The rest of L.A

After our cruise, we spent a bit of time in L.A.

We stayed close to the Walk of Fame, just behind the Hollywood and Highland Centre.  

Oh my, there are some real 'characters' out there.

It was quite sad, really, that some people had to resort to impersonating others to earn a living in the way they did.

The walk was crowded with tourists and touts, that sometimes it was hard to get anywhere, or not lose your patience with people stopping you every few metres wanting money from you for some reason or another.

We took a tour of the strip, Beverly Hills and the stars' homes.  

I really don't know if the homes the guide was pointing out were really theirs, because really, we wouldn't know one way or another.

Our guide was rude; he thought he was being funny but really, he was just sarcastic and insulting. 

He must have taken us for typical tourist mugs, which I took offence to.

Needless to say, he was not impressed when we didn't leave him a tip at the end of the tour.

We spent two days at Universal Studios.

There was an offer at the time where you get a second day free with your ticket.

We did most of the park in one day, the upper lot, so when we came back on the second day to do the lower lot we were in and out within a matter of hours.

The lines for the Simpsons ride and the Backlot tour were the longest we had to endure.  

Oh, and those for food.

I liked the Shrek 4D but it was pretty much the same as the one at MovieWorld on the Gold Coast (in Queensland).  

I can't do 3D, though, so I didn't get much out of this one.

But I love the extra dimension!

The House of Horrors had me almost in tears with fear, until I realised if I waited a bit, I could see what was coming up ahead and prepare for it.

In the end, I was giggling like a child.

Well, I shouldn't say that because The Princess wasn't giggling, she was actually terrified and in tears.

The poor thing.

Little Man would just close his eyes and bolt through each section when he went through with The Groom who was overly amused at his scared little family!

We didn't buy much in the way of souvenirs here, but I did wish I had have bought this shirt...

As Little Man loves Lego we drove to San Diego for couple of nights to visit there.

Some awful person had reset the GPS so it took us all over the place and more than 6 hours!

But we got to see some lovely places on the way, plus travel along the Ortega Highway (which was way too close to the mountain for my liking, considering I was on the 'wrong' side of the car!)

Let me say straight up, Legoland was a massive disappointment after Disneyland.

Little Man was at the upper end of the age range, and while he loved it, the rest of us were wishing the day would just end.

I won't trash it here, but I am glad he had such a lovely time even if many of the rides were a bit tame for him after what he enjoyed at Disney and Knotts.

I did like some of the Lego buildings but many of them were faded and peeling, some weren't functioning or were even broken.

I've heard that Legoland in Florida is a lot better.

L.A isn't somewhere I'd be in a rush to head back to.

It is a city that is not that different to many others and the one thing I did really enjoy most about it though, were the people we met when we wandered around.

We met some lovely people in the laundromat, too.

Ripley's Believe it Not was great (we always try and go wherever we see one in our travels) but were a bit let down with Madame Tussaud's - it wasn't what we were expecting.

Next stop, Montana - skiing and a white Christmas!

Cabo San Lucas - gorgeous!

We spent two days at the port of Cabo San Lucas because the port call at Mazatlan had been cancelled.

Many cruise ships had pulled out of Mazatlan citing issues with personal safety, yet I've also read it is because of port costs involved.

Whatever the reason, we missed out on Mazatlan which was the port I most wanted to stop at, but Cabo San Lucas more than made up for my disappointment.

It was so beautiful.

It reminded me of the Whitsunday region in Queensland and a bit of Noosa in the old days - a haven for sun, surf and sand lovers.

And the very wealthy!

Day One

As was now our ritual, we woke and wandered out on to our verandah to watch the goings on outside before showering, having breakfast and then meet our group for our shore tour.

I had booked a 4x4 tour.

We ride quad bikes at home a fair bit and we live near the beach, so why I wanted to do something we do a fair bit escapes me, but we had so much fun.

If I had my way it would all be educational tours, but a mum's gotta cater to the rest of her family every now and then and have some fun.

And have fun we did!

The bus ride out to the desert was fun to say the least.

Australia is such a nanny-state where we are forever told we need to be 'saved' from our own stupidity and inability to use our commonsense, that it was good to see that 'safety standards' went by the wayside in Mexico.

Australian occupational health and safety officers here would have a heart attack if they saw how things worked here!

Our guide said that safety vests and gear were for 'wusses' in Mexico.

We had a hairy moment when we were approaching roadworks and a bridge was closed down to one lane.

A truck came out of nowhere behind us just as we were approaching the bridge and overtook us with only metres to spare and with oncoming traffic, only to pull in off the road just after the bridge.

We all laughed after releasing our held breaths!

So, we eventually got our jeeps, covered up our faces with bandanas (and felt rather like bandidos in the process) and put on our goggles.

The Groom travelled in his 4x4 with Little Man while I drove The Princess.

And off we went along a track out near the beach and underneath the same bridge where the roadworks were going on.

Right through the construction site, beeping and waving merrily at the workers!

It was so much fun.

We stopped further up ahead to look at some really old and very tall cactus and have a cold drink of water to wash out our throats as it was so dusty.

The tour guide who met us at the port was with us and had changed into more suitable 4x4 driving clothing so it took me a while to realise who he was at first.

I wish I could remember his name but I can't, but he was so lovely and explained to us about the plant life and the area.

He took photos for us of us as a family under these giant cactus plants.

You can hardly see us at the bottom of the plant as he had to move so far away to get all of the cactus in.

Then off we went for a drive along the beach and then a wander around.

I couldn't help myself, I got stuck behind a man who was driving really slow so when I could I pulled out and sped off.

Then the groom caught up and we were trying to race each other.

Some people frowned upon this I think ;)

Where we were was roughly on the same latitude as where we live and the guide said there was pretty much nothing between us and our home country.

I really do have to look that up and see if it's true, but I told the kids not to talk so loud or our dogs might hear us and come swimming across the oceans to find us.

It was so beautiful and all I could think about was that if this was at home there would be crocodiles or jelly fish in the waters waiting to eat or sting you.

After our tour we wandered around the port and then headed back to the ship for a shower and get ready for dinner.

Day Two

Today was a half day in port and we didn't have any tours booked.

We just wanted to wander about the port area and do a bit of shopping and eating.

So, we got to have a bit of a lie in before breakfast and as we didn't have shore tours we could go on the tender whenever we felt like it.

We wandered around the shops and bought some souvenirs for us and friends.

The t-shirt sizings for children were a bit odd, and some of the sizings seemed rather small for the number on the tag.

But we stocked up and headed off to find the pharmacy we'd heard so much about.

Many Americans, we were told, go to Mexico for cheap medications as it's so much cheaper.

We were offered certain types of drugs for male impotence as soon as we walked in, but in the end I got some Bactroban equivalent (Bactroban is great for infections and our doctor prescribed it initially for when Little Man came home from hospital after being born with a mild case of golden staph).

I also bought some headache tablets and some sunscreen.

We had our photos taken with some human 'statues' and some lion cubs (I felt very unsure about that but the handler claimed they were fundraising for some wildlife rescue place and the kids and The Groom basically made me agree to it - I worry about exploitation of animals).

The cubs were so cute and playful and one of them took a real shine to Little Man.

The one I held must have not long woken up from a sleep as it was just content to sit on my lap and let The Princess stroke its fur.

The it was time to eat so we went to the Dockside Tequila Shark.


The view was brilliant right on the dock and we could watch the comings and going of the world around us.


I didn't want to leave.


We ordered some calamari and chips, and nachos.


I can safely say this was the best nachos we have ever had.

I had heard so much about Senor Frog's and wanted to go there but the music was way too loud and we'd had a couple of Corona's and too much sun so decided it was time to say our farewells to Cabo and head back to the ship.

We waved goodbye to passers-by as we headed back to the ship.

And waved hello to fellow passengers on deck or on their verandahs.

She is such a beautiful ship.

Unfortunately, we'd forgotten to collect our souvenir photo with the lion cubs until we'd boarded the ship's tender so The Groom stayed on the tender to go back while we went back to our cabin to shower and get ready for dinner.

I wonder if he was tempted to stay in Cabo...

But this was our last port and it was time to head back to L.A.

But before we left there was Pirate Party night!

And fireworks at sea in Cabo.

It was so cool and unforgettable.

Puerto Vallarta - Mexico

Our first port of call was Puerto Vallarta.

It was lovely and we shared the port with two other ships, so you can imagine that the demand from footpath sellers for business was fierce.

We had booked a shore tour so after breakfast we met our guide for the day and then got on our bus.

It was a Tequila Tasting and Tortilla Making tour with visits to 'villages'.

Some of the villages we went through looked more like regular suburbs to me.

Some were a bit run down but some were nice.

We saw some lovely buildings and visited a lovely Catholic Church.

Then we went on our Tequila tasting tour.

I don't drink, so The Groom was at a loss as to why I booked this tour, but it was interesting.

I loved the smell of the mashed up agave, it reminded me of sugar cane mash.  

And it tasted good, too, even though it was covered in bees.

While the talk and tasting was going on, I plonked myself by this trough and sucked on the mash and swatted away the bees.

I think people might have thought I was a bit odd.

We had lunch at a restaurant as part of our tour and the food was so good!


And plentiful.


Afterwards, we wandered about the shopping centre opposite the port.

The Liverpool department store was very expensive but there was the most heavenly display of chocolates and lollies and other delights (but I didn't buy anything).

We tried to translate signs into English and failed miserably.

We took heaps of photos of the kids in front of Spanish signs advertising Christmas, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Senor Frog's and more.

The only negative thing about this port, and it indicative of many ports, is the pushiness from stall traders for your business.

At times the pushiness of some people made me feel very uncomfortable when they'd follow us down the street, and I found it completely unacceptable when they would try and co-opt the kids into getting us to buy from them.

Soon, too soon, though, it was time to board our home for the week and head off to Cabo San Lucas.

It was good to be 'welcomed home' as home is what being on board felt like with our new little family of Disney Wonder friends.

I can't believe they forgot!

I'm still in shock, one day later!

It was my birthday yesterday and The Groom, The Princess and Little Man FORGOT!!!!

Poor, woeful me.

I woke up yesterday morning - no birthday greetings.

Everyone left for work or school - no birthday greetings.

Everyone would have arrived at work or school - still no birthday greetings.

The Groom came home early mid-morning to get my car as it needed new tyres - STILL no birthday greetings.

I had planned to spend the day in my pj's watching tacky shows on daytime tv but ended up getting called in to work, so off I went.

Still nothing by the time I got home.

So, I checked FB to see if ANYONE ELSE remembered my birthday - there was a message from my mum and sister-in-law and some other family members and it was only then when I was responding that Little Man came in and saw the messages that he realised!

The Princess came in to see what I was doing and gave me an origami card she made for me (the I heard her whisper to her brother "did you know it is mummy's birthday today?")

The Groom came home with a friend to do some work on the bobcat - still no birthday greetings.

I said that I wanted to go out for dinner (just to drop a hint) and was told it might not be possible as it could take hours to finish what they had to do.

So, I decided that I would just go at 6pm anyway.  

Regardless.

The Groom dropped off his friend at home and still hadn't come back by 5.45pm.

Then the phone rang.

"I'm on my way home, we can go out to dinner if you want."

I replied that I was getting changed and was about to walk out with the kids for dinner as he phoned.

So I had to wait for him.

I didn't say anything about it being my birthday.

Just as we were at the traffic lights before turning into the car park at the place I wanted to eat at, I asked The Groom if he had forgotten anything today.

He replied that no, he didn't think he did.  

But then he realised...

And said....

"I didn't forget it was your birthday and if you don't believe me you can call Friend."

I said that I would and ask WHAT TIME did The Groom remember my birthday?

The Groom argued that it was a moot point as to what time he remembered, but rather that he remembered in the first place.

I must say, it's a good thing I don't make a big deal about my birthday, especially considering last year's disaster at having a 40th birthday that coincided with a Nitro Circus tour (that took precedence over my birthday).

Happy birthday to anyone else who has had a birthday yesterday (and especially if your loved ones forgot about it...)!