Dust and Pirates - Vacation Part 2

First of all, sorry I didnt post day 2 yesterday as promised. I hope the massive amounts of pictures in this one will make up for my lack of punctuality. Here we go - Day Two.... When we woke up Saturday morning we were docked in Ensenada. We fought our urge to sleep late in order to get the most out of our vacation experience. We were up and showered around 8:30 that morning, which meant that I got to eat breakfast! On our last cruise I was still on college time and never made it out of bed before 9:30 (which was rough) - meaning I didnt leave the room till about 11:00! Poor Frank always had to go to breakfast without me. Not this time. I was the first one out of bed! Go me. The breakfast buffet was certainly something to brag about. They had everything! Eggs, bacon, sausage, pastries, cereal, fruit, french toast, pancakes, etc. We loaded up our plates and almost ate enough to merit a nap. No time for naps, though. We had a full day planned and it started with touring Ensenada!

We got off the boat around 9:30am. We only had about an hour and a half to explore the city before we would need to be back for a quick lunch and then head out once again for our excursion. I had one mission: Find cute t-shirts. We wanted to take one of the tour buses into town to save time, but we were told that we couldnt expect for the bus to get us back that quick. We were then informed that its a 2 mile walk to the "touristy" section that we wanted to see. We mentally debated and decided that we needed to walk off breakfast. So off we went. On our way we passed the "Black Pearl" from the movie "Pirates of the Carribean". Pretty cool. Too bad it was fenced off - we only got to see it from a distance. Apparently alot of movies that were shot with "water" scenes were filmed in Ensenada like Titanic. There is a Fox Studios somewhere in town. Random.



We continued on and eventually found the section of shops we were looking for. We found Frank a really cute shirt at the first store. But they unfortunately only had smalls and mediums. After browsing the store a little further I found that same shirt tucked away on another rack - XL! I was so excited to have found him the one he wanted. Only problem was that when got he tried it on later that evening we realized that we had bought a BOYS XL - not Adult XL. It was pretty tight on him, and I felt bad. I know he'll never wear it. We found my cute shirt at the shop next door. It freaked me out a little to pay in pesos. I'm still hoping I didnt get charged $152 for a t-shirt! We were tired of shopping at that point, so we headed back and took some pictures on the way.

Here is a picture of Amy's twin (my sister). It's a striking resemblence, don't you think??!


Here's me and Amy in Mexico. Just kidding - it's the bird again.


I just thought this looked cool. ALTO!

Once we got back to the ship we grabbed some pizza and lemonade and relaxed on the deck for about a half hour. We were tired again and second guessing our choice to go on an excursion. A nap tempts us once again, but we prevail.

We had originally wanted to ride 4-wheelers through the wine country, but by the time we made it through the line to sign up for the excursions it was already booked. The customer service man offered a close alternative. There was also an option to ride something called a "Rhino". It sounded like fun and was a little cheaper, so we signed up. Shortly after noon and we loaded a bus for a 30 minute ride to Rosalina, where we would tour the wine country on our Rhino. We were told we would be very dirty when the ride was over, but that was the understatement of the year.

We were given brief instructions on how to operate these super-powered golf carts and are then handed three key items.
1. Helmet
2. Goggles
3. Bandana

I was too proud to wear the goggles and opted for my sunglasses instead. That was a big mistake.

So here we are getting ready for a wild ride. The engines are started and whoops are being yelled by other excited drivers. We are less than a minute from beginning our tour and I decide that I will probably need some sunscreen. Yes, this is obvious to those of you who have ever met me. I'm pasty and proud (or at least pasty-tolerant). I whip out my Coppertone Spray-On SPF 15. I think the best word to describe my attempt at the sunscreen application is "spritzing". I may as well have sprayed it in the air and walked though it. However, at the time I was proud of my efforts and surprisingly confident.


We drove our Rhino for about 2 hours, and after the first half I was ready to call it quits. I had so much dust in my eyes that I had to keep them closed for long periods of time. When we took a brief stop for water, I traded my cool shades for some dorky looking goggles and assumed the role as driver. Even the goggles didn't keep dirt out of my eyes. I ended up driving with only one eye open - alternating between left and right. From what I did see of the country we drove through, it was beautiful.



We are smiling in this picture, but you'll have to take my word for it. I dont know if I would go on this tour again if given the opportunity. I would need to be much better prepared. Frank seemed to have a really good time, though. He almost had us airborne at one point! Good times.


See what I mean about "dirty" being an understatement? Man I look nasty! Frank kept telling me that we were "riding dirty". Ha ha. Those of you who listen to Top 40 will understand the reference.

Our next stop was wine tasting. I only had one sip, and didn't enjoy it so I just ate some cheese. :) Really, all I wanted was a long hot shower. You can already see the red developing on my arms. I have the worst farmers tan now (and by tan I mean deep red burn)!

Here we are looking as dusty as ever. There is just something wrong with drinking fine wine when you look like this.


Look! The winery has a rollerskate to drive, too!

Dont we clean up nicely! It was formal night on the ship, and we had a lot of scrubbing to do to get prepared. I never assumed I would be able to turn a white washcloth into a nice shade of light brown that would not rinse out. I wont even go into the Q-tips. We eventually come out looking half normal. Allow me to introduce you to our table-mates.

Neil and Jackie

Austin and Heather

Everyone was very lively tonight. Austin and Heather were nice enough. Heather just graduated from HS and is dating Austin who is 21. He seemed to be very into her, but I don't think it was mutual. He was trying too hard, but it was fun to watch. I was surprised to learn that Heather was 18, not only because she looked and acted more mature, but because she was on her 3rd drink of the evening by the time I found this out.

Neil and Jackie were also getting the evening started with some beverages. Frank and I felt pretty old and out of place compared to the rest of the group, but we had fun anyway. It was never our goal to drink and party all night. We just wanted to relax and get away. As dinner progressed, Neil got more and more animated. He had noticed a group of people who were across the dining room who were dressed as pirates. He thought that was pretty cool, so he decided to tie the dinner napkin on his head and go introduce himself. It was hilarious to watch the interaction.



After dinner we went back to our room to change for the evening and go to another show. When we got there, we found our room very tidy with a towel-animal thing displayed on the bed. Too cute.



The show was alright, but not as good as the first night. The guy was doing mostly impersonations which are impressive, but not funny. I wasnt quite ready for bed after we left the show, so we headed to the pool deck to observe the festivities. We ran into Austin and Heather who quickly adopted us. We went to a lounge area where a latin band was playing live music. Heather tried to teach us all how to salsa dance. It didnt go so well for Frank and I, but the effort alone was amusing. We headed back to the pool a while later and laughed at the old people trying to dance.

Frank and I called it a night around 1am. Another long day!

I will not promise day 3 tomorrow, but I will do my best. I can promise that you will have it by Sunday! Thanks to all the faithful readers. :)

-kris