Long Beach

So we woke up and had breakfast on the Lido deck, then killed time until our zone was called to debark.  We got off the ship and stood in line to go through customs.  Amy went through first, then it was my turn.  I walked up with Miles, presented my customs form along with my passport and Miles' birth certificate.  I said I didn't have any food to declare or any alcohol or cigarettes.  The customs guy started to hand me back my passport, then changed his mind.  He asked me where Miles' father was... why wasn't he with us... was he still on the ship, etc.  I explained that Dan was is Utah at work.  I could see wheels turning in the agent's head, so before he could ask me any more questions, I told him that I had a letter from Dan authorizing Miles to travel with me.  He wanted to see the letter.  I dug it out and handed it over.  It basically said that Miles could travel with me from Jan. 26-30 aboard the Carnival Imagination, and could get off the ship in Catalina and Ensenada.  The letter was even notarized.  The agents examined the letter, then handed it, my passport, and Miles' birth certificate over and sent us on our way.  I thought that was really strange.  Was he thinking I was trying to illegally bring my son back into the country?  Did he think I was going to kidnap Miles and then had a change of heart?  I have no idea, but I'm glad I read the fine print on the travel info provided by Carnival that said that if a child wasn't traveling with both legal guardians, a letter authorizing travel was recommended (and "required" if debarking in Mexico).  After dealing with Mr. Customs, we retrieved our luggage, then headed to the car.  We stopped at the beach in Long Beach; I rolled up Miles' jeans and told him he could only get his feet wet.  It was just a few minutes before a surprise wave soaked him.

 Next we went to Walmart to let Miles pick a treat- marshmallows, then we went to the airport.  As we boarded the plane, Miles wanted to go sit in the cockpit again, I was happy he took being told, "no" well.  We flew back to SLC, then took Trax to Amy's, then got in our car and drove home.

My official opinion is that the 4-day Baja cruise is a dumb cruise.  The ports are really sub-exciting. Did we have fun?  Yes.  We made the trip fun.  I just can't believe that there is a 8,000+ people each week go on this silly cruise.