January 27 - “Aaaaand ... Panama Canal”

The day was finally here.  Panama Canal.  The atmosphere on the ship was electric, at least among the first timers like us.  I woke up at 4:24 to be present for the approach.  Chris even got up at 4:45 when the alarm went off.  We got dressed and hurried up on deck to get some views of the approach head on.  We managed to find a spot that wasn’t already occupied and staked our claim.  And Chris whipped out her trusty camera.

Pablo Pistaccio Pelican led the way through the three locks.  He stayed with us to the very end, too.  We appreciated his comforting presence.  As I said, there were three sets of locks, each taking us progressively higher until we reached Lake Gatun at 85 feet above sea level.  Each lock does essentially the same thing - water flows in from holding tanks to the side until the ship’s level is equal to the water level in the next bay.  Chris, as is her custom, took a few hundred pictures at each level.  If they did anything out of the ordinary, we now have a record of it ...

As we waited in lock number three, a little tropical rain began to fall, but it stopped quickly.  We had plenty of time to check out the Panama souvenirs they had set up on deck.  Since we couldn’t get off the ship, they brought the goodies to us.  How kind of them.  We were relatively successful in our quest.  No stuffed friends were available, sadly.  But we do have another stop or two.

Our on-board Panamanian narrator of the experience gave us all the scoop on the canal as we went through.  He boarded at the beginning along with a local pilot.  Did you know ... it costs $300,000 toll fee for our ship to do what we did - go through the first three locks into Lake Gatun, turn around, and go out again.  Now the cheapest toll ever levied was on the guy who swam from the Atlantic to the Pacific side.  They charged him 37 cents.

After the trip back through the locks we were quite anxious to get back on the high seas and head to our next stop. But as it turned out, this was also our next stop for fueling up and other maintenance.  We ended up staying put for hours.

After supper we were still anchored, but inside the ship life went on.  We went to the hypnotist show in the theater.  Interesting up to the point where he said to “clear your mind.”  Nope.  Not unless I’m refilling it with some Holy Spirit.  After that show we went to the atrium to be taught how to cowboy line dance.  As has generally been the case when we have attempted to learn any dance moves, we didn’t do so well.  I just couldn’t get my feet moving in rhythm with the “appropriate steps.”  Never have been one to follow the rules, I guess.

The announcement finally came around 9 p.m. that all maintenance was completed and we would soon be on our way.  That happened around 9:20.  Yes, we are now running a little behind.  An hour in fact.  All shore excursions have been adjusted appropriately, however.  And we’re off ...

Psalms 89:5 says, “The heavens praise your wonders, O, Lord, your faithfulness, too, in the assembly of the holy ones.”

Father, it’s pretty amazing to consider the feat of human engineering we just witnessed.  Even more amazing to compare it to some of your work.  You win.  Every time.  Amen.