Ok, before I get started, I just found this thread which has a lot of pictures of some of the food I mentioned here but didnt get pictures of, SO, if youre interested in pics, go here -
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2696045.. Theres even a pic of the Orange Soda Float. Its the last dessert listed in one of the Palo posts and is described as I dont know.
Our morning started at O'dark 30 since we had to be in Wavebands by 6:45 for our ATV excursion. This was the one day that I was disappointed in service on the ship. We had planned on ordering the room service breakfast to be delivered before we left, but noticed on the door hanger menu that breakfast wasnt available for delivery until 7, which would not have worked for us that morning. I have no idea if we could have called first thing in the morning to get something delivered we didnt even think to try that. The only thing that was open at that time was Goofys Kitchen, which opened right as we were heading to our excursion meet p, so I jumped in line to get a couple muffins and some yogurt, while DH headed down. Now honestly, you would think on these early port days they would realize that people would want to eat breakfast before leaving and MAYBE open at least Beach Blanket Buffet early, but no such luck. Of course, maybe we should have realized that was going to be an issue the night before and planned ahead! I also heard another couple who was late getting to Wavebands saying they were late because the Kids Club didnt open until 7
Anywho
we sat in Wavebands and ate our snacks while we waited for everyone to show up. There were a few late people who overslept, but we were off the ship by 7:00 or so. We were led over to the marina office where we met our bus driver and loaded the bus (after the other people in our excursion took a quick detour to the Oxxo to pick up some breakfast items
. The ride was about 45 minutes and we enjoyed seeing some more of the Mexican landscape. It was early, so all I really wanted to do was sleep, but my DH kept taking pictures of me instead:
We arrived at our destination, a small building in the desert, and met our tour guide for the day, Ivan. We got our bandanas and helmets and were then given a quick rundown of the ATV controls. Unlike the ATVs that some of the others had ridden before, these were semi-automatic instead of automatic so we did have to shift gears, but there was no clutch. There was also a father/daughter duo that was driving the dune buggy 4x4 which looked pretty fun, and in hindsight was probably more my style
We started out riding through the desert, on a hardpacked dirt trail that wound through cactuses, prickly bushes and low shrubs. There were some twists and turns so I had to focus more on the driving and less on the surrounding landscape, but it was pretty.
So, ok, I swear, Im really NOT a bad driver, no matter WHAT DH tries to tell you. And although I havent driven an ATV before, I have driven snowmobiles and jetskis, so didnt feel like it was something I couldnt handle. But, well
I was driving through some hairpin turns and had kind of fallen behind the others just a little bit because I wasnt feeling as comfortable as everyone else (they had all driven ATVs before) and I came up to a turn that had some pretty deep ruts in the path and apparently made the wrong decision on whether to stay in the ruts or go out of them because, well
all of a sudden, I was heading straight off the trail into a ditch. My brain was telling me to hit the brakes, but my hands were just not cooperating with me so I didnt stop in time and ended up, umm
flipping the ATV.
Luckily, the dad and daughter driving the 4x4 were behind me and saw the whole thing, so they stopped to make sure I was ok. I was totally fine, just some scratches and a bruised ego, but the ATV was not so ok. Ivan came racing back to find me as soon as he realized I was missing. He pulled up and said What did you do?!?! All I could say was Lo siento, lo siento (Im sorry). I probably should have been saying something like la culpa es mia, que soy un idiota (its my fault, Im an idiot) but at that point, my limited knowledge of the Spanish language was pretty much failing me
Ivan flipped the ATV back over and somehow got it out of the ditch. The handlebars were bent in toward the seat and the fender was dented in, but was apparently still driveable because Ivan took that one over and gave the good one to me.
We were not in the best place to just stop on the trail, so he made sure I was ok to continue on and we drove on to catch up with the rest of the group. Shortly after, we stopped to take a break and Ivan cleaned my leg up and put a bandage on it to keep the dirt out.
We were about to climb out of the desert so Ivan gave us some instructions go slow, keep an eye on the trail so after making sure I was ok again, we headed out.
All of a sudden, we went over a rise and there was the ocean spread out in front of us. It was really gorgeous. We got to drive right along the beach with no one else around and it was just awesome. We stopped again (apparently just to check to make sure I was ok
) and then headed up the hill.
Once we were at the top, we stopped again to take some pictures and take in the awesome scenery. Truly gorgeous.
After our stop, we wound our way back into the interior desert and back to our starting point. I think it was probably around 2 hours or so roundtrip.
When we got back, several of the guys working there saw my bandaged leg, so came up to make sure I was ok. They were all very nice about it, but Im sure they werent exactly thrilled about the ATV damage. The main guy said he was much more concerned that I wasnt broken and that ATV parts were easy to come by.
I did have to fill out an incident report, but that was it. We were led to a patio on the 2nd story of the main building and offered water (free) or cervezas ($3US) while we waited for our transportation back. I of course had a cerveza to calm my nerves (its gotta be 5 oclock SOMEWHERE, right?). Being on the 2nd floor gave us a really great view of the surrounding land and I was quite surprised to see the ocean so close to us. When youre down in the desert, it really does feel like youre miles and miles from anything else.
The ride back in to town was uneventful
So, other than my accidente I really enjoyed the excursion and would certainly recommend it to anyone who's not a rookie like me. I personally will not be getting near an ATV any time soon!
One thing I will say they go through the controls and how everything works, but after that you head out, so theres no time to practice. If youve never driven an ATV or feel like you might be a little unsure about it, just be aware of this and take it easy, or, try the dune buggy 4x4, which seemed a little easier to handle while still getting the exact same experience.
Next up: Cabo part 2 adios Mexico!
And I didn't even THINK about taking our souffles to go!!!! We both only managed a couple bites of each of ours and I was so sad to leave it behind. We definitely would have saved them for breakfast the next morning ... haha!
We slept long enough that we werent going to make it to the evenings show (it was Heath Hyche, who we had seen the other night, so not a big deal), so we got ready for dinner and just walked around a bit.
After Match Your Mates, we just hit the sack.
So, I had to chow down quickly, so I could make it to my massage. It was very good, but I would have liked to sit and enjoy it a little more. I ended up heading out before DH was done so I could get up to the Vista Spa.
We had a great time but when the cruise staff took their final bow at midnight, we decided it was time for us to hit the sack as well.
Love the pictures!
