Traveling Tolins 2

Hi all We hope you are enjoying a Merry Christmas with your family and friends.  We had a great Christmas eve service Sunday night and mid-morning Christmas service led by our cruise director.  Her step-father is a retired Methodist minister who today serves a very small congregation.  She is a deaconess, trained to be a choir director, who does very well with sermons (she admits prep help from her step-father).  A real treat.  So far have not had a chance to ask if her step-father or her if they know of Pastor Adam. We are had a sea day yesterday; we docked at Puntarenas, Costa Rica at 8 AM today and sailed away at 6 PM.  We went on a shore excursion into the country side for about 3 hours.  CR has one of the most tropical rain forests so we hope to see more wild life. So far our cruise has been really enjoyable.  Finally getting to know a few other couples.  We packed too many dress-up clothes so Diane is thinking of shipping s...

One of several views of sky scrapers of Panama City we made within the canal.  With the price our cruise ship paid to pass thru the canal, they can afford modern development. The  Bridge of the Americas  ( Spanish :  Puente de las Américas ; originally known as the  Thatcher Ferry Bridge ) is a road bridge in  Panama , which spans the  Pacific  entrance to the  Panama Canal . Completed in 1962, at a cost of  US$ 20 million, it was the only non-swinging bridge (there are two other bridges, one at the  Miraflores locks  and one at the Gatun locks) connecting the north and south  American  land masses until the opening of the  Centennial Bridge  in 2004. The bridge was designed by  Sverdrup & Parcel . The  Bridge of the Americas  crosses the  Pacific  approach to the  Panama Canal  at  Balboa , near  Panama City . It was built between 1959 and 19...

Two men in a boat row out near ships to catch ropes tossed from the bow, then row back to the lock sides to fasten steel cables from the mules.  The ropes are then pulled to the ship for fasten for use in keeping the ships in the center of each lock.  The mules travel along with the ship; the ships use their internal power to move forward thru and out of the locks.     The Japanese car hauler is in the locks on the left side of the paired locks.   This freighter is on the new, parallel channel.  Note tug boats escorting and no mules.  Also note the water is contained by a raised berm rather than being dug into the terrain. This double-gated lock is opening in preparation for our cruise ship to enter the lock in front.  Note the cables from the mule on the left.   DUE TO THE SIZE OF THIS DAY'S BLOG, IT IS PUBLISHED IN MULTIPLE PARTS

The Centennial Bridge, opened in 2004, is the second permanent bridge to cross the Panama Canal, the first bridge was the Bridge of the Americas. Other bridges smaller were built at the gates of the Miraflores locks and Gatun, but these bridges can only be used when the doors of the gates are closed, and they have a very strict limit capacity.   The Centennial Bridge is located 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of the Bridge of the Americas and crosses the Gaillard Cut close to the Pedro Miguel locks. The new sections of the highway connecting Arraijan to Cerro This Patacón in the east via the bridge, significantly easing congestion with the Bridge of the Americas. The Bridge of the Americas, which opened in 1962, was the only permanent bridge over the Panama Canal. Traffic from this bridge was originally around 9,500 vehicles per day; however, eventually it grew and by 2004 the bridge was used by 35,000 vehicles per day. Since the bridge represented the biggest bottlen...

  Our cruise ship waiting for water from lock above to be drained in prep for gates to open so we can move into the lock.  Note the mule on our right front.  Note how close to the lock side our cruise ship is. Remember yesterday we took a shore excursion to the Gamboa Rainforest and Game Preserve?  And that we road on an aerial tram thru the rainforest and climbed to the top of a 90-foot overlook tower?  We spotted to top of the tower as we passed it on our cruise ship.   Just a short way passed the overlook tower we passed by the prison where Manuel Ortega was held prissoner after his conviction as a drug dealer.  Easy come, easy go!    DUE TO THE SIZE OF THIS DAY'S BLOG, IT IS PUBLISHED IN MULTIPLE PARTS

The  Panama Canal  ( Spanish :  Canal de Panamá ) is an artificial 77 km (48 mi) waterway in  Panama  that connects the  Atlantic Ocean  with the  Pacific Ocean . The canal cuts across the  Isthmus of Panama  and is a key  conduit  for international maritime trade. There are  locks  at each end to lift  ships  up to  Gatun Lake , an  artificial lake  created to reduce the amount of  excavation work  required for the  canal , 26 m (85 ft)  above sea level , and then lower the ships at the other end. The original locks are 34 m (110 ft) wide. A  third, wider lane of locks  was  constructed  between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began commercial operation on June 26, 2016. The new locks allow transit of larger,  Post-Panamax  ships, capable of handling more cargo. France  began work on the canal in 1881 but ...

We departed Puerto Limon at 6 PM yesterday and arrived Col ón, Panama at 8:30 AM today, completing Leg 4 of our cruise.   Colón  ( Spanish pronunciation:  [koˈlon] ) is a  Panamanian  city and  sea port  beside the  Caribbean Sea , lying near the  Atlantic   entrance to the  Panama Canal . It is the capital of Panama's  Colón Province  and has traditionally been known as Panama's  second city . Originally, it was located entirely on  Manzanillo Island , surrounded by  Limon Bay ,  Manzanillo Bay ,  and the  Folks River .  However  since the disestablishment of the  Panama Canal Zone , the city's limits have been redefined to include  Fort Gulick , a former  U.S. Army  base, as well the former Canal Zone towns of  Cristobal ,  Margarita ,  and  Coco Solo . The city was founded by Americans in 1850 as the Atlantic terminal o...