On November 21st Mom, Dad, Brady and I drove to Lancaster CA and we stayed at the Springhill Suites by Marriott Hotel for the night. After we arrived and checked in we had dinner at Applebees. The next day Brady helped me navigate to San Pedro to board our ship Navigator of the Seas by Royal Caribbean. I was a little nervous about where to unload and park but everything went pretty smooth. Mom said it felt really weird being in the back seat having us drive.
James was pretty nervous walking on the ramps up to the ship. He was scared of the heights and didn't want to go in the glass elevators either, but by the end of the cruise he overcame his fears.
You could have all the ice cream cones you could eat. I had one the first day and that was it but I heard that Caleb had around 33 ice cream cones and Brady had around 12. haha!
It was fun to get some sunset photos as we were leaving the dock.
Reid and Laura had a nice balcony room for their family. It was nice that they let us check it out.
This was the menu for our first night. We had the 5:00 reservation every night. I loved how we could all do our own thing during the day and then we could meet for dinner together and share our day then we would go to shows after dinner. We had the same servers each dinner and it was fun to get to know them.
The first night we watched Bobby Brooks Wilson, the son of R&B performer Jackie Wilson. He has opened for the Temptations, Four Tops, Bruno Mars, Dion Warwick.
The second night we watched a stand-up comedian Greg Vaccariello.
The third night we watched 'Showgirls, Past. Present. Future' and then a newlywed game show.
Two different nights we watched an ice skating show which was so fun.
We also watched a ventriloquist Kevin Johnson who was pretty funny.
We also watched a cute movie called "The Present"
On our last night, we watched some ballroom dancers.
The second day we did a mile walk for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I was there early and was able to get a T-shirt for Brady and myself. Unfortunately, they stopped selling them or sold out before anyone else was able to get a shirt. We just walked in circles around the pool but I was happy to be able to support this wonderful charity.
After the walk, we watched the sexiest man contest. It was pretty funny!
We found a fun spot at the very back of the ship. It was very peaceful back here, I wish I would have spent more time there but at least we got a picture.
I think Reid's family were the only ones to go ice skating.
Reid, Brady, and I did one round of miniature golf. Reid and I got a hole-in-one on the same hole.
Our second night was more dressy...I wish I knew what the themes were before so I could have been more prepared. They had a white-out night and a Hawaiian night it was fun.
It was nice to be able to get a group pictures together.
I was so sad when I realized I lost my prescription glasses. Brady and I went to the lost and found and retraced our tracks everywhere we could think of. After we were leaving the miniature golf area I had a little voice tell me to go back and look again and Brady found them sitting by one of the holes. We had to take a picture to make sure they were mine and sure enough he found them. I was so happy and relieved.
We had fun watching the music trivia a few times.
Day three we arrived at Cabo San Lucas. Taking a tender off the ship was a fun experience in itself.
We didn't have very much time here because we had to wait so long to get off the ship. It was fun getting to eat at Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar's restaurant but boy was the service slow.
The pina colada's were sure yummy!
I got Scott this Cabo Wabo T-shirt which was $630.00 pesos or $31.50 US dollars. haha!
These gals had a blast at the dance party...
Day four was Matzatlan. I really enjoyed our visit here. Brady and I tagged along with Reid's family and we were able to rent a van for the whole day for just $42 per person or $1,680.00 pesos. We hiked up to the Faro Lighthouse which is located at the peak of Cerro del Creston at the southern end of the peninsular city of Mazatlan. It is 523 feet above sea level and has been in operation since 1879. The view was so beautiful. We weren't sure if Brady and Chad were going to make it to the top but they did it!(:
Do I blend in with my camo shirt? haha!
After our hike, our driver took us to this place so we could get a different view of where we hiked. I found my upcoming grandson a cute, little, yellow plane from the Disney movie Planes at this stop.
At this stop, we were able to watch a cliff diver but I don't have a picture.
I thought it was so strange to have a little British invasion here in Mexico.
They had a shopping mall near this cathedral where we were able to use the bathrooms for free. Lots of restrooms make you pay for toilet paper. After our bathroom break, we walked through a market, which was pretty cool. It was crazy to see all the pig heads and all the butchered meat. I got Brady a cool Matzatlan hat that has deer antlers on it. I never knew that Matzatlan means deer. We also got some $5.00 t-shirts to wear to dinner for Hawaiian night and I got Brady a pink and blue gravity bubble toy.
After our shopping, we walked through this cathedral, then we got tacos at Taqueria Los Potrillos. I had two carne asada tacos and one al pastor. They were so yummy and I think I liked the pork one just a little bit more. Brady and I were both able to each three tacos for $9.90 or $198.00 pesos.
Our driver drove us around some more and then we visited this resort where we could walk on the beach and use their bathrooms. The sand between my toes felt so nice.
We had some extra time so our driver showed us where he was married. He told us that he went to high school after he was married. He then took us by all the fishing boats. I think there were over 500 boats there. He also explained that unlike the US the houses that are on the hill are cheaper and cost less.
We had to get a picture of our tour guide, he was the best. The lady that suggested him crazy enough grew up in Homedale, Idaho. I asked what brought her to Matzatlan and she said a man. I then asked if they were still together and she said over thirty years.(:
All of Rosie's family did some fun parasailing.
Reid got this fun Juan Deer hat for dad! haha!
It was so fun to see what animal we would get in our room after it was cleaned.
Day 5 was at Puerto Vallarta. It was like a tropical paradise. We rented a van again with Reid's family. We stopped at this cathedral first and walked through it and around the Malecon. Our driver was trying to tell us about all the movies that have been filmed there and Brady tried telling him about Herbie Goes Bananas and he had never heard about it. We had to go home and watch it again and sure enough the first 20 minutes of the show are filmed in Puerto Vallarta.
I got Brady a Coke at a pharmacy for $26.00 pesos which was $1.30 US dollars.
I loved this little stop. It was so pretty and I loved seeing and smelling all the wild herbs that were growing especially the lemon grass. I also found Brady and I some necklaces for $17.30 ($346 pesos)
Part of our tour was supposed to include some Tequila tasting so they were pretty disappointed when we told them we don't drink. Luckily they still let us use their bathrooms. haha!
It was so fun to see bananas growing...
We had lunch in a tropical restuarant. The atmosphere was so cool and the food was okay. It was like we were eating in a Swiss Family Treehouse.
I had redsnapper tacos. I thought mine were good but Laura didn't like hers. She said there was hardly any meat and it was dry. The homemade tortillas were good. I don't remember how much it cost and our server was a little strange.
This type of coconut is used for coconut oil.
After our lunch we went back to town and we walked around some shops and crossed a bridge to a little island. We found some Mexican vanilla and Brady and I got matching white t-shirts with a VW bug on them which reminded us of Herbie.
Our driver told us his favorite hot sauce was Huichol and said the best place to buy it was at Walmart so we asked him to drop us off there before getting back on the ship. We just had to walk across the street to board which wasn't so bad except we had to pay him cash for our tour and I wasn't prepared for that. I was just short the tip and Reid helped me out but I wasn't happy about not having any cash for the rest of our trip.
It was pretty weird to be in a Wal-Mart with anything marked by pesos. Our Huichol hot sauce cost $15.00 pesos or .75 cents. I thought about getting some Mexican candy to take home but Hanna talked me out of it. She said it's nasty. haha!
This was our view from our dinner as we were leaving Puerta Vallarta. It was beautiful.
We made it to the hot tub one night.
Day 6 we watched a nice tribute to all the veterans that have served our country.
Brady and I finally splurged and had some milkshakes. One night we rented Despicable Me 4. It was cute for the little bit that I stayed awake for. haha! I hung out by the pool for a little bit and watched the belly flop competition which was pretty funny.
Day seven was Thanksgiving which seemed really strange to be spending it on a cruise. Rosie and I had this crazy idea to see how fast we could run up all thirteen flights of stairs. We did really good until we got to around 5 or six and then it was pretty slow from there but we made it to the top in a little over two minutes.
We also did a little workout together. We were a little bummed about how cold and windy it was so we were not able to hang out by the pool.
We finally were able to make time to get pictures together with our cruise shirts on.
We had fun playing an ABBA trivia game. We did really good with Brady and Brielle's help. We then got ready for our Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderful meal and I even ordered two desserts. haha!
Brady learned he loves shrimp cocktail.
Brady had ice cream and pumpkin pie and I had pecan and pumpkin pie.
The next morning we got off early so they can prepare the ship for the next cruise to leave later that day. Brady and I never had internet so in some ways it was nice to deplug but it was weird with the time changes. I had to have wake-up calls because my phone wouldn't do the time changes. We said our goodbyes and we drove as far as Winnemucca and then we stayed at Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. We finally made it home Saturday around noon. We had a great trip and cruise. I think Mom was a little sad she waited so long to finally go on one.
