Trip of a Lifetime: Part 2

Now we enter the Panama Canal. It was breathtaking in it's beauty. An incredible feat for the men that built it.





Panama Canal entrance from the Pacific side at 5:00 A.M.





The ships behind us entering the first set of locks.





The Bridge of the Americas.





Our ship, the Infinity, tendered in Gatun Lake. We then took off on a side trip.





Boating up the Chagres River in Panama.





More Chagres River scenery. We jumped out of our boat and took a 45 minute walk in the rainforest.





The Gatun Locks. We hung out watching the big ships maneuver their way through.





The Embara Indians of Panama. These people still live the way they did hundreds of years ago.





Aruba!





Dad on our deck as we were leaving Aruba.





One of our last sunsets at sea. We were at sea for 2 days before ending our trip in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

I took over 500 pictures on our cruise and will always have those memories. I'm thrilled that I got to do something such as this for my Dad. Never take for granted that your parents will always be around. Spend as much time as you can with them because you never know what may happen. Do something wonderful for them if you can. Love ya, Dad.

Trip of a Lifetime: Part 1

I have spent the last few days dealing with my Dad's diagnosis. I had to call siblings and family and explain what it meant. Was not fun. But now I want to show you some fun.

In 2006, my husband and I asked my Dad where he would like to visit if he could go anywhere in the world. He replied: "The Panama Canal." So we went about booking a 2 week cruise through the Panama Canal. We had a fantastic, huge room at the back of the ship Infinity with an awesome view. After the cruise was over my Dad wrote me a letter stating that it was the trip of a lifetime. He'd never taken a 2 week vacation and had never been on a cruise ship or out of the U.S.A. really---ok, I don't count taking him to Tijuana when I lived in San Diego. Anyway, the 3 of us had a blast. Enjoy the photos.





In L.A. getting ready to begin the cruise after going through emergency procedures. Dad is such a nut!





First stop in Cabo San Lucas





Winning at the slot machines!





Acapulco, Mexico cliff divers.





Huataulco, Mexico. We spent the whole day on the beach with drinks, food and beach chairs for only $31.00!





Passed out in the sun on our way to Costa Rica.





In the hills of Costa Rica. These 2 little girls were lovely and spoke English and Spanish to my Dad. They followed him around and he met their father. He thought they were beautiful.





Sunset at Puntarenos, Costa Rica.