Bon Voyage! For our 5th year wedding anniversary Andrew surprised me with a cruise off the coast of California. He was stealthy and planned this cruise in January. He then told me about it on Valentines Day. Of course, he had this all planned before the whole mold fiasco. For a while there we didn't know if we should cancel the cruise and use the money for home things or not. In the end we knew we took the trip to just enjoy each other. My mom took care of Daraby.
You see, Andrew promised me that he would take me to the ocean before our five year anniversary. I had never seen the ocean or swam in it. While on the cruise I saw and swam. I even touched and fed the fish. It was a four day cruise and we were supposed to stop in two ports but because of the swine flu they canceled our stop in Ensenda, Mexico. We were a one stop ship with two fun days aboard the boat.
(Our buddy Jeremy took the picture above when were on the tender boats going to shore.)
We boarded these tender boats to get to Catalina Island.
We had just finished kayaking in some really rough water. It was a ton of fun and very wet. Let's just say, I got my sodium intake for the day.
We were able to see a dead whale while kayaking and some incredible condos built on the side of a steep hill. We paddled by some people living out on their sailboats. It was a very relaxing community. Our kayak guides were hilarious because they paddled way in front of us. So many of the couple were kayaking for the first time in these huge waves. Andrew and I kept thinking about what would happen if a couple flipped over- the guides wouldn't even have a clue. I am not kidding the kayaking was rigorous. There were huge waves and we went around the other side of the island. Some of those couples barely made it back.
In the afternoon we went snorkeling. That was a ton of fun. It was a riot getting into wet suits. One couple was pretty hilarious. When we got into the water our guide gave us great instructions and off we went. Our guide was a spirited man close to 70 years old. He was incredible. He would dive down and bring up stuff for us to see: sea urchin, plants, shells, crabs etc... I'm so glad he was our guide and not the other guy. He went way above and beyond. There were fish swimming all around us. Beautiful fish- I might add. Most of the couples that went kayaking with us also went snorkeling. By the end of the day we were all burnt and exhausted.
I made Andrew's day by kayaking and snorkeling. He loves it when we are active. By the way, we don't really vacation, we have a schedule to keep and things to do. Andrew wakes me in the morning to give me the itinerary. One morning, he woke me up to tell me that the alarm was going to go off in 10 minutes. Who does that? I told him to leave me sleep until it went off. He was too excited to let me sleep!
This is a picture of Avalon, CA. This is the town on the Island. We happened to wander around the town for an hour in between kayaking and snorkeling. We enjoyed a some great ice cream. They had yummy fat free strawberry frozen yogurt. No, it doesn't make up for all the terrible bad foods we ate while on the boat. Cruise ships= unlimited eating. While wandering around town we happened to enter a beautiful art gallery. I loved all the paintings and we took our time looking them over. I ended up talking to another lady in the gallery about the paintings and the next thing I knew she was signing a poster for Andrew and I took take home. SHE WAS THE ARTIST! She just stopped by the studio to check on things. She has a home on the Island and often paints there. I was tickled pink to meet her. By the way her name is Ruth Mayer check out her art at http://www.ruthmayer.com/
We met some great friends on the boat. Jeremy and Anouk, Brad and Stacey, Marvin and Velda, plus our great waiters-Tvan and Ben. We attended many shows and events-Went mini golfing, played b-ball, sang karaoke, and ate... It was great to be with other couples and laugh. Thanks for befriending us and hanging out. Oh Andrew and I sang "Keeper of the Stars" to each other at Karaoke. Our DJ sang that at our wedding reception and since we were celebrating our 5th year anniversary we thought it was appropriate even though the range was a bit hard for us. :) After that Brad, Jeremy and Andrew got up and sang the YMCA song. Marvin and Velda asked where they could buy our CD. HA!
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