Randy Lewis | World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser

MEXICAN CRUISE

There are always lots of bags to pack before going on a cruise. Fortunately, once you get on the ship you don't have to move again until the trip is over.

I was happy to see San Diego fogged in on the day we left for our cruise. No one wants to leave home when the weather is perfect.

Our ship, the Oosterdam from Holland America had a bit of a hygiene issue going on with the passengers from the previous week. Therefore, each passenger had to use Purell disinfectant at every opportunity.

There was a 3 hour delay boarding the ship. We used the time to watch UCLA play basketball live on my laptop!

If you've got to take a cruise, I recommend a suite just like this one.

We weren't on the cruise for an hour, before Kristy gave us some good news. She and husband James are expecting.......twins!

Kristy had a special t-shirt made up for everyone on this momentous occasion. My shirt read "trackchasers make better grandpas".

Soon it was time to go to dinner. Jim, couldn't decide between two different entrees, so he got them both.

Carol was ready to party with sons J.J., Jim, our new son-in-law James and Kristy.

Normally, we don't take the elevator when we go cruising. Walking the steps helps burn some of those excess cruise calories. However, with Kristy's new condition, we did take the easy way a few times.

It's great when the entire bunch of us can take a real family vacation.

For our first full day on the cruise, everyone wore their new t-shirt. It was surprising how many people stopped us to ask what it all meant.

Our first port was Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The locals were lined up waiting to sell us one tour or another.

Kristy and James had plenty of time to chill.

What's that? A RANLAY Racing hat! Yep, even in Mexico they know about the World's #1 Ranked Trackchaser.

By the way, the "Bruins" are the nickname of Kristy's undergrad alma mater, UCLA.

Jim seems to have found a new friend.

We would be spending our first day ashore at the beach. That's our ship in the upper right.

Fortunately, no one from our tribe was involved in this local beer chugging contest.

Jet skis are a popular rental item at Mexican beaches.

It wasn't long before we had our own jet ski. J.J. takes it for a spin.

The great thing about these machines is that we could drive them virtually anywhere as James enjoys his time on the jet ski.

Finally, it was my turn to ride. The challenge was holding the throttle at full speed when driving into a boat's wake. I drank my share of salt water.

By the time I reached the shore, I was drenched!

After a hard day at the beach, we trudged home.

The next day we boarded a party boat (forefront) on our way to Stone Island at port #2, Mazatlan.

I'm wearing my Caddyshack Racing t-shirt that I got from New Zealand stock car champion, Steve Williams last year.

The party boat offered unlimited drinks as we cruised the harbor before going to the beach again.

More beer, please.

Just one more Mai Tain and I'll be ready to head out for the ice races in British Columbia.

I've always considered myself a "chick magnet!"

This cute little girl followed us all over the island.

We road a "hayride" tour through some sleepy little Mexican villages.

It's coconut milk drinking time.

Jim re-visits his high school volleyball days.

After lunch it was time to try to break the Mexican pinata. Carol looks to have a strong grip even if it is cross-handed.

The difficulty as Jim finds out, with hitting the pinata, is that it is attached to a rope and pulley. The striker is blind-folded. The pinata is yanked away just before a strong swing can take it out.

At one point, J.J. nearly whacked the pinata only to have it go flying away.

Everyone had a good time at Stone Island. Tomorrow at our last port, we'll try something other than the beach.

James (light yellow shirt) volunteered to be part of the crew's Indonesian band as the ship's employees entertained one evening.

Our third port took us to Puerto Vallarta. All the guys would be riding ATVs. J.J. is ready to go.

Jim, James, J.J. and Randy

Each of our ATVs had a 5-speed transmission. Some of the creeks we crossed were as much as two feet deep. Some riders, but not us, got stuck.

Jim looks like he could have been a sprint car driver back in the day.

These folks had a healthy investment in ATVs.

About midway through the ride we all stopped for a refreshment.

James enjoys a Mexican staple, "cervaza"

After the ride it was time for some Mexican "vittles".

After a long day on the ATV trail, our cruise bed was very inviting.

I take a lot of photographs. Sometimes I get a good one.

For our last night in Puerto Vallarta, the ship didn't leave until 9 p.m. This allowed us time to have an authentic Mexican dinner downtown.

No cruise vacation is complete without a stop at Wal-Mart. Of course, this Wal-Mart in Puerto Vallarta was located directly across from the ship's terminal.

The onshore recreational choices in these Mexican ports are awesome. We've tried para-sailing in the past and had a blast.

Carol enjoys the breeze (strong wind?) on the ship's deck area.

We had lots of sun and clear blue Pacific Ocean waters for our cruise.

I was simply checking my camera settings when I took this photo. You could say the picture was taken for "research purposes" only.

There are plenty of times to dress up for the ship's more formal dinners and evening entertainment options.

They could be sisters couldn't they?

The dinners each night was the best time for everyone to be together as a family.

Since Kristy and I were the only two lefties in the group we didn't get to sit next to each other very much.

The final night's dessert was baked Alaska. Do you think Jim was looking forward to this?

The breakfast of champions!

This is called "towel art". Nearly each night when we returned to our suite, a new animal was visiting.

When we returned from our cruise, we noticed that Santa's elves had not had time to take down our Christmas tree!