Cruising!!!

Our final night in LA was spent near the port where we would be boarding our ship at Long Beach.

There was a bit of time for rest and reflection.

I had been hoping for a scenic evening stroll along the ocean, but there were far too many huge buildings and busy roads so we satisfied ourselves with a glimpse of the beach from afar and then went off to find some supper at the supermarket across the street from our little hotel room. 

Our taxi never showed up to take us to the ship however a sweet girl at the front desk popped us in her car and chauffeured us herself.

We were introduced to her life as an illegal alien from Mexico and the difficulties that has created for her family.  Oh there are so many stories to be told and people to be loved on...

The ship we were about to embark on was MASSIVE, but thankfully seeming to float effortlessly despite it's bloated size. 

Perhaps it was a little omen of what could potentially become of us if we spent too much time on it!  

While we were waiting to embark we took advantage of the little outside shop and purchased some inexpensive holiday hats.

I also got a pair of sunglasses as I had forgotten mine along with a key fob that promptly broke.

How cute are we?

Eager with anticipation and giddy with delight!

We found our rooms and and waited for our luggage to find us.

The benefit of wheelchair accessible accommodations was apparent with the spacious room and ginormous, bar-laden bathroom.

Always a huge relief when that end of things work out for me.

And rather essential.

The Carnival Logo suited us just fine! 

We would end up spending lots of quality time in our room since the ship we chose happens to be more of a "party cruise-line" so it was a very happy thing for us to have such a big window opening out to the balcony and the oceans beyond.

This towel art was a good representation of the majority of our trip!  

We loved retreating to this peaceful clean space to read, pray, journal and meditate. 

We came well prepared to enjoy God's beautiful presence as we floated along.

It only seemed right to celebrate the Lord's supper at the outset of our journey.

The Lord painted a gorgeous sunset for us as we floated away from the coastline and towards our sunny destinations.

Oh the fun of going to a fancy three course dinner and getting to choose from several selections each evening!

Early on in our trip we decided to forgo the bread offerings at the beginning of each meal.

Far too dangerous calorie-wise and there were so many other tempting goodies to fill us up.

We were greeted by this spectacular sight our first morning at sea. 

And even though we decided not to go to shore that day there were PLENTY of things to keep us busy on-board. 

with cozy corners to take in the setting sun.

The pictures are not in order (as I happen to be putting this all together in the middle of August) but they are a beautiful representation of hours of fun, food, games and sight-seeing!

I did take a little shuttle to some shops while we stopped at Mazatlan and was able to purchase some vanilla and other goodies. 

I've travelled enough over the years to realize that I am not interested in buying many souvenirs as they generally lose their "sparkle" soon after arriving home. 

But vanilla is delicious long after its purchase!