Beach Riding

The last cruise I went on was 2 years ago. 
I watched people swim with sharks. 

 I went riding instead, because, well, swimming with sharks is not on my list of things I want to do. It was a large group of people that went riding. The best part about such rides are those who, in their off hours, are secretly Olympic riders.
Some horses had Australian Saddles. I didn’t ride in one, but it was cool to see them.
 After the main ride, I saw some people not getting off and inquired about what they were doing. I was told they were going on a *special* ride for advanced riders (advanced meaning you had ridden for a x amount of hours). I asked if I could come along and the next thing I knew, I was galloping down trails. I can’t remember the name of the horse I rode but it still was a blast.

The part of this cruise I was super excited about was riding on the beach in Grand Turk.

I was the only one in my group that wanted to go riding, so I boarded this bus with six other people.

The driver gave us a quick tour about the island before we headed off. I didn’t bring my camera because the info said that outside photography wasn’t allowed (only the riding place’s camera was allowed), so I left it in the capable hands of my little sister, Kendall. 
Once we got to the riding place, we went on a trail ride around the island, which included seeing a day old fuzzy foal. The ride was kept to a walk. I asked one of the guides how many wild horses there were on the island, and he said that there weren’t too many left. A lot of them had been captured and tamed while others had died from disease.
The horse I rode’s name was Prince. While riding around on the tour I found out that there are wild horses and donkeys on the island. I saw a herd in a person’s backyard which included a small fuzzy foal.
We rode back to the riding place, and the horses had their saddles taken off and bareback pads were put on. The 7 of us were split into two groups and we rode the horses into the ocean. I got in about waist deep, and we moved at a fast trot. Sadly, there weren’t any pictures of the ocean ride because it had started to rain. But it was a fun experience!

Meanwhile, my mom, Kendall, and Lexi were involved in a accident drill in the town square. Since they couldn’t shop, they wandered away and came upon some horses.

Kendall had Lexi pose for the camera with the horses in the background.

This was a sign I saw at Half Moon Cay, but I feel like it goes along with the horses.

Where's Carl?

I love memes. This one was particularly appropriate for the post.

For the cruise I wanted to take something along to take pictures of in a Flat Stanley style. A cruise my mom, sister, and I went on years ago we took along my cousin’s Flat Stanley and photographed him at different islands.
Originally it was to be the cute adorable rubber horse ducky. After Bring On The Bling Live however, my brain was still on zombies.
So Carl the zombie came along instead.

Carl tagged along with the group to numerous places.
Here he is on the beach with beach hats.

Carl already looks tanned, so he fit in on the beach. I got sunburned here, so that was fun (not).
Swimming in the ocean was no issue for the doll. His paint, blood, nor hair came off!

Carl posed in the horse racing themed casino.

I had my sister pose with Carl.

Each night, the room steward would make towel animals. Carl posed with them too.

On the last night the room steward made a heart out of towels instead of an animal.

After 7 days of being creepy, Carl rested in the heart towel.
 Where was Carl during the cruise? Everywhere. 

Cruise Adventure

I just got back home after a week on a cruise.

I went with my mom, sister Kendall, and my sister’s friend Lexi. 
We rode on Carnival’s Pride. It was a big ship, to me, but in the cruise ship sphere it apparently is on the small side. I guess that is why I didn’t get lost on it!
We visited Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, and Freeport.

My favorite beach was Half Moon Cay.
But my favorite island of the three would have to be Grand Turk because they have wild horses and donkeys. It’s hard to trump that. I went riding on the beach too. 
This is what happens when you leave your camera in the hands of your little sister and her friend, Lexi. 
One of my favorite things to do was watch the sunsets on the ocean water.

All of the places were gorgeous so there will be a couple of related posts.
It was a great trip.