Skipping Thanksgiving

We did Thanksgiving a little differently this year - we didn't do it. Every year we have had the entire Jackson clan here to our home for Thanksgiving. We actually enjoy it. However, this year has taken a toll in more ways than one. With the loss of both of Clem's parents, it just plain feels different. My energy level isn't the same and the enthusiasm just isn't there. So, when Clem found a cruise from Miami to Panama that was too cheap to pass up - we didn't. We went.
We flew out on Thanksgiving day (which meant cheese and crackers for our Thanksgiving treat). We spent Friday in Miami and then got on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship and headed to a new adventure. The first day was at sea. We read and walked the ship to get our bearings, and ate alot!
The first port was Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We've been there before, and it isn't my favorite place because the people are so pushy! You can't walk anywhere without someone putting something to your face "take a look, take a look".
The 2nd port was in Columbia (Santa Marta). We walked off the ship into a literal sauna. The temp was a kind 89 degrees with 79% humidity - so it felt like 105 degrees! They had lots of blow up Santa's and Frosty the snowman on the beach.
The next stop was also in Columbia (Cartegenia). Remember the movie "Romancing the Stone"? It was filmed there and we got to walk the wall that was in the end (but the ocean is a few miles away, not right there the way it was in the film). We took a 4 hour tour here and learned a lot about the country. I was facinated by the homes and flowers. We did minimal shopping - but at least they didn't take my arm to pull me into their shops like in Jamaica.
Costa Rica was next - my favorite stop of the trip. We hired a taxi to take us to the rain forest. They have a new preserve there that is just over a year old and has a butterfly garden, all the snakes from the country,and reptiles, and birds. Beautiful.
We saw monkeys, and sloths. On the way back we went to a Zip Line that was the highlight of the trip for me! I don't especially like heights, but it was awsome! There were 9 zip lines and some were so long that you couldn't see the next stop from the one you were leaving. You just went out over the jungle on this wire in a harness as if you were going repelling. I would definately do it again.
Another day at sea and then we were in Colon, Panama. It is like Provo to Salt Lake to drive from there to Panama city where we were staying. Our Inn was about a mile from the Panama Canal, so we took a cab to tour it and the surrounding area, then went shopping in the largest Mall I have ever been in - if I had lost Clem there, I would may have never seen him again. The largest store in the mall is called Costo. We kept hearing about going shopping at Costo and I kept hearing Costco. I couldn't understand why everyone was so excited about it - then I went there. Yup - It's big. Everyone checks out at a central location. It was weird. Then when we went into another store they stopped us at the entrance and made us "check our bag" into a holding center. They must have a lot of shoplifting. Can you imagine walking from Dillards to Nordstrom's or Penny's and have them stop you and check your packages into a holding area? Shopping could take all day just doing that!