Sail away......

** warning....LOTS of photos**

In case you wonder why I haven't posted in so long....this is why:

Chris and I went on a much needed vacation. We took a 7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise! It was so nice and relaxing! We were so tired we went to bed around 9:30 the first night and slept for almost 12 hours! :-0 It was SSSOOO nice!
We couldn't get into our room for a couple hours once we boarded the ship. We figured we'd take in some sun and enjoy a bucket of beer before exploring the ship!

The bucket...minus two beers! :-)This is our teeny room! Actually, it really wasn't bad at all! I didn't feel cramped one bit! Well, the bathroom could have been arranged a bit different. I did bang my elbows and knees a few times! ;-)
Chris and I played cribbage quite a bit! I kicked his butt big time! :-) He did skunk me on more than one occasion though! It was quite cool outside, especially the days we were at sea, so this spot was perfect. We weren't outside with the cool breeze but still able to enjoy the views of the sea!
This was the grand atrium! Yes, I had a sweater and jeans on A LOT!
The first dress up night and a self portrait!
Someone came by and offered to take a picture. I was bummed it was so dark!
We didn't spend nearly as much time outside as I had liked as it was pretty cool.
The first port was Cabo San Lucas. We had to take these little shuttle boats in to land. These littler boats were attached to the ship and they had six of them coming and going to take everyone ashore and return everyone to the boat.
Chris's first bartering and purchase! :-) I had fun bartering and didn't pretty well! After my first attempt at purchase/bartering we walked away and Chris said he was quite impressed with how well I did! :-)
The food on the pier was fairly expensive. So we asked a information desk for a really good seafood place that was more budget friendly. He gave us a map and marked a local favorite. Boy was it good. This was some sort of lobster dish and was Chris's favorite meal of the whole trip!

We didn't get much time in Cabo and would like to go back some time when we could spend more time there and explore more of the area.

They didn't have many pools and most were geared toward kids. But it looked really neat at night! We didn't get in the pool once! It was way to cold for me.
The next port was Mazatlan. We saw a lot of run-down buildings with the doors and windows covered by bars. It was one stop we really didn't care if we ever went back. We took a taxi ride to the shopping area that also had a beach nearby. The taxi was a Volkswagen with the top cut off and a canopy on top of it. It was cute and fun to ride in!
We saw many of these sculptures along the boardwalk/pier.

I liked Chris's hat so much we got a second one for me! :-) We were hounded at the beach by locals trying to sell their goods. It got quite annoying. :-/ I'm sure I looked odd as I wore my swimsuit under my jeans and tank top and never got warm enough to take my pants off and sunbath! So I sunbathed in my jeans! Haha! Our next stop was Puerto Villarta. We REALLY liked this port! We caught a van tour outside our ship. Another couple we ran into told us about it and we thought we'd give it a try. We paid the guy and he took us all over the area, stopping where we wanted to and spending what time we wanted to where we wanted too. It was GREAT!
He told us that there wasn't unemployment there as they did everything by hand. He wasn't joking! The guy on the left was sawing through a metal railing with a hand saw! :-0 We saw guys mixing big ole containers of cement too!
Isn't it pretty? Our tour guide said the place we had stopped at has some of the best views to be found!I can't remember what these flowers were called. Fire something, but man they were pretty!
We stopped at a Tequila factory. Well, they didn't make it there, but they showed us how it was made and then let us sample some! YUM! Nothing like sampling tequila at 10:30 in the morning! Haha! Our guide there was a hoot ! He was a TON of fun!
It was pretty neat to look at their collection! Who knew they made tequilas that have a almond flavor or coffee flavor? Man those two were so delicious!
All the roads were cobble stone. This is the street leading up to Mr. Tequila, where we learned about how they made tequila.
We went on the tour with two other couples. They wanted to stop for lunch. Our guide took us up to this little restaurant! I love how they are open without walls and windows! It was very pleasant!
Back on ship, the guys who made down our beds and cleaned our rooms created animals out of towels each night for us. This mouse was peeking out under our sheets.
This elephant was left on the counter! haha!
We chose to do the more formal dining most nights. This is the dining room we ate at most! We were lucky enough most of the time to sit in the very back near the big windows!

We really enjoyed and needed the time away just the two of us! My brother and sister in law came down and stayed the first two nights with the kids and then took them to my mother in laws where they spent the whole week. They had a fabulous time! My mother-in-law washed all their clothes for me! Wasn't that sweet of her? I so greatly appreciated that! I am so fortunate to have so much family around and even better than that family that loves to help with the kids and spend time with them!

Thanks for stopping by! At some point I will be caught up and able to scrap again! but 7 days away from home...man...there is a lot to catch up on!