Memories

My younger sister, Roxy, finally was able to post her blog about the trip she and her husband Rich took through the Panama Canal last month. It brought back some interesting memories. It's been at least thirty years since we had been in Panama. The first trip was in our Cherokee Six with a group of other small airplanes on a Flying Farmer tour that took us through stops in almost all of the countries in Central America (we didn't go to Belize). The late Hoyt Walkup of Oklahoma State University's School of Aviation led the tour. He had taught many of the pilots from Central American countries, especially those of Costa Rica, so we had royal treatment from former students everywhere we went.

The second time we were in Panama was in 1974 when we attempted to fly our twin engine Aztec to Colombia with our friends Gene and Dorene who had served a term in Colombia with Mennonite Church's Voluntary Service. We planned to visit the communities where they had worked and also visit Forry's former neighbor Leona who had married a Colombian national and taught in a school in Cachipay.

We had a good trip until we got to the Guatemalan border where we discovered that we would not be able to get more than 50 gallons of gas in Costa Rica and even that was not for sure. (This was the time of the first great gas shortage when the US restricted speed limits to 55 miles per hour!) Rather than risk the possible stranding of our airplane somewhere in Central America, we decided to turn back to Mexico City, leave our airplane there and fly commercially (and that's a whole 'nother story!).

Anyway, we bought tickets that gave us a stay in Panama as Gene wanted to buy some duty-free cameras there. All I can recall of either visit was the stark difference between the US controlled Canal Zone and the rest of the country. The Zone was lush and green with manicured lawns and gardens and beautifully kept buildings. There was a distinct line where the Zone ended and the Panamanian controlled portions of the country started. Dirty, dusty, sad-looking poor ramshackle buildings that reminded me of the poorest border towns we had seen in Mexico.

Rox had some interesting pictures of present day Panama and of the Canal that is now entirely in Panamanian hands. They sure brought back some interesting memories.