There comes a time in a young man’s life where, if the Father and Son are so fortunate, the 13-year-old son gets to experience a Special travel Adventure with just his Dad.

"ThE RiTe oF PasSagE" "CoMiNg of AgE and "WeLcoMe To ManHooD"

For my son Ford on his 2026 spring break, we embarked on a Great Adventure flying from Oregon to Panama City, Panama and beyond for a 9-day stay, while my 16-year-old daughter blasted off to Oahu with friends having to return flying solo to connect with us in Portland. Seems the kids were babies last week. Time is flying by.

In my young life, the farthest I’d ever been away from my home was at 15, when I rode my Schwinn Varsity bicycle to camp out with my buds on Lake Huron 200 miles away from home. That was an adventure for sure, sleeping out in the rain, getting hit by a car, and more. After graduating college, I traveled the world on a shoestring and in the midst of crisscrossing the globe, organized a drive with my Dad from Los Angeles back to our hometown of Royal Oak, Michigan, aiding in delivering an old car that he had purchased from one of his sisters. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least. Being my dad was the 17th of 19 of his Pennsylvania coal mining town family and my grandfather supposedly fathered 63 children by 9 women all of them living on the edge of starvation at times, it’s amazing that my father got thru it all.

In my book "None of the Answers" I dive deep in introspection and provide The Full Monty. Eeeewww. Haha. Not That kind! - but a very revealing honest life account Warts and All. The Dad chronicles are just a few of the stories way worth a read in the book (100's of global 5 star reviews) which is discounted now for a limited time at and Satisfaction Guaranteed at: https://www.amazon.com/None-Answers-Racing-Through-Reverse/dp/B0D5WLS9D8

Anyways, back to the present, Ford and I had a great time enjoying the old town of Panama City checking out the BioMuseo (as I am a big Frank Gehry fan) and of course, feasting on fresh seafood right off the boats, seeing the Panama Canal, as well as visiting the jungles to hang out with monkeys, sloths and agoutis and swim in waterfalls. Ahhhhhhhhh... Also, we had the serendipitous opportunity to hook up with some 40-year friends of mine on the beaches of Playa Gorgona and Playa El Faro. My son Ford and I will never forget those memories. Please check out our photos on my Facebook (link below) they are fun, funny and some breathtaking. We grew quite a bit in a short time. BahdaBing!