Life is Still Good!!!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Panama Canal and Punxsutawney Phil

PANAMA CANAL: Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Happy Groundhog Day! (Remember that Sara was born and raised in the Punxsutawney area and is an official Groundhog Ambassador.) We heard that Phil did not see his shadow, which means that we will have an early spring. However, we know the true story. Punxsutawney Phil is on the ship with us and will appear in some of the photographs. While he promised to go back to Punxsutawney for Groundhog Day morning to look for his shadow, he did not. So, of course, he was not there to see his shadow so all those weather forecasters had to predict an early spring. But who can blame him? The weather in Punxsutawney is probably cold and snowy while the weather in the Panama Canal is warm and sunny. Please join us in forgiving him for neglecting his duties.

We have been half-way through the Panama Canal twice but this was was first time to go the whole way through. Ken took more than 250 photographs, but we will not bore you with all of them. Once the ship is through the first three locks, it enters Gatun Lake, which is the second largest man-made lake in the world, and it is huge! It takes nine hours to go through the canal and most of the time is spent sailing on Gatun Lake. We were really impressed with the last three locks and the beautiful view of Panama City before the ship exited the Panama Canal.

Ken made a poster that stated, "Happy Groundhog Day from the Panama Canal," which was photographed by the ship's photographer. Punxsutawney Phil has become quite a celebrity onboard and has been photographed with many passengers. He even met Tab Hunter, who gave a talk on board, and Ken had the opportunity to swim in the pool with Mr. Hunter. Phil thought that Tab and his companion are very good looking. Phil definitely likes all the attention and has agreed to pose in a picture with Ken's favorite beer in all our ports.

Wednesday is a sea day and then we arrive in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, where we will take a tour of the capital city of San Jose. Do you know the way to San Jose?

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