14 Dahlia Garden First Look

John loves the Dahlia Garden in Volunteer Park, Seattle. Here on John's Island we've posted pictures from the garden in previous years, like this end-of-the-season view last October ...

2013 End-of-Season Dahlia Garden Post

Now, here is our first 2014 look at the garden. As you can see below, the rhododendrons behind the garden have bloomed, the dahlias are just breaking through the surface, and this year's flower ID posts are in place (May 21).

Volunteer Park Dahlia Garden
May 21, 2014

Same spot in early March, 2014

Winter covers still in place in early March

May 21, 2014, and flower ID posts are in place

Most plants are showing some green
breaking through the surface of the soil.

Side view of the garden, May 21, 2014

Alpen Matthew is one of our favorites
to keep an eye on

If this is Alpen Matthew it is just breaking through! ? !
Long way to go on this one!  :-)

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Yellowstone Bison --- Yeah, Buffalo!

John returned to Yellowstone Park last Sunday for the first visit of 2014. This quick shot of a bison walking along the road turned out pretty well. We were not quite as close as this shot makes it appear, but close enough. No matter how many photos you've seen of buffalo, there is nothing quite like being up-close and personal (if we can say that) with one. Our visit was short as rain put a damper on things. Hope to return again later in the summer.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Transit Panama Canal

Map of the Journey

Starting from Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Aruba, Cartagena, Panama Canal,
Puntarenas,
San Juan del Sur, Cabo.
Los Angeles, California

Approach Panama Canal - Atlantic Side

Early morning March 8, 2014, approaching
breakwater to enter Limon Bay
from the Atlantic Ocean.
We must pass through the Bay to enter
Gatun Locks

Transit

Gatun Locks

When you read about bridges across the Panama Canal this one,
in the center of the photo, below the lock gates, is rarely
mentioned.  It swings in and out of place to allow traffic
to pass on this Atlantic side of the canal.

Island Princess is designed to fit snugly.

The ship is close enough that you could touch the
wall of the canal.

Gatun Operation Office

Note passengers waving at canal workers

Yes, Customer Service Week!
"Committed to Customer Satisfaction"

Gates closed

Note water level difference

Locomotives guide the ship

Gatun Locks Lighthouse

No, the locks are not curved.  It just looks that way in this
panorama put together from several shots as we were
headed into Gatun Lake.

Maersk Cargo Freigher going the opposite
direction

Of course, you are aware that the canal finances itself by charging a toll.

From Wikipedia we find this info on tolls:  The most expensive regular toll for canal passage to date was charged on April 14, 2010 to the cruise ship Norwegian Pearl, which paid US$375,600. The average toll is around US$54,000. The highest fee for priority passage charged through the Transit Slot Auction System was US$220,300, paid on August 24, 2006, by the Panamax tanker Erikoussa, bypassing a 90-ship queue waiting for the end of maintenance works on the Gatun locks, thus avoiding a seven-day delay. The normal fee would have been just US$13,430. The lowest toll paid was 36 cents by American Richard Halliburton who swam the Panama Canal in 1928.

We were told that the toll for the Island Princess on this voyage was nearly US$300,000.

This Maersk probably paid a lot less!

Ship moves under its own power
but is guided by locomotives

Yet another Freighter passes us.

This was a very warm day ... temps were in the 90s (F) and, of course, the humidity was up there. We are so close to the equator that daytime high temps don't vary that much. The climate only adds to the fascination with construction of the canal.

Canal work Tug

Looking back as we leave Gatun Locks and move into
Gatun Lake

Mid-Day Celebration

During the middle of the day there is time to relax (well, from all that photography work!) and enjoy a nice lunch followed by a celebratory cake.  What are we celebrating?  Well, just getting to pass through the canal would be enough, but this happens to be the 100th year of the canal's operation ... the Centennial celebration.

The Island Princess staff was friendly and
seemed as excited about this Centennial
passage as we were.

Typical views from the cabin during passage

Typical travel through the canal looking aft.

Looking fore.

Centennial Bridge and Bridge of the Americas

Centennial Bridge ... one of the two primary bridges
over the canal and opened in 2004

More locks. 

On the Atlantic side, the Gatun locks raise the ship to the level of Gatun Lake. The lake is about 85 feet above sea level and plays an important role in the operation of the canal. Then, on the Pacific side there are two sets of locks to lower the ship back to sea level.

How would you like to be launched in that
orange rescue raft?

Freighter passengers seem as interested in us as
we are in them.

Construction to expand the canal is now underway.
Bridge of the Americas in the distance.

Our cabin is on the bridge level. In the photo above, you can see three people on the bridge. The person on the left, in white uniform, is the Captain. Looks like he is enjoying a cup of coffee or tea. To the right is a person, dark silhouette, he is Dr. Dean.  Dr. Dean is an expert on canal history and used the ship's public address to provide commentary all day during the transit. He is quite interesting and knowledgeable about the area and also provided information on the ports in this area. Then, the person on the far right, leaning against the window, I believe is the Staff Captain, second-in-command, who seemed to be operationally in charge of the passage. He was frequently on the two-way radio with canal authorities.  The bridge level, on this ship, is, for cruisers, referred to as Aloha deck.

Swing-Aside Railroad bridge links the Americas
by rail.

Bridge of Americas ahead

After passing under Bridge of Americas
the Island Princess heads into the
Pacific Ocean and the
transit is done.

Thanks for stopping by John's Island.

Sun on Seattle

Looking out the window here this morning (May 3, 2014) presented a somewhat unusual scene. Clouds AND sun.  Heavy overcast to the west provided a nice backdrop to the city basking in bright sunlight coming in from a break in the clouds on the eastern horizon shortly after sunrise. Grabbed the camera and snapped a few quick shots for this little panorama.

Click to enlarge

The tall building in the center is Two Union Tower at 56 floors. Tallest in town, although it looks smaller in this perspective, is at the left, Columbia Tower at 75. Seattle is currently experiencing a new construction boom. We are concerned that our weather propaganda --- rainy and cold --- is no longer working its magic. Folks are moving in here like crazy --- and staying!

Thanks for stopping by John's Island. Coming soon: Transit of the Panama Canal.