Cruising to Mexico

It is about Thursday at 2:00 p.m. and my dad asks what time the flight leaves. Oh no Dad Hali and I are driving to LA. I still haven't been able to come up with a proper explanation as to why we didn't book a flight. Maybe I was trying to be more frugal. That doesn't even make sense as gas for my FJ is expensive. We left Provo at 4:00 p.m. and drove the ten hours. The drive was talking for about three hours, sleeping for two, music for two, and driving for three. Thanks Hali for being lead driver. Some highlights from the trip include: 

-eating only healthy food to keep our "bikini ready bodies" 

-listening to Elastic Heart & Talking Body on replay

-reading our "Why Men Love Blank" book 

-stopping at the sketchiest gas station 

-sprinting in Starbucks to use the restroom 

-waking up and literally being in Vegas- I slept for a solid 2 hours 

-BREAKING NEWS this is one of the only few times I haven't had Diet Coke on a road trip 

We arrived to Lori's at 1:30 a.m. and ate half a dozen chocolate chip cookies. lori said it is "Queenie in training". The next morning I woke up and went for a run. We were in Palos Verdes at Lori's beautiful home. The city is just a dream. The neighborhood overlooks the ocean and is full of beautiful plants. My mom grew up in the same neighborhood. Iust is one of the prettiest settings up on the hill I have ever seen. I drove by my moms house and even saw her bedroom window. Then we went into Trader Joes and pretended we were locals. There is even a good smell in the air there. 

My mom's childhood house! 

The drive to Long Beach Port was about an hour. Once we arrived we parked and boarded the ship. 

It was exciting finding our room and going to the buffet for lunch. They had a Mongolian Wok place where you put vegetables and noodles in a bowl and they cook it for you. We had to wait for our suitcases to arrive and then we rushed into our suits and went to the pool. 

The emergency plan was practiced before dinner.

 Dinner required attire that was more than a suit so we got ready and went to dinner. The cruise did a welcome show we attended and we scoped out karaoke after. There is a crazy wedding party here that is fun to watch. 

Our room had a window! 

The cruise had a dance party...we were there. 

Saturday we got off the boat at about 9 a.m. We were one of the first people off (pros of not drinking no hangover for us). They had us pose about five times with Mexican dancers, a parrot, and the cruise mascot. 

I am not proud of my parrot picture and later when I walked past it I hid it behind someone else's picture. For some reason we thought we could just waltz off the ship to sandy beaches. Nope. Not here. We were confused as how to get in town. One man said it was $25 to take the shuttle to the beach. Another man said $2 into the city. It was a big shuttle with our fellow ship friends so we felt safe. The drive was about five minutes. We then got off and were in the middle of Ensenada. We stuck out so bad. My blonde hair, white cover up, carnival beach towel and purple back pack were not helping us. Not the smartest outfit choice. Once we looked around and saw no one else was in a swimsuit we ditched the beach and went for some fish tacos. We went as fast as we could and decided next time we have boyfriends or husbands with us we will tour around. They can protect us. 

Once on the ship we laid out by the pool.

 We got ready for dinner and had three funny waiters. They told us we are their girlfriends. During dinner they put on a little dancing show. My new boyfriend and I danced.

Valentine's dessert ❤️ They gave each lady a flower too! 

After dinner we went to see the VIP show. Best part about the show is they needed three more VIP's. We got to be in the show. This involved dancing in the isle and being pulled up stage. About a year ago I had a weird dream of being a cruise ship dancer. I looked up the height and I am an inch too short. That's okay because I got to experience it on Saturday.

 The night progressed until I ended up being in the middle of a game called Musical Men. I don't know how that happened but I do know I tried to get out of the game as quick as possible. Basically you have to tag the men instead of sitting on a chair like the normal game. I was faced with a predicament. If I "accidentlly" don't tag a man then I am out. Once out you have to pick a man from the game to take you to the bar. I didn't know if I wanted to get out and have to pick from the 8 drunk men or keep playing. I lasted four rounds and ran away as soon as I picked the man to take to the bar. If anyone is worried we wouldn't get out there on the cruise worry no more!

 While we were grabbing a midnight snack a man approached us and asked where we are from. I didn't want to say near SF as I sit there with Hali on Valentine's Day and risk what he may think. I said Utah.  He told us he figured because he didn't think most people know what a ward mission leader is. Apparently he was ease dropping in the hot tub. The last day of the cruise can be summed up in two words. Pool and tanning. 

Hairy chest competition. Also tip for future cruisers: you can wear your robe out to the pool.. no need to pack a cover up. 

Here is my secret crush. Didn't find him playing in his band until the last night. He is the singer. Pretty sure we made eye contact once or twice.