Zipping through the Sierra Madres

Wednesday, the 4th day of our cruise was our first port day, and we had big plans!!!

The ship pulled into Puerta Vallerta very early in the morning, just as the day was beginning to break.

It was a beautiful sunrise over the Sierra Madre mountain range of Mexico.

We got an early start with breakfast out on the deck overlooking the city with its palm trees.

And it is fun to watch all the activity of the port.

We got to disembark and got to see the outside of the beautiful ship for the first time in 3 days.

The five oldest boys and I were on our way to an adventure!  First we took a boat to the other side of the port.

We floated right under the bow of the ship.  I love Goofy's silhouette surfing on the waves.

There was all kinds of interesting stuff to see.

From there we walked to these big yellow ATVs.

Hang on!  This is going to be a bumpy ride!

It was a long drive into the mountains, and we had nearly an hour to see a lot of Mexico whizzing by.

Much of it stuff my boys have never seen before.

We saw beautiful scenery and greenery and children playing soccer.

Numerous fruit stands and piñatas hanging on store porches.

And a lot of colorful and old buildings that did not link like there were built to any code.  I thought it was interesting that most of the buildings were boxes with the re-bar sticking out the top so that at some point in the future, they could add another story if they wanted to.

There was a lot to see.

We passed a small caravan of cars full of kids driving slowly and noticed that they were following a kid running with a torch up the mountain road.  We also passed an LDS church, the nicest building we saw for miles.

We made our way into the jungle to the Canopy Adventure Park where we were given some instructions,

and a demonstration, and were fitted into our gear.

Yes. We were going ZIP-lining and the boys were excited!

And a bit nervous.

All geared up and ready to go after a few last-minute instructions.

This was our group - all ready to zip.  My kids were the only children in our group, so Caleb was the youngest, and I was a bit nervous that he wouldn't be able to remember all the instructions or keep up with the rest of us, but he wasn't nervous at all.

Lets do this thing!

Zipping is FUN!  We got to zip from treetop to treetop high above the ground.  (I didn't take these pictures, they did. I couldn't have carried my camera with me, and this guy risked life and limb to get these shots.  He did a great job.)

After the first zip, the boys got the hang of it, got over their nervousness, and after that it was just a ton of fun!

Woo Hoo!  This is awesome!  They were having a blast!

Caleb was doing great hanging with the big guys.  I was so proud of him!

What is more awesome family together time than 100 feet up above the ground in the treetops of Mexico?

We would zip, hike a bit, climb, zip some more.  We never knew what was next.

We probably went on a couple dozen zips, some so long that you couldn't see the end from the beginning.

Just when we were getting to be pros at zipping (don't they just look like pros?)...

Then we got to do some rappelling!  That was really fun!  Look how far down the others are.

I love me a good free fall!

You can take it down slowly, or just let it rip!

But the hardest, and I thought scariest part, were the rope ladders.  They were HIGH, and they almost looked like they were arching backward toward the top.  It was especially hard when someone else was on the ladder with you, moving it all around.

That was a ton of work!

High in the tree tops getting really for our last zip, this time on a swinging line that could twist you forward or backwards.  No control!

Awesome!

Dylan looked like he was Tarzan, king of the jungle, swinging on his vine and hollering. Ahhh Ah-Ah-Ah-Ahh  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!  He was just having too much fun!

Love this pic of Caleb swinging past the trees!

Conquerors of the canopy!  We were on a high!

Our instructors were so fun, but also very knowledgeable and careful.  I felt totally safe putting my children's lives in their hands.

After the zipping we ate yummy chips and salsa and fresh fruit and watched a lady make homemade tortillas as we waited for our bus to take us back to the ship.

I think maybe our adventure wore them out a bit, don't you?

By the time we got back to the boat everyone was happy and rested, and ready to enjoy the rest of the beautiful Mexican sunshine on board the Disney Wonder.

The boys are still talking about our canopy adventure.  You know that old saying:

 "The family that zips through the jungle canopy high off the ground together, stays together... "

or something like that, right?