Trip of a Life Time

It was graduation time for my cousin and best friend, who were in the same class; they had invited me on their senior trip on a cruise to Mexico. Six of us were going on the trip three girls and their moms. As we loaded up the car none of us really knew or even thought about what this trip of a life time would have in store for us.

We left at 3:30 in the morning heading to Gulf Shores, Alabama to spend a few days before we boarded our ship in Mobile. We all knew we were getting closer when we could smell the salty water and see all the sand on the roads. Of course we didn’t wait to unpack our bags before we headed to the public beach. As soon as we pulled in we were so excited to be there we practically were running to the water ran, but before we could reach the sand we heard something behind us sounding like an impact. Two cars had crashed right behind us, we ran to the scene because in one of the cars nobody moving. First day of the trip removed a three year old girl from a wrecked car and calmed her down while ambulance took her mom to the hospital.

Our second day in Gulf Shores we were going to try to make it to the beach again. Everything seemed to be going great, lying out in the sun working on our tans when this lady who seemed crazy running up and down the beach screaming ran by us. We realized her son had disappeared. We were like a search party running up and down the beach calling out his name while my best friend and the lady’s other son swam in the water looking. The boy had wondered about 200 yds with another kid he had met. We called ourselves Charlie’s Angels all day.

Once we finally got on the Carnival Cruise Ship “Holiday” and retired our self giving nicknames we began to see a traveling in a new way. The ship has anything and everything from dance clubs, basketball courts, pools, plus an amazing site of the ocean. When you are just floating out there in the sea it is the most exciting experience I have every had. All you can see is this deep blue water that goes on farther than you can imagne.

We stopped in Calica, Mexico. We decided we would go Horseback riding at a ranch that backed up to a stretch of beach. We had all been horseback riding before but this was nothing that any of us had ever experiences. The scenery was just totally different than trails in the United States. There were so many colorful flowers that we had never seen. As we rode through the trails we could see the blue water through the trees but nothing compared to when we came to the end of the trail and it opened to the beach. Anybody who has every walked on the beach knows how gorgeous it is but riding through the water and sand on a horse is a million times better.

Next stop is Cozumel, Mexico where we sat in the sun, snorkeled. and got massages on the beach. Before we reboarded the ship we went shopping in the local villages and got to see the beautiful mexican culture.

A week of ship life included becoming addicted to the quarter machines in the casino, getting our mexican tan on, dancing at our diner table, eating amazing food, and meeting wonderful people that worked on the ship while getting to also learn about their countries and culture.