Friday, May 30, 2008

Me and My Muchacha in Mexico

A few weeks ago Sharon and I went on our first cruise to the Mexican Riviera (or so it's called). We went with Royal Caribbean on the Vision of the Seas for a 7 night cruise and had a great time getting away from everyday stresses and just reconnecting with each other. I feel very refreshed since I've been back and seem to have all the energy I will need to get through my last few weeks at Micron before transitioning to my new job. It was my one opportunity for a vacation this year and it was and excellent choice. Times like these are to rare for us and we are both very thankful that we were blessed to have this opportunity to spend time together seeing more of God's incredible creation and having an opportunity to experience a different culture and meet some interesting people on the ship.



If you’ve never gone on a cruise I would highly recommend that you try it at least once. I never thought much of it because I thought it would be boring but that is far from the truth. In fact, there were far more things to do than there was time to do them. Contrary to what I had previously thought, my biggest challenge was choosing between all of the options. As we were departing LA Harbor on the ship my dad gave me some great last minute advice before we lost our connection: “Just remember”, he said. “Don’t try to do everything.”


Here’s a summary of our trip:
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Day 1 – We flew from Boise to LA and boarded our ship (a long process). After standing at the bow as we departed, our first order of business was to eat some of the wonderful food we’d heard about and take a tour of the ship. The food was as good as we had heard and it took more than that first night to learn our way around the ship. When we entered our cabin that evening we were very blessed to find that our friends (Pastors Joe and Janet Ingrao) had bought the anniversary package for our room. It was decked out with streamers, signs, and other decorations and included a bottle of champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. Wow! There was also a souvenir package that the couples from the Dynamic Marriage class we had just facilitated bought us as a thank-you gift and it included a nice photo album that we have filled and put on our living room table. We were speechless since they had already thanked us with a basket full of goodies for our vacation before we left.



Day 2 – (At sea) We finished exploring the ship and spent the day by the pool just relaxing and working on our tans. We went to the theater that evening and the song and dance performance was better than we expected. The entertainers performed small segments from numerous well known Broadway shows.



Day 3 – (Cabo San Lucas) We booked an excursion that involved a short boat trip down the coast to a secluded bay where we snorkeled and explored underwater on a small craft called a “bob”. It was basically a stationary, air-filled diving helmet attached to an underwater moped. We were escorted by divers who brought all kinds of sea creatures for us to hold like sea urchins, starfish, and puffer fish. On the way back we followed a pair of humpback whales –mother and child—who treated us to several spectacular breaches.



Day 4 – (Mazatlan) We booked another excursion from the excursion desk. This one involved a short trip across the inlet to Stone Island where we had a leisurely lunch on a nice beach. There were several activities to choose from and we chose as horseback ride on the beach and sea kayaking. It was quite a challenge trying to get the kayak past the surf and we wiped out a couple of times. Sharon got a temporary tattoo and we bought our customary souvenir to put in our world travels display when we returned home.



Day 5 – (Puerto Vallarta) I booked a zip-line excursion for us before leaving home (Los Veranos Canopy Tours). It saved us over 40% over the cruise line’s price and we got to choose a more exciting one. It was a blast! The drive alone was spectacular as we drove along the mountainside above the ocean south of Puerto Vallarta. Then we headed up into the Sierra Madres where we took 14 zip lines. The highest was over 600 feet above the river below and was around a quarter mile long. The last line brings you down to a wonderful Mexican restaurant perched on white granite above the river. You can jump or slide in for a refreshing swim after your trek through the jungle. We enjoyed some great food and ice cold cervezas. Afterwards we got to pet some small monkeys and other critters in a small zoo they had on location.



Day 6&7 – (At sea) After all our excursions we were ready for a relaxing two days at sea. We just lounged around and enjoyed each other’s company. We read a bit and also finished season four of Stargate Atlantis which I had brought on my computer. We also fit a wine appreciation class in there somewhere and took advantage of some of the shipboard entertainment opportunities.


Day 8 – We returned to LA and flew back to Boise.

All-in-all it was a wonderful vacation. Sharon and I were able to spend a lot of much needed time together. It’s only the second trip the two of us have taken together since our honeymoon almost 23 years ago. It was long overdue. We are tentatively planning a Mediterranean cruise for our 25th anniversary in 2010 and we would love to go with some friends and/or family too.