Ensenada, Mexico Episode Eight

Thursday morning, we found our ship docked in Mexico.  All I saw out of our cabin window that day was their port area.  A dock with large cranes and piles of containers.    I knew I would not be able to get around without the wheel chair so Bob went to the Windjammer Cafe and brought me some breakfast and he headed off to go on the excursion we had paid for.  (I still have my ticket~needless to say)

The excursion was $30 and was to last 5 hours.  It included visit to La Bufadora and a Mexican Folkloric Fiesta.  He took a tour bus thru the city and out to an area along the ocean to the famous La Bufadora or a blowhole, a natural sea geyser created by the pressure of the ocean inside caves along the Baja Coast.  In the same area there were some open air markets where you could do some shopping.  However, Bob said the merchants there were very aggressive and a lot of the people were put off by that.   The next stop was the  Riviera Pacifico Cultural Center where they saw a Mexican Folkloric Show with regional dances and songs.  There was a live Mariachi band and of course dancers and entertainers in the bright colorful costumes.  

When I scrolled thru Bob's Ensenada pictures I found he'd only taken about 11 pictures and none of the Mexican Folkloric show...grrrrrrr!!

During the day I stayed on the bed in the cabin.  I found a comfortable position so that my knee didn't hurt but I could still watch TV, read and take a nap.   Our dear cabin steward, Merita, came to clean and found me there so she brought me more ice for an ice bag and asked if there was anything else she could do. I called room service for lunch (which was delicious) and  I watched 2 movies...."The Bee Movie" and "Michael Clayton."  I'd seen "The Bee Movie" before but on this day, it didn't matter.   I was able to nap for awhile too.

Bob got back about 3pm and he told me about his day and asked if I wanted to go up on the upper deck.  Yes, I certainly did...since all I was seeing out the cabin window was the port area.   So he took me to the upper open air deck where we found a Bar B Que going on.  He got me seated at a railing table where I could look out over the city and went and got us some food.  They had Bar B Que ribs, potato salad, all kinds of fresh fruit, salad, cookies, ice cream...everything you'd have at a Bar B Que.  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, with a light breeze....people were in the pool, others were eating Bar B Que....my depression at being in the cabin for 5 hours by myself vanished. 

Bob suggested that we not go to dinner that night, thinking it would be easier for me.  But I wanted to go and share one last dinner with our cruise friends.  So we went and we all exchanged phone number's, etc. After dessert was served our waiters put on quite a show for us. I think this one was better than Italian night when the all sang "O Sole Mio" in Italian.  They came out balancing all sorts of dishes and kitchen ware as they danced thru the dining area.  Then they had us all on our feet and led us to a lively rendition of the Macharaina.   As we left the table we all hugged and wished each othersafe trips home. Then it was back to our cabin to pack and get our bags out in the hall by 11pm.  I'd done a little packing thru out the day so was almost finished with mine.  Leaving out medications, toothbrush, clothes, etc that I would need Friday morning to get off the ship. 

I had saved a couple little cartons of milk and a little box of Raisin Bran so I'd have some breakfast Friday morning without having to go up to the Windjammer.  But Bob went up and got me a couple pieces of bacon and a little plate of scrambled eggs and an English muffin.  They were closing the Windjammer at 8:30am so Bob hurried back up to get himself fed.

He took me to the upper deck where we waited until our luggage tag color was called over the loudspeaker.  He had already called Hope and confirmed with her that we were told we'd be off the ship and thru Customs by about 10am.  Since I was in the wheel chair, when our color was called...the staff hurried us off the ship.  We were directed to a special line for Customs. After Customs, we found our luggage and a nice man helped us get it out to the curb. Once again we were on solid ground sitting in the sun waiting for Hope to pick us up.  Our cruise was over.....always a bittersweet moment, for those of us who love to cruise. 

Within about 10 minutes she pulled up to the curb, Bob loaded our bags into the car and away we went.   Hope asked if I could handle riding along while she drove into the wholesale district of downtown LA.   She had a couple things to pick up and she was going to the area of silk plants and flowers....and she knew I wanted a silk Lucky Bamboo.  When we got to the area, I stayed in the car, she and Bob went and got the needed items, including my very realistic Bamboo plant.  Then it was off to Pasadena, picking up In-N-Out burgers for lunch and then to their house.