I have a blog? Oh right, yes I do but you wouldn’t know it by the long time I have been ignoring it. I have been in the US first with my California daughter and family, and now in Seattle with my other daughter and her family. I’ve been enjoying time with them, playing with the grandchildren, helping out with the workloads of the busy working families, and generally having a wonderful time.
I have paid no attention to the blog though, as you all can see. It’s spring and I have photos of some beautiful flowers and scenery, and of course photos of the grandchildren which I will get to at some point but I think right now, it’s been time for focusing on different things.
I will be back soon. Panama is where I am most happy and as wonderful as this is, it will be good to be home again. Right now though it’s time for Saturday morning Sesame Street. It takes me back to when I watched Sesame Street with my own kids. Good times!
The Panama Adventure 
It’s good to go back and good to be back home … whichever one you consider either to be. Have an adventure while you’re there!.
I’m having my first adventure in Panama in 3 weeks and am so excited. If anyone sees a short woman with brown hair & a few too many extra pounds that she didn’t lose despite all good intentions, holding a Spanish-English dictionary and a map and looking like she is ready to cry PLEASE HELP HER.
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Cathy,
I leave for Panama with two college friends this coming Tuesday (May 23) for 12 days. We are visiting El Valle, Volcan, Boquete, and Pedasí. Maybe we will run into you!!!
Sara Crocker
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Have a great time! When in Boquete look for the band Me3, usually at Mike’s Global or the Brewery. My husband is the guitar player and I usually come along. Maybe I’ll see you there.
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THanks, Kris. I’ll do that!
Sara
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Sara, that is so sweet of you but I will be there 6/11 to 6/17 in Boquete and then flying back to Panama City where my nephew will join me for the 2nd week in PC, El Valle , & Pedasi. I will be 66 in Sept and even though I probably “should” work for a few more years I a). am terrified of the political situation in the US …. b). am worried about all the concealed weapons crazy people have … c). can’t navigate all the stairs in my house and the upkeep on my house and yard … d) am really tired of working as I have been in the same industry (equipment sales) for 48+ years. Take your pick. The correct answer is ALL OF THE ABOVE. So a lot is riding on the outcome of this trip for me as I thiink I can retire now in Panama or somewhere in Central America or keep working for a few more years UUGGHH. I hope you all have a fantastic time. I bet you are so excited. My sister was going to come with me but she has lymphoma and is afraid of Zika since her immune system is compromised … another reason not to pospone things, life is limited when you are 65! She is doing OK for now. Can you email me when you get back and let me know a few things, places etc. you did that you enjoyed, so I can check them out. I will have a rental car. THANKS. Have a great trip. Stay safe.
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Cathy
I will let you know how we make out and what we liked/didn’t like.
I’m 67, retired two years ago and very glad not to have a 3 hour commute and 60 hour work week! But the 401k will last only so long so hubby and I are looking for a less expensive place to retire that has a slower pace. Hoping Panama fits the bill!
Sara
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3 hour commute … 60 hour work week … you’ve paid your dues! I hope all works out well for you in Panama on your upcoming trip and that it meets your expectations for a future life. It will be so nice to just be not working for these two weeks I hope it doesn’t unduly influence me.
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Panama is definitely home for me.
How exciting you are visiting! Don’t worry, people are really friendly and helpful here. If you need a ride or help of any sort in Panama City, contact Luis luistaxi777@gmail.com. In Chiriqui there is Eduardo Riochiriqui@fmail.com If you are in David let me know if you want to get together for a chat. You’re going to have a great time and good idea with the dictionary. I carried mine everywhere for at least two years.
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Hi Kris, I would love to get together with you for an afternoon in David; I planned on spending some time there checking out some of the “if I lived here” kind of stuff … the hospitals, where I would grocery shop, how to find a place to rent, and especially eating some good food. Can I pick your brain in exchange for lunch and maybe a drive-by the hospital and quick grocery store trip? I rented a small apartment in Boquete so I will want to get some snacks and drinks. I fly in Sun evening 6/11 & will be staying near the airport the first night because I didn’t want to drive at night. I understand that David is not too far from Boquete so I will be going back and forth between the two, as I also want to drive to Puerto Armuelles one morning or afternoon. I haven’t made any firm plans yet, except for the Tues morning Farmer’s Market in Boquete. So let me know when would be a good day for you or I’ll call or text you when I’m there and we can figure it out. I”m going to get a SIMS card & prepaid plan for my phone while I’m there. And I will definitely go listen to some live music on Friday night! THANK YOU so much.
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Sure, we can get together and do the $.05 tour of David, or chat, or whatever you like. Maybe when you get here get in touch and we’ll figure out something. I don’t know about music though, at least with Joel’s band. The bass player is going to be out of town the week you arrive and the following week.
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Thanks Kris, I’ll call you when I get there after 6/12 to see what afternoon might be open for you for lunch and the tour. FYI I would have paid up to .10 for that! If you get tied up don’t worry about it, I should be able to figure it out. I have a question maybe you can answer about buying a Digicel / Panama sims card with a prepaid plan, my phone is unlocked. Would that allow me to call & text family in the US .. or are they ONLY for calls/texts in Panama? If I can buy one & use it to call my family … & hopefully they can call me without any penalty on their US phones, that would be great. That’s one of the things I need to figure out, Verizon will charge me $10 a day to stay on my existing plan so that would be $130 upcharge for the 13 days. I don’t use many minutes or do much texting.
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Do you have a smart phone? See if you can download WhatsApp. It is THE THING here because it’s free with an internet connection and everybody seems to use it. You can send texts, photos, and even make voice calls. Skype and Google also have options for messages and calls, and Facebook does also. You can bring your unlocked phone to any phone company office here and they will get it set up for you, but I don’t know about calling between here and the US since I’ve never done it. I’m sure you can but I don’t know what it would cost. If you can get you and your family set up with some internet based form of communication, you will be good to go.
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WhatsApp … Free … sounds a bit too good to be true. I’m used to $$$Verizon$$$.
I’m going to check it out. THANKS!
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Oh yes, I remember $verizon$. They got plenty of my $ in the US too. Here I have $11/month internet plan on my phone, no contract, cancel anytime and I put money for voice calls on my phone as needed. I think the last $10 lasted me 6 months.
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I was wondering where you went!!
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LOL. I ran off 😀 I’ll be back in a while though, and I need to catch up on your blog too!
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Hi Chris, Good to hear form you. Time out for family. That’s important. My sister just came down last week to visit me in Oregon from her home in Tacoma, so you are in her backyard right now. We had a lovely time but I did not get to my WordPress community very much last week and am catching up myself this morning. I have about 100 shots of the gorgeous spring wildflowers that came through here in late April and all through May. I finally got them edited (well except for the ones I took yesterday) but I can hardly post them as “New Arrivals” now — they’re a month old already. Hope to get a post up sometime this week, in between taping walls and doorways for painting next weekend. Always so much to do when you’re retired! How did we ever WORK, right? Have an enjoyable time with your grandchildren. Mine grew up without me mostly and now I’m counting on the next crop (and possibly great-grandchildren) to give me another chance at being the Grandmother. Much love, Alia
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Tacoma is very close. I took the bus there by accident one time when I was looking for something. Yes it is surprising how busy you can be when you are supposedly living the life of leisure! I’m glad you are having gooe times too, and flowers and photos are always new to us no matter how long you have had them there.
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So glad you are ok. I too was wondering how/where you were!
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Thanks, yes, all is well, just ran off for some R&R and family time 🙂
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Hey Kris you guys are making me oh so jealous, I can’t wait to get back there, Mary says that I am going to drive her nuts. It will be great to see you and Joel again.
Doug & Mary Banks(Australia)
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It sounds like you are moving forward with everything you need to do to get ready. I know it can feel endless during it all but you will get here!
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Kris,
You’re not the only one with the blog issue right now. i’ve been out of state visiting my family so my blog got put on the back burner too. But it’s been five long years since I last visited so that takes priority. I know you’re having a wonderful time. Nothing can ever take the place of family time.
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Wow, five years. Did you have a good time? The blog is not a job and it’s OK to put it aside occasionally, especially when you have more important things going on.
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Yes, I had a fantastic time! It flew by way too fast.
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Wonderful! Maybe you can do it again, and a bit sooner
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