La Cruz......Christmas Eve

12-24-12 Christmas Eve.......

We left Cabo with camera's ready, taking pictures of the beautiful place we were leaving, and taking pictures of our buddy boat in front of us. Thrilled to be leaving with another boat and nice that Debra was taking pictures of our boat. This was the first time someone was doing the picture taking of us!!!

The waters were choppy but the wind was good and after about an hour of motoring, both boats popped sails and killed the engines. The first night was pretty rough and being knocked around is definitely NOT my favorite thing to do...... we did still had good wind and were able to sail. Darrell and Whitney took the first shift and seemed to have a good time. I on the other hand was tossed like a rag doll down below. Once again, tried to sleep sideways on the bed to get even a few min., of sleep here and there. Jordan and Jamin have been taking the shifts during the night hours after Darrell and Whitney, then Darrell and Jake have been taking the early morning hours. Not much sleeping time for Captain D.! I've only done a few shifts here and there with Jake. It's amazing how much safer it feels up on deck during the rough waters. One, you can't hear all the creaking and popping the boat makes, while in the pitch dark, (totally safe though)....and two, your not tossed around while doing things. Believe me, cooking while on a passage, is NOT for the faint of heart!!! Sleep seems to be impossible for me during a rough passage. So if one wants to sleep, it's easier to lay on a bench in the cockpit!

Throughout the day, we see dolphins here and there and sometimes a whale in the distance.

The second night the waters were a bit calmer and as we got close to land the excitement grew, and coming into Banderas bay, we were greeted by whales and dolphins. A huge whale came up right between Murar's Dream and our boat. Love seeing them, just not when their close enough to do damage to our boat! I don't think it will ever get old being greeted by these giants and puppies of the sea!

As the land got closer I was amazed to see the huge bowl of green lush mountains as far as you could see and all slopping into Banderas Bay.....

We pulled into La Cruz, a small village with a nice Marina. We were all exhausted but excited to be there. Got checked in, the boat hunkered down and immediately took of into the village. What an amazing little place. It looked like it came right out of the movies, little shops, and cobblestone streets going everywhere. Since is was Christmas Eve not many people out and about.

We found a small restaurant opened and went in to have our Christmas Dinner! It was wonderful just being there together and sitting as a family, (minus our Justin, Sara & Caleb)....though they are always in our thoughts, conversations and prayers! We ordered cold coke a cola's (always available in Mexico), and our meals.

The place was nestled in the trees with tarps for protection from the many colorful, chirping birds. Painted murals on the walls, with flowers everywhere, it was hot, but muggy and we all LOVED IT! Our food came on big platters and was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! The people we've met so far have treated us all like Kings. (disclaimer, with the exception of the scary event in Cabo with the Windom group, run, run, run....)

They say hello as we walk their streets and smile and help with directions when asked. We all went back to the boat with full stomachs and ready to sleep.

We broke tradition here in Mexico. Darrell's work schedule through out the years, always made it so we opened our Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. But we decided that since we weren't getting presents, to have our Christmas Eve a family meal, (wonderful), and rest and have a good breakfast the next morning as our Christmas. Darrell had purchased an MP3 player for each of them, (Jamin already had one so got an adapter to hook to his computer that makes it possible to watch movies on the TV) while not hooked up to a Marina. They were surprised to even get 1 present. I love that our kids have an appreciation for the things that are important in life and are not caught up with the material. We all had a great breakfast and headed to the beach. The beach at La Cruz was not quite what we'd hoped for. It was dirty and there were dead blow fish up on the sand everywhere. I almost stepped on 3! So as we walked further down the beach the boys spotted a huge infinity pool......not associated with our Marina, and jumped in, Darrell joined them. Whitney and I had been sitting on the beach and they hollered for us to join. I have to say, it was beautiful and so nice to just lay in a clean pool! We'd played and relaxed for about 2 hrs., then Whit and boys left. They were just out of site when Darrell and I started getting our things and I see a security guard heading toward us. I knew we'd been busted! So I turned where I was standing and started taking pictures like I was a tourist staying there. He looked at us and just kept walking. I knew he was looking for my bearded bunch though!!! We quietly walked down to the beach and back to our Marina. I felt bad, but not that bad........LOL

We spent the next couple of days just walking through the city and taking a bus closer into Puerto Vallarta for some boat parts, with Rich, from Murar's Dream. We walked through a big resort and checked out the shops and saw the beautiful landscape and boats all nestled together.

Usually in marina's there are signs like “No Swimming” and “No Fishing”, but here, there were signs everywhere that said, “Beware of Crocodiles”........ Yes Crocodiles live in that Marina!!!

We got back to our La Cruz Marina, and the kids took off to another beach across the jetty, and we just relaxed.....

So nice to be resting!!!