Vacations.... Great Times
No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one. ~Elbert Hubbard
Panama Canal 1, 2, & 3...
Panama Canal #1 Was In 1995
Our second cruise through the canal was by ourselves and we went on Crystal which is always a great experience. We remember the great dancing a super tours that Crystal arranges. We cleared the "Friendship Bridge" hours before Noriega was taken down. In 1989, when he lost the national election to Guillermo Endara, Noriega "nullified" the election and maintained power by force, making him severely unpopular among Panamanians. Bush called on Noriega to honor the will of the Panamanian people, and Noriega responded by publicly brutalizing Endara, who had rightfully won the election. Pressure mounted on Bush, as the media labeled him a "wimp" for failing to aid Panama amidst his rhetoric. Bush declared that the U.S. would not negotiate with a known drug-trafficker and denied having any knowledge of Noriega's involvement with the drug trade prior to his indictment.
Panama Canal #2
We
did the canal the second time in 1995 with our Aunt Edit and Cousin Kat.
We flew to Florida overnight landing in the morning pretty well rested.
Remember, Edit was in her 80's and Kat in her 70's. They were
ready to go... probably because of all the training on the busses to
Laughlin, Nevada!
The trip was fantastic leaving Florida and going all the way to Acapulco.
We traveled with the Princess and had great memories. Too bad it was
before the "digital camera".
Aunt Edith and Kat provided many memories including such things as:
- Aunt Edith "tripping" continually on the curbs and cobble stones.
- Aunt Edith sitting under the picture of the naked lady pirate in the restaurant.
- Kat being amazed at the fish in the submarine (we took a sub out into the ocean and visited the local fish)
- Aunt Edith getting the baseball scores from the Dodgers games from all the crew (crew would stop her everywhere and tell her their latest scores)
- Going on a jungle walk with Edith and Kat and having to wade through knee-igh mud to see the monkeys, birds, and huge blue butterflies!
- Aunt Edit yelling at Paul "Don't you wear your shoes on the rug... you take them off right now!!!"
Panama Canal #3
Panama Canal 3 was great since we had zero airplanes. We did a round trip from LA to LA on the soon to be retired Regal Princess! Off we went for three weeks traveling from LA to Panama and back to LA stopping at some interesting ports, playing golf, riding ATV's and walking in the jungle gardens of Costa Rica. This is a trip we could easily repeat many times.
