Cruisin for a Bruisin

One year ago, I was on a cruise ship in the Pacific Ocean between California and Mexico. With an ice cream cone in my hand and wearing a Hawaiian shirt that was only partly buttoned, I was living my best life. Music was blasting. I was with great people. Surely, this was one of the most fun and social weeks of my life. Little did I know that days later a pandemic would force me to socially distance myself to those that I love most. My gratitude for this vacation only grew as the months of pandemic-living continued.

It all started in apartment 25E when I was with some friends late one night. Spring break was quickly approaching, and we decided that we needed to escape our cold college town and find some sun. After an hour or two of research, a few phone calls, and about 16 credit cards number and we were all set for the Carnival cruise.

Anticipation built as I finished all of my homework and assignments before the break began. I packed my swimsuit and sandals that hadn’t seen the sun in months. The morning of, I had to unexpectedly take a quick stop at a pediatric dentist in logan ut, where they treated me great, and then we were off. A few different cars were packed into and we made the 12-hour car ride to California.

First stop, Catalina Island, California. This island, owned by the Wrigley family, is a super cool place to spend a day. We walked around, played frisbee at a park, climbed a mountain for a beautiful view, played volleyball on the beach, shopped at some markets, and ate delicious street tacos. After a long, fun-filled day the sun was starting to set, and we boarded the ship. That night we just relaxed on the cruise ship. Hanging out on the ship actually was some of my favorite times of the entire vacation. There was constantly live entertainment, games, shows, and delicious food.

The next day we stopped at Ensenada, Mexico. We got off the ship and found a local with a tour van. His name was Julio. We paid Julio a couple of hundred dollars and he agreed to be our tour guide for the day. He first took us to a zipline course where we hooked up our carabiners and flew through the mountains. The zipline course was great, but my favorite part was the corn on the cob that they were selling there. If you have ever seen Nacho Libre the corn was identical to Stevens corn in that movie. And if you haven’t seen Nacho Libre, you really should. After the zipline course, we said, “take us to your favorite place to eat in Mexico.” He took us to this little hole in the wall where we ate the most delicious tacos. (you will notice we had a lot of tacos on this trip)

The next couple of days were spent on the ship as it made its way back to the coast of California. We went to the pool, drank lemonade, played mini-golf, ate a lot of food, went to magic shows, and played cards.

Eventually, the spring break of a lifetime came to a close. We got off the ship and found an Airbnb to crash at for the night. This house was just being finished up with some renovations, but it was super nice. Some kitchen cabinet refinishers from Santa Barbara were still there finishing up a few things, which ended up being nice because it discounted our stay for the night. After a muffin and some cereal, we loaded up the cars the next morning and made our journey back to Logan, Utah. Certainly, it was a memorable week.