Sophia is Mama

I miss our little Sophia!

We're Home

We are so glad to be home. We had a wonderful trip, but we are glad to be back to our family and friends. Our trip from the cruise ship all the way to Shirley and Jack's house took us 18 hours. We were tired old folks!

Cartegena, Columbia

I just overheard a lady saying she would have never gotten off the ship in Columbia. Well, it helps that Denny speaks Spanish, and he can get us around fairly easily. We decided to make our way onto a main thoroughfare from the ship, and look for a city busy or a taxi and head to the walled, Old City. We did just that for $6 (way cheaper than the shore excursions booked on ship). He dropped us right at the entrance to the walled city, and we did a walking tour. I just thought it was magnificent, because it wasn't as much a tourist place as an authentic south american city. There were definitely your tourist trap stores, but mostly, it was a historical area with beautiful narrow streets with flower covered balconies overhead. Most of the doors in that area were those huge mission-style doors, but cut into each one was a smaller door for entering. Our taxi driver told us only the "upper class" lived in that area. We stood on the wall, built in the early 1600's. We thoroughly enjoyed our only visit to South America. Now, we are at sea for two days, and then will land in Miami Sunday morning. We will fly to L.A., where we will be picked up by Shirley and Jack's daughter in law. From there we will go to Silverlakes to spend the night, then head home on Monday. Denny will be glad to be back on solid ground again, as his stomach has been a little queasy with the rough seas. I just think he needs a cup of real coffee! So, our first stop on Monday, will be Starbucks in Victorville!

Panama Canal

We are just finishing up on the last lock to head into the Caribbean Sea and on to Columbia. This has been such an amazing trip. The Panama Canal was so very interessting! Well, the pics say it all.
OK. Well, I guess I forgot to upload the pics. I will add them in a bit......

The Zip Line Pictures

I have limited time online, so I will spend it with adding our pics. The Canopy Tour, riding a zip line over the rainforest was just unbelievable. Denny and I were definitely the oldest. The most terrifying was standing on the narrow platform 5 stories up hugging a tree so you didn't fall! Also, I had a hard time slowing down, so I was pretty sure I was gonna crush the guy who was supposed to catch me on the next platform. Thankfully, he knew what he was doing and slowed me down from his end..... I am not sure I would do it again, but I would definitely recommend that you try it!

Panama Cruisin'

We are going through the Panama Canal, and you can SEE US!!! I am sitting on ship watching us on the webcam.....don't know how to save it!

Somewhere Off the Coast of Guatemala

Well, I have some catching up to do. We have been to Cabo, Acapulco and yesterday Huatulco. Cabo is not much........ but we did sail right past the famous arch that everyone takes pics of. Acapulco was pretty fascinating, and we walked quite a bit, saw the Cliff divers, saw the Old Town, took a bus to Starbucks (of course), and saw the newer resort area. We enjoyed many sights and sounds of Acapulco. Yesterday we disembarked in Huatulco with the intention of going snorkeling. We found a taxi and headed to the beach the driver recommended, La Entrega Bay. We rented snorkeling equipment and had a fantastic time snorkeling. Another couple told us to head out around the point and go to another beach, so we swam out there and saw many, many colorful fish. We headed back to the ship, but stopped and ate $1 tacos near the marina. It was so good. When we returned to the ship, we found out that Jack and Shirley had eaten at the same taco stand. We went back on the ship and ate lunch, then headed to our room to relax. There was a marimba band on the deck right below our balcony, so it was fun to sit back and relax and listen to the music from our room. Our first cruise we had an inside stateroom. Having a balcony is just fantastic. It is so great sitting out there, doing my Bible study, or just watching the sea. Early this morning dolphins were jumping out of the water, visible from our balcony. I would not want to take another cruise without getting a balcony room.