Plans for our family summer vacation did a complete 180 a few months ago.  Our hope was to fly out west and drive our way through the national parks.  Unfortunately I didn't allow enough time to make reservations, and every lodge, hotel and cabin within 30 miles of said parks was totally booked. Now we had to fit a vacation into my approved time off! 

We have always been a two-dog family.  It was difficult enough losing one dog to cancer at only 8 years old, but then to lose our other dog less than four months later was nearly unbearable. That's why it's taken me a little longer to write about Gracie. The grieving process was rougher and took longer because she was my first dog as an adult.

Nobody wants a good vacation to come to an end, especially when it means leaving the tropics and heading back to a much cooler climate! I was so glad I eked out every last ounce of our trip by scheduling a tour in San Juan before our flight home to Chicago!

Our last stop on this amazing cruise - Barbados, the easternmost island in the Caribbean, completely surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean - not even touched by the Caribbean Sea!