My Great Adventure Continues! PART TWO

Where was I....? Yes, Monday on the ship. It was an all day at sea day, as we sailed to Honduras. And now I will tell you that I did go to the 2pm lecture. Okay, I mean, I tried! Bruce Porter is brilliant, but nothing was going to keep me awake that sleepy afternoon. I decided to spare myself more embarassment and sleep in my bed in my room, rather than in the conference room. I'll get my notes out on what he said later for you. I got a lovely nap, and felt much better. I met up with Mom and Dad and we nearly blew over th side when we went to the top deck. It wouldn't have been so bad- the ship has strategically located partitions to block the wind- but we went all the way to the front of the ship, where there was nothing to stop the gusts.

We went to the 6pm dinner at the 4 course restaurant. We made friends with a neat couple. hmmm.... it was a husband and wife and their friend, so I guess that's not a couple. The 3 of them were a hoot and made dinner thoroughly enjoyable, and even at 2 hours it didn't seem that long. Ooooh! I had Beef Wellington. And I had Creme Brulee for dessert. They let me have the chocolate mousse cake too, but it was not as tasty as the Creme Brulee!

Despite all the culinary delights, dad still wanted to go try the ice cream bar. Did I go and partake? Yes, I did! Now you know why I gained 10 pounds! Now stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey, I was ready for bed. I had thought that I would have more down time to just relax and do nothing, but I didn't have much all day. I read for a bit and when Sandra came in we stayed up late talking. I felt like I was back in college again!

Tuesday I got up at 6. I was wide awake. I'm not sure why we decided to meet for breakfast at 7, but for some reason, we had. We discovered the omlette bar, where the made it in front of you and you picked what you wanted. Yummy! Once overly full (again!) we went to the 7th deck, to the "promanade". That deck circles the ship and 4 laps equals 1.4 miles. So we walked 4. It was nice. The weather was so sunny and warm, with a gorgeous, calm sea and we enjoyed walking and talking. I even made Mom play half a game of Shuffleboard with me, just to get a picture!

Oh, yeah, we got up early because at 10am Bruce Porter was imparting more nuggests of wisdom. I felt like I got one grain of digestable information off the beach of his knowledge. It was incredible. He rattles off scriptures and tidbits off the top of his head and with such familiarity. I felt like I could only grasp and understand a tiny portion of it. I took notes, and I know there was more than I got, but my brain just couldn't wrap around all ofit. It was good stuff though. He wrapped up about 11:15.

Where did we go for lunch? The buffet, of course. As we were finishing and I was topping off with yummy chocolate ice cream (with sauce and sprinkles!), Bruce Porter and his wife came in. Mom and Dad abandoned me and went to visit with im. I bolted back to my room for some quiet time. I got a little nap, and I did finish reading "Bridge to Terabithia". I'd never read it before! It made me cry.

The boat... er... ship, did dock in Roatan, Honduras at 2:30. It was initially suppose to be in a few hours earlier, but it was running short one engine, and therefore moved a little slower, and we got in later. We met on Deck 7 with the LDS Tour group and jumped into the sea of people jockying to get off the ship. Close to 2000 people all trying to get out 2 doors takes a while. They scan your card before you leave so they know who got off the ship.

Once off, we walked up the road to the busses. Since everyone else was going snorkeling, Mom had managed to get us into something more exciting. Mom, Dad, me, and Sandra (my roommate) got our own van and driver and we went off by ourselves. We met up with a man with horses and we got to go for a horseback ride tour! I had a sour dark brown horse, but we were friends after the first little bit, once we came to an agreement. They were suppose to be gaited horses, but my horse would forget that. Then I had to sit deep, urge him on, and hold him in. We go on fine. We rode through the village, and along the beach. So fun! We got to ride through the jungle too. The village was so different from what I see around me evey day. The jungle and beach were so pretty and amazing to see. I mean, I was riding down the beach! I loved it! My legs weren't so happy by the end, but it was worth a slightly sore backside! I sat there on this horse and thought, "I can't believe I am riding a horse in Honduras!" It was so great.

The horses were small and cute. Even Dad was okay on his. It was way better than snorkeling. After the ride we did go to the beach for dinner. That's where we met up with the snorkelers, at a restaurant on the beach. I was excited to have native cuisine, but I'm not sure how native it was. I got the chicken dish (rather than fish!) and it was quite tasty. I've never had rice and beans that tasted so good. We got to watch the sun set over the beach and it was lovely. There was a little native girl selling cute bracelets, so I got 2 for my girls. We had to hurry back to the dock then, and there was a maze of people selling things. Expensive things. There was a very cute chicken toy. The chickens pecked the ground.... it was cute, trust me. And it reminded me of motherhood- sometimes with the kids, I feel like I'm being pecked to death by chickens! So I had to buy it. Actually, I wanted it, but I wasn't going to spend $9 for it. I said $5 was as high as I would go. The lady held at $6. I said too bad, I wasn't going more than $5. The lady in the next stall over said, "I give it to you for $5!" So I did get it. And I love it!

We only had 4 hours in Roatan. Not nearly enough time to do much. We had to be on board 30 minutes before the ship sailed, and we were. I had to show my ID and room key 3 times, and went through the metal detector, so I felt pretty secure after all that. It would be nearly impossible to sneak onboard! After all that fun, we had to go up for dessert.... ice cream and chocolate cake! It was such a fantastic day! I thought that it was going to be the best day of the whole trip. How do you top that?!