First we boated across the bay with about 20 other people. Can I just say that I LOVE boat rides? When they are safe, that is. :) They are so soothing to me and I just love the feeling. Anyway this is a picture of the bay. The coolest part was that the water was sooooo smooth. It looks like we were on a lake, not the choppy ocean.
We passed this cool formation where the rock had a naturally built tunnel. I don't know if any boats ever go thru it, but that would be cool!
As awkward as I look, this is our only proof that we took a boat ride :) I didn't know Thomas was taking the picture cause I was just enjoying the ride and trying to keep my mouth from drying out lol. 
These houses were crazy! Literally built on boulders in the ocean! This picture is my favorite because if you look closely at the boulder down and to the right of the house, the one with streaks on it, that is a hot tub! ha ha ha ha
These houses were crazy! Literally built on boulders in the ocean! This picture is my favorite because if you look closely at the boulder down and to the right of the house, the one with streaks on it, that is a hot tub! ha ha ha ha
Yet another crazy house but this time it is partially pink! :) 
This is the bay where we docked, it was so calm and serene.
Then we loaded into army type jeeps (in following pictures) and drove up this jungle road for about 15 minutes. It was soooooooo loud! Take crickets and multiply it by 1000 and you might be there..... I don't know what was making all the noise, but it overpowered the roar of the army trucks! 
We're here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and that paved jungle road ended and turned into a bumpy dirt road for another 20 minutes before this picture. 
The truck I mentioned earlier.
Me and Krystal. See the padding on the bars? So glad it was there! ha ha ha
Thomas and Curtis. See the handles above their heads? I didn't think I would use mine.... ha!
Now, unfortunately, this is where the pictures end of this outdoor adventure because we had to put all of our belongings in a locker and leave them behind. So from here on out it is just storytime. We got to the basecamp and put on repelling harnesses, helmets and wet, slimy leather gloves. Then we loaded up on donkeys and rode another 20 minutes up the mountain. It was here that the awesomeness really occured (pardon my cheesy-ness). They hooked us onto the zip line, taught us how to stop and sent us on our way! LOL, not quite, but pretty much. We had about 7 guides that would leap frog around the course to make sure someone was always there to catch us, unhook us and then re-hook us on another zip line,but other than that we were on our own. We ziplined over the tops of the jungle (sometimes 1000 ft above the ground), into pools of water, repelled down waterfalls, and freefall repelled off of platforms. There were 13 lines in all. My favorite part was when one zip line ended in a pool of water. Everyone else went feet first into the water, but apparently I balled up (bracing for impact) and sent a huge wall of water over one of the guides... he congratulated me for drenching him the best, ha ha ha. The whole course took about 2 hours to complete and was the coolest thing i have ever done! One of the guides took pictures along the way but you had to buy them at the end and for pictures of one person it was $30 and there weren't even 30 pictures. Just buying one picture was $15 and Thomas and I never got captured in the same photo, so we decided to pass, but even now I am still torn as to whether we should have sucked it up and bought the pictures, cause some of them were cool. Sigh, oh well. The next day, my abs were sore and my right arm wouldn't work very well. To stop on the zip lines, you have to press down on the line with your hand (thus the need for the slimy leather gloves). The only problem is that you are going pretty fast and if you press down too hard too soon, it practically rips your arm off...... I will admit it took stopping a couple of times before I finally figured out how not to do that..... Anyway, I recommend this activity to any and all!!!!!!
Now, unfortunately, this is where the pictures end of this outdoor adventure because we had to put all of our belongings in a locker and leave them behind. So from here on out it is just storytime. We got to the basecamp and put on repelling harnesses, helmets and wet, slimy leather gloves. Then we loaded up on donkeys and rode another 20 minutes up the mountain. It was here that the awesomeness really occured (pardon my cheesy-ness). They hooked us onto the zip line, taught us how to stop and sent us on our way! LOL, not quite, but pretty much. We had about 7 guides that would leap frog around the course to make sure someone was always there to catch us, unhook us and then re-hook us on another zip line,but other than that we were on our own. We ziplined over the tops of the jungle (sometimes 1000 ft above the ground), into pools of water, repelled down waterfalls, and freefall repelled off of platforms. There were 13 lines in all. My favorite part was when one zip line ended in a pool of water. Everyone else went feet first into the water, but apparently I balled up (bracing for impact) and sent a huge wall of water over one of the guides... he congratulated me for drenching him the best, ha ha ha. The whole course took about 2 hours to complete and was the coolest thing i have ever done! One of the guides took pictures along the way but you had to buy them at the end and for pictures of one person it was $30 and there weren't even 30 pictures. Just buying one picture was $15 and Thomas and I never got captured in the same photo, so we decided to pass, but even now I am still torn as to whether we should have sucked it up and bought the pictures, cause some of them were cool. Sigh, oh well. The next day, my abs were sore and my right arm wouldn't work very well. To stop on the zip lines, you have to press down on the line with your hand (thus the need for the slimy leather gloves). The only problem is that you are going pretty fast and if you press down too hard too soon, it practically rips your arm off...... I will admit it took stopping a couple of times before I finally figured out how not to do that..... Anyway, I recommend this activity to any and all!!!!!! After our adventure, we had few hours to do some shopping. This bridge connected two major shopping areas, but is the most unstable thing I have ever been on! It is just a hanging bridge and one movement to the right or left makes the entire thing move. Thomas and Curtis thought they would be funny and purposely shake the bridge without my knowledge, and Krystal took a picture. You can see me in the background losing my balance and hanging on to the side for any kind of support. Real funny guys!
A glimpse as to what the shopping looks like there. The merchants weren't nearly as harassing as in Mazatlan and Cabo, but I still barely dared to look in any direction for fear of the words "Miss! Amiga! You buy! we make deal! almost free! how much you pay?" and so on. 
Another shopping area, there are about 50 stores in the building's tiny interior. It is crazy!
The churches there were pretty cool. I don't have any idea which denomination this one was, maybe greek orthodox?
See the guy lighting all the candles and the dome behind him and above his head? I don't know how, but he climbed on top of the dome and lit a candle which was pretty entertaining to watch.
This is the outside of the church, and don't worry, our camera was on the wrong setting yet again. Yea for grainy pictures.
The churches there were pretty cool. I don't have any idea which denomination this one was, maybe greek orthodox?
See the guy lighting all the candles and the dome behind him and above his head? I don't know how, but he climbed on top of the dome and lit a candle which was pretty entertaining to watch.
This is the outside of the church, and don't worry, our camera was on the wrong setting yet again. Yea for grainy pictures.
We walked along the water front as evening set in and it was really neat. I don't have any idea what these arches were built for, but they were fun!
Along the way the boys got hungry and spotted some fried bananas. Thomas, remembering how good they were in Puerto Rico, bought some...... and I think his face says it all. ha ha ha ha, they were nothing compared to Puerto Rico's! 
As we walked further, we ran into this event. All of the hanging guys started out up with the guy on top. They wind their ropes around the pole and then hang upside down while they slowly spin around the pole to unwide the rope. I am pretty sure there isn't any safety equipment being used, just ropes! It made my stomach turn just thinking about it! When they stopped spinning, the guy up top had to climb all the way back down and that pole was swaying like crazy!
As we walked further, we ran into this event. All of the hanging guys started out up with the guy on top. They wind their ropes around the pole and then hang upside down while they slowly spin around the pole to unwide the rope. I am pretty sure there isn't any safety equipment being used, just ropes! It made my stomach turn just thinking about it! When they stopped spinning, the guy up top had to climb all the way back down and that pole was swaying like crazy!
Right in the same area were these sand sculptures. There were lots, but this was the coolest in my opinion.
While watching the rope spinners, this guy was making all of these rocks stand end to end. Being a math teacher of geometry and having just talked about balancing points in my classes, this was very intriguing to me! He would pick it up, stand it on end and just turn it back and forth trying to find its balancing point. I watched him do it with about 5 of the rocks! Insane! 
Here is the after picture of the rock he was holding in the picture above. He really did get it to balance. Also, you can see the hanging rope spinner guys reaching the ground. From all the way up, to all the way down. I am still impressed just seeing it my mind :)
After this, we got tired and decided to head back to the ship but not before taking a picture of our last Mexican sunset.....I think it was an excellent note to end on :)
So long Puerto Vallarta and Mexico in general! It was very enlightening and entertaining. Now I just have to survive 2.5 days on a boat to get home! :)
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