So I’m just going to say “YAY ME” for getting this post up after only a couple of months since we disembarked from the ship…???? Those weeks were very full of travelling and meeting new people – as well as being reunited with some of our old friends.
Our trip started on Valentine’s Day because there is nothing more romantic than spending 15 hours in a car with your family on Valentine’s day, obviously… But it wasn’t all that bad. We have portable wifi in the USA so we put the timer on for one hour and did an hour of homework. Once the timer went off we switched and had “free time” until the timer went off again an hour later. It was an efficient way of getting work done and I finished almost a week’s worth of homework in 8 hours of work – which definitely lightened the stress for the rest of our holiday!
As some of you may have noticed we often base our route around food, and most of our favourite restaurants that are only in the States are over four hours away so before we left that morning we set our destination as Chick-Fil-A in Grand Forks and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch!
Then for supper, on a recommendation of Ross Vanstone, we stopped at a Golden Corral, which is a US buffet chain, and it ended up having a chocolate fountain – which made sitting in the car for ten hours SO worth it…???? The next day we stopped in Chicago briefly on our way through to do some shopping at an outlet mall! Using some birthday money I bought myself a pair of shoes – which I think you’ll see later on in this post because I have this weird obsession with taking photos of my feet… but anyway… after shopping we were on the lookout for somewhere to eat and I saw a sign for some kind of Noodles Co. so we whipped in and it was AMAZING!!! I got the BBQ Mac N’ Cheese, which was one of the best choices I could’ve made…???? It was plain Mac N’ Cheese but covered in pulled pork, bbq sauce and then to top it off, jalapeño chips – which leads me to a funny story. When I got my food I had forgotten what the chips on top were made of so I picked up a big one off the top took a bite and promptly spent the next minutes coughing and guzzling my water, alternatively…???? Thankfully when mixed in with everything it added the right amount of pop without me having to embarrass myself. After we finished eating in Chicago we drove for several more hours to reach the Jackson, MI area where we had a quick supper at the Smiths, and then Dad and I headed to the ministry meeting, then reunited with everyone at the gym night. All of us were spread out, staying at different people’s homes that weekend, and I got to stay at the same house as the teens I met in Chatham last Fall – which was a blast! We stayed up late playing the same card game over and over again and only once during the two nights did I win – otherwise it was the same person every single time…???? One of the things that touched me while I was listening to the messages at conference was “the world cannot touch what you are on the inside – but it can work away on the outside to make you look like them”. These simple words have such a profound meaning behind them. I will always be part of God’s family on the inside – but am I showing that part of me in the way I look and what I do? This applies to my life and is helping me to realize that a decision my parents made for me was better than the one I may have chosen for myself before I considered these words. God is always present – NEVER forget that. It was also really good to see several people who we had met at Naches again – their friendliness inspires me!The Monday after Jackson Conference we headed up to Detroit where we stayed with the Mason’s! For supper we went to the Bell’s, who were friends of my parents since childhood and it was so cool to meet them and their kids! The Vissia’s, who taught me Mom in Sunday School years ago, were also there! After supper, us kids went downstairs and played jeopardy, and I’m not sure if it’s anything to be proud of – but I really kicked butt in the gardening section – so yay for all those tedious hours spent in our garden…????Oh yes, here is that amazing shoe picture I promised you from earlier…???? But the next morning, Tuesday, we went to the Henry Ford Museum with Kyla because now that we own both a Ford and a Dodge it’s now acceptable to go see places with the word Ford in them… The Masons were very kind hosts and it was really nice to meet good friends of my Uncle Elton’s – it is so crazy the connections we have because of our God!A hot dog truck – that used to have hot dogs sold out of it, way back before I was born.It was so cool to see all of the generations of trains, and cars, and farm machinery, but one of the coolest photo ops was in the open luggage car on one of the trains – maybe because I felt at home there with all of those travelling dreams ready to go places but who knows…After the museum we headed over to the Battels, where we stayed for several days as Dad had two nights of ministry in Cass City. They were very generous hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them – and their dog, Samson.As we left Michigan we, once again, stopped in Chicago, but this time we met up with Carter – who is from Glen Ewen but now attends university there and went to another of our favourite restaurants – MOD Pizza! It was good to see someone “from home” before we travelled off to meet some more people – and be reunited with old friends from our gap year trip!On our way through Wisconsin Dells we stopped at a Nail Salon, where I got my first pedicure as well as my finger nails done! No one in my family paints their nails like ever so it was a real treat – and there is something about wearing flipflops in the Caribbean and being able to look down at my cute toenails that just makes me happy…????After finally arriving in Minneapolis late Thursday night we went straight to bed. The next morning we began switching our cold weather clothes out of our suitcases for the warm weather ones, with a quick breakfast break in there too. And as you can see – I made some healthy choices… Or not.???? Once we got all our clothes packed up we hopped on the shuttle to take us over to the airport!!! ***Btw I apologize in advance for all of the nail photos – it was kind of a big deal for us…????Waiting for security, where we had to walk past a dog single file, which was fairly intimidating but went fine.???? After waiting for several hours in the Minneapolis airport, during which time we went searching for food and found some Panda Express (Orange chicken and Fried Rice all the way????) we finally boarded what we thought was going to be a normal plane ride – but it was far from it. A couple of hours into our flight we hit some regular feeling turbulence, which didn’t bother us any – but then the captain came on and announced that we were going to be flying through some storm clouds so be prepared for turbulence… After that the cabin became hushed and the tension was thick. And that’s when we began to fall out of the sky – at least that’s what it felt like because my bottom lifted off of my seat at one point because the plane dropped so far. It was definitely one of the most sketchy plane rides of my life but during the really bad turbulence, I kept thinking to myself – if this plane actually does go down or something, I’ll be fine, but what about everyone else who isn’t ready to meet God? A somewhat sobering thought made worse by the extremely drunk guy several rows back singing “We’re going down” over and over again…Once we got to New Orleans, where we had a three hour layover, we found seats near a plugin and charged everything while reading our books. Eventually I decided to sleep, and Cassia was nice enough to offer herself as a partial pillow… Sisters are a powerful bond and I think this photo represents 1000 words. Don’t get me wrong, I NEVER hold hands with anybody – it’s not really my thing but sometimes when you’re exhausted you need an anchor and the peace of mind that nothing in the slightly sketchy airport would get you while you slept.Finally, we boarded and flew the short distance to Fort Lauderdale! When we got off the plane and walked through the airport I got such an at home feeling that it was slightly weird! I’ve been in that airport for three different trips – which is a total of six times there. We also spent almost two months on our gap year trip in Florida so walking outside was like a “We’re back” kind of feeling and it just made me get that much more excited for the week ahead!After arriving super late at our hotel, us kids had a relaxing morning getting ready to board the ship, while my parents discussed the week ahead. Boarding the ship was a breeze, and after eating lunch in the cafeteria we headed out to the grass on top of the ship to feel the warm sun get baked into our bones…????At supper that night the photographer was going around taking photos at the different tables. So in order for this photo to happen I had to squat awkwardly – in my heels and a dress – between Cassia and Lanaya and then smile like I wasn’t squatting in one of the most awkward positions ever…????Then my food arrived and I was faced with a chicken leg about half the size of my head! It was an absolutely delicious piece of meat – but I didn’t even come close to finishing it all!????Our first port was Key West, FL on Sunday morning. (Just to clarify our cruise last year traveled the same route as this years, so if you ever experience a slight case of Deja Vu, that’s possibly why????)This was my third time being to this island! However, each time we come we experience it a little differently. This time once we disembarked from the ship we had to get on board a shuttle train which took us down to main street, where most of the main attractions are. Once there we bought sunscreen and some scrumptious chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick! Then we decided to walk alllllllll the way to the southern most point of the USA – which was on the opposite side of the island. It was a hot sweaty walk, although the mango flavoured snowcone and bottle of water definitely helped!Mile 0 of the highway.Yay for sisters who let me stick them half into a flower bush for the sake of a photo! I love the vibrancy of this photo – mainly because it didn’t require a filter – this is just some pure natural sun lighting.After we got back on the ship we still had several more hours before supper so we found the Gunthers and headed up to the lawn – where we spent a fair amount of time each day in the afternoon, eating french fries and discussing the days events.The next day was a sea day which meant family bingo, during which time I had to do the “bingo dance” in order to claim my prize, which is pictured here (the popsocket on the back of my phone). We also played some basketball, went to the pool, suntanned and ate some good food! As it was our first sea day it was also Formal Night, so we took some extra time getting ready and doing hair.Us kids all shared a table for the evening meal – which normally resulted in laughter and a large consumption of breadsticks…????On the cruise I normally try to be adventurous in what I order from the menu – but from now on I’m not ordering food where I don’t understand what it is because of the foreign name…???? That night I ordered some kind of seared duck something or another, expecting it to be warm and most certainly not pureed. However this arrived (yes, I took a bite before the picture) and it was not at all what i expected. It was a weird texture, and cold – but extremely flavourful. So I smeared small chunks of it on large pieces of bread and got it down, a flavourful but not so appetizing experience…????Also, because of Formal Night, we had the opportunity to take photos with our captain, Kate McCue! This is the most serious photo we took with her as the formal photographer had a couple of camera issues and so we made a bunch of funny faces for my mom, who had her phone out to get a few photos of us. She was a ton of fun to talk to and didn’t mind putting herself out there and interacting with us kids – so thank you to Captain Kate for making our day! We loved her riddles each morning and they often led to lots of discussions with random people onboard the ship!????Tuesday morning we arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico! Last year when we were here Cassia and Lanaya went swimming with dolphins and I rushed around last minute to get my hair braided! This year we didn’t book any excursions through the ship and so got off the ship at each port to wander around and explore. This time we found a lady who braided our hair! I only got a small section of my hair done while Lanaya got her whole head braided again! It took an hour for Lanaya’s hair to be finished so during that time, Cassia, Dad and I went off to find some food! And we found tacos!!!!! They were shaved fresh off the meat that was roasting, fried and the then put on a delicious fresh tortilla… Mhhhmmm! We tried the pork and the beef but came back later with Lanaya and Mom, and all ordered the pork.????Then Cassia and Dad did the Fish Spa! It was basically my worst nightmare come true but they enjoyed it…???? There were tons of little fish that would nibble on their dead skin and swim between their toes. Watching the fish was fascinating but watching their faces was even better!The next morning we docked at Cozumel, where we, once again, got off the ship in search of adventure! This time we found $25 snorkeling for two hours! So we quickly accepted and had a ton of fun!BIG NEWS!!! In this picture you see proof that I actually got in the water with the fish.???? If you know me – you’ll know the only water I swim in involves a pool. However, I faced my fears and got in the water and enjoyed myself – until I couldn’t get my breathing under control and everyone was freaking out because there was a barracuda – at which point I got back in the boat…????The next day we stopped in Grand Cayman! We got off the ship and began walking – looking for a car to rent so that we could got to the Seven Mile Beach – thankfully though we found a taxi that took us to the beach! The bus dropped us off at the pay-to-enter part of the beach, because we had heard that was the closest entrance. However, as we were eating lunch Lanaya looked across the road and declared that she had found the Public beach entrance! So instead of having to pay we walked down the trail to the ocean, plopped our stuff down right next to the payed entrance beach and enjoyed the beautiful water – which I went swimming in again! That night was our second formal night, and all of us kids wore black and white, which most of us had brought on the cruise so that we could accidentally coordinate that night!???? The next day was a sea day and we floated our way back to Miami.On Saturday we disembarked and ended up renting a car so that we could tour around with the Gunthers! We went on a airboat tour with them and held baby alligators! Then we headed to a mall where we wasted some time before having to say our sad goodbyes to the Gunthers. After saying goodbye we went back into the mall where we spent another hour before heading for the airport. At the airport we went on a mission to find food – and found another of our favourites, Steak N’ Shake! Supper was delicious but then because we had several hours to kill before our flight left I curled up weirdly on my seat and slept. Then, once we got on the airplane I fell asleep again, hence this flattering photo my Mom took of me while I was sleeping…????
The couple of weeks we spent traveling were an absolute blast! It was so good to renew our friendships with people who we met several years ago – or even with people we met months before!
I feel so guilty taking this long to get a post up about an amazing two weeks – but sometimes it is good for me to look back on my memories and laugh or at my conference notes to refresh what I’ve learned.
Anyhow, I just want to say thank you to everyone, those who invited us to stay with them with just a days notice, as well as those who put up with me for a week…????
Also you can book next years cruise with my parents at oyf.link/cruise! Hope to see you there!!!
Such good memories made and shared. Thanks. You are so fortunate to join your parents on the cruise! Love you, Grandma & Grampa
You’re very welcome! Love you guys!
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂