Book of Leakes

Going Cruising!

Morgan's mother-in-law, Kathy, wanted to take her family on a cruise.  And bless her heart, she thought the Leake family would be fun to have along.  We hope she wasn't disappointed.  Well we didn't say "no" to such a great invitation.  So the first of June we went on a cruise with the Birks family. 

We drove to California so we could stop in St. George and do a little mountain biking. Then we went to California where Jim and Karen, graciously, let us stay at their home.  It was a beautiful start to a vacation.  We lounged around the pool. 

Played disc's and Barbacued.

We went running on the beach and borrowed Jim and Karen's beach cruisers for a ride in the sand.

Thank you Jim and Karen!

Monday afternoon, we left Jim and Karen's and boarded our boat.

What do you do on a cruise?  Well you get your picture taken....

And you eat...

You learn how to fold towels...

Run on the deck....(to wear off all the food you eat)

Eat some more... 

Learn some tricks...This waiter and our waiter had a new trick for us every night.  They were great.

Sit on the deck in the sun/cloudy sky and get cloud burned while trying not to have goosebumps cause a rainy cold front came in just for your vacation...(although we saw very little rain)

 Get your picture taken, again...                                                  Play some games...

 Dance a little...

Sing a little kareoke...

Eat some more...

 And....get your picture taken.  The boat time was a lot of fun...

Shore time was also fun.

Our first stop was Catalina Island.
The cruise boat was anchored out in the bay so we rode these tenders/shuttles to the shore. 

We had to get a little squishy, but that was ok. 

Our first adventure was to rent golf carts and tour the island.

What do you get when you have a couple of golf cart drivers who race VW bugs?

A golf cart race.  It was kinda slow, but the passengers loved it!

We saw the island from way up high.

 Hung out on the pier!

 Tested the water temperature.

 Saw some wildlife!

Braved the tide and got our picture taken.

 Got our feet wet!

It was a good day!
Next stop....Ensenada.
We didn't book any excursions through the cruise lines, we were adventurous.
When we got off the boat at Catalina.  We knew we wanted to take golf cart tours so we found the golf cart place and were the first ones in line to rent carts.  Easy.
Same with Ensenada.  We didn't book a Buffadora tour, we found one when we got off the ship and took a 30 min tour bus ride around the bay to Buffadora.

 Buffadora is a cool blow hole.  When the water comes into the rocks, it shoots in the air and spray falls all over you.

 Problem is...It is hard to know when the big one will blow.  Not behind Morgan and Chase.

 or Jamie and Adam

or Kevin and I.  Good thing we got a picture of it happening.  I think it was shy!

 Then lets go shopping.  Traditional Mexican street shopping.  The vendors are calling you to their store, with the promise of a good deal.  "Hey pretty lady, I have vanilla, you want tequilla.  How about a t-shirt."

We did find a few things we wanted.  But the pressure was overwhelming!

When we were done shopping, we headed back to town on the bus.
Once we came to town.  We headed out to find authentic Mexican food.
It was soooooo good.

 Last minute shopping at the pier!

We had a day at sea, where we shivered under the clouds on the deck and enjoyed relaxing while we sailed back to Long Beach.

We got off the boat on Fri and headed to Huntington Beach with the Birks to play in the sand and water. 

VACATION 2011- GREAT!

After we left the beach, we stopped at a VW car show.  I love this Double Cab bus/truck!

We then parted ways.  The Birks family went to their hotel and we headed back to Jim and Karen's house.  Again we had 5 star accomodations at the Yorgason's.

Saturday morning, after a run on the beach we left beautiful Carlsbad California and headed for home.

We stayed in St. George instead of driving all the way home and rode our mountain bikes one more time.  This is sooo much fun!

And then there is the drive home, after a week of fun, sunshine, sand between our toes, lots of yummy food and a few laughs. It's time to head back to work!

We are well rested.  Well sort of!  Some of us needed a little more sleep!

Chase, please keep your eyes on the road, but it helps to be awake when your eyes are open.

On our way from California to St. George, our truck lost the alternator.  We managed to get to St. George, where we bought a battery charger and charged the battery on the truck all night.  In the morning we thought all would be fine.  We had a good charge and thought we could make it all the way home.

 

Before we got to Payson, the electrical systems started to fail.  We pulled off in Payson and charged the battery for a half an hour and headed home.  One more hour was all we needed.  As we came over the point of the mountain, (only 10 minutes from home) the systems were failing again.  We made it over the point, down the hill to the exit and headed up the hill on the Bangeter exit off ramp.  Instead of freeway speed we were traveling about 35 miles per hour.  The light turned green just in time for us to coast over the ramp and down the hill.  Another green light and we were heading down the hill to the river bottom.  Coming up the other side to Redwood road we were coasting but still had power.  The light was green again and we made the right turn onto Redwood Road when, hold on boys and girls, we were without power.

 

It is a slight down hill from the light at Bangeter to our house and we kept coasting.  Then there was a break in the cars and we made a left hand turn, coasted into the drive way, coasted to the front of the garage and, wa la.  We were home.

 

I love angels on our shoulders.  To have all the lights be green and a break in the traffic to make it into our driveway was a gift from heaven.

Another adventure!  Another fabulous time!