Monday, March 26, 2012

Spring Break is Over :(

Hello All! We are back, unfortunately. I could have stayed gone for another few weeks for sure. It was a good trip. We left last Saturday night to let the baby sleep and drove through the four corners area before stopping for a quick nap. This really isn't a long drive. Two-thirds of it can be done in a pretty short day with plenty of time to relax if you stop for the night. It had been raining/snowing lightly until we stopped for a quick roadside nap, and we woke up to a light rain at about 7am. We were about an hour outside Flagstaff and planned on being in Lake Havasu around 1pm. As we drove closer to Flagstaff the rain turned to snow and suddenly we were driving our little Yaris in a two track with snow brushing the undercarriage of the car. I couldn't stop because there are no places to stop. Literally. So I just kept driving! We got into Flagstaff and we navigated the huge snowdrifts into a McDonalds where we figured we'd wait until the roads were clear as the only people plowing were private plowers. Evidently everybody had the same idea and that's where we learned the highway was closed. However, after about an hour, being the mad UP of MI driver that I am - since there actually was visibility again, and the storm was showing to dissipate to the west, (I LOVE my smartphone app that tracks weather) I decided we needed to see if that highway really was closed...and guess what? It wasn't - so Westward we drove! We pulled into Lake Havasu about 4:30 and chilled out for the night after walking to the London Bridge.
Yes, the actual London Bridge that was brought over from London in the 60's or 70's. I would have gotten more info but it was cold and I was tired.
The next morning we drove to Long Beach and left on our cruise via the Carnival Inspiration. We stopped at Santa Catalina Island for the day and went kayaking with the sea lions and dolphins. It was so cool! My pictures are on a waterproof camera that needs to get developed so I'll have to post those later. We left Wyatt with a babysitter that morning while we kayaked and then picked him up and brought him back to the beach where he wasn't too sure about the waves, but loved the sand!
That night was the formal night on the ship, and I went ahead and had us take pictures. The sitting fees were free so I figured why not? I did choose a few of the pictures later that turned out really well. I'll post those later too.
The next day we spent in Ensenda, Mexico. I've been to Baja before in San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez. I really liked it there - Ensenada...the town...not so much. However, it is located in the wine country of Mexico and we went on a Winery Tour of two local wineries which plied us with wine and food; including two free bottles of wine. Needless to say I stocked up as well! I'm not sure why I didn't take any pictures of the wineries...they were beautiful. Although the lack of pictures could have had something to do with the excess of wine. Maybe.
Then we spent a day at sea before pulling into a rainy Long Beach port and headed for home....however, I wasn't ready to go home yet....
To be continued...

3 comments:

Dreaming said...

It sounds heavenly! Well, except for the snow in Flagstaff!!

GunDiva said...

The rest of the story on the London Bridge: the buyers thought they were buying the Tower Bridge in London and didn't realize they didn't get it until they reassembled the bridge, stone by stone.

At least that's the story I got on our tour of the Tower Bridge in London (as the tour guide laughed at us Americans). It matches the story my ex-husband told me about the London Bridge on our trip to Lake Havasu to see his grandmother.

I'm glad you had a good cruise. One of these days I think I want to go on one.

Jenny Glen said...

That's funny! I saw the London bridge with my parents when I was about 4! I still have a little memory of it.