MEXICAN RIVIERA ADVENTURE

Oh my! Do I have an adventure to share with all of you! I do, indeed!

Bret and Heidi invited me to go on a cruise with them. I thought about it for awhile and I had a dozen reasons why I shouldn't go. I had always wanted to go on a cruise but Jack said he didn't think it would be much fun; that the ships are too big; that there are too many people on them; that it would be too crowded, etc., so we didn't go on a cruise. I looked at my future options of going on a cruise; I decided that the older I get the less likely I'd be able to go and since, unfortunately, I'm not getting any younger I just took the plunge and said I'd go.

Friday morning, February 6th, Tal took me to Richfield to meet Bret and Heidi. They had come to Richfield the night before and stayed in a hotel so we could leave by 8:30 a.m. to drive to Long Beach, California. It had taken me two days to pack. I couldn't decide what to take to wear. Finally, I just put some clothes into my bags and decided if they weren't right it didn't matter. The chances I will see any of those people again (except Bret, Heidi and Aspen) are fairly slim. As it turned out, I guess what I took was okay. I experienced a lot of "firsts" on the trip. I had never eaten at an "In and Out Burger." Now I have. I couldn't believe how good the food was and how long the lines were. It was fun and tasty. On this trip no one yelled at me if I had to stop to go to the restroom. It was great! Friday night we stayed at a hotel in Carson (close to Long Beach) and we had all day Saturday to look around.

I believe I've told you that Jack and I lived in an apartment in Newport Beach, California, for about five weeks beforre he got his orders to go to Korea. Bret and Heidi had never seen where that apartment was and they thought it would be neat to find it if I could remember where it is. I thought I remembered Balboa Boulevard but I had long-since forgotten the number so we "went looking." We drove and drove (south) and I just did not see it. I began to wonder whether I would recognize it if I did see it. Finally, after I thought we must surely have passed it, I said, "I just don't know whether---Oh, there it is!" Bret turned the corner; we found a parking place and went back to take a look. Heidi took pictures and then we walked the short distance to the beach. Wow! The beach has changed. Now, there is a six-foot wide sidewalk along the edge of the beach where people can run, walk, ride bicycles, skateboard, etc. I believe the tide was out so it was about 300+ feet to the ocean. Bret, Heidi and Aspen walked to the ocean. I sat on a block wall and people-watched. There are nice restrooms strategically placed on the beach, which weren't there when we lived there. You have to remember, we lived in Newport Beach in November and December, 1951. (By the way, we lived in apartment No. 5, back in the corner on the right.)

We did some sightseeing the rest of the day. We saw a big IKEA store. Bret asked whether I'd ever been in an IKEA. I hadn't, so we stopped and went inside. Oh, my goodness! I had heard about IKEA and I'd seen advertising but I could never have imagined what it was really like. We went through the whole store. When we got to the china section I decided I'd go home, throw out all my old tableware and start over. There are some exceptionally new and exciting things available now. However, when I returned home I thought better of it. I guess I'll use what I have. Anyway, going through the store was certainly an eye-opener and a lot of fun. I'm sure it wasn't much fun for Bret. He pushed me in a wheelchair. I'd have never made it if I had tried to walk.

We decided to eat dinner at an Outback Restaurant. I'd never eaten there before so Bret and Heidi decided I should have that pleasure. It was really hard to choose what to order but when I finally decided, that was some kind of good food!

Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast and then got ready to board the ship. We were to begin boarding at 11:00 a.m. Bret has VIP privileges so all we had to do was go to a room, show them our credentials (passport, etc.) and go aboard. The dock workers took everyone's luggage to the ship. We had tags with our assigned room numbers on the luggage and when we got to the ship our luggage was waiting outside our doors.

The ship we boarded was the "Carnival Pride." It is one of their smaller cruise ships but even so, it was enormous. With as much walking as you have to do on a cruise ship, I'm glad we didn't go on one of the biggest ships. Every time we turned around, someone was taking our picture. They put the pictures on big display boards so we could decide whether we wanted any of them. After we found our rooms we went to lunch. There were all kinds of foods we could choose at several buffet counters. It was really fun. We both had a balcony with our room and that was really nice. I don't remember what time the ship sailed but the movement of the ship was quite wonderful. I knew it would rock me to sleep at night and I liked that. That night at dinner (our assigned dinner time was 8:15 p.m. every evening and our assigned table was 142) I began my quest to try as much on the menu, that I had never tasted, as I possibly could. I wish I could remember everything on the menu because I ordered several things the first night I had never tasted. However, I don't want to bore you with every little detail so I will just hit the high points. We could order two or three appetizers; we could combine a couple of entree's and order two or three desserts if we thought we could eat that much. I knew I couldn't so I had to make decisions (the menu was different every day).

There were wonderful soups, seafood and other things for appetizers. Their entree's always listed red meat, seafood, chicken and pork plus a couple of vegetarian options. I think I'm forgetting something but it escapes me at the moment. Sometimes it was difficult to choose because everything sounded so delicious.

The first night out Creme Brulee was on the menu. I had never had an opportunity to eat Creme Brulee so I, of course, chose that for my dessert. Oh, my goodness, it was so wonderful! I knew, for sure, I had died and gone to heaven. If we eat in Heaven, Creme Brulee will be there! It was so delicious I just closed my eyes and enjoyed the taste and feel of it in my mouth. My cute waiter saw me salivating over my dessert. He leaned down by my ear and said, "I have another one. I will bring it to you." At that point I was absolutely certain I was in heaven. I ordered Tilapia for my entree. Jack had always said Tilapia is a "soft" fish and "no good." Frankly, I doubt he had ever tasted it but inasmuch as he was an "authority" on everything, he had to make a negative comment to dissuade me from ordering any. I can't imagine why it mattered to him what I ate. Frankly, I can't imagine why I caved in and listened to him and I can't imagine why I didn't just order what I wanted. As it turned out, I loved the Tilapia. Mercy me! He has missed out on a lot of really good food because he was afraid to try new foods.

Monday, February 9th the moon was full. Obviously, Sunday, February 8th it was almost full. My room was on the side of the ship where I could watch the moon rise. What a gorgeous sight! That was incredible! My first cruise and I get a full moon! Monday and Tuesday we were "at sea" so we just did fun things on the ship. They have activities for the kids, as well, and Aspen had lots of fun doing kids things. Of course, every day, mealtimes were a new adventure. I did sample a lot of dishes I had never tasted before. It was a delightful experience.

Each night when we returned to our rooms, there was a darling little "animal" on our beds. They were made with a couple of white towels with some little sticky dots for eyes and nose. We had dogs, seals, rabbits, fish, elephants---I wish I could remember all of them. Five of the seven nights we were aboard the ship I had two "animals" on my bed. They were so cute I wanted to bring all of them home with me. However, I didn't want to be charged for the towels. They would have charged me $22.00 for each towel---a little pricey for a souvenir that may have fallen apart if I was unable to pack it properly. I didn't bring any home but Heidi took pictures of some of them so I can enjoy looking at them whenever I feel the urge.

Wednesday we docked at Puerto Vallarta. Thursday we headed north and docked at Mazatlan and Friday we were at Cabo San Lucas. At each Port, Bret hired a van with a driver to take us on a tour of the area. I couldn't believe how different each City was. In my mind, I had pictured all three Port Cities as being similar. How wrong I was! The drivers told us a lot of information and history about each City and, of course, we were offered the opportunity to stop and shop. We didn't do much shopping but we did a lot of browsing. It was interesting and fun. In Puerto Vallarta we visited an ancient Cathedral. It was lovely. We also saw where the movie "Night of the Iguana" was made and many other delightful sights and sounds. The trees, flowers, birds and butterflies were incredibly beautiful---even magnificent. There was only one thing that disturbed me. It has always been my experience when I see an eight-sided sign at a road crossing, I know I should stop, look both ways and proceed with caution. Apparently it is an option in Mexico. Those van drivers didn't even notice the stop signs. They just plowed forward. Fortunately, we didn't have an accident in any of the three cities. We counted ourselves lucky. Otherwise, each day was a fun day.

(Bret asked the van driver in Puerta Vallarta whether the economic problems occurring in the United States were affecting Mexico. The driver's response was: "If the United States sneezes, Mexico gets pneumonia.")

Saturday was another day at sea and it had its own bundle of firsts for me. I had heard a lot about escargot but had never been in a position to taste it. It wasn't that I was dying to taste it but I was curious. I have a great curiosity about food---most food, that is. There are things that I have no desire to try: worms, grasshoppers, crickets, tarantulas, etc. In my opinion, only publicity seekers eat things like that unless they are starving. So, back to the escargot! I know escargot is a fancy name for snails and what I know about snails was that they leave a slimy trail. As a rule, I don't do slimy. Saturday night at dinner, escargot was on the appetizer menu. I wasn't sure I wanted a whole appetizer but Bret said he was going to order escargot and that he would share with me. The escargot came bathed in lots of garlic butter. I love garlic butter so I figured the escargot couldn't be all bad. I had heard people say eating escargot is like eating a piece of rubber bathed in garlic butter sauce. I used a spoon so I could get plenty of the garlic butter sauce. It wasn't so bad. It didn't taste like rubber and it was far more tender than a piece of rubber. I'm not sure I'd ever order en entire appetizer for myself but if someone else ordered and wanted to share, I'd eat one again.

There was a nice man sitting at our table. I had chatted with him on several occasions. He was very solicitous, kind and interesting. He had ordered Ahi (tuna) tartar for his appetizer. He had noticed I was sampling new foods at every meal. After I had eaten the escargot he asked if I'd ever eaten Ahi tartar. I told him I hadn't so he asked if I would like to sample his appetizer. I know "tartar" means "raw" so I was just a tad reluctant. As I've mentioned, I don't do slimy, and I thought raw fish might be a little slimy but he was so sweet, cute and persuasive I decided to give it a try. For those of you who do not know---with anything "tartar" the chef chops the meat very fine---almost as though it has gone through a meat grinder---they season it and mold it into small cubes---maybe 3/4"---at least that's how the Ahi tartar was served. There was a small dollop of white sauce on top and a small sprinkling of caviar on top of the sauce. I suggested I cut off a small piece but he insisted that I should pop the whole thing in my mouth. I did and lived to tell the story. It isn't something I'd order for myself but it wasn't slimy and actually didn't taste too badly.

For my entree' on Saturday night I ordered veal. How could I live to be 75 years old and never have eated veal? The reason, of course, was Jack. Many times he mentioned how much he disliked veal so I never bought any to cook at home. We rarely ate at restaurants that might have served veal. I enjoyed the veal and will undoubtedly eat it again in the future.

When we left Long Beach to travel south to Puerta Vallarta the ship traveled at a nice easy-going speed of 18 knots. The boat rocked gently and it was altogether lovely. After we left Cabo San Lucas the ship speeded up to 22 knots. The ship has a lot more movement at that speed. I didn't mind the difference in speed but it was not as smooth. A couple of times I had to put my hand out to grab a chair or steady myself against a wall because the motion of the ship was more pronounced. We had a lot of ground (water) to cover to get back to Long Beach by Sunday morning. Friday and Saturday nights I really felt the rocking of the ship and I slept more soundly with the faster speed. It was great! The passengers could track the progress of the ship on their TV in their room. It was very interesting. Who would've thought such a thing was possible? The screen showed the shoreline and the position of the ship. Cool!

I think I have hit the high points. Heidi took pictures and put them on discs for me so you can enjoy some of them with this post. Thank you, Heidi. I did buy a few of the pictures the ship's photographers took and we may be able to add a couple of those, as well. I loved the cruise. I loved my traveling companions. I loved meeting new people. I loved the food. I just love the whole idea of being able to be on a cruise.

If you don't see any pictures with this post, please check back in a few days to look at them. Juli is adding the pictures so you can enjoy them with me. Thank you, Juli.

Bret and Heidi celebrated their wedding anniversary June 24th. Tal and Julianne celebrated their wedding anniversary July 21st. Happy anniversary!

Happy Birthday to Justin, July 21st; Tal, July 25th; Shanna, August 12th; Eric Shields, August 20th. Hope you all had a great day.

I'd better say Happy Birthday to the September people. I plan to have another post on my blog before September is over but just in case---Happy Birthday to Taylor, September 10th; James, September 15th; Eric Ehlers, September 25th; Davey, September 26th; Kammie, September 26th.

I love you all.