Happy Thursday From Seth!

Back From New Jersey/New York

We had a great weekend in New Jersey. I played golf twice at Lawrenceville with Will and Lou, and Miniature golf once. Seth and Debbie had a great time as well. I don't think Beth was ready for us to come home today.

My two days of commuting into NYC was enough to convince me that I wouldn't want to do it every day. It wasn't difficult, but it took two hours, door to door, each way. That's too much time to spend every day.

On the other hand, the New Jersey Transit and New York Subway systems are efficient and easy to figure out. Both have good web sites and a little prep ahead of time made my trip fairly simple.

Smithsonian Inventory Continues

On Monday and Tuesday I have to be in New York to do some more work on the SI inventory. It looks like there is only a small amout of stuff there that we have to find so I expect no real problems.

Debbie and Seth and I are going to go to stay at Beth's house and I will ride into the city on the train. It will be good to visit the Youngs for a few days. We are going up there tomorrow.

Template Change

Well, I've decided to change the look of the blog once again. It probably won't be the last time. I wasn't happy with the previous version. So I've gone to something simple again. We'll try this for a while. Or at least until I change my mind. :-)

Seth is reorganizing his cupboard.

Lot's of room in here!

9 Month Doctor Visit

Seth had his 9 month doctor visit today. Everything is OK. He weighs 20 lbs 7 oz and is 28 inches long. He got two shots, hepatitis B and polio. Debbie said he only cried for one of them.

Good To Be Home

Well I am home from Panama and glad to be here. The trip was really good and I saw a lot of interesting things. I think the Barro Colorado hike was the high point of the trip.

Things at home are good. Peggy is having a good time with Seth. She is trying to teach him how to talk on the phone right now. I think she's got her work cut out for her.

Final Day in Panama

Today we will finish our work here at STRI. It has been a very interesting trip. Aside from the work, which has gone well, I have had the opportunity to see some interesting things. Nine days is a long time to spend in one city, but it really allowed me to get a sense of the way things are laid out and how they operate.

I feel like I have done what was resonable to do in the time we had. If I were to come to Panama again I think I would try to venture out into the interior a little more. Away from Panama City and the Canal Zone. However, considering that we had work to do, I have seen much more than I thought would be possible.

Now I am ready to go home.

Barro Colorado Island

Yesterday (7/13/05) I had the opportunity to hike across Barro Colorado island. As part of the inventory that we are taking we decided to visit the seven radio telemetry towers that are used to track animals on the island. After a 20 minute boat ride to the far side, we hiked through the rain forest for about 4 hours going from tower to tower and then ran out of time so we only got to 5 of the seven towers. We had to catch the return boat to Gamboa at 3:40.

It was an amazing trek. I am going to get a map from the person I was traveling with so that I can calculate the distance we hiked. It was very rugged, sometimes muddy, sometimes rocky, and always tricky. The climbs and descents were generally steep and slippery.

We saw some very cool animals:
Howler Monkeys
Capuchin (white face) monkeys
Agoutis
Coatimundi
Snakes
Lizards
Toads
spectacled owl
white tailed trogon
snail kite
puma (cougar) tracks - very cool!

I am really glad I did it and was really tired when it was over.

This is a cougar print that we saw in the middle of the trail on Barro Colorado. I enhanced the contrast in the center so you can see the track better.

Parque Natural Metropolitano

Today I went for a hike in the Parque Natural Metropolitano in Panama city. It is a great example of a tropical dry forest; about 655 acres worth. I hiked the El Roble, La Cienaguita, and Mono Titi trails. At the top of the hill, which is about 500 feet high, there are a couple of great views of the city and the entrance to the Panama Canal.

This is a Bat Falcon that I saw sitting on a concrete wall right along the path. He was about 5 feet away from me and waited to have his picture taken .


Immediately after I got back to the hotel a big thunderstorm came through and the rain poured down.

Sunday Morning Panama City

So far my trip to Panama has been at least as good, and in some cases better than I expected. The business portion of the trip has gone very smoothly. All of the people that we have worked with have been prepared for us. That has allowed us to get ahead of schedule and to free up a little extra touring time.

Of the past few days I have gotten a pretty good overview of Panama City. It is very lively and busy with a lot of traffic at rush hour. The driving is a little crazy: I am glad that I am not doing it. The city itself is a varied mix of very old and brand spanking new. Part of the city that we have to travel to for work is pretty rough with lots of run down buildings and apartments. The financial district, where our hotel is, is upscale and shiny.

Yesterday I went on a bird watching tour and had a great time. I was lucky to get an excellent guide who really new what he was doing and was very excited about finding birds. He enjoyed the trip as much as I did, I think. We identified 75 different species of birds in about six hours. Most of those species are new to me, so it was a really good day.

Today I have some more free time, so I am trying to figure out what I will do. Maybe go to the Metropolitain National Park here in the city.

Travelling to Panama

5:34 am - I am sitting at Dulles Airport waiting to board my flight to Miami for the first leg of the trip to Panama. Debbie dropped me off at about 4:30 or so. The line at the check-in counter was long,but there was no line for security. They are pre-boarding my flight now.

10:02 Waiting in Maimi. My flight leaves at 11:15. I got a little something to eat, called home and now I am typing this to fill a little time. I checked at the gate to see if I could change my return flight next Friday to avoid a 5 and a half hour layover here, but there are only two flights from Miami to Dulles and I am on the earlier one. There are also only two flights from Panama City to Miami and the later one gets in too late for the early flight to Dulles. Oh well.

Fourth of July Weekend

We spent the Fourth of July weekend in Pennsylvania visiting relatives, going to the Lucinda Church Picnic and genreally having fun. On Monday night we went to the Wolf's Corners horse pull. (more info about St Joseph's Church)

Mom and Dad rented a cabin near Cook Forest State Park. Joe and Maureen came up and stayed for the weekend as well.

A Good time was had by all.

Seth and Grandma at Seneca Point

The whole crew. Debbie, Seth, Joe, Maureen, Dad and Mom

The Family

Buddy and Big D pulling at the Wolf's Corners heavy weight horse pull. These guys weigh in at about a ton each.

Long Weekend

I am wrapping up a few things today before heading off to Pennsylvania for the July 4th weekend. Washington will be slow next week I expect that a lot of people will be out of town. Of course that won't make much difference to me because I will be in Panama starting on Wednesday. I am relaly of two minds about that trip. I am excited to go, but I don't want to leave Debbie and Seth.