Factory Tour Capital of the World

We’re staying in Gifford Pinchot State Park outside of York, Pennsylvania.   We stayed in this park 7 years ago on our last trip to Maine.  It’s a very nice park.  As an added bonus there are 2 18-hole disc golf courses in the park.

The park is 2,338 acres with a 340 acre lake.  It has rained part of every day we’ve been here.  Things are very green and soggy now.

York County advertises itself as the Factory Tour Capital of the World.  That certainly got my attention!  I’m always looking for factory tours on our travels.  We hit the jackpot!  There are more tours than we will have time for but we’re doing our best to get to as many of them as we can.

Perrydell Farms.

We woke up to a rainy, windy morning but decided to go ahead to Perrydell Farms.  We wanted to get there early enough to see them bottling the milk and we figured that would be inside so the rain wouldn’t matter.

We were surprised at how small an operation this farm is.  After parking we went into a small store and was told to go on back to the bottling room.  We met Tom (one of the grandson’s of the original owner, Howard Perry) and his wife Donna.  Donna makes the ice cream and Tom gave us the tour. 

Very small operation

Tom bottling the milk from this morning’s milking.

Tom would put the empty plastic jugs on the belt, they would then be filled with milk and lids applied then Tom would take the filled jugs off the belt and load them into plastic crates.

The only way to get it any fresher is to buy your own cow!

The farm was bought in 1923 by Howard Perry.  His two sons, George and Roger eventually took over the farm and they had the foresight to start bottling their own milk in 1963.

The farm is now owned and operated by George's sons, Tom, Greg, and Chip. Everyone in the family stays involved in the farm.  We also met Tom's mom while we were here.

The black pipe you see runs directly from the processing room to the bottling room.

Moving the milk from the processing room to the bottling room.

The breed of cow is mostly all Holstein.  There was a Jersey calf that was bought for a 4-H project and has since grown up and produced a few cross breeds.

The cows have just been milked and were resting.

The majority of the food fed to the cows is grown here on 170 acres.  An additional 180 acres of land is rented for planting and harvesting feed.  There are approximately 250 cows.  About 130 of them are milked.  They are milked twice a day and are not injected with any hormone that would force them to produce more milk.

The calves had their own area and each had a little “cow” house to get out of the rain.

We bought some ice cream.  Triple chocolate for me and salted caramel for Mark.

Ice cream for the road.

We also bought some ice cream for later.

And we bought a few other items.

Cookies and cream milk taste like 

melted cookies and cream ice cream!

Even though this was a very small farm we had a great time.  We arrived at 9:00 when they opened and were the only ones there for the tour but as we were leaving there were several people coming in for the tour.

2018 Panama Journal - Going Home

Wednesday 2/21/18

Our last day at the lodge started early.  We had packed most of our things the evening before so we only had a few things to try to stuff back into our suitcases.  After breakfast we got into the van with the South African couple we had met.  It was their last day too and we would be dropping them off at a hotel in Panama City then we would head on to the airport.  It was a 3 hour drive to the airport.  We had a couple of hours waiting for our plane to leave for Houston.

We had a easy flight (first class is wonderful!).  Mark and I both chose the new Star Wars movie to watch and we both chose steak for our lunch.

Warm nuts as an appetizer

Steak, rice, vegetables, salad

Chocolate dessert

Our flight to Houston was about 4 hours.  Then we had a couple of hours layover then a short flight to San Antonio.  We landed in San Antonio about 11:00 p.m. CST and called the hotel to make sure the shuttle would be still be running.  It didn’t take too long to find our luggage.  When we walked out of the airport the shuttle driver was waiting for us. We were so glad to have a reservation at the hotel for the night!   

Before we left home I looked at pictures I had taken at Canopy Lodge in 2006.  I thought it might be fun to recreate some of those pictures.

Canopy Lodge was brand new and had only been open a couple of weeks when we visited in 2006.  All the newly planted plants were a lot smaller than they are now!

Entrance to the Lodge:

   2006

2018 

                              

View to our room:

  

   2006

2018

No feeding table in 2006.  

Plants covering up the feeding table in 2018:

   

   2006

2018  

Our room:

  

    2006

2018  

Me at front entrance:

  

   2006

2018   

Mark sitting on the ledge:

  

    2006

2018   

Of course I bought a couple of magnets!

I hope you have enjoyed our 2018 Panama Journal to Canopy Camp Darien and Canopy Lodge.  It was a wonderful trip!

2018 Panama Journal - Day 11

Tuesday 2/20/18

It cooled off again (as it should be in the mountains!) and we had a much more comfortable night. Breakfast was at 6:30.  We were going out with Danilo this morning.

It was very foggy and misty as we headed out.  Both guides were with us and the van was full.  When we got to Las Minas everyone got out.  Eli and several other people started walking to an area that Mark and I birded yesterday.  We followed Danilo and a few other folks up Las Minas.

We followed the ridge line and had foggy views of forested mountains and grasslands.

Visibility was limited but Danilo pointed in the direction of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.  On a clear day both oceans can be seen.

Atlantic ocean this direction.

Pacific Ocean this way.

We don’t only look at birds!

Some type of beetle.

 Unknown flower.

Orange orchid.

These are red bananas.  Danilo told us they were not good to eat but the animals liked them.

 Beautiful flowering red banana plant.

 Red bananas are very small.

Ripe and opened up.  The animals love them!

There were plenty of birds to see too! One of the specialty birds in this area is the Orange-bellied Trogan. We saw both a male and a female as we walked up the road.

Orange-bellied Trogan male

Orange-bellied Trogan female

This female Red-crowned Woodpecker posed for a photo.

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Another specialty bird in this area is the Wedge-billed Grass-Finch. This sparrow-like bird occupies high grasslands and is difficult to locate. Danilo knows the call and said that is the only way to find them. We walked quite a ways before he stopped and started scanning the grasslands. Sure enough, he found us our life Wedge-billed Grass-Finch.

Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch

Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch singing

We made our way back down the road, and saw several Yellow-faced Grassquits along the fenceline.

Yellow-faced Grassquit male

Yellow-faced Grassquit female

We met back with the other group and had a light snack before heading back to the Lodge for lunch.

After lunch Mark went to the kitchen and got a couple of bananas to take back to the feeder outside our room.  We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting out on our balcony watching birds and relaxing.

Blue-gray Tanager

Crimson-backed Tanager

Thick-billed Euphonia

Birds today:  Orange-billed Sparrow, Louisiana Waterthrush, Lessons Motmot, Keel-billed Toucan, Great-tailed Grackle, Golden-collard Manakin, Northern Emerald Toucanet), Silver-throated Tanager, Tropical Kingbird, Bay-headed Tanager, Cattle Egret, Clay-colored Thrush, Palm Tanager, Giant Cowbird, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Golden-hooded Tanager, Buff-throated Saltator, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Tawny-crested Tanager, Paltry Tyrannulet (H), Striped-throated Hermit, Orange-bellied Trogon - male and female, Black-faced Antthrush, White-breasted Woodwren (H), Red-crowned Ant-Tanager (H), Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Rufous-capped Warbler, Long-billed Gnatwren (H), Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Hepatic Tanager (H), Turkey Vulture, Broad-winged, Wedge-tailed Grassfinch, Blue-headed Parrot, Bananaquit, Common Chlorospingus (H), Tawny-crested Tanager, Black Hawk-Eagle (H), Silver-throated Tanager, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Violet -crowned Woodnymph, Rufous-capped Warbler, Eastern Meadowlark, Isthmian, Gray-breasted Martin, Plain Ant-vireo, Spotted Woodcreeper, Checkered-throated Antwren, Scaley-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Southern Rough-winged Swallow, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Blue-and-White Swallow, Shiny Cowbird, White-tipped Dove, Flame-rumped Tanager.

   

Next time:  Going home and some additional pictures.

2018 Panama Journal - Day 10 - Part 2

Monday 2/19/18 continued.

After lunch we heard that Eli would be going on a walk at 3:00 p.m.  We decided to go along. 

I saw a Jaguarundi running down the trail towards the compost pile.  One of the other ladies in the group saw it but no one else did.

As we headed out we passed by the roost of a Tropical Screech-Owl. Like most owls they do a great job of hiding during the day, so getting pictures is tough.

Tropical Screech-Owl

The Canopy Family owns Canopy Adventure which is a zip line through the jungle.  It’s not too far down the road from the Lodge and we started walking in that direction.  We heard a single whistle from the creekbed next to the road and Eli immediately stopped. He started looking down into the creek and excitedly told us that the call was from a Sunbittern.

Sunbittern

Sunbitterns are the single species in this neotropical family of birds. They somewhat resemble herons but are more closely related to rails. We've had poor looks at a couple on past trips to Central America, but we saw this one very well and for several minutes. 

Sunbittern

When we arrived at Canopy Adventure there were two trails.  One that led up to the zip line and one that led up the mountain.  We took the mountain trail.

Eli going first over the hanging bridge.

We didn’t know it but the end of the trail led to this pair of Mottled Owls on a perch:

Mottled Owl pair

Like the Tropical Screech-Owl back at the Lodge, these owls did a great job of choosing a day roost that kept them well hidden!

As we walked the trails we spotted two different species of Motmot. Motmots have interesting racquet-tipped tails that they flick from side-to-side like a pendulum. 

Rufous Motmot

Broad-billed Motmot

Broad-billed Motmot

After we came back down the mountain the 2 other people with us left our group and we continued on with Eli.  Eli wanted to walk up the road to another trail to see if there was still fruit on the trees.  We saw lots of birds, including an Emerald Toucanet. As you might guess from the name a Toucanet is a small Toucan. 

Emerald Toucanet

We also saw a different Euphonia species than the common Thick-billed Euphonias we see at the feeding table. This Tawny-capped Euphonia was sharing the fig tree with the Toucanet.

Tawny-capped Euphonia

I addition to the birds we enjoyed seeing some Geoffroy's Tamarins (a small species of monkey) alongside the road.

Geoffroy's Tamarin

Birds seen this afternoon:

Dusky-faced Tanager, Orange-billed Sparrow, Bay Wren, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Bananaquit (H), Rosey Thrush-Tanager, Buff-rumped Warbler, Broadwinged Hawk, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Crimson-backed Tanager, Tropical Screech Owl, Flame-rumped Tanager, Golden-hooded Tanager, Bay-headed Tanager, Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Summer Tanager, Keel-billed Toucan, Sunbittern, Broad-billed Motmot, Blue-headed Parrot, White-vented Plumeleteer, Rufous Motmot, Cocoa Woodcreeper, Mottled Owl, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Varible Seedeater, Yellow Warbler.  Agoti, Zebra Heliconia Butterfly, Toas Swallowtail Butterfly, Two-toed Sloth, Green Iguana, Tamarin Monkey, Jaquarundi.

Next time:  Our last full day in Panama.