My birthday!

My birthday was on a Saturday this year and it was a lovely day! I decided to drive 2-1/2 hours one-way to the Green Valley Book Fair near Harrisonburg, Virginia. It's a beautiful drive and I love having any excuse to buy books. :)

After the book fair it was time for lunch. I decided to eat at an Amish market just outside Harrisonburg. I don't remember what I ate but I remember liking it!

Inside of the Amish market they have different stores where you can buy different types of things. I bought what is in the picture above. The chips and popcorn I snacked on on my way home.

 Delicious fudge from the Amish market!

On the drive home, I decided to drive on a two lane road that parallels I-81 and goes through small towns and the speed limit is slower.

I'm glad I drove on the two lane road because I could enjoy the scenery more!

The scenery was beautiful!

 It was a really nice day that Saturday!

I've driven passed this ruin multiple times and have always wanted to find it and walk around it. This was as close as I could get to it. I tried to find a road to lead me to it, but there wasn't one that I felt comfortable going on by myself. So being stopped across the freeway from it had to suffice.

My friend, Diana, baked a cake and invited some of my friends over to her house for a birthday celebration for me. This is the cake she made.

Overall it was a lovely day of books, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and good friends!

Cruise- Day 6 and 7 (Costa Maya, Mexico and At Sea)

In the evening of the fifth day and into the early morning of the sixth day, the ship was rocking a bit more than usual because of stormy weather. It wasn't horrible but you could definitely feel it. It was quite windy too and the door to our balcony whistled in the wind because part of the seal to the door had come loose. Then in the middle of the night the air conditioner stopped working in our room and it got hot quickly with four of us in that small room. 

We called the customer service desk and they sent someone in the middle of the night to fix our air conditioner. They did fix it but since it took awhile and since our door was whistling in the wind, they gave us another room. They let us keep both rooms. So Dad and Mom stayed in that room and Heather and I went to the other room. Since we were up half of the night, I was exhausted on our excursion the next day. 

After only a few hours of sleep, we arrived in Costa Maya, Mexico. Mom, Dad, Heather and I went on a tour to the Chacchoben Pyramids.  It was about an hour bus ride to the pyramids. Even though I was trying really hard to stay awake to see the scenery and listen to our tour guide, I was nodding off because I was so tired. 

We arrived at our destination and I really liked the pyramids! 

 The area had cool trees!

While on this tour, I learned that one of the ladies in our tour group spoke Russian. At first I didn't want to talk to her, because my Russian is really rusty. But Heather kept on encouraging me to and so I eventually struck up a conversation with the Russian lady. I struggled with my Russian but I think we understood each other. :)

 The pyramids were in a beautiful area!

It was really hot and humid, but we had a lovely time at the pyramids!

 The trees were really cool!

 They make chewing gum out of the sap of this tree!

On our way back to the port from the pyramids, our bus broke down...

Since it was so hot and humid outside and there was no air circulation on the bus, most of us got off the bus until the new bus came to get us. It probably took about 30-40 minutes for our new bus to get there. While we were waiting we talked with some of the other passengers and met some fascinating people.

Eventually the new bus arrived and it was time to get on the road again. Yay! What an adventure!

We arrived back at port. I liked this place!

 We found dolphins.

 And flamingos!

The pyramids and Costa Maya were beautiful and it was a lovely day!

Day 7, we had another day at sea. I read a lot. I did laps around the ship. I packed my bags in preparation for getting off the ship the next day. Heather and I went swimming in the beautiful salt water pool on the ship. We ate at a Brazilian restaurant that night. (Because our air conditioner went out the night before, the ship gave us a complimentary meal to one of the nicer restaurants on board.) It was delicious. :)

We arrived back in Miami on the morning of the eighth day. We had some awesome adventures on our cruise and I had a lovely time with my family! Thanks for letting me join you on the cruise Dad, Mom, and Heather!