The Panama Adventure

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!

My family lives on the west coast of the US so it’s much easier for us to go to them, especially now that they have little kids. It’s a long trip. Thursday we took the bus from David to Panama City and stayed in a hostel near the airport. Friday was the flights from Panama City to San Francisco where my daughter picked us up, and then we drove to Santa Rosa.

Loaded up and waiting our turn

Other planes waiting their turns

Ready to turn down the runway

We rise and fly east with the city suburbs below

It was a beautiful morning. As we flew north over the Caribbean the scenery and clouds were really beautiful.

Our flight path took us over Cuba. Here are a few pictures I snapped as we passed over.

Later we made our way up the east coast of Florida

The east coast of Florida

Finally we landed in Atlanta! We had a layover of more than three hours which I thought was good because we had to clear customs. It went very fast though. There was no waiting at the machines where you scan your passport and answer a few questions. There was a short line to turn in the printout and get passports stamped, and no wait to pick up luggage. We quickly made it through the next checkpoint, dropped off our luggage again, and cleared the security check. Then it was a tram ride and we were in the correct concourse for our next flight.

We taxi towards the Atlanta airport

Delta’s idea if breakfast was a bit lacking- a cold meat and cheese sandwich and a snickers bar, so we were ready for some lunch. We had a great burger and chicken sandwich at Boardwalk Burgers, and enjoyed the jazz pianist at the nearby pizza restaurant.

The next flight to San Francisco was totally full and I was on the aisle, so I didn’t take any photos. I sat next to Megan, photo editor for Frommers travel books, really fun lady, and watched two movies so the flight went fast. We landed in a beautiful sunset and it was lovely coming into SFO.

SFO, waiting for my daughter to pick us up

It’s a bit of a drive to Santa Rosa but it was a beautiful evening. Amy was doing the driving so I could just enjoy.

City traffic

Last but hardly least, we cross the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge in the night

Traveling from David to the west coast of the USA is a lengthy business. Thankfully we are retired and nothing has to be done in a hurry.

The flight to the US is an all day thing. There are flights from David to Panama City, but the connections don’t work out unless we are booked on an overnight flight. Being old without the stamina of youth, I would prefer to spend the night in a bed.

So, if we are spending the night in Panama City anyway, the bus is a much less expensive way to get there. It’s a long ride though, giving me lots of time to scribble things to post on the blog 😀

a pretty cloud along the way

The highway continues to be under construction. There are four lanes but only two are open. Occasionally there are stops to manage traffic where only one lane is open. The paving seems to be pretty much done but they are making curbs, finishing bridges, painting lane markers, etc. I thought maybe by now parts of it would be using all the lanes, but it’s a ton of work with a lot of details and takes time to complete.

I am always surprised by the kids on buses. There were quite a few on this bus and except for a three month old baby who cried for three very short periods in 7 1/2 hours, they were quiet. There are no toys, no snacks, no movies on tablets, just a parents lap. They look out the window, smile at the neighbors, and just generally chill out. Why are all of these kids so calm?

We cross the Panama Canal

Our flight leaves at 8am so our plan is to stay at the Express Inn hostal near the airport. They have a shuttle every hour, where our favorite hotel in the city has one at only 5 and 8 am. Our friend, driver, and man useful for a multitude of things Luis Arce will meet us at the bus and take us to the hotel. It’s a $30-35 taxi ride so we may as well pay him rather than a stranger. I did this last time and it was nice to see a friendly face waiting for me.

We arrive at Albrook bus station

Coming back, Joel is returning before me but it will be the same situation for both of us. We arrive in Panama City around 9:30 pm. Our favorite hotel in the city, the Costa Inn, has a shuttle service that will pick you up from the airport, saving the expensive taxi ride. They serve breakfast and if you don’t mind hanging around for a while, they have an 11am van that takes shoppers to the Albrook mall which is next to the bus terminal. The rooms cost us around $41 with taxes, a very good deal all things considered.

The bus, an older model, but it got us there just fine.

Yes it’s a couple long days but bring stuff to do and enjoy the ride, and it’s all good.