Montrose Track Meet

Piper had a big track meet on Saturday at Montrose HS. She competed in 100m, 200m, 400m and long jump. Fun to watch! Her results were impressive: 4th for long jump, 3rd for 200m, and 2nd for 400m. Each event had about 25 kids from many different middle schools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anvil Mtn

Skiied Anvil Mtn last Saturday with Ian. Skinned up the main gully with what seemed like pretty marginal snow. Once we got closer, it opened up with some nice spring skiing!

Heading for the Ridge

 

 Jason working it

 

Ian blowing smoke

 

 The Damage

 

Panama

We booked a big 10 day trip to Panama this year for Wendy's 50th and spring break. Everyone was pretty excited for the adventure. Our itinerary was 3 days in Panama City, 3 days at El Palmar Beach, and 3 days in El Valle de Anton. We had a great time. Here are some pictures...

Day 1 - This was a travel day. Landed in Panama around 7pm, took a cab to the city and were blown away by the city lights! We checked into our hotel [Marriott en el centro de la ciudad] and headed for Tre Scalini for Wendy's birthday dinner. It was a fancy italian place that had great food and atmosphere! They even sang a birthday song for her!

Day 2 - We attempted to catch the ferry to Isla Taboga, but since it was Semana Santa and a Holiday in Panama, there was a huge line and we didn't get on due to the crowd. So, on with plan B. We walked along the Amador Causeway back toward the city and enjoyed the views. We eventually caught a cab and headed for Casco Viejo. The old part of the city with cool old buildings and narrow streets.

 

Panama City Skyline from Amador Causeway

 

Old Hotel in Casco Viejo

 

Streetside Cafe

 

   Government Building

 

 

Day 3 - We decided to go see the canal. Originally not in our itinerary, which seemed crazy to us once we got to Panama. We realized, we have to go see it! So, with our un poco spanish, we went for it. Left the hotel and headed to a main avenue where the bus stop was. Hopped on the 'Metro' and didn't realize we needed a card to get on. A nice Panamanian guy said go ahead and swiped his card 3 times for us. Wendy later gave him the $.75 that it cost him. Saw more of the city on the bus today, and ended up at the Terminal de Autobuses, or bus terminal. This place was crazy! People everywhere, buses lined up all over the place. Wow, now what? We finally found out where the bus was that headed to Miraflores, and discovered that we need our passports to get on that bus. Darn! We didn't have them with us, they were back at the hotel. Next option was to catch a cab. Cuanto Questa va a la miraflores locks? I think the cabbie charged us $8. We made it!

 

Panama Canal - Miraflores Locks

 

After spending a couple of hours at the locks and seeing everything there, we were ready to move on. I thought, let's go to the Balboa Yacht Club! Get a couple beers, some lunch, and watch the ships go in/out of the canal. We caught a cab and headed over there. 

 

 

 

Day 4 - Today we checked out of our hotel, walked up the street, and caught a cab to the bus station. We were headed for San Carlos/El Palmar Beach. Now, the bus station has all of these windows with names of cities on them. You have to find the city you are going to, then buy the tickets....and nobody speaks English! I think it was around $10 for all three of us. We were taken to our bus and away we went!

 

 

 

Here we are riding on the Bridge of the Americas on the Panamerican Highway.

 

 

An hour and a half later we arrived at the town of San Carlos and got off the bus. We weren't sure where to go, so I thought, walk toward the beach. Well, we walked and walked. Finally, came across a Canadian Guy who lived there and told us where to go. We had to walk across a river, then up the beach to the Manglar Lodge.

 

 

 

The Manglar Lodge was a cool little B&B type place with a restaurant downstairs and only about 4 rooms.

 

Our room

 

 

River mouth at high tide

 

 

Day 5 - We spent the day at the beach and hanging around the hotel. We also walked over to the Bay View Hotel and sneeked into the pool. Shhh.

 

El Palmar Beach

 

 

Day 6 - I tried to rent a SUP this day, but the guy I talked to yesterday, Matias, was nowhere to be found. So I settled on a body board and some manky old fins.

 

 

 

This was our table for a few meals. We had breakfast here everyday, and dinner twice. The food was great! Ice cold Panamas were only $1.50

 

 

Day 7 - Today we caught a ride from our friend Doug, from PA, who was here with his wife Jo looking for a place to retire. We were dropped off at the bus stop and soon caught a bus to El Valle de Anton. El Valle is a small town in the crater of an extinct volcano. Really cool place. I think we all agreed that it was our favorite spot!

 

Hotel Residencial El Valle - upstairs patio where we hung out a bunch 

 

 

Views from the patio

 

The daily scene

 

 

We were told that El Valle had a great little zoo, so we headed over there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 8 - One of the highlighted things to do in El Valle is the Canopy tour/Zipline. We wanted to get there early and we caught a ride from someone at the hotel.

 

In the back of a pickup, with a Diablo Rojo in the background

 

 

 

Wendy is about to drop in! She doesn't look scared, but she is!

 

 

Piper is an old pro at this. She has done this before!

 

Does she look like she's having fun?

 

 

Oh yeah!

 

Wendy is very relieved to be off the wire!

 

 

Catching some lunch at Don Pepe's

 

We went to the natural hot springs in the afternoon.

 

 

Piper & Wendy put the mud on their faces and we got a little tour of the place in Spanish. The thing Piper is standing in front of was very interesting. It was an echo chanber. There was another one across the way. One person stood in one and whispered, and the other person stood in the other one and could hear what they were saying very clearly. It was cool!

 

 

Day 9 - Today we are on a mission. We want to see the petroglyphs and hike the trail to the top of La India Dormida, sleeping Indian. We walked from the Hotel up the road to the place. As we got close, a little Panamian boy asked us, in Spanish, if we needed a guide. That would be helpful I thought, and he only charged us $2! We followed him just up the road to the entrance of the park, we paid another $2 each to get in, and we were on our way. At the big rock with the Petroglyph, Jose proceeded to tell the story of the pictures in Spanish. Very cute and he knew his stuff. We only understood a little, but it was neat to watch him hone his craft.

 

After that, we thanked Jose, and carried on up the trail. We found this great little swimming hole that we got in on the way down...after we were drenched with sweat!

 

 

Cooling off!

 

 

Lizard

 

Day 10 - We left El Valle behind and headed back to Panama City by bus. It took a mere 2 hrs of stops here and there. With people getting on and off. We stayed at the Toscana Inn Hotel for our last night in Panama. We ate at a nice Peruvian place before turning in for the night.

 

Day 11 - Today we were meeting our cabbie friend [whom we met yesterday] Leo in front of our hotel. He offered to drive us to the airport for $30. We took him up on the offer, as he was a very nice guy, and it was nice to have the ride pre-arranged.