Final Port - Puerto Vierta!

Puerto Vierta was my favorite--packed with LOADS of fun!

We booked a full day excursion here. One that would take us snorkeling, to a waterfall in the jungle, and to a beach. As we boarded our tour boat, I asked when they thought we'd be back. The casualness of the Mexican shone through as they responded lightly, "Who knows...maybe tomorrow." I have to admit my heart sunk with worry as I watched how very far away we sailed from our cruise ship--afraid we would not make it back in time to board and we'd be stranded in Mexico, without passports. However, reassurances from Bryan, and an offer to stay with our new found friends (if we did get left), and the relaxation and fun of the day pulled me through.

This Sea Otter gave me a kiss, while we waited for our tour to start.

Bryan opted to wait here,
away from the slobbery kisses of the sea otter.

Our first stop was SNORKELING!
We snorkeled HERE in this beautiful, blue water.
IT WAS SO FUN!--the fish were all around you--
you could reach out and touch them, it was really cool.

Sailing off to who knows where with the Mexicans!
(Bryan and Mindy)

We soon found friends aboard: Debbie and Tom, from Rhode Island. Debbie taught us how to snorkel, since our Mexican guides don't like to give much instruction. Debbie and Tom were great company...we spent most the day with them.

(Debbie, Mindy)

Bryan and IGUANA!

Hiking through THE JUNGLE!
...we went on a hike in a beautiful jungle--one they use for movies!
Our hike's destination: WATER FALL.

It was such a GREAT, beautiful hike!

The best part is here...
THE WATER FALL!

I HAVE TO SAY THIS WAS THE FUNNEST THING I'VE EVER DONE. We hiked to a water fall, with a pool of water around it. The water was WARM AND WONDERFUL and we got to play in it. I DOVE right into the water fall several times! It was so much fun!! I always wanted to PLAY in a water fall...natures jetted tub!

Puerto Vierta was so BEAUTIFUL and BLUE!

ANOTHER WONDERFUL BEACH...
-This was a VERY NICE beach. We played in the water and ate lunch on the beach.

At each stop, we rode this little boat to our bigger boat. They'd load everyone on, and then the guides would hold on to the boat, timing it just right as they pushed us into the waves. Our friend, Debbie, swam all the way to the big boat at our last stop--wow, what a great swimmer.

This was our AWESOME guide.

Believe me it's WARM here...don't let the jacket fool you. I got such a bad sunburn in Mazatlan that I ended up wearing either a wet T-shirt or wet jacket all day to soothe my sunburn and protect me from the sun.

BIG Thanks to Puerto Vierta for a great DAY full of fun!

Most Incredible Sunset

It starts out so simple...

and gradually,

...ever so gradually,

the colors begin to explode...

...and explode...

...into the most amazing,

incredible

beautiful

...WORK OF ART.

This was the most amazing, most incredible, most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.

Port #2: Mazatlan

In Mazatlan we took a water taxi out to stone island, which is BEAUTIFUL...here we got to ride horses on the beach...yes, I rode a horse!

I simply stood on the beach for hours mesmerized by the waves
coming in and the beauty of it all.
The pictures simply do not do it justice.
It was the most beautiful beach I've ever seen.

Lost in the beauty of it all, I forgot to put sunscreen on,
and suffered the consequence of a very bad sunburn!

As you might have guessed we were surrounded
by many very friendly Mexicans. And so we
did a bit of shopping here as well.

Bryan scoping out the Coconut farm

Yes, believe it or not, this is ME on a horse. I was scared to death, and somehow I ended up on horse that is going blind, notice the patch on his eye. I know that dear horse could sense my
fear, which only made things worse. All the other horses seemed to follow the guide, but my horse had a mind of it's own and kept wondering off, and me with my lack of horse know-how had no idea what to do. Bryan conversed with our guide in Spanish and explained that I didn't understand what to do--I think that helped a little. We ended up going on the little horse excursion twice. The second time the guide gave me a nicer horse and
actually some instruction on how to guide the horse.

Mindy and our horse guide.

What a RELAXING day on the beach--thanks Mazatlan!

Our first port--Cabbo San Lucas

Cabbo--here we come!

Apparently, Cabbo is known for it's rough waves. And I woke up to a bit of sea-sickness, not feeling so good went to REALLY not feeling so good and then I threw-up...and after that I felt much better :)

At this port, we got to ride little boats out to the dock,
they were a bit rocky to say the least--at least I didn't have any food left in me.
Due to rough waves, our excursion to go kayaking and snorkeling got canceled--so we spent the day at the beach instead, which turned out to be WONDERFUL!

Yes! I'm on the Beach.
The beach was so nice and WARM and beautiful,
I loved it!

We had a lot of fun riding the waves.

Yep, That's our boat!--The Norwegian Star.

(Mindy, Bryan)

We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe to dry off,
and show off our first souvenir, that sweet looking hat I'm wearing
--it's for Sam.

Goodbye Cabbo! Thanks for the great swim!

I thought the morning waves at Cabbo were rough--they were nothing compared to the rocky waves we got that night. You could literally watch the boat rock back and forth and everyone on board looked sick. Bryan and I finally took some motion sickness pills and went to bed. But that was the worst of it...it was smooth sailing from then on.

CRUISING

Yes! Bryan and I had the WONDERFUL opportunity of going on a vacation with just the two of us for SEVEN days!! This being made possible by my parents for being so willing to watch our kids for us--what an incredibly nice thing for my parents to do. We went on a 7-day Mexican Riveria Cruise and it was simply Heaven! And yes, our kid free cruise was WONDERFUL, FABULOUS...much needed, much appreciated...LOVED IT! Thanks so much to my mom and dad for watching our kids!!

We're actually here, on a cruise, just the two of us!
What a dream!

We're cruising now!
(Mindy)

The first 2 days were complete relaxation on the ship.
Games, movies, shows, and the best food!
This is the way to travel!

Shuffle board was fun--even though Bryan won most the time.
(Mindy)

Ahh, the sunsets and sunrises were AMAZING,
one of my favorite parts.
This was the first sunset.


Our room was GREAT! Every night they'd leave
folded towels in the shapes of animals on our bed.
Our first night we got a bunny--must have been
in honor of Oreo, Kelsi's bunny.

Welcome Fall!