HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDERS!!

 On this Christmas Eve day, I want to thank everyone who sent us cards this year.  With the cost of cards and postage, it seems to be getting a lot more expensive each year to send out Christmas cards.

Since we don't want to do this....

we are departing for our annual venture to Panama City Beach, Florida on Wednesday, if I can get enough snow removed from the backyard to get the trike and trailer out.

On the way down, I plan to stop in Altoona, AL, where I bought the trike.  The trunk seems to leak in some water when it rains, so the place where I bought it is going to replace the seal around it.

I'm looking forward to the rides and get-togethers (mostly RTE's) with the motorcycle friends we have made in Ft. Walton and Pensacola, FL and Dothan, AL.  I'll try to keep you posted on the blog on some of these.

Now, we would like to wish all of our Wednesday Night Rider friends a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here's some holiday cheer for you to enjoy over the holidays...

EVEN ON A HARLEY!

IS THAT THE WNR GANG?

YOU BETTER BE GOOD..YOU BETTER NOT CRY

IS THAT DALE?  EVEN SANTA HAS A CONVERTIBLE

ONE "BIG ASS" TRENCH

 We just finished a cruise that included some Caribbean islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao), and some South America ports (Colon, Panama and Cartagena, Columbia).  But the highlight of the journey was a cruise through the Panama Canal.  In my last post I said I would try to tell our WNR group about the trip and especially the cruise through the canal.  I don't want to turn this into a boring travelogue, but I will try to give some highlights.

First of all there were approximately 2,100 passengers and crew aboard our cruise ship, the Celebrity Edge.  It is a 16 deck monstrosity with a capacity of near 3,000.  We were part of a group of about 100 motorcyclists from all over the US and even Canada.

THE EDGE

It was the largest ship of its class to pass through the new locks since they were constructed in 2016.  The charge to go through the canal is based on tonnage for freighters and passenger numbers for cruise type ships.  Accordingly, it cost the Edge nearly $300,000 to go through the Panama Canal!  Also, a ship of any size is required to have a Panama Canal pilot come aboard and guide it through the canal.  Private boats can go through also, and the price for them varies between $800 and $3,200, but they must wait and go through the locks with a bigger ship.

THE CANAL LOCKS

The canal was finished by the US in 1914, thanks to the negotiating of Teddy Roosevelt.  (We could have used him again lately!)  The French started building it 10 years earlier but they went bankrupt and lost over 20,000 workers due to the working conditions like malaria and poisonous snakes.  Many of their workers also died in cave- ins.  The US did lose about 5,000 workers mostly due to accidents.

The canal itself is about 50 miles long and contains 3 sets of locks that raise or lower ships about 85 ft.  Approximately 35 to 40 ships pass through each day or 13,000 to 14,000 yearly.  It takes about 8 to 10 hours to pass through it, but it would take 22 days to go around Cape Horn.  It is still considered the most spectacular engineering feat ever accomplished!

We took the cruise ship Edge through the new locks and then as part of one of our choice of excursions, took a two deck flat bottom boat back through the old locks.  So we went from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean all in one long day.  It cost $3,000 for the flat bottom passenger boat through the locks, and we had to go through with a big freighter.

Here's some of the photos and videos I took on our journey through and back through the Panama Canal.

THE OLD LOCKS

VIEW FROM THE EDGE

BRIDGE ACROSS THE CANAL
THE HIGHWAY GOES CLEAR INTO ALASKA

FREIGHTER WAITING TO GET THROUGH

THIS IS FLOODED WHEN A SHIP IS BEING RAISED

JUST ABOUT THROUGH ON THE EDGE

PASSING THROUGH ONE OF THE OLD LOCKS

These are called "electric mules".  They help guide certain ships through the canal and locks.

Right now the only warships that are allowed to pass through the Panama Canal are US Navy ships.  There was a strong military presence in Panama during WW2.  It would have been disastrous for the Japanese to gain control of the canal then.

We really enjoyed the chance to experience a trip through the engineering marvel called the Panama Canal and we especially enjoyed meeting up with some of our old motorcycle friends and meeting some new ones.

There were some planned activities for our Wings N Waves motorcycle group.

WE HAD A PIRATES DAY
WE DID'NT HAVE TO DRESS UP TO BE PIRATES

We had a tribute to veterans get-together.

And we had a "bon-voyage" get-together.

I have a lot more photos and videos of our cruise, but I think you get the idea.  It was interesting to say the least, and we had a lot of fun!

We are now set to fly out to Denver on Friday to spoil the grandkids for Christmas.  We will return back home around the 22nd and start getting ready to head to Florida for January and February and do some motorcycling, golfing, and pistol shooting.  I already received a note from one of the biker groups saying they are "expecting" us to ride with them.

I will be in touch again shortly before we leave for Florida, but in the meantime enjoy these bits from our new motorcycle group, Eagle Wings Motorcycle Association.

NOT TODAY, BOB