Wow, where is the time going?

 Greetings. Yesterday we completed the first leg of our journey. I honestly don’t know how many we have, but I think it’s five or six. It was pretty quiet for us as we have done this section through the Panamá Canal before. Still amazing to realize what a major engineering project this was, and what a huge impact it had on global ocean navigation. 

We were traversing the canal, which takes most of a day next to large enclosed cargo ship. We found out from goggling, amazing what you can find out, that ship held 8,500 new automobiles. It was one big honkin ship with just a handful of workers who came out to wave at us. 

At one point there was little patch of land enclosed with a high fence with lots of concertina wire and a couple of flat objects that looked like they could be lids. I was wondering if they could just pull a plug and drain the whole thing?

One of the pilot boats getting us lined up to enter the canal. Think about getting your car lined up to go through a car wash. 

Entering the first lock, through a dirty, rainy window. 

There were a couple of small leisure boats going through with us. They didn’t seem worried about that giant cargo ship closing in on them.

These are two of the “mules” locomotives that attach to both the front and back of the larger ships to assist them. I could use something like like some mornings. 

The giant cargo ship next to us. 

We sailed right by Panamá City, but its skyline dwarfed that of Cartagena just on the east side of the canal. Suppose there is a little more money circulating there.

Our next port was Puntarenas, Costa Rica. It was a fairly short stop, no excursions for us, I got off to walked around a bit. We waved at Hush Valley for old times sake as we sailed up the coast. 

The beach, at Puntarenas. Not the prettiest stretch, but it was being enjoyed by quite a few locals who set up day camps with lots of great smelling food. 

A day at sea then a port stop at Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. Once again no excursions but I got off to walk on land and take in the vibe near the port. I have done shore excursions before, and they are similar to one another given the time and physical limitations. I did spend a few minutes hanging out watching a local woman sitting on the hard ground doing some amazing weaving seemingly without even thinking about it. I loved just watching her hands. The culture there is known of their textiles and they were vibrant and abundant.

Many years ago my daughter, Heather Kristensen, brought me a quilt very similar to the red one, different colors but similar design. I hadn’t thought about that in some time, but it came right back when I saw that quilt displayed. 

She was amazing to watch. I’ve done enough crafts over the years to appreciate the skill and commitment to make art like this. 

Our last port on this leg was Puerto Vallarta. I signed up for a day at one of the many resorts on the beach. I really loved a couple of long walks on the long well tended beach. The water was a little cooler than I expected, but it was a nice day on land.

One of the many resorts along the beach at Puerto Vallarta.

That brings me closer to catching up. I’m having a strange disorientation about time which I’ll probably try to understand as we continue. I obviously still need to work on adjusting font size, but hopefully it will come. Thanks for joining me on our journey. molly