Tinker the Stinker

On Saturday Brent took Tinker (our old Honda) in to get the brakes checked.  They said we needed new back brakes and a new tire.  So we decided to get the new tire that day and make an appointment to get the brakes the following Saturday.  When they took the tire off to put the new one on they noticed that the CV axle was broken.  Apparently that's an important thing and you shouldn't be driving your car without a working one.  Whoops.  After all these repairs it was going to cost as much to fix the car as it was worth.  So now tonight we're going new car shopping.  I'm a little nervous because I'm kind of a sucker (just look at my Kirby vacuum). 

Even though I can't wait to have a car that doesn't take 20 minutes to defrost, I have a special place in my heart for Tinker.  She was a pretty hardcore car.  I mean, she got STOLEN and then found!  And she didn't even let the bad guys take the cd player!  She's been the car I've driven since we got married.  And before that I didn't have a car at BYU so I LOVED having her.  I'll post a better picture later, but until then here is the back of her.

We'll miss you Tink!  Now off to find a new one! :)

Cruise Day 7, Cruising back to Puerto Rico

Today was spent cruising back to Puerto Rico so we spent all day on the ship.  We were exhausted from such a busy week and ended up waking up at noon!  We got going and went up and played a round of mini-golf.

I got 2 back-to-back holes in 1!  We don't keep score when we play anymore.  I think it's better for our marriage.

This dog reminded me of Macie :)

I wasn't feeling the best so after we played and walked around a little I went back to the room and relaxed.

On our way to dinner we stopped and got a picture with Alan!

The sunset that night was GORGEOUS!

This was our waiter, Vipin.  I loved that you have the same waiter, stateroom attendant, etc. the whole time so you can get to know them.  It was awesome meeting people from so many different countries.  I couldn't get over how friendly everyone was.

This is what Alan left on the last night.  I'm still trying to figure out what it is.

This was seriously the vacation of a lifetime.  It was the most relaxing, fun, and exotic vacation I have ever been on!  I think one of the things that made it the best was the fact that I got to share it with Brent.  We were sad to have it end, but we were also so excited to get home to our furries because we missed them sooooo much!  Thanks baby for the best vacation EVER! 

Cruise Day 6, Barbados

This was our last day of going to a new place and when we got to the top of the ship this morning we thought, "Oh this place is going to be kind of lame."  Here is the view we had.

We could NOT have been farther from the truth.  I want to move to Barbados!  And then I can go vacation in Dominica :)  Today was our last excursion.  We had a 4x4 tour of the island and snorkeling by a couple shipwrecks. 

Brent and I climbed up these rocks to get some good pictures.  While we were up there a Barbados police man whistled at us to get down.  Once we got down we saw the big sign that said No Climbing on Rocks.  At least we got the pictures :)

Our ride.  The group of people we ended up with were awesome!  There were 9 of us in the back of this thing and we had so much fun talking and goofing off with them.

I snapped this picture as we drove by.  I was pretty impressed with myself.  And this is 100% real!

The had sugar cane (or "suga kayne") fields EVERYWHERE.  Our driver told us they were marijuana fields.  I'm betting those were on a different part of the island.

This was our first of 2 stops.  The beach was gorgeous!  I couldn't get over how crazy big the waves were.

This is also where I did my good deed for the year

See the rock in the left of the picture?  Well, after we got our picture taken, I was standing there taking pictures.  One of the old ladies in the group walked over to get her picture taken where we were and a wave came up and knocked her back.  She looked like she was going to catch her balance but I ran up and reached out to her just in case.  Well, as I did that she almost fell back but reached out and grabbed my hand.  Just as I grabbed her another wave came crashing over.  Luckily, she stayed upright and was fine.  It was scary, though, because she was right by the jagged rocks and if a wave had taken her down, I don't want to think what might have happened.  She kept coming up to me the rest of the trip saying how I saved her life.  :) 

Look at those waves!

Another drive-by picture I was pretty proud of.

I had no idea bananas grew upside down!

So we got to our second location and got on a little speed boat that took us to the place we were going to be snorkeling.  It was the most unreal gorgeous place I have ever been in my life!

The water is really this color!

Now, while I'm glad I have the opportunity to snorkel, I found out that I am NOT a fan.  I kept forgetting to breathe through my mouth and I was too small for the life vest so it kept riding up.  But it was an awesome experience.

These were taken with Brent's camera.  It still works!

There were sooooo many fish and you could feel them zoom past you as you swam

This is a view of one of the shipwrecks.  It's kind of hard to see, but you get the point

After we were done snorkeling we had a half hour to just relax on the beach.  The other people in our group stayed on the boat and drank rum punch, but Brent and I swam and chilled on the beach until we had to go back.

The sand was soooooooo white and soooooo smooth!

The beach that we were at was voted one of the 10 best beaches in the world.  I can totally see why!

Later that night we had our second formal night!

I got to wear my new necklace! :)

After dinner they had an adults only (you'll see why) game called The Quest.  It's basically a giant scavanger hunt with items in the room.  It was hilarious to see how people get when they're competing (and probably mostly wasted)

One of the things you had to do was someone in the group had to give the Cruise Activities Director a lap dance.  Guess who volunteered.

I am pretty proud though, because after I finished the Cruise Director who was the MC for the game said, "That was GOOD!".  I guess we all have our talents.

Brent was the one that got nominated to dress up like a girl and then do a dance routine around the room

Needless to say the guy behind him won.  My bro-in-law said Brent looked like a feminine Mr. Rogers.  I can't look at this picture now without thinking about that comment and cracking up!

Our group didn't win, but we sure had a lot of fun!

When we got back from the night, Alan had this waiting for us!

Cruise Day 5, Dominica

We found out the day before we got there that it's pronounced Dom-a-knee-kah and we were saying it wrong the whole time!  Oh well, we said it right after that :)

Today we woke up and the view from the ship was absolutely amazing.  Dominica is the most fertile island in the Caribbean (which means they grow the most marijuana) and it was soooo green and gorgeous!  This was the view from the ship that morning

I seriously could not get over it!  Today we were going on our second excursion.  It was a ride around part of the island and a waterfall/hot springs tour.  So we met our group and headed off bright and early!

View at one of the stops on the tour

The first place we arrived at was the waterfall.  This spot was in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2, where Jack Sparrow is rolling around on the giant wheel.  A lot of the movie was filmed in Dominica and it was really cool to see it!  Anyway, we jumped in this FREEZING water to swim through caves to a waterfall.

This is where we first got in

When we bought our camera it claimed to be freeze proof, shock proof, and waterproof.  Well we figured this was probably the best time to test and see if the people at Olympus were a bunch of liars.  Just in case, we took Brent's camera. 

This is what we swam to.  It was gorgeous!  Brent and I both climbed up on a rock and jumped in

Good form, but minus points for holding his nose.  Brent didn't get a shot of me jumping, but I did!

If you turn your head sideways, this is part of the view on the way to the waterfall.

We got back to the van and drove to our next location.  On the way there we saw some of the volcanic activity on Dominica.  This was the steam coming out of one of the volcano vents.

Next we arrived at Screw Hot Springs.  There was a big sign when you first came in that said, "Sulfur is orange, not dirty".  Pretty reassuring for a germ freak like myself...

There were three hot springs and a cool pool.  The first one was waaaaaay hot and the second two felt sooo nice.  After you're done you jump in the cool pool to shrink your pores back up (and lock in all the dirt).

Here we are with our adorable tour guide, Jan.  She was hilarious!

After we finished at the hot springs they brought out fresh fruit to snack on.  Oh my goodness.. I had the best mango I have ever had in my LIFE!  And since it was so good after I got home I went to Trader Joe's and bought a couple.  Big mistake.  Trader Joe's mangoes do not equal Dominica mangoes.

No children were harmed in the making of this photo op

While we were at the hot springs, our van driver made all these cute little animals out of weeds they had by the van!  Crazy!!  He and Alan need to have a competition.

Later that night we ventured over to karaoke.  I'm 99% sure my husband was the only sober one that performed that night.

For some reason, he chose to do YMCA.  I didn't support this decision, since he didn't know any of the words, other than "Y-M-C-A!"

But he must have done a good enough job because he had the biggest turn out on the dance floor!

When we got back that night, Alan had this waiting for us :)

Up next: Barbados!!