Panama Canal Cruise - Los Angeles, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta

We began our much awaited 13 day Panama Canal cruise by arriving in Los Angeles a day early and staying at the Vagabond Inn where we left our car parked for the days we were gone. The room was very clean and comfortable, but the rest of the place was definitely showing its age.

We did a little exploring, and found Angel's Gate Park with this pagoda and the Korean Friendship Bell. The bell was presented as a gift to the US by the people of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) to celebrate our bicentennial. It weighs about 37,450 pounds. The location was beautiful overlooking the bay. 

The next day around noon we were delivered to the pier by a shuttle from the motel. Check-in went very well, and before we knew it, we were on the ship looking for a snack. We heard the cruise was a sell out at about 2,500 passengers and over 800 crew, but we never really felt like it was overcrowded. There were a few times on sea days where we had trouble finding a place to sit and relax in the shade, but overall it was great.

We passed the 8.5 mile long San Pedro Bay breakwater and lighthouse on the way out. These were built in the early 1900s. It always amazes me what earlier generations accomplished!

Day 2 was a sea day. We spent the day getting familiar with the ship. Even though there are elevators, you still do a lot of walking getting from the front to the back of the ship. We were on the 8th deck, with the dining room on deck 5, and the buffet and pool on deck 11, so that worked out really well. We walked between 10,000 and 20,000 steps every day. Despite eating more than normal, neither one of us gained weight. We went to some trivia challenges, played some mini golf and just lazed around. 

The show that night was called A Night With Adele. Neither one of us know much about her. Amy Jo Slater sang this tribute show, and she had a great voice. I think I maybe recognized one song. Adele is definitely not our thing. After looking online, I think Amy kind of looks like Adele.

Day 3 was scheduled to be a port day at Cabo San Lucas. This port is a tender stop for cruise ships, which means smaller boats come to the big ship and take you to the pier. Many cruise ships actually use their own lifeboats as tenders. There were also Disney and Princess ships anchored in the bay. We had been there in 2015, so had planned not to get off the ship. 

Unfortunately, for the many passengers who wanted to get off, they were out of luck. There was a hurricane quite a ways south of us, The ocean didn't look very rough, but swells under the water coming from the south were causing the tender boats to bounce around quite a bit. They kept making announcements hoping conditions would improve, but around noon it was announced that no tenders would be allowed to go ashore for the safety of all.

Here are some views of Cabo from the ship. It is a beautiful location. The arch in the rock is what they are famous for. Many of the excursions are boat trips to get you a closer view of that arch. The water was so pretty and clear.

Disney ship in front of us

Day 4 was a stop at Puerto Vallarta where we were able to dock right at the pier. Kevin and I had also been here in 2015, so we planned to just get off and look around a little. There were not nearly as many excursions offered as the last time we were here. None of them interested us. I wonder if Covid put some of those companies out of business. There was a flea market across the street, so we checked it out. I bought a necklace, and we shared a large margarita before getting back on the ship. 

The large margarita was $8. Drinks on the ship have really gotten expensive. Cocktails are $13 and a Miller Lite is $7.49 or a craft beer is $7.99. That doesn't include the 18% tip they include on all drinks. If we bought the drink package, it was $65 per day for the first person and half that for the second person in the cabin. Both people had to purchase it to participate. There was plenty of water, lemonade, iced tea, coffee and tea available for free.

While we were enjoying our drink, we watched this guy washing windows on our ship. Not an easy job!

This is the view of Puerto Vallarta from deck 12. There is a Walmart and Sam's Club across the street. The water in the bay was very muddy, and the city didn't seem very clean. It has grown a lot, and I don't think it's the paradise it used to be. I saw a statistic that said 300 ships come here each year.

Our entertainment was Mark Preston, a former member of The Lettermen. I had no idea that group had been around so long, from 1959 to present day. There  have been many different members during that time, but they are still performing. Mark was with them in the 1980s and again in the early 2000s. We recognized many songs, and enjoyed his great voice and show.

We saw some beautiful sunsets during these days. 

The color of the water from the wake of the ship is a gorgeous blue. I loved looking at it!

These frigate birds were often seen flying near the front of the ship, even when no land was in sight. I read that they look for fish that are riled up by the ship. They have a very distinctive scissor tail.

So, that takes care of the first four days which probably doesn't seem all that exciting. But, things are going to get better. I'm doing separate posts for the next three stops and the Panama Canal, because there are lots of pictures. Get ready!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Lake Tahoe and Carson City, Nevada

We left California and headed to Minden, Nevada to see Lake Tahoe. It was a beautiful, scenic drive, but not so fun for Kevin. Lots of narrow, winding roads with drop offs. He has had a lot of that type of driving on this trip. Thank goodness for our Garmin RV GPS. She helps us find the best routes for towing.

The main reason I wanted to stop here was to see Lake Tahoe. I didn't realize that Minden was on the other side of a mountain about 30 miles away. We stayed for five nights, but only the first day was decent. It rained and was cold all the other days. Oh well, we've had pretty decent weather all summer; so can't complain.

We drove to Lake Tahoe on Sunday as this would be the only rain free day. Unfortunately, a lot of other people were also there making it difficult to find a place to stop and see the lake or take pictures. We started on the Nevada side and headed north. This was the first spot we could get a view. It was cloudy, so the water colors were not as nice as pictures I've seen. It was also very windy, so the lake was quite choppy.

The lake level was very low. In the picture below, you can see the piers sticking way up out of the water. All boats were anchored out in the lake, quite a ways from shore. If you click on the picture, you can see lots of boats out there.

We continued our tour along the west side of the lake which is in California. That side was much more built up with lots of expensive homes and not any places to park and see the lake. As we came around the south end, we climbed to a higher elevation. There were some pull out spots, but there were no parking spots in any of them. The sun had come out, so we were able to see the beautiful colors in Emerald Bay.

The west side of the Lake in Nevada is mostly natural with State Parks and Forests. Here are some views from that side.

The Nevada/California border runs right through the town of South Lake Tahoe. You can certainly tell where the border is as there were several casinos as soon as we entered Nevada.

On one of the less rainy days, we headed to Carson City, the capital of Nevada. The State Capital building is being renovated, and was totally surrounded in scaffolding.  It originally opened in 1871, so some updates were probably in order. It is the second oldest state capital building west of the Mississippi.

Here's what it is supposed to look like based on a model inside.

Some government offices are still in use, but many surrounding buildings have been built to house other state officials. There was a museum in one of the former chambers with lots of interesting information. 

Nevada became a state on October 31, 1864, a few days before the election for Lincoln's second term in office. The papers to become a state got lost in the mail, so with just a few days to go, officials telegraphed all of the required documents. It was the most expensive telegraph ever sent. They made the deadline, and Nevada helped Lincoln win the election. Unfortunately, he only served a few months of that term before being assassinated.

This seal of Nevada in the museum was made entirely of very small beads. I'm guessing it was about 2 feet square. 

This chair was made of elk horns for Governor John Sparks who was in office from 1903-1908. Teddy Roosevelt sat in it when he visited in 1903.

We walked along the downtown on Carson Street. We stopped in at the Nugget Casino, which is the oldest continuously operating casino in Carson City. It is still owned and operated by the descendants of the original owner. Unfortunately, the smoke smell was so awful, we walked right back out. I don't know how anyone can stand being in that smelly environment.

We also stopped at the Great Basin Brewing Company for some liquid refreshments. Kevin said the beers were quite tasty. On top of a hill on the outskirts of town, is a giant C and an American flag that measures 65 x 120 feet. It looks small from a distance, but it must be huge up close.

We stayed at Silver City RV Resort in Minden. It was a very nice park, although a bit pricey at $70 per night. They had a very nice clubhouse with this mural of Lake Tahoe. That's what I was hoping to see when we were there.

This old covered wagon was on the grounds. One of the original RVs!

The views from the park were very beautiful with mountains all around. Late the last evening we were there, the sun came out and provided this awesome double rainbow.

It was quite chilly our entire stay with highs in the low 60s and lows in the 40s. Our last night it got down to 35 degrees. Brrr!!!! We woke to sunny skies with snow on the tops of the highest mountains. It was 10 to 20 degrees below normal for our stay.

Our summer travels are coming to an end. We plan to be home on Saturday with a stop tonight in Tonopah, Nevada and tomorrow night in Kingman, Arizona. I'm looking forward to getting home and seeing our home remodel completed. When we left they still had to paint the outside and put up the back landing cover.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Klamath California and Redwood National Park

We very much enjoyed our visit to the Oregon Coast this summer, but it is time to head towards Yuma.  We spent a few days in Klamath, California to visit Redwood National Park. 

This was the 40th National Park we've been to. If you count the St. Louis Arch and Indiana Dunes, which were both not National Parks when we visited, that would be 42. There are a total of 63 of them, but several are in remote Alaska, Virgin Islands, American Samoa and other islands. We hope to visit about 10 more of them in the future.

In 1994 the National Park Service and California State Parks agreed to cooperatively manage their combined 133,000 acres of Redwood forests. It is a World Heritage Site. When logging began in 1850, roughly two million acres of old-growth coast redwood forests were in the coastal mountains of California. Today, just 5 percent remain; 35 percent of that being in the combined state and national parks. How sad! Public and private conservation organizations are working hard to preserve what is there, and help the newer trees grow in a healthy environment.

We hiked a short distance to the Big Tree Wayside to see the 13th tallest tree in the park. It is 286 feet tall, 23.7 feet in diameter, 74.5 feet in circumference and about 1500 years old. In order to get the entire tree into the picture, you have to stoop down and take it from below. This makes us look taller than we are. It's impossible to get the amazing size and scope of these trees in a photo!

Redwoods are the tallest trees in the world. The tallest known Redwood is in the national park, and is called Hyperion measuring 380.3 feet tall. It's exact location is kept secret to protect it from tourists.

Here are some of the others we saw on our hike. Enjoy their beauty and majesty!!

There are three species of redwood trees. The Dawn Redwood grow in China. The Giant Sequoia (which we saw in July) grow on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Central California. The tallest in the world Coast Redwoods grow along the Northern California coast and into southernmost coastal Oregon.

It is often amazing to me how hard nature works to survive. This tree is growing out of a dead log, and seems to be doing quite well. Look closely for the roots all over the log (click to enlarge photo).

We started our day in the parks driving to Fern Canyon. That was quite the adventure!! 

On the way there, we drove past Elk Meadow. These guys were having a rest. I counted about 15 females and young ones, and one Big Daddy!! He was looking out for his harem. These were Roosevelt Elk, a subspecies of North American elk. We saw Rocky Mountain Elk when we were in Estes Park, Colorado in 2010.

You can only access the canyon with a free online permit. I signed us up for the 8 am to 12 noon time slot. The dirt road to the canyon is 8 miles of bumpy, narrow, and winding torture; including crossing three shallow creeks! We made it to the check-in kiosk, but no one was there to check our permit or look at our National Parks Pass. Oh well, onward. We got to the small canyon parking lot and headed to the roughly 2 mile hike into the canyon. Parts of Jurassic Park was filmed in this location. I liked the sun shining between these trees.

The first part of the hike took us up to the top of the canyon. Then we came back down to the river flowing through it. We had been warned our shoes would get wet. They weren't kidding. There were logs and boards to cross over in some spots. Unless you're an acrobat, the logs were not easy to traverse. Since my shoes were going to get wet anyway, I walked in the river a lot of the way. I'd rather have wet feet than broken bones!!

The seven types of ferns growing along the 50 foot canyon walls were huge and awesome to see. To be honest, based on the road required to get there and the difficulty of the hike; I really wouldn't recommend this spot especially with a car. We saw plenty of cars; but I was sure glad we had a big truck. 

Here's one of the obstacles we climbed over.

Kevin carefully picking his way across

A banana slug on the trail. Kevin's foot is for size comparison.

I was sure happy when we were on the paved road again. The same Elk herd we saw on the way in was now standing up. 

While in Klamath, we stayed at the Klamath River RV Park. It is situated right along the river with beautiful views. We really enjoyed this park. It was very well taken care of. You could tell the owners cared. That makes such a HUGE difference!!

The fog in the picture below is where the river meets the ocean. All along the coast in Oregon and northern California, it was almost always foggy at the ocean.

One of the local tourist attractions had these huge statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox in their parking lot. I had always thought these characters were from the Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin areas. I guess if it attracts tourists, it works here, too. Paul is 49 feet tall, weights 30,000 pounds. The concrete base alone weighs 800,000 pounds. His axe is 27 feet long, and his boots are 10 feet high. That means the boots alone are as tall as a one story building. Babe is 35 feet tall and also weighs 30,000 pounds. You can see the people in the picture aren't even as tall as the base of Paul.

This bridge across the Klamath River has these bear statues on all four corners. I thought they were pretty cool.

One day we drove up to Crescent City and Crescent Beach. I had read that there are lots of sand dollars to be found at the beach. I found several. Here is what they look like when they are still alive. The ones I found are white, bleached by the sun. I plan to preserve them when we get home. We also stopped at the Port O'Pints Brewing Company so Kevin could have some fun, too. He's not much of a beach person.

On our last afternoon in Klamath, we went on the 2 hour Klamath River Jet Boat Tour. 

The boat took us about 22 miles up the river. About 6 times, the captain spun us in a 360 degree turn. It was so much fun. I found this picture online to show you what it was like. I was too busy holding on to take a photo!

Along the way, the captain would stop and show us some of the wildlife and explain some of the history of the area. These are double-crested cormorants.

We went to the estuary where the river meets the ocean. These pelicans and seagulls were hanging out on a sandbar. You can see how foggy it is. As soon as we got inland, the fog disappeared and we had a beautiful sunny trip.

We saw a pretty large black bear running along the steep bank. I was surprised a bear could run on such a steep area. This is where we saw him. I wasn't fast enough to actually get his picture.

We saw a couple of Bald Eagles and one of their nests.

The scenery along the way was fantastic. For the first few miles, we saw several fish camps along the shores. After that, there are no roads to access the river, so it was just pristine wild river and land. 

Here's the RV park we're staying at from the boat.

We've enjoyed our summer so far. I know Kevin will be happy to be out of the winding, mountainous roads. Tomorrow we head to Lake Tahoe for a few days. That should require one more trip over the mountains, and then we'll be headed back to the flat desert. We plan to be back in Yuma a week from tomorrow.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!