Cruise - March 2009

In March, Jana and Marc went on a cruise of the Mexican Riviera and left the boys with Omi and Opi in Colorado Springs. Before boarding the ship, we spent a few days with the Kulba Family. The Nics were also nearby for the weekend and joined us for lunch. As a pre-celebration to Marc's birthday, Jana and Vicky had organized a murder mystery dinner. It was great fun.

On a Sunday morning, we boarded the Mariner of the Seas. Our first stop was in Cabo San Lucas. We had been to Cabo a few times before, so we decided to do something different than sightseeing and went on a 2-hour discover sailing lesson. We were in a 24-foot sail boat with an instructor who showed us the basics and took us out into the bay for a nice spin. Afterwards we strolled through the harbor a little and then made it back to the ship for some on-board and evening entertainment.

The second stop was in Mazatlan. There we chose to go zip-lining. The group was fairly large, but the operation had 9 zip lines, so it was very nicely spread out. We traveled up the mountain in specialized, Swiss-military trucks. From there we traveled from platform to platform on the lines, high above bushes and canyons. It was a lot of fun.

At the end of the excursion, we visited a working Tequila factory. It was interesting to see how they make Tequila and to sample a few of the different products. We ended the day with a nice dinner at the on-board Italian restaurant and were able to watch the sunset.

Our third and final stop was in Puerto Vallarta. In the morning, we took a leisurely tour of the city. In the afternoon, we traveled on a bus for quite a distance to go horseback riding in canyons and river beds of the hinterland. The horse ranch also treated us to dinner and a nice performance of lasso'ing, a boy singing on a donkey and the horse training they do.

A fun part of the cruise experience is returning to your room at the end of the day and seeing what the attendant has been able to create with a towel. On our last day at see, it was Marc's actual 40th birthday (although he appreciated being celebrated a few times, once on this trip and then our big Europe trip in September). To prove that even the big 4-0 does not scare him, Marc decided to climb the rock wall on the back of the ship.