Day 152 - Home

We ended up back at the house just after 1:30pm on Friday. I had planned to take a picture of the luggage when we unloaded the car, but somehow it didn't happen. Little things like the air conditioning not coming on conspired to keep us a little busy when we got back. However, after a little shopping (okay a lot of grocery shopping) we're somewhat back on track. I will take a little time in the next week and put some overall thoughts about the trip online. This isn't so much for people that we know, but for strangers doing a search perhaps on Rickmers. This is originally how I found blogs from other passengers before we left on our trip.

Day 151 - Oil Refinery

This is the last picture from Houston and likely the last one from the road. The picture is of a refinery we passed on the way into Houston. It was strangely a quite pretty site to see the flame from the stack reflected in the water.

We stopped tonight in Flint, Michigan with only a few thoughts of driving straight through. It was quite late though when we got into Flint, so we’ll make a fresh start of it in the morning. Anyway, we should be home in the early afternoon assuming that the border crossing goes well. Either that or that our luck runs out with all of the road works we’ve passed. So far most of the road works have not actually been working, so you only need to slow down a bit. What we’re concerned is that we’ll suddenly end up on a stretch that’s closed or something!

Day 150 - San Jacinto

There isn’t much to add for today. Just driving, driving, driving. We’re just about 900 miles from Houston, with a little over 700 to go before home. We have a stop planned for tomorrow, so we likely won’t make as many miles as we should. The picture I have for today is of the San Jacinto monument and the Battleship Texas, which were visible while sailing into the port of Houston.

We're in.... Mt Vernon, Illinois. I had to think about that for a moment.

Day 149 - Pelican

This morning we left for SunPark, the lot we had left our car in. It wasn’t a big surprise that the car didn’t start. The staff at the lot tried giving us a boost but in the end we decided it was likely a dead cell in the battery. From what we remember, this is actually the original battery in the 11 year-old Pathfinder, so perhaps it was time for a new one. A call to AAA and within 30 minutes we had their battery service at the lot installing the new battery. The vehicle started smoothly and a few minutes later we were off, on our way back to the ship.

Leaving the ship was tough. Both the captain and crew wanted us to stay for a day or two. There wasn’t another passenger booked into our cabin, so it would have been okay. At this point though, we had everything packed, so we decided to get started on our way back north. We stopped just past Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the night and should be home by Friday.

The picture for today is of a pelican. I took many shots of them in Panama; however, the last shot that I took during the Houston transit is the best. Mainly because we were moving in Houston so they came closer to the ship looking for fish in our wake.

Day 148 - Pilot Boat

We spent our last day just enjoying the ship, having done our packing yesterday. The call for the pilot was for 4pm, so this was great. It meant that we would see most of the transit in the daylight. The Houston pilot was probably the most talkative one yet and spent most of the trip talking to us, the captain, well anyone who was around. It was also the first time I’ve seen a twin-hulled catamaran used as a pilot boat. You would think with all the talking we did I would have asked about that. Anyway, that ended up being the picture I used for today. I did my last load of laundry and finished up my packing just after we docked. Tomorrow morning we will go off the ship and see how the car held up.

Day 147 - Steamboat

Since we’re still in New Orleans at the moment I’ll use a picture of a sister ship to the one we were on yesterday. Loading and unloading went much slower than expected. I suppose it has a lot to do with all of the help wanted signs you see everywhere. The guys working on the wharves seem to be working longer hours than even they want to. Neither the afternoon crew nor the evening crew worked a complete shift. Anyway, it’s almost 3pm, which is our departure time. The engines have just been fired up and before I lose my internet connection I’ll update the blog.

Day 146 - New Orleans

We had a perfect day in New Orleans. The morning was cool, but not cold. The walk to the bus stop was a little longer as the gate we thought we could use was only Monday to Friday. However, at this gate we found a very nice grocery store. (This is important to the story later.) We caught the bus and got off near Riverwalk, a mall of sorts. We walked through it and had coffee and beignets at a branch of the Café de Monde. We walked down to the French Quarter after that and wandered around for a while. This was followed by a jazz brunch at the Court of the Two Sisters, a restaurant we quite enjoy. Then we walked down to the river and took a river cruise for part of the afternoon. It was just warm enough that the breeze from the river was cooling.

Okay, one warning. Never let a bartender named Bayou Billy pick a drink for you. We both had a Hurricane to start with, an old New Orleans special. I went back later for another drink but he was out of grenadine. The margaritas weren’t quite frozen yet so I just asked for a suggestion. He filled a 20 or 24-oz glass with ice and poured Malibu rum to a point where I should have stopped him. Then some pineapple and cranberry juices were added. All in all it was a great sail.

We knew we didn’t want dinner at 6pm so we took the bus back to the port gate, well a few streets north. This gave us a chance to walk through a beautiful neighbourhood on the way back to the grocery store. We bought the makings of a nice cold dinner and headed back into the port. When we were just through the gate a very nice gentleman offered to give us a lift back to the ship. It turns out that he was the night superintendent for our ship. We suspect that the woman at the gate told him she had just let us through. Not only did he save us a bit of a walk but he got us through that secondary gate we had a problem with last time! We even got direct to gangplank service before he went off to park. It was a perfect end to a perfect day. Since I have wireless access from the ship I will upload today’s picture before we sail.

Then tomorrow… we pack!

Day 145 - Mississippi Sunset

We’ve started our transit up the Mississippi River just before 5pm this afternoon. The sun just set a few minutes ago and we’re going to try and nap until about 1am. Then we will get up to see the city passage in the dark. At that point we’ll try and go back to sleep again assuming that immigration doesn’t want to see us. I’m not sure, since technically we left the United States and entered Panama. For some strange reason I suspect we’ll have to pass customs and immigration at 3 or 4am in the morning. I thought I’d update this before I go to sleep so I’ll have it ready to update in the morning. I should have access from the ship, although I might do it downtown instead.

Day 144 - Gatun Locks

Today I was going over the pictures I have taken since we left. I hate to admit it but I’ve taken just over 3000 pictures since we left Canada. That sounds like an unbelievable number of pictures but it works out to just about 21 pictures a day. For those who might be looking forward to seeing pictures of our trip, don’t worry. I have no intention of sitting people down and showing them hours of pictures. In fact I burned a sample DVD today that runs just about 17 minutes. That’s really not bad when you consider that we’ve visited over 20 cities/ports and transited two canals. Today I’m using another shot of the Panama Canal – the Gatun Locks on the Caribbean side. We should start our transit into New Orleans late tomorrow afternoon, although it’s a 10-hour trip. It sounds like we’ll only be in the city for a single day, so it’s a good thing we spent two days there on the way out.

Day 143 - Canal Trains

Now that we’re through the canal I think everyone’s sleep patterns are back to normal. The wind has picked up although it’s still beautiful and warm. We’re headed north through the Caribbean Sea towards New Orleans. At the moment it’s unclear how long we’ll be there. We should be tied up by Saturday morning, but the only information the captain has about the departure is Sunday in the AM. That could be anywhere from midnight until 11am. We’ll find out more once we’re in the city. Hopefully it will be the actual morning on Sunday, as we would like to go to Preservation Hall on Saturday evening to hear some jazz.

I’m using another picture taken at the canal for today’s picture. It’s one of the little trains that help guide the ships through the canal. They used three of them on each side of our ship when going through. One of the officers told me that it was so nice as the ships don’t scrape the sides of the canal, unlike passage through the St. Lawrence Seaway in Canada!

Day 142 - San Pedro Lock

Well, we’re through the Panama Canal, and I don’t think we could have arranged better transit times. The pilot came aboard just after 2am but he then found out our slot in the lock was 4:20am. We moved slowly into position and transited the Miraflores double lock in the dark. In the dark isn’t quite accurate as everything is well lit. We then continued on to the single San Pedro lock as the sun was rising. It wasn’t quite fully light out as we started to sail to Gatun Lake. I will admit that just about 9am I decided to take a little nap, so I missed them dropping anchor. The afternoon transit started with the pilot coming aboard just before 4pm, with the transit through the Gatun Locks being completed just about sunset. This schedule was far from the 1:40am and 10:40pm one that the captain got, and we were all glad. Even the crew who weren’t on duty were up on the decks watching the transit.

Day 141 - Gulf of Panama

This morning dawned the clearest that we’ve seen since we dropped anchor. After wiping the fog off the lens I took some pictures. Yes, it’s that big a difference in temperature between the cabin and the hot humid weather outside. We found out at lunch that our transit will take place on Tuesday. Well, more like Tuesday morning at 1:40am. We’ll be up to see it even though it’s not likely I won’t get any pictures. It’s actually unfortunate for our German passenger as the second half of the transit is currently scheduled for 10:40pm. We’re lucky enough that we’ve been through the canal before so it’s only a minor disappointment.

Day 140 - Covered Pool

Late last night the clouds rolled in, the lightening started, and we got a little bit of tropical rain. It didn’t really clear up today but we didn’t get any more rain. The pool was filled up in the early afternoon allowing for a swim. I think I mentioned the cover a number of days ago. Since then they have improved on the design. Since I had the camera with me yesterday I took a couple of pictures. The new tentative date for transit is Tuesday, with no specific time given. We’ll see if that changes or not. The crew are enjoying their evenings at anchor as this gives them time to fish from the lower decks. They then set up a barbecue and enjoyed the freshly caught fish.

Day 139 - Lifeboat

I don’t think anyone who has been reading along will be surprised that our 2am Panama Transit didn’t happen. Yesterday at dinner the Captain told us that not only had our time not been confirmed, but also that he didn’t have a new scheduled time. Yesterday was a very hot day so it’s a good thing that the pool was filled. As it was Saturday there was a safety drill, this time we were told that they would be putting both lifeboats in the water. So before my swim I grabbed my camera so I could take some pictures. The bigger, covered lifeboat would actually carry all the crew and passengers. Although in this picture they lowered it by a crane, it’s actually on a 45-degree angle and would self-launch if needed. There are actually at least half a dozen life rafts/vessels on the ship, including a raft on the forward section of the ship. It makes you feel safe, i.e. no pushing for seats, but on the whole I’d rather the whole thing not come up!

Day 138 - Antwerp Bow

You can tell today that we’re getting closer to shore. The first clue was that we suddenly have a small flock of seabirds around the bow, looking for fish in the churned up water. Later in the morning we started seeing a few ships. Then at noon, we actually saw land. Okay, it wasn’t that visible, but you could see it. We passed Jicarón, an outer island of Panama, just after dark. By the early morning we should be anchored in the Gulf of Panama, awaiting our transit. Nothing has changed, so our transit will start with the pilot coming aboard on Sunday morning at 2am. The thing is, we may or may not start our transit at that time. Knowing us, we’ll be up on the bridge, just in case!

The picture for today was taken in San Diego as we were taking off for the day. It was nice as the wharf was empty and the unloading hadn’t started yet. I couldn’t get a good angle for the full ship, but since I got one in Kobe it wasn’t as important.

Day 137 - Pacific Sunrise

The day was again spent enjoying the lovely weather. Dolphins were spotted off the bow in the morning and our fellow passenger saw a ray of some sort in the afternoon. I would have thought the water was too deep, but who knows. We’re really just passing the days away on our way to the Panama Canal. I’ve taken some nice pictures of the sunsets but today I’ve actually pulled an earlier shot of a sunrise. It was taken a few days before we came into San Diego. The pink shadow on the right hand side is actually the moon, which was full at the time.

Day 136 - San Diego Sunset

The weather continues to be beautiful. In fact, perhaps even a little hot. The air conditioning is on but to keep the cabins cool you need to keep the cabin door shut. It’s funny, but you tend to get used to the doors being opened. You say a hello as someone passes, or the captain will pass along information as he goes into his cabin next door. The other passenger mentioned that he feels more cut off as he’s starting to close his door as well to keep it cool. Up on deck today it’s definitely hot. When you’re in the sun you definitely need to find a breeze. In fact even in the shade you need to find a breeze. The swim in the afternoon was great, with clear warm water sloshing around the pool. They have put a tarp over the pool to keep it clear of soot from the stack. It turned out to be a good thing as the back deck is in full sun during the afternoon. If the pool hadn’t been covered it would have only been a quick dip. As it was you could laze around in the water for quite a while.

Day 135 - San Diego Skyline

Our fellow passenger made a comment at dinner that I think I agree with. He’s hoping we never get to Houston. Because of the length of the trip the American passenger left the ship in San Diego, and this fellow will leave with us in Houston. The sailing down the west coast has been lovely. The sun shines with only a few clouds now and then. The sea is fairly calm with only a slow rocking motion reminding you that you’re at sea. The pool gets filled each day now with clear fresh water that is getting warmer every day. I checked last night and we will arrive in the Gulf of Panama early Saturday morning. The captain believes our transit will begin Sunday morning (probably at 2am). It’s a 12-hour transit although I suspect we’ll be up at 2am just to see what’s going on. We can sleep afterwards on the way north to New Orleans.

Day 134 - Santa Fe Station

Well, not only has the weather stayed nice, but also it is time to open the pool again. The water is a touch on the chilly side but as the pool is refilled every day it will only get warmer. The skies are clear and the water is a deep beautiful blue. The weather is getting quite a bit warmer so now when on deck you are looking for somewhere with a little bit of a breeze. It’s kind of sad that this will all be over in probably two weeks. We heard from the Captain tonight that there would be seven passengers on the next voyage. Four people will join the ship in Houston and another three in Camden, NJ. Although the ship can carry up to 12 passengers without having a doctor on board, the cabins available allow for seven people. This means we will have to be packed and ready to go when we arrive in Houston.

The picture today is of the Santa Fe railway station in San Diego. The gaslamp district has a number of restored Victorian-era buildings. Modern skyscrapers back the rail station pictured here. There really is quite a mix of architectural styles.

Day 133 - Horton Plaza

We have just over six days of sailing to reach the Pacific side of the Panama Canal. If the weather is anything like today it will be just wonderful. We’re sailing south at the moment off the Baja coast. I found a spot on the deck in the afternoon with lots of sun and just a little wind. Since it’s Sunday the crew (mostly) have the day off. So it’s like having the ship to yourself. Since the upper decks were painted back in Japan it’s likely that the upper deck will be clear of work while we sail down to Panama. These are the days I’m glad we’re not on a passenger freighter. There’s no cruise director, no organized activities, and you don’t have a fight for a deck chair or a spot to place it.

Anyway, the picture for today is one I took yesterday of Horton Plaza. I took so many pictures of it that it was difficult to pick the one I liked best.