Next stop panama

The Panama Canal was a highway of ships....



You had to wait for your schedualed turn to go through the canals



These locomotives hooked on to our ship and tugged us through the gates



It was cool to see the next ship



 right behind us in the lock we just passed through



Sorry for the dirty windows
(I was feeling right at home...just like my windows!!)



Barges and tankers were passing through the bigger locks besides us



It took us all day to pass through three sets of locks



 There were many difficult times building this with mudslides and  malaria,



It was impressive to see what engineers have created



We got to see a ship pass though besides us....



When it was completely in the lock....



The waters were released under this bridge...



so the gates could be opened to continue through



It was a massive amount of water churning through...



There were thousands of tourists on land watching us go through....



Once on the other side, we were now in the Pacific Ocean



Good bye, Atlantic!!



Christa

Cruising through Winter...

We were able to escape a little... 

ok... 

a lot of winter this year! 

Thank you to Justin for looking after the ranch 

And 

everyone else who were on the back up list!

As usual....

We left home and had a flat tire! 

Had to put new tires on since.... no one had the same brand!!

Expensive kick off to a vacation! 

We flew to Miami to meet Arnold’s sister and bro in-law

I had booked The FORTUNE HOUSE HOTEL 

As 

We had stayed there before.

See that pool.....I was really looking forward to that!!

Anita thought she found it for a cheaper price so I cancelled my reservation

What a difference an 'A' or an 'E' can make!!

FORTUNA House was not the same hotel!!

There was no elevator and our room was on the 3rd floor. 

The window air conditioner didn’t keep up to Miami heat! 

This was not an area we cared to explore
 so
 we laid low and snacked on Anita’s ding dongs and coke.

We showered standing on a towel as the shower was yucky!! 

Thank goodness it was only one night!  

This had only one place to go and that was better. 

We boarded the Norwegian Star heading to the Panama Canal 

The food was fabulous...

The service outstanding....

How can you not help but smile??

Free drinks...so Anita and I tried them all!!

 Spikes milkshakes to Martinis

There is nothing I love more than blue skies and water 

Our first stop was Cartegena, Columbia!

We hopped in a taxi and toured the city starting at the fort.

Does Arnold look 'Gangster' in that hat??

The Marcotte Mafia...

Arnold and Bill let us know THIS was more than a handful....

We stopped at old cathedrals

The colors were amazing

All the really warm countries have incredible color. 

The architecture gets me every time...

Old forts....

I didn't realize how much I missed the sound of birds....

Look at these two sharing!!

Nothing like being greeted by color!

This little rusty relic was sewing in the square 

That will be me in a few years...



Next we headed to Caribe Emeralds for a tour

I was born in May so this is my birthstone 

But I didn’t buy myself a gift!!

It was a hot and fun day!

We wandered back to the ship 

To continue our adventure towards the panama!



Got to love a sea day...

Christa