Panama Canal - part 1

It is 7 a.m. on Friday, January 28, 2011 and the sun is just coming up. It is going to be a beautiful day with temperatures in the mid-upper 70's. We are moving at a snail's pace as we near the entrance to the Panama Canal and get aligned in the proper order.


Everyone on the ship is gathered in anticipation of the big event. We ordered room service for early in the morning so we would be ready in time to find a place to watch the process take place.

We will be aside and behind a couple of container ships who transport goods from the east to the west without having to go around South America. But guess what? Although the canal joins the Caribbean or Atlantic side to the Pacific side, it doesn't actually run from east to west. The canal goes from slightly Northwest to slightly Southeast. That was surprising to me.


The sky is starting to lighten as we make our way to the locks.

The locks are closing on the ship in front of us


The water in the preceding lock is rushing out to equalize the level of water. The complete passage will take us from sea level to 85 feet in elevation and back down to sea level on the other side. So why not just dig a deep channel and allow the traffic to pass from sea level to sea level? That is what the French wanted to do. One reason it wouldn't work is because the Pacific side has tides of up to 20 feet in variation and the Atlantic tides are 4 feet. The tides on opposite coasts occur at different times.

Our ship used its' own power but required the use of six locomotives to assist. Their job was mainly, with the use of cables, to keep the ship straight as we only had two feet space on each side of the ship. The process is very slow going.

The locks are opening for us.

Entering the Gatun locks

Looking behind us

That narrow ribbon of water in the center of the picture shows the distance between the side of our ship and the side of the locks. It was a pretty tight fit.

We've just about completed our passage through the Gatun locks. That is Gatun Lake ahead.

Panama Canal - part 2

For a number of reasons the Panama Canal cruise we ended up booking was for a partial transit of the canal. The ship would enter the canal, make passage through the Gatun locks and enter the man-made Gatun Lake. After a short 'scenic' cruising, it would go back through the same locks. Those with shore excursions got off the ship at the lake, completed their activities on land, then boarded the ship again on the Caribbean side in Colon, Panama. We purchased tickets to complete the canal transit all the way to the Pacific Ocean. We disembarked at Gatun Lake then got on a ferry to finish making the passage. At the conclusion of the canal trip we rode a bus to Colon to join the cruise.

A new Panama Canal is being constructed to accommodate larger sailing vessels. We could see work being done in several places. The plan is to open the new canal on the 100th anniversary of the original Panama Canal.


The water in the canal was really muddy. During December Central America had some really heavy rainstorms. Damage was widespread. Roads were washed out. Flooding was common. For the first time in the history of the Panama Canal, it was closed for a while until waters receded. The mud continues to 'color' the water brown.

This picture is taken looking back after passing under the bridge. Where the terraces are on the side of the canal is the continental divide. Note how the color of the water changes. The pacific side is not quite as muddy.

There was this neat looking clipper cruise ship that followed us through the channels and locks. In the third picture below notice the difference in the water color as the clipper passes to the pacific side.

Touching the side of the canal

Mira Flores Locks

Mira Flores Observation Tower

On the Pacific side - clearer water


More work on new canal

Panama City comes into view

Largest & most modern city in Central America

The wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean

At this point our transit was complete so we boarded a bus and made the drive to Colon through rush hour traffic in Balboa. It would have been nice to be able to also tour Panama City. Colon is a large city but doesn't have a single traffic light! The largest vehicle has the right-of-way. Two regrets: being in Panama but not getting to see the temple and not having the time to get some coins for Mason. The coins of Panama are just like U.S. coins...same size, metals and weight.

We don't anticipate seeing or going through any more locks in our lifetime. We've previously cruised the Yangtze River in China where we went through the locks at the Three Gorges Dam and on a smaller scale, the locks at Lake Washington.

Along the west coast going south from Los Angeles, we have been in San Diego, Tijuana, Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Costa Rica and Panama. On the Atlantic or Caribbean side we have been in Florida, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize, Honduras, Aruba, Curacao, Costa Rica and Panama. We don't want to repeat these places nor cruise there again (except we'd like to winter in Costa Rica). If we head south again...such as to Machu Picchu, we'd fly. If we go to Guatemala, we'll fly to Guatemala City and do a land tour. Oh, so many places we want to visit!

Costa Rica

Arriving at Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Puerto Limon is the main shipping port. Supposedly all the bananas purchased and consumed in the United States have gone through this port.

This is the Atlantic side of the country.

This is the vehicle we rode in for our off-road adventure into the mountains of Costa Rica.

Little poisonous orange frog

We were in Costa Rica on a Saturday so there were many, many people recreating in and around the river. I agree that it looked rather inviting.

During the heavy rainstorms in December this river wasn't just a narrow channel but filled the entire wide gravel area as well.

Banana plantation

Our 'picnic' at the banana plantation

This might take a little imagination, but there is a sloth in the tree.

Along the coastline...

Beautiful Costa Rica. We love it there!

All good things must come to an end. As we were leaving we saw this little island just off the coast of Costa Rica. Now that would be a neat place to live!

Following two days at sea we disembarked at Fort Lauderdale. This is a picture at the 'Farewell' with the crew of the Zuiderdam. We liked the shows, crew and dining room experience on the Zaandam better.

There were many fellow cruisers who had their flights home cancelled due to the bad storms primarily across the mid-west and upper eastern seaboard. Upon approach to the Atlanta airport there was heavy rain and the aircraft had to circle a couple of times. We were at the back of the plane and by the time we got off we had to run. We had to ride the underground train to a different concourse and run again. We barely made our connection. The temperatures were wonderful in the places we visited...70's and 80's. The temperature was minus 6 degrees when we got up the morning after we got home. What a rude awakening! We were told that there are furnished 2 bedroom apartments in the San Jose, Costa Rica area for around $350/month. That sounds tempting. They have a temple there (that I still haven't seen). San Jose is inland and nothing is more than about 3 hours away. The Pacific side is beautiful but is starting to be developed to look more like expensive real estate in Southern California. I'm already thinking about our next travels.

Ho Hum, Tweedle Dee Dum

It's January, what more can I say? Sub-zero temperatures, snow, slippery roads, inversions, short hours of daylight, cold fingers, scratchy throat, runny nose, dirty salty car, boring, depressing January...one of my least favorite months. Someone slid into our mailbox and knocked it over. I have been home alone as the temple is closed and Reed has been driving full time for a bus driver who had surgery.

I think when sad things that happen at this time of year, they seem even more sad. Just before Christmas two young brothers from Mendon were killed in a car accident. They were buried side by side in the same casket. Their parents were originally from Lyman, where Bryan is from. Reed saw all the helium balloons released into the sky by elementary school classmates of the boys. His bus was delayed by policemen directing traffic following the funeral.



Also just before Christmas, a ward member from Millville passed away from brain cancer. He had a 17 year old son, 15 year old daughter and 12 year old son. Mark was 47. He was in the bishopric after we left Millville. His wife, Jennifer, was our R.S. President. When we went with the youth on a trek at Martin's Cove, Mark and Jennifer were our 'parents' in our handcart group. Courtney was in the same seminary class with the oldest son. Once the teacher asked personal questions in an effort to get to know his students better. The question Mark's son got was "When was the last time you cried?" He answered that it was when the doctors said there was no hope for his dad and they were discontinuing chemotherapy. Between Mark's death and his funeral, Jennifer spent some time at the temple. We talked. I told her Mark is still on a trek, he's just gone on ahead, blazing trails for them to follow and preparing a new home for them.



Another sad one: Sister 'L,' (Mother of Lyle who dated Kim for 3 yrs), had a grandson (Darin Cook) return to Brazil where he served his mission. He wanted to travel around, visit persons he baptized, take pictures, hike etc. One of his former missionary companions was to hook up with him later. When his companion arrived at the hotel, Darin was not there. Police were contacted but they wouldn't start a search or investigation without family authorization. The companion didn't know names or numbers of Darin's family. He posted on Facebook: "If you know Darin Cook, contact me immediately." Darin's sister saw the post. Permission to search was given. A body was found, but due to the heat and having been chewed up by ants, positive identification couldn't be made until dental records were received. It was Darin. Evidently he had fallen a great distance while taking pictures. Last I heard, the family was trying to get Darin's body back to Utah for burial but the red tape was making it difficult.

One of our neighbors has a son who lost his wife to colon cancer. He remarried. His second wife had ovarian cancer at one time and now has cancer all through her pelvis. She's had surgery but will have to decide whether or not to go with chemo. They have two children who are both currently serving missions.

Another couple I serve with in the temple had their oldest son die from injuries sustained in a fall from a roof.

This is enough gloom and depressing stuff. I've written about it so now maybe I can get it out of my mind. I do have things to look forward to...one more week and we are off to Florida, the Bahamas, Aruba, Costa Rica and down to the Panama Canal and back in celebration of our 40th anniversary. Who knows? We might join the Hawkins family for a vacation in New Braunfels, Texas in March. We have reunions to plan or help with. Reed is in charge of the Ransom reunion and Jill is chairing the Conlin reunion. Both will be at Willow Park. I'm working with cousin, Jerry, on plans for a Prigmore reunion on July 14, 2012...the 100th anniversary of when Grandma and Grandpa were baptized. Since they were baptized in the creek by Lagoon and Grandpa was a groundskeeper at Lagoon, we are holding the event in Farmington.

Domino's Pizza

Here's my Domino's story: Our YSA ward is back in full swing after the Christmas break. Ward callings need to be revamped as many students left and we have an infusion of new ones. Last Monday we had a Ward Home Evening. We showed a video on morality and planned to serve pizza, salad and cookies afterward. The 30 large pizzas were supposed to be delivered at 7 p.m. I really expected them early. 7 o'clock came and went, 5 after, 10 after and finally 15 minutes after 7. I was getting really nervous. Did they mess up on the time or date? Were they at the wrong church? We didn't have a phone book. I passed a telephone in the hall, picked up the receiver, paused for a second and felt 'inspired' to enter a phone number. My plan was that whoever answered, I was going to ask if they could please look up the number for Domino's. I was blown away when someone answered the phone, "Domino's Pizza, how may I help you?" I knew that somewhere in the recesses of my mind that I had called Domino's before and maybe I could bring the number to memory. The only problem was that I had never before called the Domino's location where Reed ordered the pizzas. So when I 'picked myself up off the floor', I asked if I had reached the north or south location. It was the south store so I asked for the number of the other one. I called and was told the deliveryman left late but should be there any second. Whew! Everything worked out great. In fact, we got a late start on the video because the stake media guy was slow in arriving to set up the projection thing. The delayed pizzas ended up arriving with perfect timing.

Quiet holidays

Christmas and New Year's were rather quiet...our immediate family Christmas party was on Dec. 11th. We did have 12 family members over for a turkey dinner on Christmas Eve. The Johnsons had Santa Claus come a day early because Bryan had to work on Christmas Day. They enjoyed Christmas on the 24th for several reasons, one of which was that stores were open. They were able to buy the batteries that Santa forgot. After we ate, Riley and Bryan read from Luke, chapter 2. Hailey and Ashley interviewed Reed and me for a school assignment.

We were invited to breakfast at the Schvaneveldts on Christmas morning. We watched them open some of their gifts. We went to the Johnson household and Kim was sick with the stomach flu. She was so glad they already had Christmas. Reed made turkey soup and I made bread sticks for the the kids that evening. During the day we went on a long ride. We saw pheasants, deer and hundreds of wild turkeys. Because the weather was so pleasant, we went on a walk. We called and talked to our other kids and grandkids. We had leftovers for supper.

The day after Christmas we attended church in our home ward because the members of our YSA ward have gone home for the holidays. It was nice to walk to church instead of making multiple trips by car, 7.5 miles each way. It was great to kick back and relax instead of having Reed gone for 12 hours. It was NOT nice to come out of church and walk home in a snowstorm! Tuesday and Wednesday were very busy at the temple. After work on Wednesday, we had our YSA Bishop and wife over to preview a video for an upcoming ward 'Home Evening.' After they left we had our home teacher over.

We never went to the mall or made purchases at stores (except grocery) during the entire holiday season. Some of our gifts were taken care of by phone or with the click of a mouse. We gave ski lift tickets, cash or checks, and vacations. Candace and family are going to St. George during spring break again. Jodi and family are going to New Braunfels, Texas. They plan on visiting Sea World and the Alamo. Our gift-giving is sort of a cop-out. I didn't use any wrapping paper or tape this year. I don't miss the stress of deciding what to get, shopping for and purchasing so many individual gifts. I DO miss all the beautifully wrapped presents under the tree and the fun of everyone opening gifts.

On New Year's Eve we ate lunch out, purchased some puzzles, read books, spent time on the computer, went to a movie, ate out again and started working on a 1000 piece puzzle. We actually stayed up to usher the new year in! January 1st was more of the same. We are kind of boring people. We disconnected DISH a few weeks ago and haven't had Comcast cable installed yet, so it has been extremely quiet. I really don't miss TV much.

A week before Christmas we received an offer on our home. It was within an acceptable, negotiable range but the buyer wasn't able to qualify for the loan. It's good we didn't hold our breath or pack things up. We had mixed feelings. We really didn't want to move in the wintertime and we don't have any plans. We don't know what we want to do when we grow up, or where we want to live. We keep thinking that one day we will find the just the right place.

Reed is subbing for a couple of weeks. He makes morning, mid-day and afternoon school bus runs. I am on vacation; the temple is closed until the 25th. But that is our 40th anniversary and we plan to be somewhere warm. Right now everything is white with snow and the overnight temperatures are dipping below zero. At least the sun is headed the right direction and we're gaining more minutes of daylight. Well, I'd better go warm up a rice bag in the microwave.

HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Schvaneveldt Family

This is the picture from their Christmas card:Kaden~Natalie~Jill~Brandon~Courtney~Hailey

Jill is our 2nd daughter

Courtney is our first grandchild

Just wondering...where is Brandon's right leg?