Washington: How City Folk Go Hiking

      I loved the idea that Mount Rainer was a volcano.  And I was intent on being ON a Volcano when we went to Seattle.  I had done a little internet research, but hadn’t found much about Mount Rainer park, hiking etc.  Even though, I figured it was one of those places we would drive to find an information booth, map of trails, entrance, helpful ranger, SOMETHING.

     But no. At least it makes for a slightly better story when I’m wrong about these things.

     The road to and through Rainer was AMAZING.  The two lane road twists around the edge of the mountain, which is covered in tall evergreens.  There are some spots to pull off the road for pictures.  I usually don’t take advantage of these, but we would have fallen off the edge if we had kept gawking while driving.  At one point I yelled at him, “Look at that! It’s so beautiful! No, not you- eyes on the road!” 

     After some pictures we drove on and the road continued to flatter ground.  We found an empty ski resort (it was August), but I had no idea how to get myself on this volcano.

    Eventually, with no other options we found a small parking area on the side of the road where a couple of other cars were parked.  This was our best bet at this point so we parked and started on the small trail.  It was cute in the beginning, with a wooden bridge over a small creek, but then the trail just snaked back and forth up the side of a hill (mountain?).  By the way we were wearing shorts, sandals, I had my purse, and no water let alone any other type of gear.  Half way up the hill we ran into a father and daughter hiking.  They had about half of REI with them.  We asked them if this trail led anywhere and they said they were going to camp at Crystal Lake for a few days.  They told us we still had about 1-2 hours of hiking before we reached that area.  That wasn't happening for us, so disappointed, we headed back down to our car.

Yeah Right

                Even though I didn’t reach a summit, lake...anything, I still like to be able to say I was on a volcano!  Also, I just signed us up for an REI class- Preparing for the Unexpected- Outdoor Safety Basics. 

Panama: ¿Tienes un mapa?

    ¿Tienes un mapa?, according to my translator app, was how to ask for a map in Spanish.  Simple enough, and I know my Spanish accent isn't horrible, yet still no one seemed to understand me.  Maybe they just didn't have any maps.

No Mapas

      In Panama City we stayed slightly outside the city at the mouth of the Panama Canal.  This was ok with me since one of our first sights in the city was a large patch of grass next to the highway lit ablaze.  I asked our taxi driver if that was supposed to be on fire and he ignored me, or the only English he knew was money related- still not sure. 

    Our hotel, The Country Inns and Suites, was nice for its price, pool, large rooms, TGI Fridays, canal views, not near anything.  At first it was charming, quiet...but by the next morning we felt stranded and were sick of the “Jack Daniels grill” and mozzarella sticks,  so we decided to rent a car through the hotel.

     I assumed with all the history and relations with the US and the fact they use American money many people in Panama would speak English.  I was wrong (hence my above mentioned need for a translator app).  This made renting slightly more difficult, on top of the fact that rental car companies don’t trust anyone under 25, but, eventually, we got the car. 

    After driving around the city, I decided we should not just be next to the canal, or just see the locks, but we should go IN the canal (in a boat of course, there are crocodiles).  So I did a little internet research and discovered a resort about 45 minutes up the canal that offered canal activities.

    Off we were to Gamboa resort.  Well not just yet,  I found the location on my iPhone map and the map did not, um, show a road, which concerned me.  The hotel staff insisted there was, in fact, a road and gave me a cartoon map of our area insisting the road at the edge of the page would lead us there.  I did not believe them so we stopped at several gas stations so I could practice uttering  the most consecutive words I ever have in Spanish (my middle school Spanish consisted of colors, numbers and days of the week).  But, as I mentioned before, no maps.

      Well Teddy Roosevelt probably didn’t have a map when he was here (who knows) so we bravely followed the nicely paved, perfectly safe looking road.  I’m realizing now that it’s a little sad that if my iPhone does not say it exists, I'm not sure it’s real.

    The road did not become a dirt road, we were not stopped by a herd of goat, but we did run across a $2 zoo and visited Jaguar Mundo! Soon after our visit with the jaguars de Panama we were at Gamboa.  Cliche- but it was like an oasis in the rain forest.  The resort was beautiful, huge had many pools, amenities, restaurants that were not franchises, etc.

    Many tours that day were already filled up (I would get there early, or plan/call ahead), but we were able to score some seats on a boat tour.  We had a few hours to kill so we ate on a terrace overlooking the canal and walked around the grounds.  It was a little large and busy for my hotel tastes, but still very nice.  Isolated like our hotel, but there was much more to do on the grounds.

    Eventually we loaded into the little motor boat and were on our “Gatun Lake Expidition”.    We saw monkeys! Sloths! Dredging machines! And Crocodiles that scooted into the water when we got too close!  Not much to write about the actual boat ride except, I loved it, recommend it and was only slightly nervous when everyone decided to lean over one side of the boat to see our first monkey.

I think I’m seeing a pattern- even though I have difficulty starting my plans, in the end I always get there-  there's something deep in that.

Our Hotel: http://www.countryinns.com/panama-city-hotel-pa-8001/pancanal

Gamboa Resort: http://www.gamboaresort.com/

I would recommend both, keep in mind you may want a rental car at the Country Inns and Suites!

Hawaii: “It’s Probably Not That Far”

   “It’s probably not that far.  We can walk- it’s right there.”  Words that are almost always wrong and definitely were that day in Honolulu.

   Diamond Head was right there.  You could see it from the beach, it couldn't be that far.  Why bother taking a taxi or figuring out a bus when it’s right there.  There should have been a warning like on side view mirrors “Diamond Head is further than it may appear.”  So I convinced him, for like the last time ever after this bad decision, and we started walking. 

   Leaving Waikiki, past the Honolulu Zoo and some very tan homeless folk, past the surfers smoking weed out of an apple and into a town where some actual Hawaiians live. Then the road started its incline.  Mountains tend to do that,  I must have forgotten with my vacation brain.  It’s a good thing I brought sneakers to change into, bad thing we started walking at all. And it’s Hawaii so of course it started raining midway. 

   Finally we arrived at the entrance and had to proceed through an ominous tunnel.  We’re sure this volcano is dormant right?  Against car traffic- what- no one else had my bright idea? We were inside the crater! Unfortunately there wasn’t an escalator to the top like I was hoping at that point. Who knew the rest of the way was a series of twisted tunnels, paths and stairs, some very steep, to the top. 

   As we continued through the crowds I vowed to always invest in a guide book...and a rental car.  I couldn’t believe there were some (Japanese?) women wearing heels! I hope they didn’t walk to diamond head in those or I should be really ashamed.  The optimist in me was grateful there was at least a handrail I could pull myself up with.

   At the top- the views were definitely worth it.  That vantage point to stare down on Waikiki and off into the pacific was an interesting one and worth it (at least to the top of the crater, I don't recommend walking to Diamond Head itself).  I estimate we walked about four miles in total.  Which sounds pathetic as I write it because I definitely felt like Lawrence of Arabia pushing on through the harsh (actually it was pretty lush) landscape for my destination and some water.  Or at least Aladdin after he got out of the cave of wonders.  Who knew I would be so dramatic about a stroll?

We hiked back down to the crater and, sigh, found a free trolley that would bring us back to town.