Mexican Riviera Cruise - Part 2

Our second port day was on Wednesday in Puerto Vallarta. Before departing on this cruise, we had been unsure whether we would do any excursions. After reading the descriptions of the whale watching tours, I was hooked and wanted to see some whales. I went to the excursion desk and asked which whale tour would be the most likely to fulfill my wish to see whales. The lady suggested the Whales, Dolphin & Snorkeling tour in Puerto Vallarta.

Getting off the ship was a confusing experience. Our tickets said we were to be on the pier at 9 am. They didn't open the doors until 9 and the line was very long. People like us with excursions were not given priority, and so we were in a long line with everyone else. We did eventually get off and walked up and down the pier looking for our tour. There was a wonderful mariachi band playing on the pier.

 We couldn't find anyone with a sign for our tour, so ended up finding someone from our tour company. There was confusion as to which tour we were supposed to be on, and they put us on the wild dolphin and snorkeling tour. No mention of whales on the sign. Not a good start. We took a catamaran for an hour ride to the Marietas Islands, which are a national park of Mexico. Our first adventure was to swim a good distance to a hidden beach. We had to swim through a cave to get to the hidden beach. It was a very awesome location, but the description of the tour said we would sail to the beach, not swim there. In fact, quite a few people didn't go to the hidden beach because they didn't feel they were strong enough swimmers.

Next was snorkeling. Kevin had had enough of the salt water, so I went snorkeling without him. We had to get into a smaller boat (not easy) and jump off at the snorkeling area. The snorkeling area was up against the cliffs of the island, so I was a bit worried about getting pushed into the rocks by the waves. It was okay, but the water was somewhat murky. I saw lots of great fish, but I wish the water would have been clearer. I also saw a moray eel. That was cool!

Once back on the boat, we had a good lunch. They drove us slowly along the outskirts of the island to show us some of the 92 species of birds that live there. The person giving the information seemed quite knowledgeable. He gave the information in Spanish and English. I only understood about half of what he said in English. It was very interesting, but I wish I could have understood more.

Lots of birds make their nests at the top of the island among the spiky plants that are part of the pineapple family. The plants protect the nests.

These were blue footed booby birds. I think he said they mate for life and are only found along the Pacific coast of South American countries. Their feet are the most amazing blue color.

This is a grey heron that came out of the crevice to see us.

These are yellow footed boobies.

There was quite a large colony of them living on the sides of the cliffs. Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them, so you can see better. The colony of yellow footed boobies is right in the middle of the picture below.

Here's a picture of the island as we were pulling away.

This brown footed booby flew along the side and the front of our boat for a long time. It was fun watching him soar around.

The hour long trip back to the port was quite uneventful. We saw three dolphins for about 10 seconds. Much of the time back, the crew did a song and dance number to entertain us. As they were busy with that, I don't think they were looking for whales. Of course, we didn't see a single whale, let alone the dancing and singing whales advertised in the excursion brochure. One of the crew members told me that they usually start seeing the whales in November, but this year they had seen very few so far. So, although there were some fun parts of the excursion, it was quite a disappointment as it was not at all as advertised. This is the second time we've been misled by an excursion description through Carnival.

Here's a view of Puerto Vallarta on our way back. As you can see it was quite overcast, but at least it was warm.

Here's the view of the Puerto Vallarta dock area from the top deck of the ship. That is a Walmart on the left with very nice blue covered parking, next on the right is a Sam's Club, and the large building on the far right is a casino. Quite the touristy place. Some of the crew members did mention that they like the stop here because they can walk off the ship to Walmart and stock up on personal supplies.

Thursday and Friday were sea days. It was very windy both days and also cloudy part of each day. The top decks were closed a good part of the time due to the wind. We hung out at a table on the Lido deck which is partially covered and has large windows that you can close. I had a jacket on the whole time, and it was okay. Certainly not warm, but tolerable. We played cribbage, enjoyed the music and read our books.

The last day they had a chocolate extravaganza at the buffet. On the top counters they had several carved watermelons. Pretty amazing.

On Friday I attended the towel folding presentation. Do you like my creation?

We had a beautiful sunset on Friday. Not many of those on this trip.

We got off the ship on Saturday morning. They had a new to us procedure this time where you could select a self-assist departure. This meant you took your own bags off the ship, and you got to debark before the people who had their bags taken off the ship for them. We chose the self-assist option and were supposed to be off between 9:30 and 9:45 am. If we had them take our bags off, the time would have been 11:15 am. We ended up getting off an hour later than scheduled, but at least it was earlier by taking our own bags.

Our truck was right where we left it at the hotel with no scratches or dings. That was a relief. We drove back to Yuma on Saturday via a route that took up past the Salton Sea. I had heard and read about this interesting place and wanted to see it. I'll write another blog about that little adventure in a few days.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Mexican Rivera Cruise–Part 1

I’m going to write two blog posts about our cruise, so they don’t get too long.

First I’ll start by stating that we had a good time, but it wasn’t great. Part of that was due to the weather. This is our second cruise in the Pacific Ocean, and both times the at sea days were mostly cool, cloudy and windy. Also, the Carnival Miracle is one of their smaller, older ships, and there just wasn’t the level of enthusiasm by the crew that we’ve experienced on the larger ships. Everything was adequate, but not great.

This is the first time we’ve cruised from the port in Long Beach, California. The terminal is small and doesn’t have seating. We ended up standing outside for over an hour before we were able to board. Good thing it was a nice day. Here’s our first glimpse of our ship.

Our first day, Sunday, we explored the ship and had dinner in the dining room. Here’s the token pirate picture at dinner.

One of our bags never made it to our cabin, but we retrieved it from guest services. I get a kick out of the towel animals in your cabin each night. This was a new one for us; I think it is a bat.

As we walked by the shops on board, they were giving away raffle tickets. We went back later for the raffle, and I actually won. I’m not usually very lucky, so that was cool. It was a beach bag with a matching coin purse, a man’s watch, a necktie, an evening purse, some bracelets and a sun hat. Other than the bag and watch, it’s not stuff we need, so our kids may be getting some goodies if they want them.

On Monday we found a table on the Lido Deck. It was mostly cloudy and windy. As you can see in the picture, I’m wearing a coat. I signed up for the Mixologist competition. I won this on the last cruise we were on. I think I get picked because most of the people who sign up are younger or men. I think I’m the representative for older women. I was third this time. My concoction was rum, creme de cocoa, peach schnapps, and pineapple juice. It wasn’t sweet enough, but I got two free drinks, so I was happy.

Monday night was also the Captain’s Dinner. On previous cruises, there was an hour of free drinks and hors d’oeuvres on that night. This year they gave you a $1 discount on drinks at the bar before dinner. That was a disappointment. Here we are at dinner that night.

On Tuesday we were at Cabo San Lucas. This was a tender port, which means the ship did not dock directly at the pier. Instead, small boats tendered passengers to the pier. If you purchased an excursion through Carnival, you were first off the ship at 9 am. If not, you had to get a tender number. The line was super long for this, so we decided to eat breakfast first. By the time we got a number, we were number 48 which meant we didn’t get off the ship until 12:30 pm. We had to be back by 3:15, so it was hardly worth getting off.

The only reason we got off was because we had never been here before, and I wanted to at least take a look around. Also, it was the nicest day of the trip, sunny and warm.
There were lots of small shops and restaurants along the pier. I can’t begin to count the number of times we were approached to buy tours, cigars, and all kinds of junk. Pretty overwhelming.I did get a kick out of the Mexican ATM machines.

Couldn’t resist a picture with Poncho Villa. Based on how shiny his knees were, it must be good luck to rub them.

No visit to Mexico is complete without a margarita, so we had to stop at Senor Frog’s to quench our thirst. This picture is for Korey so he can see we are just as cool as he is when cruising :) We weren’t all that impressed. The place was very busy, the drinks were more expensive than other bars in the area, and the waiter hit me in the head with a chair he was moving. Ouch! I should have asked for a free drink after that.

Nice view of our ship from the pier.

We left port just as the sun was setting.

One of the tours that was heavily advertised was the Arch of Cabo San Lucas. Good thing we didn’t pay for that tour, as we got a beautiful view of it from the deck of the ship.

Lots of boats out enjoying the sunset.

Well, that’s enough for this post. I’ll be posting part two in the next few days. Tomorrow we’re going to Mexico with friends (because we haven’t been in Mexico enough lately). I’m planning on getting a new pair of glasses and some Mexican Prilosec for our boys.

By the way, I downloaded Open Live Writer after reading on other blogs that it worked well for them. I did a test post without pictures, and it worked great. So, I wrote this entire post and then it wouldn't publish. I did some research and changed some options, but it still wouldn't work. Super frustrating. So, I had to rewrite the post in blogger. I just don't like how the pictures turn out in blogger, and how some of the spacing is off.


Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Borrego Springs, California

Our cruise will be leaving from the port in Long Beach, California tomorrow. The drive from Yuma is about five hours, so I decided to investigate hotels with park and cruise rates when I booked the trip.

I found a Quality Inn in Long Beach for $140 which included tonight’s stay plus parking for the seven days we’ll be gone and shuttle service to the port. Parking at the port is about $20 a day, so we decided to leave a day early just in case we would encounter any problems on the way.

The hotel is fine, although the first room they gave us had ants crawling on the wall. Our second room is good. The parking lot is not very big, and the spots are quite narrow. We have our full size pickup truck. Kevin did a great job squeezing it into a spot, but I sure hope we don’t come back to find it is all banged up. Hopefully, before we leave tomorrow many of the cars will be gone, and he can find an end spot to park in while we’re gone.

Since we left a day early, I decided we should drive to Long Beach via Borrego Springs. I had read about large metal sculptures in the desert, and I wanted to see them.

Our first stop was the visitor center where a very nice lady gave us a map. She also suggested stopping at the visitor center at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. We saw these fan palm trees. I had no idea they looked so bushy if they aren’t trimmed.

We watched an informative movie about the seasons of the desert. I was excited to hear that the park had 600 big horn sheep. Since we’ve been fulltiming, I’ve been in search of the elusive big horn sheep. A ranger told us that people were reporting seeing them on one of the trails, Unfortunately, it was a three mile hike, and my foot was hurting, plus we didn’t really have the time, so we didn’t do the hike. I did see these guys on display in the museum.

There are over 130 life size metal sculptures in the desert landscape surrounding the city of Borrego Springs. The sculptures were commissioned by Dennis Avery (his family owns the Avery Company that make labels and office supplies) who owns quite a bit of land in the area. The artist is Ricardo Breceda. There are all kinds of mythical and prehistoric creatures.




My favorite was the 350 foot serpent. The two tale sections actually are across the road.

Most of the sculptures were life size including horses, an elephant, camels, turtles and quite a few others. I also liked the dinosaurs. It’s amazing how he made the metal look like scales and fur.

I did see some big horn sheep, but they weren’t exactly the ones I was looking for.

We left Borrego Springs and headed west on a road that went over the mountains with gorgeous views. There are way more mountains and desert in California than I ever imagined.

The closer we got to Long Beach, the worse the traffic got. I’m sure glad we don’t have to deal with the traffic on a regular basis. They must have a law that allows motorcycles to drive between cars in the lanes. The first time a motorcycle came zipping between us and the car in the next lane was quite unnerving.

After checking into the hotel, we headed to the ocean. We took a nice long walk along the beach and watched the sunset.

Supper was at Del Taco, a new fast food restaurant for us. Can’t say I was all that impressed. I doubt we’ll eat there again.

Today was a fun day. We’re looking forward to several more on the upcoming cruise. We’re going to take a break from the internet while we’re gone, so see you when we get back.

After writing this entire post with all the pictures in LiveWriter, it wouldn't post to Blogger. I've been using LiveWriter for years, and really like it. I'll be really bummed if it doesn't work anymore. After redoing the post in Blogger, I remember why I don't like creating posts there. The spacing is off, but I'm done messing with it.


Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Happy Birthday Kevin

Today is Kevin’s birthday, and not just any birthday. I can now call him an old man as he is turning 60. I still have a few years to go before I join him. He is now eligible for more senior discounts, but still has to wait two years for that wonderful national parks senior pass.

We’ll be celebrating by playing some pickleball and hosting an afternoon gathering with friends. Snacks and beverages will be served, and I’m sure we’ll have a great time.

The bigger celebration begins on Saturday when we drive to Long Beach, California. On Sunday we board the Carnival Miracle for a six day cruise that will take us to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas.

We’ve been keeping quite busy. Here’s a picture of the group we celebrated Thanksgiving with. We had a delicious potluck supper outside on a beautiful sunny day. Brad and Martha are on the left, and John and Janie are on the right. Kevin and I are in the middle.

Last week there was a free pickle ball clinic with a gentleman who is a gold medal winner on the senior circuit. Bet you didn’t know there was such a thing. We learned a lot. Here’s a picture of Wanda, Dick and myself practicing dinking. We are in the back row facing the camera.

We’ve been on two hikes with the hiking group here at the resort. I’m happy to report I survived both hikes without injury. These hikes were rated moderate which means we hiked around in the desert including climbing some hills with loose rocks and gravel. I took my time and was careful to not slip and fall.

On top of some of the hills, people have placed crosses and memorials. Some people have even had their ashes buried up there. This is the marker of one grave where ashes are buried. It’s hard to see, but the dates show that Heath was only 26 years old.

Here we are with Martha, Janie, myself, Kevin and Brad near the end of the first hike.

The second hike took us to an abandoned gold mine in the hills. Just a big hole in the ground. Here we are next to the hole.

On Tuesday we went to downtown Yuma for a street market and lunch at the Prison Hill Brewery with John and Janie. Another beautiful day with good food, beer and friendship.

Last night we attended a program at Community Christian Church in Yuma called The Living Christmas Tree. The tree is a huge lit structure which can hold up to 100 choir members, consists of 22,000 lights and takes the church volunteers about a month to set up.

The choir had 39 members and did a good job. I think if there had been more voices, it would have been even better. The pastor said there are only a handful of these living trees in the country. During the program the lights are synchronized to the music and add another dimension to the singing.

Yesterday the resort had an open house with free hot dogs and beverages and entertainment. The park models were open, and if you toured them you got raffle tickets. We toured a few with Dick and Wanda and then went to the drawing. They gave away 25 prizes. One of the names called was Evelyn, but it was a different last name. Not too often I run across another Evelyn. The grand prize was a 40” TV. Our friend Dick was the winner. Way to go, Dick!!

As you can see, we’ve been quite busy enjoying the great weather, golfing, hiking, playing pickle ball and enjoying the company of great friends.

Just a reminder that if you will be doing any holiday shopping on Amazon, please keep in mind that if you click on the “go” button in the Amazon box at the top right of this page, you will be taken to the Amazon site to shop, and we will earn a little credit. We appreciate your support!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Happy Thanksgiving

Kevin and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. We are grateful for each other, our health, our family and our friends. It’s hard to believe we are in our sixth year of the fulltime RV lifestyle. We couldn’t be happier with that decision, and are so thankful we were able to make that choice.

We continue to enjoy our time in Yuma. The weather over the last two weeks has been just about perfect with highs around 80 degrees and sunny, sunny, sunny. We’ve made the most of it enjoying lots of time outside walking, biking, playing golf and pickleball, swimming and enjoying some happy hours.

Last Saturday the resort hosted Thanksgiving dinner for everyone staying here. They provided the turkey and gravy and everyone brought a dish to pass at their table. We had a nice assortment of dishes at our table, and I was stuffed when all was said and done. Here we are with John and Janie after we filled our tummies.

We’ve been golfing once or twice a week. Here’s a picture of our friend Martha and myself last week. It was such a beautiful day.

The other day we played 18 holes with Brad and Martha at a par 3 course run by the City of Yuma. It was fun to practice our short game. We walked all 18 holes and were done in about 2 hours. This roadrunner was on the tee box of one of the holes. It was not at all afraid of us. We were able to get quite close and get a good look at it. Very cool!

Thanks to Brad and Martha for sharing their pictures with me. I managed to forget my camera lots of the time.

I will miss spending Thanksgiving with our kids today. We’ll talk with them on the phone, and that will help. Our son Eric was very lucky to get a ticket to tonight’s Packer game, so we wouldn’t have been seeing him. Brett Favre’s number is being retired at tonight’s game, so that will be very awesome for Eric to experience.

We will be enjoying Thanksgiving with good friends John and Jane and Brad and Martha. We’re having a potluck dinner this afternoon. It has become cooler, so today will only be in the high 60s, but with the sun shining, we should be able to eat outside.

So, enjoy your Thanksgiving with loved ones, don’t eat too much, don’t shop too much tomorrow, and enjoy time off of work!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Having Fun

We’ve been staying busy and really enjoying all the activities offered at Fortuna de Oro and the surrounding area. Our routine is to walk or bike most every morning. We play pickleball with John and Janie a few times a week and have been golfing on Sunday mornings.

On Wednesday we went golfing with a couple we’ve met here named Brad and Martha. They’re originally from northern California, but sold their house, and are now looking to buy a house in Yuma. In the meantime, they are staying a few sites from us in their motorhome. We actually met them here last year on some of the hikes we did with the hiking club.

Las Barrancas Golf Course is just a few miles from the resort. It was a beautiful setting with palm trees, ponds and mountains. They offer an afternoon special for $20 for 18 holes with a cart. I usually only play 9 holes, so I skipped some holes on the back 9. The greens on the course were very large and challenging.

As we got into our cart, I noticed this sign above us. I’ve never been to a course where spitting sunflower seeds is a problem. Who would seriously think it is okay to be spitting anything on the green. Some people!!

Kevin and Brad getting ready to tee off on one of the holes.

Another scenic hole.

The 11th green was up a hill and the entire green was slanted down. A very difficult hole. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see two guys at the bottom right to get a better picture of just how high the green was.

It was a beautiful day for a round of golf, and we had a very enjoyable time. I think the course was a bit too challenging for me, so we’ll probably stick to playing at our resort. It’s fairly easy; just my style.

On Thursday we participated in a round robin pickleball event. Thirty-two people participated. You played six games with different people each time, and your score was recorded after each game. The top four men and women played a championship game. If there had been a booby prize, I would have been the winner. Oh well. It was still fun, and we got to see some really good players.

After all that pickleball in the morning, we needed to attend happy hour for some relaxation in the afternoon. Every weekday the resort sponsors happy hour at the pool from 3 to 5 pm. There is live entertainment and beers are only $2. One of the bands is called Wild Ride, and we really enjoy listening to them. The lady is a great singer. I swam for about half an hour, while Kevin, John and Janie enjoyed the sun, music and beer. I still had plenty of time to enjoy some happy hour as well.

Yesterday we attended a hiking club meeting. The hikes will begin at the end of this month when it is cooler and the snakes are hibernating. We plan to do some of the hikes, but not the mountain climbing ones. I don’t want a repeat of last year where I sprained my ankle.

After the meeting, we played shuffleboard with Brad and Martha and Janie and John. Janie and John had not played before, but caught on very quickly. Here are the guys taking it very seriously. Not really; we had aiming fluid with us, which made it much more fun!

As you can see, it was another gorgeous day. The weather has been a bit cooler at times this year than last, but we’ve had some fantastic days in between.

I’ve found a little bit of time to do some quilting. My latest completed project is a baby quilt. It’s the first time I’ve worked with flannel which was a little different than regular cotton quilting fabric. I’m happy with the finished result. This one will either go to Cathryn to give to friends who are having a baby or to the quilt auction at Korey’s camp.

This afternoon is the turkey dinner sponsored by the resort. There were sign up sheets at the activity office for tables of 20 people. The resort supplies the turkey and gravy and everyone else at the table brings a dish to pass. I think there are 25 tables. It should be a good time with plenty of delicious food.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!