Merritt Memories

Mazatlan was by far the poorest city we visited. It was pretty shady, but it was by far my favorite city. We had the best tour guide who took us into the city and explained the culture to me. I really loved it. We basically shopped in the market and a few galleries there. But we did visit an awesome church. The building was gorgeous! It was, however, strange to be taking pictures of the church while there were people worshiping. It really was the poorest city. The minute we stepped off the boat, you knew it. There were little children wandering the streets, selling tiny boxes of Chiclets gum for money. They didn't know English. They would just come up to you and say. "Money?" It was so sad. It took everything in me not to put like a dollar in every child's plastic cup. They were so dirty and hadn't had baths. It was awful. The city market was culture shock! I have never seen so many bugs in my life. Vendors who had money, covered their food goods with plastic, bu...

We were really excited to get off of the ship and see Mexico. Cabo did not have an actual dock, so we had to be tendered in by little boats. There were like 3,000 people on this ship! It was going to take a while, so we waited, and waited. Finally it was our turn to load the tenders. little boats down below to take us to shore Cabo from the ship waiting to be tendered in We got ashore and the first thing we saw was this: Not very appealing and the smell was awful, but we kept watching. It was interesting to see how they cut the fish up. In Cabo they really just dropped you off in their market. We were met by some very aggressive taxi drivers and tour guides. All were pining for your business. It was overwhelming. I have never been out of the country, so it was shocking for me. I felt bad turning everyone down. We had already booked sea kayaking and snorkeling through the ship. We found that to be a mistake. We paid $155 dollars and there were guides willing to do it for $70. Oh, well. ...

(our sad little pic of the boat) While this is day three of our vacation, it is day 2 on the boat. We were headed to Cabo. It took me a while to "get my sea legs", but I found them with the help of Dramamine. (I have yet to get rid of it completely now that we have been back for 5 days) We enjoyed sleeping in, no rush to be anywhere. We just ate and ate. We found the all you can eat frozen yogurt machine and helped ourselves whenever we walked past. In the afternoon they had a volleyball tournament. We entered. Our team took 2nd place, not too bad. We even won a silver medal! I wish I would have brought my camera, but who would have taken the pictures anyway? I then decided to go to the gym (I was still trying to be good). It was nice to be able to workout. I knew I needed it after all the food I had been eating the last two days. But, then it was time for dinner again. Oh well. It was a formal night and, again, no pictures. (Dustin will not be allowed to be in charge of the ...

Day 1: Long Beach, CA We left Salt Lake early on the 6th. We flew into Long Beach and stayed there for a day. We were lucky enough to get a deal for the Hyatt. It was such a nice room, better than the Super 8 we were planning on. The first thing we did? Slept. Yes, we are officially old! We napped until my friend, Kellie called. I was so happy to meet up with her. It had been since her wedding in 2008 that I had seen her. It was so nice to spend lunch together. I wish we had brought our camera!! Her boys were adorable! Joey is her oldest. He was a crack up! He was our entertainment. After lunch we all went to the pier where he put on a show for us. We were lucky to have a stage just for him. Her little boy, Merrick, had woken up by now and what a cutie!! Oh how I wish we had our camera!!! Darn it! Later that night, Dustin and I returned to the pier (after another long nap). We ate at a little Italian pizza place called Stefano's. So yummy! We toured the shops. I found a cute hat!!!...