would drive by every few minutes.

Choices

One of the things that Ashley loves to do is to go inside the churches and see the ornate paintings, sculpting and grandeur of these places. The churches are so rustic on the outside but inside they are totally amazing.

Outside the church in Tequila's central plaza

Inside the same church.

Some of the adjacent streets to the historic Plaza have been remodeled as pedestrian areas with places to sit under trees and to stroll along at a slower pace in a more modern day setting.  Having only a few hours in town, we know we did not have a bunch of time to really explore Tequila and appreciate more of the city but we got a basic idea of things.  We were looking ahead to a full day's drive from Tequila, through Guadalajara and to San Miguel the next day.

The night brought lots of rain but the morning was wet but clear for the 5 hour drive.  Most of the drive would be on the "Cuota" or toll road so the distance on the two lanes going east would be covered easily at the 110+ km/hour posted speed limit on a Sunday.  One of the things I took for granted along the way east of Guadalajara was that there would be occasional places to fill up the gas tank.  We would be sure to find one just off the road in some town or at the frequent toll booths.  Not the case along this route and we were really in the middle of "nowhere" central Mexico.

Trace entertaining himself during the trip to San Miguel.

So, I admit, I pushed it way farther than I should have and there were some sweaty moments when the fuel light came on and the there was pretty much no possibility of getting off the highway to look for gas or going back to the last exit.  We were essentially trapped and all I could do was go forward on fumes and pray there were plenty of down hill sections until the possibility of the next exit.  Well, we finally made it to an exit and the small town gas station was not far from the ramp and my nerves finally calmed as the car drank heavily at the pump.  I won't make that mistake again and I made sure that we were topped off the remainder of the week especially since now I knew the route and the service limitations along the way.

Next destination.  San Miguel de Allende

Casa Pōno - The Pōno Suite Coming Together

It seems like forever since we have been trying to get the first level of the house to a point where it could actually be put out to the public for nightly rentals.  We have had friends and family stay with us and the suite has been a great space to offer to them and the feedback has been positive so far.

I am currently putting together some images to put out temporarily so that we can at least promote the rental property to the masses in the next few weeks.  We will have the full set of professional images done as well since my staging, lighting and old phone camera just don't do it much justice.  Plus, there are several things still needing some attention and added to make this space a real solid rental offering.

Details, details, details.  Mirrors, hooks, appliances, furniture, lighting, linens, decor, floor covering etc!  It never seems to end.  We can skimp on our own space upstairs and have done without lots of things in our own home but that just wouldn't fly in the apartment when someone is actually paying cash each night and fully expects things to be in place and usable.

Once we get to end of putting the space altogether and advertise it I think it will be a solid offering in the highly competitive rental market here.  We are not in this to compete with the guy down the street as much as we are eager to have a great space for people we know and then perhaps even cover a few bills with any income we generate.  We feel like we want to offer it to couples or perhaps small families since the space can sleep 3 very easily.

As I was taking the photos we had two very nice families stop by and ask it the space was for rent. There must have been some kind of "new rental" energy emitting from the space. I do not now if they were looking to rent the whole house or just the apartment but suddenly people were asking.

Wish us luck!