Ports of Call (Final Cruise Post)

Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta. Our group split up in this port. Three couples went zip lining. Randy and I really wanted to, but were afraid it would be too painful on his knees so we opted to spend the day with Jess and Lori Marin. Jess's mom and dad were in Mexico, staying about 5 hours from Puerto Vallarta. His parents and two sets of aunts and uncles came over to Puerto Vallarta to spend the day with us.

We got off the boat early and met up with his parents. It was so sweet to see Jess's mom; she was so anxious to see him. Jess's dad (Jesus) rented a van for all of us and away we went. We went to breakfast at an outdoor cafe where the food was really good. Then we did some sightseeing and some shopping. When we stopped at a street vendor, apparently I worried Jess's dad. Jesus sent his sister-in-law, Val, over to take care of me. Her comment to me was, "You don't know what you're doing. Jesus told me I couldn't leave you alone."

We drove up in the mountains and saw some zip liners. We had lunch at a nice place in town where the waiter came right to our table and made guacamole. We spent some time just walking around Puerto Vallarta. Jesus bought us all a paleta. It's like an ice cream bar, but better. Chunks of fruit or nuts in them and not as sweet. We managed to plant ourselves on the beach as the sun was setting and we watched the sun go down and the colors were just beautiful. Unfortunately, that day had to come to an end and we had to get back on the boat. I loved spending the day with Jess's family.

Our next port of call was Mazatlan. This was a fun place to be. We started off with all of us together heading out to snorkel. Randy and I had never been snorkeling before so this was really an adventure for us. The first place the boat stopped was not a good snorkeling spot, but the second one was okay. We didn't see a lot of animal life like you would in Australia or even the Carribean, but the experience of snorkeling was so much fun. Sometimes I forgot I couldn't dive under the water so I would reach for something on the ocean floor and my tube would fill up with salt water. It was quite the experience.

Following the snorkel tour, our group split up. After the taxi driver took us to the retaurant from which I'm sure he got a cut of the profits, we walked a ways back until Jess found the street vendor we were looking for. Jess negotiated lunch and the six of us ate carne asada, tortillas, rice, and beans with a delicious chile sauce for $9. It was great. Then we walked to the market and did a little bit more shopping. If I knew then what I know now, I would have bought everything I wanted in Mazatlan. It had the best shopping of all the ports. Since I didn't get everything I wanted, I have to go back. What a bummer that is (NOT). We found a great taxi driver who took us downtown to the market place that I don't think a lot of tourists visit. Jess really enjoyed this spot because it reminded him of the Mexico he visited when he was a teenager. I would have to agree that Mazatlan was the most Mexican of all the ports we visited.

Our final port of call was Cabo San Lucas. We got up early and went up on deck to watch the sun rise. It was a beautiful pink when we got up there and then up came the sun. Up on deck, we had a great view of Cabo and the fishing boats heading out to sea. After breakfast, we caught a tender and headed for the pier. As soon as we got off, all kinds of men were lined up trying to get our business. Lori took charge and negotiated with one gentleman for our entire group to go sight seeing, whale watching, and parasailing for one low price. I've never seen trained fish before, but our driver motored to a spot and pounded the side of the boat and here came the fish. Oh- then he fed them bread. Pavlov's dogs. We spent a lot of time chasing the whales, and that was fun. Trying to figure out where they'd come up again, trying to time the picture just right- clearly, we never got that right. Another reason to go back. And then the parasailing. It was more relaxing than I thought it would be and I loved it. It was probably the thing I enjoyed the most. When we got back to the beach, we hunted down a restaurant, ate more really good Mexican food, and then meandered back towards the pier, passing a lot of vendors as we went. Cabo was the most American of all the ports we went to. It was almost sad to leave Cabo because it meant our trip was coming to an end.

To see other photos of the cruise and my friends' take on the trip, go check out their blogs (on the right): Howards, Zimmermans, and Jeppsens. We were relaxed and happy and there wasn't anything about this trip I wouldn't do again. Would Randy and I go alone? I don't think so. I loved being with friends who didn't expect anything from me and didn't care if we did our own thing. I loved having other people to do things with when Randy didn't want to. I loved getting home and perusing 1,500 photos. I loved the time with my husband. We loved going on this trip and are already looking forward to the next one.