Running through my Fourth-Grade Wish List

Fourth grade was a challenging year--teacher problems--with a few bright spots of inspiration. It was then I learned about the Appalachian Trail and decided I wanted to hike it. Check. And found out the millennium was coming. I figured I'd be pretty old by then but determined to do something special. Istanbul wasn't on my radar, of course, but the new year's count-UP in Taksim Square was pretty extraordinary. And we also learned about the Panama Canal. I couldn't visualize how it all worked, but I still wanted to go through it one day. Check again with our big birthday cruise. For the passage through the three locks into Gatun Lake, we observed from our balcony. On the return, we moved to a prime viewing spot at the front of the ship. We were fascinated to see the process and learn that it all occurred with the natural flow of fresh water from the lake down into the locks and then the ocean.