Columbia and Panama Canal

So... finally getting to post this blog (and the next one) about our winter vacation trip to the Panama Canal.  We have been in self-quarantine for about six weeks now, and I am getting to the bottom of the to-do list.  This trip was on the Norwegian Pearl and took us to Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Mexico.  

Here we are getting ready to sail from Miami, BBC in hand!

Our first stop was Cartagena, Columbia.  We started walking around but then decided that it would be better to take a taxi.  Luckily between us all we had enough Spanish to get in, inquire about the fare, and get there.   

We went to Old Town, a walled city with lots of historic buildings.  https://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/caribbean-coast/cartagena/attractions/old-town/a/poi-sig/454795/363310.  

We spent hours walking around and just looking at the amazing buildings and architecture. 

Here the kids are actually on the wall that surrounds the city.  

Our last stop before heading back to the terminal was a grocery store where we picked up coffee and chocolates.  Grocery stores are my favorite places to shop because it is such a window into a country.  

Adios Columbia!

Hola, Panama!

So here you can see that we are lining up to enter the Panama Canal.  There is a series of three locks that fill with water and raise the boat before.  You can see on the right side, the levels.

The canal is only 110 feet wide, and the boat just barely squeezes in there.  There are a couple of boats like the one you see here that guide the ship into the canal gently and without scraping the sides!

This engine is the mule, and it helps to guide the ship through the canal.  It stays on this track the whole length of the canal and has ropes that move the ship into position.  The ship just barely fits in each lock, so it is really important that it can be maneuvered carefully.  

You can see that the lock we are entering has a lower water level than the next one, so the valves underneath open, and that water comes into ours, raising the ship. Here is a 12-second video that shows what happens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlIsmLAzrkU

You can see the water levels from the different colors of stone and metal. A cool thing is that all of the parts of this canal are original, from when it was constructed.

I just realized that the video doesn't work, but here is a video from YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQEo2L5dTD0

Here is the mule as it climbs to Lake Gatun.

So we went to Lake Gatun, then turned around and came back.  We stopped in Panama at this town and then headed back out to sea!  

Las Vegas, Baby!

February 2019 we headed to Las Vegas, mainly to use it as a hub to visit a bunch of national parks.  LV is pretty centrally located, and there are tons of hotels, which makes it the perfect hub!  

We always pictured LV as a hot desert, but when we were there, snow dusted all of the mountains.   

These peaks are so far away, but the clear air and flat surrounding area give it a strange perspective. 

First park: Death Valley.  

When we were there it wasn't that hot, but we could see how it would be hot and dangerous!  

For some reason, this became our go-to linner restaurant.  After a day of driving around, nothing is better than a burger, fries and a shake. 

The next day the kids and I went to the Grand Canyon.  None of us had been in a helicopter before, so we figured that would be a fun thing to do. 

OK, full disclosure, I was a bit nervous, but not these two! 

I took about 200 pictures of the GC from the helicopter, but you can probably get the idea from this one.  

There was snow here, too, and actually quite slippery.  There were lots of warnings not to walk beyond the guardrail and actually the week after we were there a lady slipped off the edge while taking a selfie. 

Long drive back!  

Our next day was a drive around LV to this place, ElDorado Ghost Town.  Of course, when we were there it was being used as a set for a bunch of models, so it wasn't much of a ghost town! Still, the antiques were cool! 

The following day was a trip to the Hoover Dam.  We made all the dam jokes we could and had a great dam guide.  

On our last night we walked the strip, saw the fountains at the Venetian, and the Pooks and I went on the Big Shot.  

Since we didn't puke from the ride, we were ready for dinner!