I just came back from a cruise to Mexico that Aly’s family generously invited me on. It was amazing! We left on December 29th and came back on the 5th of January. We stopped at Puerta Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.

Aly and I went horseback riding in Mazatlan with some of her family. We rode on the beach, which I’ve never done before. It was so beautiful!! Also for the first time, I got to ride with the horse at a gallop. Usually I only go at a trot, which is really bumpy. Galloping is so smooth and surprisingly freeing. It was amazing to be going so fast!

One of the fun things about going on a cruise is all the chances you get to dress up! There were two formal nights where we got the chance to wear prom-like dresses (which is great because I didn’t go to my senior prom). One of them was on New Year’s. Aly and I went down to one of the lowest decks on the ship and watched them drop the balloons. I had never done that before either, so I experienced another new thing.

Speaking of new things, the food on the ship was really good! I tried tofu for the first time (I didn’t like it). What I thought was great was that there was a vegetarian menu, which was perfect because I’m a vegetarian. Aly tried some new foods, too. She hates fish; the sight, the smell, the taste: she hates everything about them. However, she tried shrimp. Surprisingly, she loved it! She also tried escargo, which I thought was a big leap for her.  

Aly’s whole family was there. She has six nieces and nephews and we played with them a lot. I went swimming once with all of the nieces. I barely got sunburned at all, which I’m kind of surprised about. Aly baby sat two of the boys during dinner one night. They’re all under 10, so it’s hard for them to sit at dinner for two hours. A lot of the time they had game boys and leapsters to keep them occupied.

Mexico itself was pretty beautiful, too. There were pelicans everywhere, though! I almost got pooped on by some of them. It would have been really bad because they don’t let out just a little; it’s like a shower. But I was surprised to see flocks of them; they would simply cover the boats in the marinas we went by. I took so many pictures of the scenery there, though. The sunsets were especially beautiful when we were out over the water.

I had an amazing time overall. I was so grateful that I got to go. Now I’m in Vegas at Aly’s house for the last week of vacation before school starts back up. She’s going to show me around and take me to the strip. It’s pretty exciting and definitely new. I’ve never been out here before. I told her in advance that I was going to go into tourist mode and take pictures of everything. I know I’m going to embarrass her, but I think she’s going to have to deal.