The Panama Adventure

One good thing about having visitors is that you tend to go out and enjoy the things in your area and get out of your routine a bit. My nephew was visiting last weekend and we had a day to run around, so we thought a trip to the beach was in order.

There were lots of people out

Fun with a great nephew

The clouds were spectacular

The waves were stronger than they look in the photos

The beach isn’t that far but weeks can go by when we don’t go visit. It was as beautiful as ever this afternoon though the waves were bigger and stronger. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people out having a good time.  The parking area was quite full, and many people were on the beach and more were relaxing in the shade.  Many times we have been there and only seen a handful of people, and sometimes nobody at all but not on this beautiful day.

At the public beach area they have constructed many shaded areas for people to sit and relax

The brand new condo building looks about finished

There isn’t a lot going on at the beach. There is Las Olas resort/hotel, a building of condos, and down the other direction there is a community of beach homes but I understand most of them are only used seasonally. In the middle area this new white condo building has arisen, and past it are a couple little local restaurants, both of which were open. In my previous experience only one is usually open and they usually only have fried fish, but it’s very good fish.

I love the mountains way in the distance

If you go to this beach though, use extreme caution in the water. It is known for dangerous rip currents and undertows and people have drowned. I noticed there was a caution flag and emergency floating devices on the beach, something I hadn’t seen before. I don’t think there is a lifeguard though.

The view from the restaurant

To get to the beach it is a pretty drive through the countryside past cow pastures, sugar cane fields, rice fields, and some small towns. I bike out there quite a bit but it’s a 2 hour ride each way so I usually only go part way. Near the beach you can see storks, egrets, and other water birds and there is a caiman that is known to live in one of the waterways.

This stork had just caught a fish

Just chillin on a Sunday afternoon

I hope everything here makes sense. I’m listening to my daughter at the same time. She is doing a Planning Commission Meeting for Sonoma County CA and it is live on line. I’m sure this is totally boring to most people but I think it’s really cool to be able to watch her at work. They are in the very complicated and lengthy process of making policy for marijuana, and since they are the among the first who are making policy for growing, distribution, sales and all aspects of the industry, a lot of eyes are on them.

I took a few pictures in Panama City, and then as the bus left the city.

This was in the airport lobby where people arriving come through. The guy in the yellow shirt had a Shriners hat. The guy in the blue shirt was missing an arm, the girl being held was missing a leg, and the girl in the pink pants has a lot of trouble walking. There were lots of hugs and smiles all around so whatever was going on looked like a happy thing.

They were putting up the Christmas tree in the Albrook bus station.

Everything went smoothly at the bus station and before long we were on our way.

The bus station

A cyclist is out training

You know you are close to the canal when you see all the container cranes

We pass th Albrook airport just down the road from the bus station

The train line is also here

It was one of the many November holidays so many buildings were decorated in flags and red, white, and blue.

I snapped this photo as the bus crossed the canal on the Bridge of th Americas. Out there, just to the right of the three left most crane. Are those the new locks?

One of the pleasures of taking the bus is the beautiful scenery. There are wind turbines in one of the photos. I was on the wrong side of the bus but managed to get this photo as the bus went around a bend. I remember when there were only a few, and now there are a lot more all the way up to the road. Someone told me they weren’t working when he saw them but they were all turning on this day.

It’s been busy between travels, a great time with a visiting nephew, and getting settled back in but things seem to be getting somewhat back to normal again.

I have ignored the blog for days. I have things to say. I have photos. But, I just haven’t been getting anything done. Well, I have done lots of things but not blog things.

I spent some wonderful time in the US with my family. It was a long trip back, Tuesday Seattle – San Francisco, Wednesday SF to Panama City, and then Thursday all day on the bus to get back to David. My nephew arrived Friday evening and we have been having a great time hanging out and exploring a bit of the area. We also went to Boquete on Saturday night to hear Joel’s band. They are back together after all their various travels and they are sounding fantastic.

Things should settle down somewhat this coming week so maybe I can get back to blogging a bit. I probably have some more photos of family and cute babies. I need to see if any of the photos from Panama City came out well enough to share, or photos of the beach we visited today. I have thoughts about returning to the US after becoming accustomed to the life, culture, and  people of Panama. I avoid getting into political discussions but I can’t ignore the impact of the US elections when all my Panamanian friends, neighbors, and even strangers want to talk to me about it.

And, there were toucans in our trees today, and a blue morpho butterfly in the yard. One of my plantains made fruit while I was away and the leaf cutter ants tried to eat my moringa tree. I have plenty of weeding and trimming to do (aka yard therapy, my favorite) and ideas for my next painting.

So that’s a little of what has been going on here. Life will get back to  normal, whatever that is 😀 But, it’s all good and I’m busy, and happy.

My grandson goes to Montessori school here, and yesterday was their Halloween party. Of course I had to take photos of the cute kids in their costumes.

The school was well decorated for the occasion

Time to sing songs and get in the spirit

The t-Rex talks with granddad

Yeah! Mom made it!

Time to parade around the neighborhood

Really? More photos?

Then it is trick or treat time (without tricks)

A family was kind enough to provide pizza for everyone, so even the parents were able to enjoy lunch at the school.

Everyone gathered for a photo op before returning to the school

The weather cooperated so we were able to have lunch outdoors

On the swing with a friend, probably not totally happy with granddad because he was announcing that it was time to leave

Here are a couple cute videos of the kids singing their songs

Of course we can’t forget the little one of the family! We hung out on the floor with her while the grandson recovered from the festivities

Hi!

She isn’t quite walking yet but she is definitely very mobile

It’s fun to beat the ottoman with granddad!

How long do you think it will take grandma to take these away from me?

Pointing is a favorite thing, even though we rarely figure out what it means

Tired boy after a very busy day

This is only the beginning. Tonight my other daughter arrives with her husband and baby girl. It will be interesting to see how the cousins get along. They sure were interested in each other on FaceTime last night so it might be a lot of fun for everyone.

We moved to Panama mainly because we needed a more economical place to live. We have learned that the benefits and joys of Panama are so much more than money, but it’s still nice to live within our means without worry.

Coming back to the USA always involves sticker shock. This is what we bought yesterday – 6 sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, 3 onions, 2 bunches of asparagus, 2 yogurts, box of EmergenC, $41.75 (an onion, a yogurt, and few stalks of celery are missing from the photo). Without my daughters store membership it would have been $49.17.

The sweet potatoes were excellent! The other grandparents are came over for dinner so I decided to get six more.

Yes, that says $10.03, 6 sweet potatoes, $1.99/pound.

This is just a small example of what it costs my daughter and family to live in Northern California. You don’t even want to know what one Costco run cost, but it was equivalent to our monthly food budget. They have a nice 4/2 house in a good neighborhood, nothing big or extraordinary, just a middle class single family home and the appraised value is almost half a million dollars. Both my daughter and her husband have good professional jobs, and even then they stretch to cover daycare and all the other costs of a young family. There is no way either of them could afford to stay home. They are still trying to recover from the few weeks she was home on maternity leave a year ago.

There are cheaper places to live in the US but I don’t think we could afford anywhere with the excellent quality of life we enjoy now. I’m thankful for our life in Panama for a whole lot of reasons!