We're Baaaack! (From a much needed vacation!)

Well, the blog has been quiet lately due to the fact that we have been rushing around getting ready for a big vacation! We just got home late Friday night from an 8-day Cruise to the Mexican Riviera on Norwegian Cruise Lines, The Norwegian Star! We went with 6 other friends and had a smashing time (as our Captain mentioned daily)! All I can say is "Wow!" (and then yawn)! We took the trip to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary- we had not been on a cruise since our honeymoon!

We left Doo-Dah early on the 29th of November for a flight in Denver connecting us to LAX to spend the night, just in case of layovers, etc. - we did NOT want to miss that boat on the 30th! They wait for no one!

After being de-iced at the gate here at home in a sleet that led to 8 inches of snow later in the day, we landed in snowy and icy conditions in Denver's airport. We had plenty of time to make our connecting flight to LAX! We spent the night at a "quaint" little hotel that barely had a one star rating! Oh well, it was an interesting night and all I know is that I don't much care for Los Angeles. We like to live adventurously I guess. We were just happy to get away from the cold and none too soon! But dinner and breakfast at a local diner was fabulous!

Then off to the dock the next day to board the boat. A swift and painless process by registering early online! I can't belive they run 2000 people through in such short time!
The boat was absolutely beautiful! Lots of things on board to see and do. Our first 2 days at Sea were spent learning our way around and finding out which hang outs we liked best, browsing for treasures in the shops, and napping on our private balcony :) Not to mention drooling over the dishy crew on board! Some of the shows at night were better than others, my favorite were comedians "The Black Street Boys" and the "Jean Ann Ryan Company" muscicals and on the last night "Sharkbait", 2 former Ringling Brothers Circus clowns- very talented guys!

But anyways, first stop was Aculpulco where we did some fabulous snorkeling and hiking on a nearby island, I got a massage on the beach and started my journey of a great sunburn. The snorkeling was quite fun once I got my sea legs underneath me and just relaxed. We saw puffer fish, needle fish, and lots of other kinds of fish that I have no idea what they were other than cute and beautiful! I almost forgot- that night we did some shopping (yeah!) and went to see the infamous Aculpulco Cliff Divers! Those guys are NUTS! Yes, I have video, but I have to edit weddings now and not home video, sorry! Go see them sometime, these guys deserve a medal of honor!

Second stop was Zihuantanejo/Ixtapa where we had to tender to the dock from the boat in the Star's lifeboats, very fun. Once on shore we met up with a group from the boat and took a shore excursion swimming with the dolphins in Ixtapa at Definiti Ixtapa! This was one of the highlights of my trip as I've always wanted to get up close and personal with the dolphins! Even Barry had a good time! We spent nearly an hour in the water with them. Our group of 20 was split in half and each group spent time with 2 of them swimming and posing for pictures, getting a belly tow and learning the "foot push" (being propelled in the water by two dolphins pushing their nose only against the bottoms of your feet!) It really gives you a new appreciation of the power not only the dolphins have, but what the killer whales at places such as Sea World must be like to work with!

Next stop was Puerto Vallarta where we got to do more snorkeling near some huge rocks off the coastline. We tendered out and we donned our gear and jumped into the water with tons of fish surrounding us munching up bread the water taxi drivers threw out of the boat to attract the fish. After I grabbed a piece to try and "feed" them, one came at me and snatched it right out of my hand! OUCH! I didn't know that some fish had teeth! I'll know better next time! (I'm healing nicely) This was an awesome spot where some friends of ours pointed out more types of brightly colored fish and a STINGRAY! He was HUGE! Gorgeous! The only thing running through my mind was Steve Irwin! But he was swimming away from us near the bottom and posed no threat, everyone left him alone and I was in hog-heaven with the critters, more needlefish, schools of fish this time that were awesome to just watch move with the currents and a manta ray! Time flew by fast and we were off to do some shopping of course and hit the boat and head out that night to our last stop, Cabo San Lucas!

Cabo by far was the most beautiful stop, fittingly so, our cab driver told us it was the most expensive place in Mexico to live (just my luck- I need to book LOTS more weddings to retire there!). So again we tendered to shore, found a water taxi and headed to heavenly snorkel-land! We spent time right by the famous rock arch and the sea lions! It was like swimming in an aquarium (this just kept getting better and better!) TONS of puffer fish, angel fish, starfish, BUPF (big unknown pretty fish) and I found myself wanting to follow the creatures so bad I kept going under and getting my snorkel full of water! I don't know how to free dive, and can't hold my breath long, so decided it was time to take Scuba Diving lessons here at home somewhere and go back! It really was awesome!

The last day at sea headed home was nice just to repack all the dirty clothes and all the junk we bought (the picture below is Barry's Diving Watch manual!) and nap and recoup before spending the whole following day in customs and immigration, and the LAX airport with a delayed flight. So delayed I have never sprinted so fast to our connecting flight in Denver that we had just under ten minutes to catch on a separte concourse and the opposite end! People must have thought we were nuts busting through there! But we made it and it was nice to be home later Friday night. The weather wasn't terrible considering, but a rude awakening to what we were used to the past week!

Enjoy the photos, I couldn't decide which ones to post, I only had 574 to choose from! (Literally, don't laugh- we are videographer/photographer types remember?) 4 hours of video that will sit to be edited about a year from now :)

Well, that's the cliff notes campers and bloggerheads, there was lots more but it would never fit, plus I have to go edit many of your weddings! So we'll just have to visit with you all some day about it. Take care and it's good to be home to talk with you all! Steph