a cool trip to Mexico!

[bakerman]

Hey guys, I just got back from a really nice vacation. Things were so hectic before I left that I forgot to let everyone know that I was leaving!

We left on friday oct 2nd and flew to LA, we wanted a couple of days to see the sights. This was my first time on the west coast and my first encounter with LA freeways, it was an experience!

We spent the first night just relaxing at our hotel in Long Beach, we stayed at the Hilton and it was quite nice with great linens.

The next day we were off to see the sights, I had set the TomTom with some destinations. First we drove down Sunset Blvd, and got a good first view of the Hollywood sign, it was pretty cool. From there we went to the Griffith Observatory, I recommend this to anyone visiting LA, as the views are breathtaking!








From there we drove down Hollywood Blvd. we saw lots of familiar sites but didn't stop, my belly was growling and I was ready for lunch. We ate lunch at the LA Farmer's Market, this isn't a typical farmer's market, but a bunch of food vendors with just about any food you can imagine. They even had butcher shops with PRIME BEEF! We didn't get any pictures here.

From there we drove to Santa Monica, and picked up the Pacific Coast Highway and drove a bit north of Malibu (in our rented Malibu!) and the scenery was breathtaking! We were so busy taking it in that we didn't take any pictures. We made the journey back to the hotel to rest up for our cruise the next day!

[Food Network Fan]

Great photos! I am glad you had a good time.

[bakerman]

Our cruise took us to the Mexican Riviera. Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas were on the itinerary.

Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta, and wouldn't you know right there at the pier was a WalMart and a Sam's Club! We didn't have any plans for this port, so to satisfy a wierd curiosity we went to WalMart, I don't even shop there at home, but I was drawn to it.

This first pic is foggy, my camera was trying to acclimate to the humidity!








Cream cheese by the slice, this could come in handy!


It was so hot that we decided to go back to the ship, and didn't do much more here, just a lazy remainder of the day.

[bakerman]

The most interesting day was the next day in Mazatlan, we booked a tour through the ship, it was a 7 hour tour, and it was awesome.

We visited a site where they were making adobe brick, but there was a little boy and his chicken that stole the show.


We later visited a colonial village in Concordia and saw a guy making tiles, and visited a bakery.

[bakerman]

The best part of the trip was a visit to a remote village in the Sierra Madre mountians named Copala, the village was built in the 1600s and has changed very little since then. There are no ATM machines, not even a gas station, it is a very primitive life far from any cell phone signal! It was beautiful. We purchased some handmade folk art masks, visited a church and then had lunch in this open air restaurant. It was an amazing experience seeing Mexico off the beaten path, away from tourist areas. The town was at the end of a dirt road.









these are the ladies and gentleman that made and served our lunch.

[bakerman]

The last port that we visited was Cabo San Lucas, it is a very tourist area, but the landscape is magnificent.

[bakerman]

a few random pics.







a really awesome place to watch a movie under the stars!

[ibcheft]

cool looks like you had a great time and a good trip with nice weather. I am ready for another cruise, maybe when I retire, we can go on our Alaskan dream cruise.

[Cookie Pusher]

Wow, those pics are fantastic! I'm quite jealous, I've never been on a cruise before. Wish I could have stowed away in your luggage! hehe

[BerryBaby]

Beautiful!