So...after nine days away from home, there's a ton to tell. Here are a few facts about our Tahitian trip-of-a-lifetime, to tide you over until I have to pictures ready to share:
:: Swimming with sting rays...this was my favorite thing from the trip. I hope the photos turn out! Yet to be determined. The sting rays were awesome!! Huge! A good 30 inches wide. So graceful, and slick to the touch. Most people think their tails will sting you, but really there is a stinger at the base of the tail that you have to watch out for. The tails are safe. They swim up on you and nuzzle you, it was the coolest feeling. I thought it would feel gross, but I just loved it.
:: Chris surprised me with a massage at the spa onboard. An hour and five minutes of pure bliss. I felt like butter afterwards, my girl Ivy sure did a stellar job! He told me one evening that he was running up to the gift shop to get some chapstick, and little did I know that he was really at the spa setting up my appointment!
:: Chris did so well with the flying. Yes he had meds, but they didn't work like we thought they would. The Ambien didn't knock him out like planned. But, he was calm and even looked out the window!!
:: We realized on this trip that we're in that odd phase of life where we don't quite "fit in" anywhere. We are too old now to hang out with the "young, cool crowd", and too young to completely fit in with the "middle-aged crowd". However, we felt more comfortable with the middle-aged crowd, and really spent some great time getting to know 3 couples better. Lots of fun dinners and memories with them...
:: Rained quite a bit a few of the days, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves. Really, if you're snorkeling in the water, you can't even tell if it's raining!
:: A group of us kayaked out to where the waves were crashing, and sat transfixed in shallow water just listening to the waves. Such a peaceful sound and feeling. Could've stayed there all day.
:: Our group had 118 people in it, and that meant we took over half the ship! It was a cool feeling, looking around and knowing so many people!
:: A stiff puzzle competition ensued...who would've thought? They had a puzzle set up, and a group of us completed it by our last night on the ship...I've never seen so many people determined to puzzle!!!
:: It was so cool to see the clouds crash into the tops of the tall green mountains...have a ton of pictures of this to show you!:: Speaking of photos...we took a total of 970 digital photos, and have 4 water cameras to develop!!!! And you all worried about having something to look at :)
:: That Tahitian dancers are amazing...the way they shake that booty is unbelievable!!!
:: With my light skin, I did not get sunburned...imagine! My sunscreen did me good. Chris, however, refuses to wear sunscreen, and his back is pretty sunburned. That's the only think that sticks out of the water, when you snorkel so much!
:: Did a whole lot of snorkling...saw a lot of cool, colorful fish, sea urchins, coral. Some people even saw an octopus, sea turtles, baracudas.
:: The water their is amazing. I've seen turquoise water in the Caribbean, etc...but nothing compares to this water. So crystal clear, and a million different shades of blue. It was so surprising to find shallow spots in the middle of the ocean...it could go from shallow to deep in a blink of an eye, and wherever this happened, the color broke to a different shade. Spectacular!
:: Had some travel problems on our journey home. The flight from Tahiti to Los Angeles was an hour late, which threw the connecting flights off. The first group missed their connection, and the lot of us (about 20, I'd say), had to find new flights to get on. Thought we were on one, but it didn't end up having seats for us. Were on stand-by for 3 other flights, and then finally got on one. Very frustrating, the whole ordeal made me balistic! The chartered bus home was scheduled to leave at 6:30, and we thought we had missed it. Thought we were going to have to get a flight to Abilene either last night or this morning. But we landed and discovered that our group was still waiting for us. That was a tremendous sense of relief!!! Our bus got home around midnight...
:: Though our trip was amazing, we were pretty excited when the plane landed us back in America...we sure did miss the good ole U-S-of-A!!! First thing we got...Starbuck's frappachinos!!!
Well, I guess that's a bit to read for now...I'll try to have the pics ready soon!!!!
6 comments:
Oh what heaven!! I hope to one day take a cruise, it sounds like Tahiti is the way to go! That was incredible sweet (but not unlike him at all.) of Chris to schedule the massage for you! I think swimming with the sting rays would have been unbelievable as well. Great job on keeping that sunscreen on! Did you need that bug spray after all? :)
Yuck!! I hate that coming home you had problems with the flights. I just always seem to have problems at airports myself. Glad that the group waited for you guys! that was wonderful.
Thanks for sharing so much of your trip here. I really enjoyed hearing about it.
That trip sounds so amazing, you guys really deserved it! The massage was wonderful, I'm sure.
Can't wait to see the photos!
I'm so glad you're back! You've been missed!!
that sounds fabulous!
can't wait to see pics :)
Been wondering when you'd return! SOunds like you had an amazing time! Looking forward to seeing the pictures. That is something I have always wanted to do- swim with the rays. So jealous! My brother has just completed a trip around Australia and while he was in beautiful W.A he got to swim with huge manta rays at Ningaloo Reef where you can usually swim with Whale Sharks (wrong time of the year when he went).
Welcome back to blogging! Been missing your entries. Once again, look forward to your pics. Have a fantastic day!
Frenchy
Sounds amazing...I am so jealous. And so happy you got Starbucks when you came home!!
Sounds dreamy :) Can't wait to see some pics!!! Glad it was a great vaca for ya.
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