Day 9 - Homeward Bound

We packed our bags, left the ship, went through customs, counted our children, and climbed aboard the bus for the airport.

Unfortunately, our bus took us to the airport at 10am and our flight didn't leave until after 5pm EST. We had too much luggage to haul around Miami, and storing it somewhere would have cost over $100, plus we didn't have transportation. So we just sat and waited. The kids caught up on social media, I read a book, Michael caught up on emails, and we just stared at each other with exhausted eyes.

We finally made it onto the plane and flew through a lot of turbulence to the Denver airport, where we had a two hour layover. Even buying a pizza didn't make it more bearable. But we survived. The kids did enjoy the people conveyors and Ethan commented they should install them in high schools to eliminate hallway congestion.

We finally made it to Boise at 11:45 pm, and were completely exhausted from all of our sitting around. Kristal gave us all, except Michael, a ride home. Ethan went back in the van for his father and our piles of luggage. As previously mentioned, we couldn't fit everyone and everything in one vehicle. By 1:30am MST, everyone was home, everyone was safe, and everyone was in bed. Our own beds. Our own, comfortable, snuggly, warm, welcoming beds. It was good to be home.

Unexpected expenses:

• Zero! Third day in a row! Woohoo! Although Grace did leave her phone in the airport. Thankfully she remembered while we were boarding, and the flight attendant let me out to search for it. Sure enough, she had left it on the chair, and I was able to quickly grab it and get back on the plane, right behind the last people boarding.
• Total: $1,109 + 0 = $1,109

Day 8 - Beneath the Pale Moonlight

Our ship turned toward Miami, and we spent a day at sea.

Grace, Ethan, and I were finally able to try the rock wall. Grace and Ethan ran up the walls like the spider monkeys they are. I managed to hoist myself up the easiest wall, and halfway up the hard one. The wall was so much taller than the ones we have climbed before, so that was actually really fun.

The girls and I played a round of mini golf. I think I played with each member of my family, just not all together. It was a tiny little course, so it worked out pretty well.

Michael made sure to grab one last ice cream cone. The unending ice cream is sorely missed by many members of my family. I'm pretty sure our blood sugar and cholesterol are thankful, though. We don't seem to have a lot of self control when it comes to constant food.

And of course, we made time to eat one last family meal in the dining room. This was a really enjoyable part of our cruise. Each night we were able to gather for dinner and no one had work, or homework, or events to rush off to. Instead we were able to just sit and enjoy dinner together for an hour each evening. It didn't hurt we ordered dessert, every single night, and sometimes more than one. 

After dinner, we caught one last show. We attended "Flight" as a family. The children were getting a little tired of shows by this point, and a musical about the history of flight sounded boring to them. We made them come with us anyway.

It was actually amazing. The singing was really good, the dancing was great, and the special effects were mesmerizing. The play started in the future and ended with the Wright brothers' flight.

Aboard a space station.

The moon landing.

Breaking the sound barrier.

And the grand finale. Orville Wright climbed into this plane and it flew out over the audience, just a few feet above our heads. The whole show was pretty spectacular.

After the show, it was getting late, and we thought about heading to bed. We at least thought about it. 

I took the younger kids to play shuffleboard. This was Grace's first time playing, while Sam was well on his way to mastering the game. We were never quite sure if we were playing correctly, but we felt we couldn't go on a cruise and not play at least a few games of this sport. Sam was quick to point out that I always beat him because I was old, and being old is a prerequisite for shuffleboard.

Our last night aboard ship. We were tired and ready to go home. We also enjoyed a gorgeous night, and one last pristine ocean view.

Unexpected expenses:

• Zero! Two days running!
• Total: $1,109 + 0 = $1,109

Day 7 - Put the Lime in the Coconut

Day seven found us docked in Roatán, Honduras. We did not have an excursion planned. We were hoping to head into town, play on one of their fabled beaches, and pick up some lunch. 

We started off bright and early, with hope in our hearts.

There were tiny little lizards everywhere.

More plants that I have potted in my house, just growing in the wild.

And walls of people wanting to walk us to tourist destinations, get us a taxi, book us a trip, and be our best friend forever. We kept politely declining the invitations and headed into town to see what we could see. Unfortunately, those trying to sell us their services did not take the hint. They fell into step with us, chatting the whole time, giving us information on the island, and suggesting places where we might want to stop.

I was in front of our group and Michael was pulling up the rear. We both had our own personal tour guide, whether we wanted one or not. Michael was enjoying chatting with his unofficial guide, but my guy was stressing the kids out. He was nice, but the kids and myself just wanted to be left alone to walk around. After I explained my children were getting stressed, he happily made his way off. He just suggested that if we wanted to buy any souvenirs, to please purchase them in town and not at the port. The money spent in town stayed in the community, while they saw very little return from the port stores.

We walked a little further, but did not find any beaches. We learned from our guides they were all on the other side of the island and would require a taxi ride. By then we were all hot and sweaty and discombobulated. We didn't have the time or energy to cross the island.

Instead we stopped at a little roadside restaurant to grab some cold drinks. The menu was in Spanish, as expected, and Michael and I combined our limited Duolingo Spanish to order a few drinks. They had large orange coolers with different flavors of juices, so we ordered one of everything. We got fresh piña, tamarindo, naranja, melón, and límon. We expected they would use the spouts at the bottom of each jug to serve. We were wrong. We watched as they opened the top of each cooler, scooped out a large cup of juice and ice, and served it to us, with the juice still dripping down her hand back into the cooler.

They also had empanadas for a dollar each! So we ordered a few of those as well. 

We sat under the fan, ate some food, drank some drinks, and felt much better. And it only cost $19 to feed the whole family! Some of the drinks were really good and some tasted like fruit juice mixed with a couple pounds of sugar. Too sweet, even for us Americans.

Roatán was beautiful, but the poverty was also evident. There were skinny dogs wandering the streets, and Grace was distraught we couldn't adopt them and bring them home. The open trash bins perfumed the town, and each alley was covered in waste and filth, smelling of sewage. But the houses were brightly painted, the people were friendly, and there were fantastic murals everywhere. It was a study in opposites.

We only had time to see a little bit of the city before we started back to the ship. It was so incredibly hot and sticky that us Idaho folks could barely breathe.

On the way back, we did heed my guide's advice and stopped in one or two, or sixteen shops. It was a bit of a shopping blitz. We got conch shells and wall hangings and Christmas decorations and clothes and musical instruments and mahogany bowls and maybe some more vanilla. The people in the shops were lovely and much less pushy than what we had experienced in Mexico. 

We weren't able to swim in Honduras, so we cooled off on the ship.

Grace was even brave enough to attempt the body boarding!

Unexpected expenses:

• Zero! - We had budgeted for food and souvenirs, so today we didn't go deeper into the hole.
• Total: $1,109 + 0 = $1,109

Day 6 - Joy to the Fishes in the Deep Blue Sea

Day six found us tired but we couldn't sleep in. During the night we had reached Cozumel, and we had a snorkeling trip planned. I was the only one up to catch the sun rising over the city.

I had to drag everyone out of bed, as we were supposed to meet our snorkeling guide at 9am. We were running off the ship at 8:50am when I lost both of the girls. I eventually found them waiting for me at the gangplank on the other side of the ship. We quickly exited the ship, found the boys waiting on the dock, and speed walked through the port and onto the main street. We were late, we were stressed, and we weren't quite sure where we were going.

As we hit the main street, a random guy sitting on a ledge made eye contact with me. He said, "Michael?" I asked for the last name. He responded, "Group of six?" I paused, not sure if this was our guide, or a clever scam. He was dressed in a plain t-shirt, shorts and ball cap with no identifying logos, signs, or anything. He said again, "You guys, Michael, group of six, for snorkeling. Your guide is back here."

There were some definite kidnapping vibes, but he also seemed to be looking for us, and had the right information. The language barrier made it hard to get more details. He led us further into the shopping center, told us we needed to pay $5 per person, so $30. I vaguely remembered reading there was a fee to the city for snorkeling in the protected reef, but it was extraordinarily sketchy. We just gave him the money. I don't think we were scammed, but it is possible. He then introduced us to Felipe, who was wearing a SafeTours polo, who would take us to the boat. We were told to apply sunscreen here, as it wasn't allowed once we were on the water. Note there was no one around but Felipe and us.

By this point the girls were quietly shaking and crying. They were sure we were going to be kidnapped in Mexico. Michael tried to figure out some more details from Felipe, but he was brand new to the company and didn't have very many answers. What info he did have matched our reservation. So we carefully headed to the dock to meet our boat.

Our boat was running late, which wasn't a problem as we were running late as well. Libby was still in a state of panic. She was not reassured when a small boat missing large swatches of paint pulled up to the dock, nor when we realized we were the only people in our tour group. She was begging me not to get on the boat. I told her that we had reserved a glass-bottomed boat, and if this boat didn't have a glass bottom, then we were out. If it had a glass bottom then it was the one we reserved. 

The boat pulled all the way to the dock, and sure enough it had a small glass bottom in the middle. Our snorkeling guide introduced himself as Julian and his "paparazzi" guy as Miguel, and the captain of the Cubana was Carlos. We climbed into the boat and he pointed to the three locations we were visiting, all in view, all with a scattering of tourists already bobbing in the water. I think the girls finally started to breathe.

Julian explained how to snorkel and we were off. 

The girls were once again terrified. They had decided Miguel and Julian were probably okay, but they were horrified the fish might touch them. I had to spend several minutes coaching Grace on how to use her snorkel equipment. She would put her head under the water, jerk up at the sight of fish, inhale water, and start panicking. Once she calmed down a little and was breathing, she was a rock star.

I asked Sam to wear a life jacket when we first started. It was a big ocean, and he is a good swimmer, but doesn't have as much experience as his siblings. We quickly realized he didn't need one. Snorkeling is just floating, with style.

We did not get kidnapped. We did not get scammed. It was just a different experience than we expected. It was still amazing. As I snorkeled among the fish, I realized I was in a rare perfect moment. It was amazing, even though Michael lost the underwater camera we bought specifically for this trip at the first dive location. (Editor's note: the ocean took it from me.) So then we had to buy these photos from our "personal paparazzi" Miguel. He offered us all the photos for $100, but Michael bartered to $60. Yikes. The pictures are pretty great, though.

After our dive, we took the opportunity to do a little shopping in the Cozumel port. It was madness. Grace asked the price on an outfit, and the vendor told her the price, got the outfit down, and put it in a bag. Grace was horrified. Everywhere we turned people were pushing their wares at us. Asking a price was treated like a promise to buy. I lost Michael and the teens. Sam wanted to buy everything. Grace wanted to hide and the port was so loud. I was losing my mind. And buying real vanilla extract real cheap. 

I finally gave up on finding the rest of my family and headed to the ship with the younger children in tow. I met Ethan heading off the ship to find a tattoo parlor. No worries though, he was just looking for a new nose ring as he was having an allergic reaction to his current one. I found Libby already on the ship and no update on Michael. He eventually wandered back onto the ship, not realizing I had spent 45 minutes looking for him. Ethan came back shortly thereafter with a hypoallergenic nose ring. I felt like I was finally able to breathe. Losing people in Mexico, with no cell phones, is a harrowing experience.

We then spent the afternoon catching our breath. 

Sam spent a lot of time in the hot tub.

Michael and I played mini golf.

 

And I spent some time trying to body board. We do not need to discuss my wardrobe malfunction. (Editor's note: *snicker*)

Just another day in paradise.

Unexpected Expenses:

• Lost camera: $75
• Purchased photos: $60
• Total: $75 + 60 + 974 = $1,109

Day 5 - A Love Song to Food

We got off the ship at Costa Maya and headed into Mahahual (Ma-ha-WAHL). We had booked a trip through a local company to explore the Mayan ruins.

It was a hot and humid walk, but there were iguanas and plants everywhere. Also every ten steps we were offered a tour or a taxi or a scooter rental. The residents were pretty content to back off when we said we already had plans, though, so it wasn't too stressful. One even pointed the way to our destination!

We found the tour company, they gave us water, and loaded us on an air-conditioned bus. Libby's hair was bothering her, so Michael put it in braids for her.

While heading 60 miles out of town with our new friends Diego and Cándido, I realized this is probably how tourists get kidnapped. As Cándido drove and Diego explained the history of where we were going, I realized we would be okay. Even if Diego kidnapped us, I believed we would be well fed. We learned as much about the native food as we did the history. He was really passionate about food.

We passed several of these cemeteries on our way to the ruins. The plots were decorated, painted, and well-loved. The cemeteries are so different than what I am used to seeing. I regret we didn't have a chance to learn more about them.

After an hour of driving we made it to Chacchoben (ask Michael how to pronounce it, I'm still struggling). (Editor's note: Chock-CHO-ben)

We learned these temples were aligned with the sun to serve as calendars. They also served as the center for Mayan civilizations and the plazas (not the temples, a common misconception) hosted the occasional human sacrifice, when the priest deemed it necessary.

I couldn't get over all the plants. These plants are carefully and tenderly spoiled on my sunny window sill at home. Here they are growing wild and profuse. It blew my mind.

Michael was interested in this tree and asked our driver, "¿Que es esto?", trying to learn what sort of tree this was. What Michael didn't stop to consider is that if he asked the question in Spanish, he would likely be answered in Spanish. He was given a very thorough explanation, in Spanish, of what this pictures. Alas, Michael didn't understand a word, and we still don't know what tree this is. (Editor's note: "corozo," small coconuts)

After we were given a tour of the ruins, we were taken to the village of Chacchoben, which is a small town populated with the descendants of Mayans, to eat lunch. It is also the namesake of the ruins because it was the residents of this village who guided the modern discoverer to the them. Many of the homes were poor by American standards, but the majority of them were brightly painted and well-cared for. I was in love.

 This is the entrance to the home where we ate lunch.

Diego treated us to a tour of the yard and plants (with special emphasis on food) and then we were served a lovely lunch, made by four lovely ladies of the town.

We ate tamales wrapped in banana leaves, chicken with achiote, plantains, chayote, rice, beans, a ground pumpkin seed sauce called sikil pak, and flan. It was the best meal we ate the entire trip.

They even taught us how to shape our own tortillas. I was very proud when the woman fixing everyone's tortillas (it was sorely needed), looked at mine and said "Good job, lady". I was the only one in our tour group to get such high praise. She still fixed my tortilla a little, though, before it was cooked on a hot pan.

After our lovely lunch we headed back to the cruise ship. Michael asked Diego if we would be able to try an apple banana, since he had spoken so highly of them and there weren't any served with lunch. Others in our group expressed a similar desire, coupled with a desire for fresh pineapple and mango. Despite being on a tight schedule, we made a short detour to Pineapple Town, a street lined with fruit stands. Since we were running late, Diego asked everyone to stay in the van, and he placed our orders. Our family bought two bags of pineapple (basically an entire pineapple freshly cut and ready to eat per bag), a bag of mango (served same as pineapple), a huge piece of pan de maiz (corn bread), and a large bunch of apple-bananas. It cost us a total of seven dollars and was mind-blowingly delicious. The bananas were tiny, creamy, and just a bit tangy. They can't be exported because they have to be eaten very soon after picking. My mouth is watering just thinking about them. 

After our brief stop, we headed directly for the port. Our guides wanted to make sure none of us missed our ship. We made it on board thirty minutes before the ship departed. 

We took a quick picture of the port as we stepped back to the ship. This single day made the entire cruise worthwhile for me. It was amazing.

We fell into our clean beds, content and well-fed.

Unexpected expenses:

• $80 Michael's prescription sunglasses which he left on the bus.
• Total: $80 + 894 = $974