Panama Canal Transit Day

I was surprised how much I enjoyed the Panama Canal itself and the transit day.    For several days before we had port lectures by William Keene, an excellent speaker on the canal.   He provided fun and interesting talks on the history, construction, and future of the canal.   They were my favorite ship board activity.    The day of the transit we were up early and started through the first locks soon after 7 am.   We exited the last lock near 4 pm.   A highlight was watching the 'mules' keep the ship straight in the locks.    The lines were thrown to men in rowboats who transferred the lines to the waiting train engines which are still called mules.  

Gatun Lake was bigger than expected and very scenic.   They even had lighthouses to mark the way.    The building at Gatun Locks was where we had watched from the shore the previous day on our land tour.    And we finally saw a crocodile along the shore of the Chagres River as we exited the last lock.   And he was a monster!

PC Cruise - Shore Day in Panama

Before we left on the cruise we found a great blog by a couple who did our same cruise that really helped us prepare.    She listed private tour companies in Costa Rica and Panama that orovided a good experience.    We booked day tours with them and were glad we did.   The prices were similar to the Princess tours but instead of a greyhound bus full of people, we had a a group of 8.   My Friend Mario in Panama was our favorite, especially our guide, named Mario (but not the Mario).

First we drove across one of the last locks of the canal as the lock was opening and water came gushing through.    Then we drove through rainforest to Fort San Lorenzo.    There were howler monkeys in the trees and we spotted several but our pictures don't show them well, darn it.  

Princess has a suggested reading list for the cruise including Carribbean by James Michener.   Often as we had our stops, I would be reading about the history of that place.    The day before our Panama stop, I was reading about Sir Francis Drake and his siege of Panama City.    The first spanish fort along the way was Fort San Lorenzo.    A couple days later I was reading about Captain Henry Morgan the privateer that captured the Fort which is at the mouth of the Chagres River in the Carribbean Sea.    We stood where he stood 200 years ago.

On the way back to the ship our driver spotted two toed sloths in the trees and we stopped for pictures.     They move so slow that it was no problem getting good shots this time.

PC Cruise - Costa Rica La Paz Waterfall Gardens

In the highlands of Costa Rica is a beautiful resort with gardens, a small zoo, and 3 amazing waterfalls.   The tallest is 120 feet high.   The zoo has native birds and butterflies and a whole room of Blue Morphos that will land on your hand if you are still.    The paths through the waterfalls is a nice walk in the rainforest jungle.    Costa Rica is known for their decorative ox carts.

Panama Canal Cruise - Costa Rica

A great day in Costa Rica.   We went to see the Poas Volcano and the La Paz Waterfall Gardens.    On the way we stopped at a coffee plantation to see the fields and also have a great cup of Costa Rican coffee.    Luckily the Volcano was 'out'.    Just like Mt Rainier at home, the volcano is often covered in clouds.    The heat index for Puntarenas, Costa Rica (our port) was 125 degrees but fortunately the volcano is 8500 feet above sea level and was a cool 68 degrees.

Anniversary Dinner and sunset

We splurged on an anniversary dinner at Sabatini's the italian specialty restaurant on the ship.   That night we had a great sunset at sea.

Panama Canal Cruise - On board

John and I celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary by taking a 14 day Panama Canal Cruise aboard the Coral Princess.    We embark in Los Angeles, stop in Costa Rica, Panama, Cartegena Columbia, and Aruba.    The transit of the Panama Canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic takes most of a day and is facinating. 

Our room was lovely with a balcony and Elmer our room steward was a delight.    Our first day out we had the obligatory safety practice and then sail away.    On the Lido Deck is a huge screen where they show current movies.    We watched The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep under the stars one night.   During said away there was video of the band and dancers as we departed.

Time to leave Tucson for Port Townsend

We had a great winter in Tucson with friends we have made at Desert Trails. This time of year means lots of goodbyes as people head to all parts of the country. Tomorrow is our turn for goodbye. We head out in the morning with a two night stop in Palm Springs. Then a fairly direct route home up the I-5 corridor. We have left a few extra days in our schedule for bad weather and may need to use them. A big storm is headed for northern California and the NW today with lots of snow in the passes. Hopefully, by the time we get there the roads will be clear. A short stop in the Portland area and then on to Port Townsend by April 6th.

Goodbye Desert Trails until next year....... even the critter stopped by to say so long.

 Palm Springs has a great state park.    Hard to believe that just a tram ride away from the desert is a snowy pine wonderland.

 And then on the other side of Palm Springs is a lovely oasis.

 And finally we made it to Port Townsend and had a gorgeous day with amazing views of Mt Baker from our Fort Worden Campground.