Our Mexican Riviera Cruise

So we are back from our cruise and it is time to reflect on the time we had...We had the best ten days of our lives! (Well Dave had the 7 best days of his life, 3 of them were spent feeling woozy.) No, the whole ten days weren't spent on the cruise but that was the best part. We decided to take our time on this vacation. We were in no rush and I think that is what made it one of the best vacations ever. I warn you now that this could be long and below you see a novel of pictures (which isn't even close to how many we did take and should have taken) but this trip couldn't have come at a more perfect time in our lives and was everything we hoped it to be and more. Going to Mexico is always a funny experience because you get so used to saying "No, gracias" that you bring it back into your normal life or back on the ship where everyone speaks english. I had a couple funny wake ups like that.

We left Friday, May 21 and drove to St. George where we stayed overnight. We stayed up late watching episodes of Man vs. Food (probably my favorite show of all time) and snacked. We woke up Saturday morning, went for a run, lounged and then packed the car to head to L.A. We arrived in L.A. around 5. We stayed at my uncles house in Glendale. We perused L.A.'s hot spots and sights with my aunt and uncle for a few hours then they made us dinner and we hung out. I wish we would of had our camera cause we went to the observatory which was cool; we found out it is in a lot of movies while watching some of them during the week. Sunday they took us to a few more sights and then drove us to Long Beach where our ship was awaiting us. Waiting in all the lines to check in and all took awhile but as soon as we got on that ship we went to our room, dropped off our luggage and then headed for food. Yep, we were the stereotypes cruisers already, there for the food. We were able to explore the ship a bit before sailing, too.

The first night we headed to dinner at 6 which was our assigned dinner time each night. We sat down, met our servers, ordered our food, got our starter and thats where our night pretty much ended...Dave officially started feeling the queeziness. Dave rested most of the night while the rocking got worse but that night was the worst of it. There were a few more times where Dave felt queezy but it wasn't half what the first night was. I think next time we'll try the patch that you can wear instead of the bonine.

Other than those few times Dave felt that way, the trip was great! The first two days we were at sea so we got to relax, get some sun, swim, and yes, eat. We also spotted some sting ray swimming next to the boat. There were dolphin and whale spottings during the trip too.

Since Dave served in Chile, he speaks spanish and knows his way with the bus system so we used the public transit while in Mexico because they can't rip you off. Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta. We wanted to go snorkeling and took a water taxi to a remote place that you can only get to by boat called Yelapa (later to find out we were suppose to be dropped off at another place). We followed our tour guide through his hometown to a neat waterfall and then lounged on the beach there the rest of the time. After getting back to Puerto Vallarta we roamed the towns streets, picked up a couple tacos at a taco stand and then stopped by Walmart to grab some Mexican Vanilla and some sodas before heading back on the boat.

Mazatlan, we had mixed feelings about. The beginning was rough because we almost turned around to get back on the boat after being haggled nonstop for 15 minutes trying to get on our own way through Mazatlan. I had to ask a guy to please, leave me alone because he followed us a block or so and was in my ear the whole time. After that the day was amzing! We enjoyed a long walk to see some cool things around the city, went to the aquarium, saw a seal show, went to the beach, and roamed some more.

Cabo San Lucas was Dave's favorite by far. We took a water taxi to a private beach called Lover's Beach and he was able to snorkel and he enjoyed every second of it. After, we roamed the streets and found some things to buy. I found some cool salt & pepper shakers. I don't know why but I'm obsessed with them when I see them anywhere. I also got to indulge in some bubble gum ice cream. YUM.

The last day was a bit windy and cloudy but we still go some hot tubbing in and Dave even got burnt laying out. I told him he would but he didn't believe me. That morning we tried to go running on the track on the top deck. It was funny because we got up there and not one person was around. I'd guess that the wind speed was coming at us about 40-50 mph. We had a blast trying to run in it. One side we'd be sprinting trying not to fall over from the push behind us and the other we'd be working on our stability trying not to be pushed to one side or another.

We left from my uncles house around 11:30 Sunday morning and arrived in St. George less than 6 hours later. It was a nice night in St. George so we went for a run, made some dinner, and lounged some more. We took Monday to drive the rest of the way and stopped at my parents for a bbq.

As I said before, the trip was everything we needed and hoped for. Now being back for a few days, I feel refreshed and as I could take on anything...knock on wood. Although we ate a ton, literally, we think since we made it a goal at the beginning to walk the stairs everywhere (only took the elevator maybe 3 times the whole week) we didn't feel the weight gain too bad. We walked so much my legs were sore by the end of the week. I'm looking forward to our next cruise, we just need to find a cure for my husbands weak stomach-any ideas? He called me a sailor because nothing affected me, I loved every second on that boat!

Day 1: Board and Sail

Good-bye America

Day 2: First Elegant Night

Each night they would come back to our room to clean again and leave us a treat and some cute towel friends.

On our way to the jacuzzis

Day 3: Day at Sea

Passing Cabo

Day 4: Puerto Vallarta

This picture cost us 2 dollars. The guy wanted 6...come on, I took the picture!

Yelapa

They had some weird statues. At first I thought these were the witches from Sleeping Beauty, boy was I wrong!

Day 5: Mazatlan

This is for Elder Price

The first time my feet have ever burnt

The fish that reminded us of Mater from Cars

The fish that reminded us of The Joker played by Heath Ledger

Day 6: Cabo and Last Elegant Night

Leaving Cabo

Our severs dancing. Ramoan, on the right, had some great moves!

Day 7: Heading Back to America

This is the only picture we took on day 7

The Long Beach Port from our balcony