Bucket List!

As we approach the first lock, a canoe type boat takes the ropes from our ship and the "guide car" takes control. The Captain is regulating the power but the guide car steers due to the narrowness o f the lanes. There are many of these cars on both sides of the lane. They run along a track. There's just a bustle of activity! It was fun watching everything from our balcony.

Once completely inside the first lock, water rushes in filling the chamber and lift us 27 feet. We will move forward to the second chamber to rise another 27 feet, same with the final chamber. The locks are 110 feet wide and 1050 feet long. Imagine the power of water... lifting this ship with 3000 people, 87 feet! Brilliant!

I tried to figure out where would the best location to watch how this inventive transportation system works, but it's something that needs to be seen from every direction. There is so much going on to get this ships raised and lowered. Here we have a cargo ship entering the locks. Water gushes out as the chamber drains, lowering the ship 27 feet. When the ships first enter, they are above us. Eventually, we are level and then the lower out to the Atlantic and we rise to Gutun Lake.

Hours later, we are in the last chamber. You can see the water coming in at the bottom where the two walls meet. It still has quite a bit to go before it is full enough for us to move on. The entire crossing takes 8 hours. It was interesting to witness what is involved in getting certain supplies from the East Coast to the West Coast.

If you compare the water level on the previous picture to this one, you will see it is continuing to rise. We're almost up! As soon as the chamber fills with 27 feet of water, we float out into Lake Gutun.

As we reach the top, the final two gates begin to open. There are two as a safety precaution. This afternoon we have risen 87 feet by the filling of chambers causing our ship to rise. We are no ready to sail through Lake Gutun to the locks letting us out into the Pacific Ocean.

The tugs also participate in guiding the ships through. Thirteen to fourteen THOUSAND ships a year pass through these locks!

Off the starboard side of our ship, we see Gutun Dam. This mile and a half long structure dams the Chagris River, creating Lake Gutun. It is a man made earthen dam... another engineering wonder and integral function in this transportation hub. The amazing part is that something so complicated was designed in 1907!

Free Willy!!! We made it all the way through the series of locks into beautiful Lake Gutun. This 166 square mile artificial lake was created by damming the Chagris River. It was designed to control the water necessary for running the locks. It is 166 square miles. The rest of the day will be winding through the waterways toward the Pacific Ocean.

Centennial Bridge was built as a secondary to Bridge of the Americas. It is 262 feet high so ships can pass through. From our vantage point, it's hard to tell that it is a six lane highway!

Passing by the Gamboa Bridge, I am in awe of the beauty. Green and lush, it is completely opposite of the last canal we passed through, the Suez Canal. This span crosses the river feeding Lake Gutun. There is an old section that carries only trains now and a newer section for cars.

We could see this far off in the distance... I once read an interesting description of this area. At the time it meant nothing, but seeing it now, I get it. I can't remember it word for word but it was something to the effect of: "The engineers figuratively wed the oceans by literally divorcing the valleys." It is at this location that an extensive amount of blasting occurred to open an area for the waters. The hillside is tiered to limit the landslides.

After hours and hours of watching this process, we are now leisurely floating through the lake. We figured it was a good time to get comfy on the wicker couches on the 12th deck to drink some tea, listen to music and pull out our kindle books!

With so many people still in the Constellation Lounge, we were offered the Rendezvous Lounge for the evening cocktail party. Not many people showed up. This is the evening I wrote my first blog post about... this is the night we met Tom and Jess and life changed! A quick compliment of my shoes and before you knew it, we were deep in conversation. Laughing, amazed at the many things we had in common... it is so rare to meet a couple we BOTH completely connect with. After cocktail hour, we stood in line for the main dining room. Because the line was long, we were offered a special deal if we would go to Specialty Restaurant, Tuscan Grille. We enjoyed it so much the night before, we jumped at the opportunity! Our 2008 Lassegue was decanted and served. We went to bed with full bellies... again...