Panama Day 2: Gatun Lake & Metropolitan Park

 Panama was definitely a place that I needed to see in person to understand. After learning a bit about the length of the Panama Canal (51 miles), and the many locks that take ships from one ocean to another (a total of 6 if you are a "small ship", 1,500 container capacity or less) I had a pretty good idea of what it all looks like. I couldn't figure out why there was an almost 90 foot difference between the sea level of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The part I was missing was Gatun Lake, which was our first activity on Day 2 in Panama. 

What I didn't realize is that instead of digging out the entirety of the canal, it is a series of 3 locks that rise ships up a total of 87 feet to the man-made Gatun Lake. From there, ships sail across the lake, not encountering another lock until it's time to be lowered 87 feet back into the next ocean. The seas aren't necessarily that different in sea level, it's that the engineers that completed the canal realized that digging through a mountain range was harder than it needed to be. So they rise ships up to the lake, then lower them on the other side, creating an 8-10 hour journey through the canal. And since traveling through the locks is where the big money comes from, we enjoyed a boat ride on the lake, brushing shoulders with huge ships but not actually traveling through one of the locks. 

There is a reservation system in place if you are willing to pay to jump the lineup for the canal. Without a reservation, you may be sitting in queue for up to a week. 

These are the ships we got to see while joyriding on the lake. 

"Safety First! No Smoking"

The lake is surrounded by jungle, so we got to see a few visitors on the trip. We stopped by Monkey Island where we saw 3 different kinds of monkeys! 

We saw this cute little lineup of sleeping bats

And a Jesus lizard! They run so fast that they can run on top of water!

Our afternoon was spent hiking the Parque National Metropolitano, a large park located in the heart of Panama City. 

During the US owning and running of the Panama Canal, the surrounding area was designated US Military Zone. This also means that once we turned over ownership of the canal, all of the buildings and structures in this zone were abandoned. Some of the buildings have been purchased by organizations like the Smithsonian Institute to conduct research, but many other buildings, like this one, sit locked and abandoned.

The hike introduced us to all kinds of creatures. This black and yellow millipede was everywhere! They have a distinct oder and scare the daylights out of some 11 year old girls! 

This spider web was dense enough to catch my eye, and after asking our guide about it, he explained that it is a web with a male spider woven into the center. The female uses the male as bait after a few dates.

If you look closely, you can see that these little green bits aren't just leaf confetti, they are a parade of leaf-cutter ants. They lined the path for miles walking their little bits of leaf up to a larger nest. Once the girls realized that they were all working together, we had to watch out step for the remainder of the hike - god forbid we step on an ant (or 10). 

We were truly in the jungle, but also, right next to the city.

Our traveling troop. Guess who didn't like the millipedes. 

See that? I didn't either, at first... but it's a sloth!

And a stately looking toucan!

And another sloth! This one is of the 2-toed variety. It was still very, very, very slow.

So that was quite the full day of activity. This was only Day 2! 

Panama: The Old City

Just months before a global pandemic, Gretchen's Girl Scout leader proposed that we take an international trip as a troop. An educational trip, to visit somewhere we wanted to learn more about. After considering the available options, we set our sights on "An Adventure in Panama", and proceeded to sell cookies and fall products over the next couple of years to help assist with the cost. Last Monday, we returned from this incredible trip.

Panama is such an interesting country. Far more than "that country with a canal", it has coastline on the Pacific and Atlantic (Caribbean) oceans, mountains, lakes, jungles, wildlife and a beautiful skyline! It was industrialized and safe and fascinating; surpassing my expectations in every way. 

Panama is geographically important in a few different ways. It was the final piece of the puzzle connecting North America and South America, which by all accounts happened pretty recently. Somewhere around 3 millions years ago a whole bunch of volcanos exploded a whole lot of material and connected the two massive continents. This allowed for anything that wanted to walk across the continents to be able to do so without having to cross water. It also meant that a big ol' land wall was put up where the oceans previously connected. More on that to come. 

A the beginning of the 1500s, Rodrigo de Bastidas left Venezuela and sailed west looking for gold. Fresh off of his voyage from Spain to the Caribbean, Christopher Columbus decided to continue traveling west and landed in Panama about a year later. These fellas lead to Spain learning all about Panama and alerting the European world that there was a skinny, 50 mile strip of land that was a whole lot easier to cross than going all the way around the continent of South America. So, the Spaniards took over and the native people fought back, died of new European diseases and then retreated into the mountains and jungles around the country. 

The Spanish ruled for the next 300 years, during which time they built towns, squares and, of course, churches. We explored the remnants of Panama Viejo, the original site of Panama City, which at its peak had a population of 10,000 but crumbled after fire, earthquakes, pirates and privateer Henry Morgan pillaged the city. 

The cathedral still stands, and you are able to climb up to the top for a really great view of both the original Panama Viejo, and the glistening new skyline which has developed from the relocation of Panama City after it's destruction. 

In the foreground there is old city ruins, the background is the shiny new Panama City skyline.

And out the other side of the tower you can see the Pacific Ocean, a mountain range and a whole line up of ships waiting for entrance to the Panama Canal. 

As we followed the trails around the old city, we saw lizards and iguanas and so, so many mangos. Our guide showed us the best way to "pick" ripe mangos. 1) Find a fallen mango. 2) Throw it into the tree 3) mangos fall from the sky! Gretchen was an expert!

This was a great introduction to the city. Comparing the old and new, and leaving with some delicious treats for later. We saved our mangos, and ventured into Casco Antiguo for lunch at Fonda Lo Que Hay. This was my favorite food stop of the trip!

After lunch, we walked a couple of blocks over to the Panama Canal Museum. This was a full walk from start to finish of the planning, construction, staffing and (at times) failings of the canal. It is a fascinating history, with lots of casualties and conflict, but ended in the completion of the canal in January 1915 and shortening the shipping route from NYC to San Fransisco by over 8,000 miles.

We had a few hours left in the day, so we took a drive down the Amador Causeway. This 3 mile road was made by connecting 3 tiny islands on the Pacific side of Panama. All that rock removed from the construction of the Panama Canal had to go somewhere, so they connected these islands, built a road and a boardwalk, and a great photo opportunity at this fun Panama sign:

Panama Day 1, Complete!

Graham Does Denver

In a completely unplanned coincidence, I have taken each of our kids on a solo trip to visit my college best friends' families when they were five years old. Since Sarah has moved to Denver, she had a baby, started a new job, and it was due time to visit my friend. Graham is now five, so he got to join mom on this visit. 

Sarah's littles on the left,
Graham rocking his Pikachu shirt on the right

Sarah and I are great friends. We are dedicated to getting our families together. We are very bad at remembering photos during these visits. 

We went on an hour long hike starting from her front door, and walked to a restaurant that had Graham's favorite macaroni and cheese. We met approximately 400 of their neighbor kids, all that have their very own electric scooters. Then we took the kids to Centennial Center Park where they dug up dinosaur bones in the sand and stared enviously at the other children whose parents brought swimsuits for the splash pad and water park.

We revisited an art installation from my past. Back in 2019, the 2nd gen lady Gills got together in Santa Fe, NM and visited a place called Meow Wolf. It's indescribable. And Denver has one all their own. Sarah's kids knew their way around the place, but for Graham, it was an experience like no other. Colors. Lights. Interactive Museum displays. Luckily, he had Lydia to show him the ropes. 

Graham + Meow Wolf = Happiness

Sarah's husband won a gold medal for the following day, where he offered to keep all three children for the Whole. Day. while we had an adventure of our own. Separately, Mr. Josh took the kids on a real live train ride, and then to a restaurant that had a Golden Tee arcade game. This is the highlight of Graham's trip to Denver. Golden Tee. Josh for the win. 

While they were Golden Tee-ing, we were on The Royal Gorge Railroad! 

Sun and Friends and a Train!

This was the greatest of all tourist traps! We had a full multi-course meal on the train, with white table cloths and full service. It was the best way to catch up with my friend! Hours of great views, pondering about who built it and how it could operate so close to the surrounding rock, and a quiet, intimate place to talk about life while someone else serves a meal was exactly what we needed. 

We sat inside with windows all around, and when we wanted fresh air, there was an open top car for that too. It was a dream! 

Open air car selfie!

Lucky for me, some of my favorite cousins live a short drive from one of my best friends. I wanted so badly to introduce them and unite two incredible families that I love! We had a great opportunity when my 2nd cousin Aisley was having a celebration for her 8th grade graduation the same weekend that Graham and I were in town! This 8th grade graduate attended our wedding as a very young little miss. We took the opportunity to crash her party and I introduced some of my favorite people. As an added bonus, my little man got to see his Uncle John and some of the cousins we would all love to see more!

Jonathan & Graham, cut from the same cloth

While we were living the Colorado life, Jon was managing things at home. The Texas life is different than most other daily life. This weekend was no exception. I got a text message that something was looking back at Jon from the pool skimmer. 

Look closely. Do you know what that is? A little pointed snout, a long rat tail, a football shaped body, and a pool. Maybe you knew it was an armadillo, but did you know that they can swim? Nope, me neither. 

This sucker has been digging up our landscaping for weeks! He danced too close to the fire and must have fallen in the pool. Jon found him in the skimmer and helped him get his weird little armor body out to dry land. Though you are not welcome here. Please dig for grubs elsewhere. 

Denver was lovely. Graham was hoping to see snow, which is a tall order in May, but we might just have to return for a snow filled winter season. While we have armadillos, we don't have a whole lot of winter. Thank you Sarah and Josh for hosting us and showing us your community!

30A Spring Break

We went to Florida for Spring Break this year! Specifically, we joined family friends at their brand new beach house on the 30A strip of the FL panhandle. The panhandle is not just for spring break college students anymore, it was a wonderful family destination!

We had one full day on the beach burying bodies and watching for wildlife in the water.

The little sandpipers are always entertaining, chasing waves and poking around for creatures in the sand. The real gem was this cool ray we saw from the beach. He came in and out with the waves for a good 20 minutes and the water was so clear that we could follow his progress the whole way. 

It is still March, so the beach was nice and warm in the sun, but if a cloud passed by or the wind blew, it could get chilly. Especially for Alex, who is notorious for wearing sweaters long after everyone else has adapted to shorts and t-shirts. 

Spring Break for us included St. Patrick's Day this year, so we stumbled upon some pretty elaborate decorations during our exploring. 

Gigi's Fabulous Kids!

We particularly enjoyed Rosemary Beach and Seaside. Both towns have fun local shopping, ice cream shops and each has their own personality, making them both a place worth stopping. A few of our favorite stops were at The Art of Simple, Gigi's Fabulous Kids and Sundog Books which is a beautiful book shop and has the warmest, fuzziest sweatshirts around. Sundog also had a live book signing with the author Nicolas H. who was so gracious at explaining his path to being published to our budding novel writer. 

Sundog Books (and sweatshirts)

Graham was all smiles this whole trip. A group of kids, the beach, jumping off of hydrants! He is made for vacation!

Me and my best girl

Big white baby in a big white tub

We are so thankful to have friends that played host, tour guide and entertainment directors during the week! The more we learn about Florida, the more we like to visit.