Sunrise as we sailed into Puerto Vallarta.  Wow...

So the cruise to Mexico was delightful.  Despite John so generously sharing his raging head cold with me and then dosing me with Benadryl (which knocked me out for 2 hours straight IN THE BLAZING OCEAN SUN, from which I woke up scorched and smoldering), I had a lovely time.  I must confess, though, I was so nervous about making it home safely that I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally disembarked the ship in the land of the free. 

Some of my fears were obviously warranted, too.  We were supposed to dock and spend a day in Mazatlan, but were told over the loud speaker on the ship that, "because of recent world events (which translates to: the cartel had killed a tourist) we will be sailing past Mazatlan in an effort to provide safe traveling for our passengers."  I was scared for a minute, then realized they were being pretty diligent about keeping us out of harm's way.  That gave me a little more security. 

Here is a lighthouse as you leave the harbor in Los Angeles (with a bonus feature of a nifty little sailboat in the yonder background). 

All in all, it was amazing and intriguing and a grand adventure, but it made me realize how much I love my home, my little family and my (usually) predictable routine.  I'm grateful to live in this great country and grateful I am free (and not looking over my shoulder every day like some of the people we met down there).  God Bless America!

This is not necessarily impressive in a picture, but for me and my vast experience with international attractions, this rock formation was a real humdinger! 

So, I got a new camera for Christmas for the express purpose of taking pictures with it on this cruise.  Guess how many I took... twelve, and 2 of them were duplicates because I got spots on the lense.  Therefore, since none of the rest of the pictures are very interesting, my little presentation has come to an end.  Next time I go on an amazing trip to somewhere exotic and fascinating, I vow to actually get the camera out and snap a few more.  Rookie mistake...