Susan Gets Sea Sick

December 19th – We have decided to wash some clothes in our room. As Susan was washing her laundry she started to feel ill but she continued to do her laundry. We finished and hung everything up to dry in the bathroom. She continued to feel ill and I went to lunch. She stayed in the room and ordered room service. After lunch I checked on her and she was feeling worse. She had the ice bucket next to her and sure enough, pretty soon she filled it up.
The sad news is she missed the play-offs in the Slot Tournament. The good news is she felt well enough to go to dinner which was steak and lobster. None of our group won the 2nd round of the slot tournament.

Happy Birthday Patt.

Happy Birthday Patt.

2015-12-13 16.32.29

We also celebrated Patt’s birthday during this cruise and here are a couple of photos of the staff singing “Happy Birthday” to her.

Zip-Lining in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Today we arrived in Costa Rica and four of us, Casey, Shirley, Susan and I will go zip-lining. We left at 9:30 a.m. on an air conditioned bus to go to our zip line destination. A funny story: a lady sitting across the isle said to us she was 83 years old and was glad she wasn’t the oldest on the tour. She said this looking at Susan who is 71 years old. I said, “This is what surfing in the sun for 30 years will do to your skin.” Susan didn’t think any of this was funny. We arrived and put on straps and harnesses and helmets and carried a very heavy device up a hill and waited for quite a while before take off. We could watch as Casey and Shirley took the dive. The heavy device was used to hook us up to the cable. It was my turn and I just did it. What a thrill. I landed on the first of twelve platforms and was caught by a very young girl. I was expected a muscular man to catch me. I was amazed at the young people catching us. I asked one boy how old he was and he said 15. Wow! As you arrived on the platform a young girl would say, “Stand up.” I said, “That’s easy for you to say.” Most of your weight was behind you and you had to grab on to something and pull yourself up to a standing position. As I struggled to my feet fearful I would fall off the platform I celebrated that I had survived. This continued for eleven more platforms. Susan didn’t quite make it to the second platform and she had to turn around and pull herself, hand over hand, about 10 feet to the platform. Her arms hurt for the next few days. But, it was a wonderful experience and I was thrilled to jump off into a rain forest and zip along over the tree tops: a wonderful experience.
The ride back to the ship was interesting too. The tour guide gave us a little of the history but all I could see was crumbling old buildings, trash and liter everywhere and bars on all windows and doors.

The Panama Canal

2015-12-17 08.51.35

2015-12-17 08.44.19

2015-12-17 08.37.00

2015-12-17 08.35.39

2015-12-17 08.29.53

2015-12-17 08.19.36

The entrance.

The entrance.

This is the equipment  that pulled us through the canal.

This is the equipment
that pulled us through the canal.

2015-12-17 03.34.47

There were lots of cranes as we entered the canal.

There were lots of cranes as we entered the canal.

December 17
Today we will go half-way through the Panama Canal and anchor in Gatun Lake. Then the ship will turn around and go back. We went up to the Crow’s Nest to watch the locks open and close and our ship rise and go through the locks. We watched a film aboard ship about the building of the canal and it was very interesting.
This is the equipment  that pulled us through the canal.

This is the equipment
that pulled us through the canal.

Riding Golf Carts in Bonaire

Tuesday, December 15
We docked in Bonaire and went ashore. As we were docking we noticed golf carts lined up and we walked over and rented two golf carts. We drove around the island and saw salt mines and a few flamingos. The funnest part was just driving the golf cart. There wasn’t a lot to see in Bonaire but it was cleaner. After we returned to the ship Susan’s ankles became very swollen and she retired to the room for the rest of the day.

Aruba

Monday, December 14th
I have been watching birds fishing and flying fish from our veranda. Today we will go on a tour of Oranjestad, Aruba. The tour was 3 1/2 hours on a bus. I found Oranjestad to be very dirty with lots of liter. The history of the island was very interesting. Cactus was everywhere and many houses had fences made of cactus. We visited a tiny church which was cute. The tiny lighthouse was totally covered with scaffolding.

Can you see the bird is fishing?

Can you see the bird is fishing?

2015-12-14 10.10.47

A natural bridge.

A natural bridge.

This natural bridge had recently fallen down.

This natural bridge had recently fallen down.

2015-12-14 11.26.03

2015-12-14 11.26.50

2015-12-14 11.27.32

The church was tiny.

The church was tiny.

2015-12-14 11.29.35

2015-12-14 12.01.23

Aboard Ship

Saturday, Decemberr 12
Today we arrive in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas, which is an island Holland America owns. It is mostly for young people: lying on the beach, and other activities. We decide not to go ashore. So far today all we have done is eat and explore the huge ship. When we are docked everything is closed. AT 3:00 we are all going to the casino and participating in a slot tournament.
Well, guess what? Shirley, Lola and Susan finished in the top 6 to qualify for the finals onn December 19th. Also, while waiting for her friends to play in the tournament Susan played a penny slot machine and won $301.00. What a shock when she cashed out. Of course she dashed over to the roulette table and immediately lost $50.00. She did buy everyone drinks before dinner tonight.

2015-12-12 12.44.55

2015-12-13 04.36.28

2015-12-13 04.36.39

2015-12-13 14.25.44