Buenos Dias Amigos,
Adam & I had the great privelege of leaving the kids for 7 days to go on a Cruise for our 15th Anniversary (with many thanks to Adam's parents for watching the boys for us while we were gone). The weather was perfect, the food was great and we had a very relaxing time. Taking a cruise was so much different than any other vacation we have been on because you have no choice but to relax while on the ship. Your only options are to relax, read, people watch, go to a show or eat. You dont have to worry about traffic, finding a place to eat, cell phones, email, work, laundry, homework I could go on and on but I dont want to rub it in too much. We spent the first two days at sea. The third day we visited Puerto Vallarta. There we joined a jeep tour with about 15 other jeeps. We drove out of town into the mountains and was able to see how some of the local people lived. The children only go to school until they are 12 years old then they are put to work farming the land or working with their families in some regard. The people live off the land and its a very simple way of life. It made me consider what technology and modernization has done to this world and how many things we have and use in our everyday lives that we really dont need for our basic survival. It really made me realize how different their lives are from ours and realized that having more is not necessarily better or necessary. Blooming fruit trees were everywhere including Mangoe, avacado & bannana trees, fishing is also a common trade for the people that live there. From there, our next stop was Mazatlan. From the ship we took a water taxi to Stone Island where there is a small community and the land is filled acres and acres of coconut palms. It is a quiet village and also a very simple lifestyle. We took a bus through town on our way to the beach where we sat and relaxed by the ocean. It was so beautiful with the palms lining the beach and the waves crashing against the shore. Picture perfect! Our last stop was Cabo San Lucas. It was much more "Americanized" and very tourist driven with lots of resorts, hotels and shopping. We did an underwater excursion where we walked on the bottom of the ocean- well kind-of. It was a learning experience and we probably wouldnt do it again but the kids thought it sounded cool. When we got back to shore we only had about an hour before we had to get back on the ship so we quickly walked to the center of town where all the shopping was. We learned that everything was "Almost Free Amigo" & "No thank you" seemed to be all we said for the hour we were there visiting. We visited the Cabo Wabo Canteena, a famous resturaunt and bar - nothing really to brag about really but I guess we can see that we saw it. We then got some souvenirs and then went to dairy queen and got some ice cream for $90.00 (peso's of course) but it was still strange to see $90.00 on the register display. We found that eating ice cream was a useful tool in ignoring the street vendors on the way back to the ship port. From there, we were unfortunatly on our way back home. The last night was very windy and the ship hit rough water which apparantly is normal when you get near California according to some more experienced cruisers we met (this trip was their 38th cruise! That's how I want to spend retirement!) It's been hard to adjust to land again, at least for me. Today is Friday (almost one week later) and its the first day that I dont feel dizzy. It's a really weird sensation to feel that everything around you is still moving, its hard to explain and just thinking about it right now is bringing back the same sensation - weird! Regarless of the side affects, it was well worth it and we are looking forward to taking the kids with us next spring!
Adam & I had the great privelege of leaving the kids for 7 days to go on a Cruise for our 15th Anniversary (with many thanks to Adam's parents for watching the boys for us while we were gone). The weather was perfect, the food was great and we had a very relaxing time. Taking a cruise was so much different than any other vacation we have been on because you have no choice but to relax while on the ship. Your only options are to relax, read, people watch, go to a show or eat. You dont have to worry about traffic, finding a place to eat, cell phones, email, work, laundry, homework I could go on and on but I dont want to rub it in too much. We spent the first two days at sea. The third day we visited Puerto Vallarta. There we joined a jeep tour with about 15 other jeeps. We drove out of town into the mountains and was able to see how some of the local people lived. The children only go to school until they are 12 years old then they are put to work farming the land or working with their families in some regard. The people live off the land and its a very simple way of life. It made me consider what technology and modernization has done to this world and how many things we have and use in our everyday lives that we really dont need for our basic survival. It really made me realize how different their lives are from ours and realized that having more is not necessarily better or necessary. Blooming fruit trees were everywhere including Mangoe, avacado & bannana trees, fishing is also a common trade for the people that live there. From there, our next stop was Mazatlan. From the ship we took a water taxi to Stone Island where there is a small community and the land is filled acres and acres of coconut palms. It is a quiet village and also a very simple lifestyle. We took a bus through town on our way to the beach where we sat and relaxed by the ocean. It was so beautiful with the palms lining the beach and the waves crashing against the shore. Picture perfect! Our last stop was Cabo San Lucas. It was much more "Americanized" and very tourist driven with lots of resorts, hotels and shopping. We did an underwater excursion where we walked on the bottom of the ocean- well kind-of. It was a learning experience and we probably wouldnt do it again but the kids thought it sounded cool. When we got back to shore we only had about an hour before we had to get back on the ship so we quickly walked to the center of town where all the shopping was. We learned that everything was "Almost Free Amigo" & "No thank you" seemed to be all we said for the hour we were there visiting. We visited the Cabo Wabo Canteena, a famous resturaunt and bar - nothing really to brag about really but I guess we can see that we saw it. We then got some souvenirs and then went to dairy queen and got some ice cream for $90.00 (peso's of course) but it was still strange to see $90.00 on the register display. We found that eating ice cream was a useful tool in ignoring the street vendors on the way back to the ship port. From there, we were unfortunatly on our way back home. The last night was very windy and the ship hit rough water which apparantly is normal when you get near California according to some more experienced cruisers we met (this trip was their 38th cruise! That's how I want to spend retirement!) It's been hard to adjust to land again, at least for me. Today is Friday (almost one week later) and its the first day that I dont feel dizzy. It's a really weird sensation to feel that everything around you is still moving, its hard to explain and just thinking about it right now is bringing back the same sensation - weird! Regarless of the side affects, it was well worth it and we are looking forward to taking the kids with us next spring!
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