Today was a sad day for one father, as I drove Annie and Chris back to Tocumen Airport for their return flight home. Every parent with grown children knows the sweetness of reunion, however brief, and the melancholy of another estrangement when they need to resume their separate lives. How much fun we have had. How much joy they brought with them. How many warm and pleasant memories they bring home with them. God bless you both.

We went on some walks today. Warm sunshine, black sand, fresh marine air. Just quiet, private times to see and feel and think and enjoy. No noise except the waves. Just the beauty of the earth and the temporary absence of agenda, expectation, urgency, demand.

Home Sweet Home. No bouganvillas in Medford or Pleasant Grove this time of year. Looking in thru our entrance gate. Ocean is on the opposite side.

We celebrated Chris' and Cassandra's birthdays yesterday. We made yellow cake and chocolate frosting with mostly proper candles...We purchased a "2" and a "0", but Kathy cut a "6" for Chris from a piece of paper. A burning paper candle made for an urgent "Happy Birthday" song. A few gift cards added to a nice birthday party.

We rely so heavily on our lap top and the Internet to help keep us connected with home and the world. We need to get a cooling pad. Peter and Chris downloaded James Bond "Golden Eye" from the old Nintendo 64 days for me today. It has been years since I played that. Thank you Pete ! We have had some free, live, on-line video sessions with family on Skype over the past few days. I still marvel at the technology. Postcards are an anachronism.



You have previously met some of our local zoological friends. Let us introduce you to some additional acquaintances. Please meet Fiona, our next door neighbor Irish wolf hound ( the largest canine in the world). She has a brother, Quigley. The tops of their heads are nearly at the level of my shoulders. Imagine this hound of the Baskervilles chasing you in the dark. Worse yet, their "deposits" on the beach can ruin a lovely dusk walk. Or, perhaps they are just "sea sponges" washed up on shore, right Annie? Also meet one of the crabs we had fun catching at surf line at midnight one night, a friendly yellow frog that seemed to enjoy our pool, and another friendly gecko.



Fun in the water, both above and below the surface.


Kathy bought some blow-up water toys at the local store a few days ago, and we have had so much fun with these playing out in the waves. It is quite remarkable how wide the tidal variation is on this beach at Gorgona, and we have fun playing in the waves at different times. At some times we get completeyly clobbered by the waves and dig sand out of previously undiscovered crevices, and at other times the water is glass-like. We all had a blast body-surfing, and got some fun video of Annie, Peter and Chris yesterday. We had fun watching two shrimping boats plying the waters in front of our house today. First clue was a sky full of seabirds, pelicans, terns, gulls, frigate birds. It was funny to see this boat with almost every inch of available line covered with these large, ungamely pelicans just motoring along with the boat waiting for its next free meal. These boats would leave an obvious brown wake where the bottom was disturbed by their shrimping nets. Bad for shrimp, good for camarones-eaters. Kathy bought some shrimp from a vendor on the street a few days ago. We grilled them with steaks.

Sorry for the screwy last post. Somehow, what appeared on the edit page was not what showed up on the actual post.

So this is Keith again. My day to work on the blog-site. It's a tough life when the hardest thing one has to do in a day is write a few words and thoughts on an Internet blog site, ya know?

Yesterday we awoke early to drive about 40 min north on the Pan-American Highway to La Chorerra to attend Church services at Guadalupe Ward at 9AM. We found the address, Bishop Medina's name and meeting time on the Church's website, LDS.org. Using Google maps, GPS, and intuition we were able to find the recently built chapel. All were very friendly, though we (with the exception of Cassandra and Annie) could understand very little of the service. Nevertheless it was humbling, moving, and uplifting to attend and blend our faith and voices with those of the local Saints. They were all so friendly, and I think we shook hands with almost all of the 100+ members in attendance. We met Elder Hunter from Utah and his Honduran companion from San Pedro
Sula, Elder Hernandez. We had so much fun trying to speak with the kids and teenagers. They had no piano players, so everything was acapella. It would have been fun to have Annie or Cassan or Kathy play, but we didn't think about it till later. The Bishop, Obispo, is 40 years old, and he and his wife served missions in Panama.













Here is a picture of one of the Panamanian ? fresh-water crocs sunning on the side of the Canal. Hands in the boat, Stacy. Here we are traversing the Guillard Cut, one of the most difficult-to-construct portions of the Canal, thru rock of the Continental Divide. Here the Canal is about 85 feet above sea level, as I recall. They are presently widening, dredging and straightening the Canal, as well as making a new channel for larger ships. Right now the larger ships need to unload containers at one end, which are shipped by train to the other side, and then reloaded on another ship.




Here is a picture of La Puenta de las Americas. Tradition requires you to kiss the person closest to you when you pass under the bridge. Chris is still recuperating from the best kiss he ever got.









In the background of the picture is Country Inn where we spent two nights. In the foreground is Balboa Yacht Club. We have not yet been invited to join...I am sure the invitation is in the mail. Next week we will head down there and see if we can bum a free transit thru the canal on a passing boat that might need some line handlers. Each boat or ship traversing the Canal is required to have a professional ACP (Autoridad de Canal dePanama) pilot on board. We saw a beautiful sailboat transit thru Pedro Miguel lock. I was jealous.



Visions of our future.


















This is the bombed out, destroyed shell of the Military Officers Club in Casco Viejo. This waterfront building was destroyed during the American invasion of Panama to oust Noriega in 1989.








And this is the shell of a man who has gone a month without a donut. Sadly, the donuts were not up to Puck's standards. The food court at this Albrook Mall was the biggest I have ever seen in any Mall. There were easily 30 food stores in just this section of the mall. The Mall was enormous. It was really packed, tho we were there the day after Christmas. Families looked like they just hung out there. Come to think of it, do Panamanians return gifts ?





A lovely picture on hundreds of years old bastion walls-turned-walkway at Plaza Francia in Casco Viejo. Many Kuna and other vendors sell their wares here.














Well, this morning we slept in. We decided to make coconut rice for breakfast, but discovered there is a difference between crema de coco and leche de coco. The former fried the rice without cooking it...we had to throw it away, and back to the local market. Now it tastes so good! And Chris made some wonderful pina coladas sin alcohol. We had these after spending an hour out body surfing. All the girls were out riding in their blow-up floaties. What a blast! Will try and load video if I can from my underwater camera. ( the battery was low and not sure if it took). I have discovered a new epicurean passion...ceviche de pulpo...octopus ceviche. It is citrus-cured seafood; they make it out of fish, shrimp, corvine (conch) or octopus, which I think is my favorite. Full of onion, lime juice, salt, some cilantro. Eaten with Ritz crackers. Muy sabrosa.

So, enough for now. We read and appreciate all your posts and comments, and your text messages and e-mails. We truly do miss all of you. We can't believe nearly a month has passed.

Welcome to the latest installment of the Williams-DeBeikes adventure log! Yesterday we had a wonderful time taking a tour of the Panama Canal. We woke up much too early to then take a much too long drive into Panama City. Dad's navigational skills have much improved since Friday and we got to the pier without delay. All six of us then boarded a boat that proceeded to take us on a 4-hour narrated tour of the canal. It was so interesting to learn about the creation of the Panama Canal! It's hard to imagine the effort, time and manpower it took to create it back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I bet a bulldozer and a back hoe would have looked mighty nice back then. By far the most interesting aspect of the tour was going through the locks. The locks are a very cool elevating system where the water from the higher elevation level is fed into the lower chamber allowing ships to rise up to be level with the next lock. This takes you from the Pacific to Lake Gatun and then eventually to the Carribean ocean. It was fascinating to see the locks in action! I can't believe the ingenuity of it all - even after all this time, they still work! After the locks we spent the next couple of hours observing the Panamanian jungle (yes, we even saw a crocodile!) and seeing MASSIVE container barges pass us by. After the tour we ran to the store to buy some necessities, like swimwear and Cheetos, and then spent the rest of the afternoon tubing in the ocean! If that doesn't make you jealous, I don't know what will.

Below is a picture of the locks in action. Once we were enclosed inside the lock the water starting pouring in through underground, gravity-fed tunnels that lifted us up 3 feet a minute. It was very cool to watch. After this picture we threw in several more pictures of us in front of the temple and touring Casco Viejo from our Friday adventures. I especially like the last two. I think Mom and Dad decided that Peter needs to start earning his keep around here. However, I think shaving ice for the occasional 2 bucks an hour won't cut it.

Annie DeBeikes



This is a picture of Cassandra applying for entry into the old Dominican convent in Casco Viejo, Panama. Get thee to a nunnery. In case you are interested, Collin.

So, I have been commissioned to post our next post in the blog. It may be because everyone knows that I am a wonderful writer, an original orater, the grand-master of grammer if you will, but I think the actual reason is because everyone else is too tired to update the blog, and we are 3 days behind.

Let me first preface by explaining that because we have not posted in 3 days, our pictures are a little out of order, so I will start explaining what we did today and work my way backwards, so try and keep up.

Today (12-26-08) started out by waking up at the crack of 8:00 AM-which is a ghastly hour when you are on vacation in Panama, let me assure you-which was followed up by a 90 minute crammed car ride to the new LDS temple near Panama City. Keith, Kathy, Annie, and I then attended a morning session in the beautiful new temple that was just dedicated in August. Peter and Cassan hung out on the grounds while we were in there. The grounds of the temple were absolutely stunning. Set in a lush tropical setting with a view of the canal in the background, it was enough to make anybody wanna set up camp and live there. Also, it was very fun meeting all of the native Panamanians who helped us during our visit. It truly transcends all boundaries when visiting a temple anywhere in the world, you just can't help but feel good.

After our delighful trip to the temple, we headed into the "old city" named Casco Viejo, which is were much of the gold during the day of the pirates used to filter through before being shipped up to Europe. It was a quaint little peninsula that was full of many old buildings and a lot of history. Here Kathy is making friends with a local Kuna native after purchasing some of her wares in the local shooping district. We had a wonderful time walking around and seeing the sites, purchasing some snow cones and enjoying the perfect concoction of humidity, temperature, and cloud cover to aid in our enjoyment. After spending the better part of the day in Casco, we then started a journey to the local mall (Albrook) that happens to be the largest one in Central America, and certainly the largest that I have ever been to. While trying to navigate for Keith, we quickly realized that a short little jaunt on the surface streets was not to be. After about 30 minutes of circling the same 5-block radius, we finally took a road that by all logic seemed as if it was not the proper way to go, only to be surprised by the fact that it led us right onto the doorstep of the mall. Panama needs a new road system, muy rapido! The mall itself was huge and pretty fun to walk around in, especially the day after Christmas, but it was still a mall and I quickly remembered how long one Williams girl likes to spend shopping, multiply that by three and you have a lot of boring time spent sitting with Keith and Peter waiting for our women folk to satisfy their insatiable appetite for "good, cheap clothing" :) After, we went home and prepared for our Canal tour the next day by hitting the hay nice and early.

Okay, try to switch gears now, let me describe to you one of the most relaxed, upside down Christmases I have ever personally experienced. We started out the day by waking up nice and lazy-like with no intention of getting up earlier that 10:30. We then had some of Kathy's delectable sausage fondue, with the local variation of sausage, which was very good. After we were all sufficiently stuffed to the brim, and reading and discussing the Bible story of Christmas with everyone for an hour, we proceeded to have our scavenger hunt for presents. We each picked names out of a hat a few days earlier and purchased one present for that person. We then all created clues for our person and hid them throughout the house and the beach for us to find and lead us to our present. In the morning we put the first clue in each person's "stocking" or sandal as we normal folk like to call it. This took about an hour and a half and was very entertaining, especially when Keith realized that the tide had come in and washed away Cassandra's clue that he had buried in the sand. After that we hung out and swam, read, did some video chats with most everyone who will be reading this, so no surprises there. I do have to tell an interesting story that happened to me later that evening.The waves started picking up right around dusk, so Peter and I decided to do a little bodysurfing, unbeknownst to us that there were creepy-crawlies ready to hunt, the menu-my foot! After some really gnarly waves and some very tumultuous spills, I felt a sudden sting on my foot that immediately progressed to the point where I felt like someone was holding a red hot needle to the top of my foot and adding 1 PSI of pressure every ten seconds. The initial reaction was that it was a jellyfish sting, and we all know what the ancient remedy is for that. Needless to say, I was desperate, so I decided to give the remedy a shot, lucky for me I am a boy, because it made the application of this particular remedy a lot less awkward than if I had needed assistance. After that offered zero help, I took an Ibuprofen and rested for the evening, and it eventually wore off. We are still uncertain of the culprit, whether jellyfish or stingray, but rest assured that I am on the case and will hopefully create a better world where nobody ever has to resort to such measures to fix their pain as I did that night.


This is our Christmas Tree! "Estacy" said that we needed to decorate a palm tree for Christmas and send her a picture. We were already going to to do that...so here it is! We all took turns making (and hanging up) one ornament out of anything that we could find. We made things out of shells, flowers, sandles, white lacy plates, and golden cereal. We thought it looked lovely!




















Panama has the Wierdest Hot Dogs!!! First of all, the panamanians have this things about American hot dogs! You see hot dog shops everywhere--the hot dogs have unidentified hard chunks in them--, but when buy them in the grocery and make them at home, thats when it gets even MORE wierd! Several times we have been "forced" into buying hot dogs and both times they have come with plastic casings. Both times we have FAILED to notice this and have BBQed them with the plastic on! Needless to say, we've spent a lot of time desperately removing plastic before putting them on the buns!


The next photo shows Peter out on one of the two the wave-runners that we rented the day before Christmas. Kathy and Peter went out first--ignoring the rain--and then Keith, Annie,and Chris. YES, despite email warnings from the Skillmans, we took a vote and decided to allow Cassandra on a wave-runner! After her little accident in Mexico several years ago, where the Mexican authorities "detained" several of Kathy's students until a whole lot of money was paid, Cassandra was allowed to try it again...we just removed all other vehicles from the water first!

Chris DeBeikes

Love this picture of Peter and Kathy in a ubiquitous water taxi. We are heading off to Bocas town for dinner and the sun is setting. $2 a person for a one-way 5 minute ride.

Photo from 2 days ago when we all went to Valle de Anton, a large, inhabited volcanic crater about an hour from here. Went zipping thru the jungle. We stopped at the local craft market on the way home to buy Christmas presents for everybody. We chose names and set a $10 limit (more or less). Chris and Peter get motion sick on the windy mountain roads....thank heaven for meclizine.


This a view of Panama City from Corredor Sur, an autopista that runs south of the city thru Panama Bay. It's undergoing a huge building boom in past years, mostly high-rise condos. The international airport at Tocumen is east of the city a few kilometers. The carretera cuota is nice driving, but otherwise negotiating city streets are a nightmare. It is cool however to see the organized chaos on the streets, and know we are traversing the same streets the natives and conquistadors of 500+ years have trod. I have driven over Las Puente de las Americas several times, and I can't get over seeing the Canal and all the ships, boats and tugs queuing to transit. Mark, I saw a catamarran heading east under the bridge and thought of our original scheme a few years ago. I still have not shelved that idea!


Had to add this classic picture to our blog site. This was from Bocas del Toro where chitras, mosquitos and large Mastodons bit us perpetually. Kathy in a genius ( or desperate moment) came up with this ingenious contraption which we will henceforth patent and call the 'Ronco Chitra-nator'...a simple vacuum attached to a high intensity light bulb, which when turned on invites all flying and biting insects within a 50 yard radius to a quick and merciless death.

I may be omniscient, but even I cannot anticipate my family. I was just informed that I had to include this one last, tincy, wincy detail. So here I go. After our midnight swim, we took our frivolity up to the pool. We were playing a legit game of Marco Polo when Peter decided to play a game of Shark. Shark is basically the same as Marco Polo except that you have to find people without saying anything or making any noise. Well, that just invites cheating. Dad, Annie and myself decided to simply leave my gullible brother, eyes shut, in the pool. It was hilarious. After a few long minutes of stifled laughter, we finally told him the truth. We all thought that at some point we would've opened our eyes, but he kept them shut the entire time! What a guy.

Hola! Bienvenidos a Panama! This is your narrator, Cassandra, and I will be your omniscient guide throughout this story.
It all began around 11 o'clock yesterday morning- when we actually woke up from our comatose state (Sarah, COMATOAST !). We found directions to a Zip-lining company in the Panamanian Highlands and with nothing else to do, we grabbed a bite to eat, put on our swim suits and crammed into the car.
The landscape is a change of pace from the relatively flat, warmer climate where our home is situated. It's a combination of rolling rills, verdant country side and a cooler climate. Our trip took us through and into a 2,000 foot elevation crater, now called "El Valle de Anton". If one had a few million dollars handy, you might be tempted to buy a home.
When we arrived at our destination, they loaded us down with Swedish seats, cables and carabiners and started us on a mild hike through the jungle. Our guide basically only spoke Spanish, which gave me an excuse to speak some Spanglish and to act as a translator. Most of the time I nodded my head in understanding towards him and kind of did the whole shrug my shoulders things with my family.
Finally, Zip-Lining. It's sweet! They hooked us up and let us go! There were a series of cables, so not just one long stretch. The third series of cables took us over "El Chorro Moro", an 88 meter tall waterfall on "el rio amarillo". It was beautiful and we took some rather stunning pictures. Even mom did it, although I think she saw more of the back of her eye lids than the scenary.
On the way back to our humble abode, we stopped in the village center at an artisan block. Earlier that morning we had pulled names for Secret Santas, and this gave us the opportunity to find our gifts. There were hand-painted wood sculptures, molas (traditional embroidered purses), platters, figurines, and even hand-painted feathers, as well as dresses, necklaces, earings, purses, knives, etc. The lady who soled me a purse was an Indian, commonly called a "Kuna". It's traditional for women to bind their ankles with embrodery to make their calves tiny. It looks awfully painful to me!
Wildlife loves us for some reason. Dad found a hermit crab yesterday, named Hermie (...and Chris dropped it), a broken butterfly attached itself to me for a good hour yesterday, hiking, zip-lining and everything, Chris caught a gecko, named Gary (...and dropped it), and we stepped on/played with a giant golden frog in the pool (very beautiful, and it didn't pee!!). Oh, and finally we chased/got chased by blue crabs on a midnight swim. Chris caught one....and dropped it. Save us (or save them from Chris! :)

Happiness is having your kids with you in a place like this

Our favorite son-in-law, Chris Debeikes with his pet gecko, Gary (as opposed to Jerry the jumping gecko, and Gary the 2nd who lost his tail when Annie pulled it off). If we ever wondered where Chris was, it was usually out on safari trailing geckos, frogs, cucarachas or other creep-crawlies).

Steady Pete, no longer Stinky, who we always made go first to see if the cable would hold.

Pete and Annie just hanging out, one of the best parts of this adventure.

Chris and Annie on day one. Notice the lily-white skin and baggy eyes.


Cassandra, always the fashion vogue. Also day one. Follow the progress of her , leathery and tanned and wrinkled skin over the next 12 days.

Who couldn't love this motley crew ?!? This Dad does for sure. And darn happy they are all here. Our joy is tempered by the empty places at the dinner table, on the boogie boards, and onb the wave runners. We truly miss, painfully miss, our other sons, Chris and Marc, and lovely daughters-in-law, Britni and Mal. Throw in our 4 magnificent grandchildren and we might never come home.

This is our first adventure in Gorgona. We took a tour of the jungle on a canopy zip-line. Our next blog will go into detail about this.




Here are the pictures of the home in Gorgona! The internet finally let me load these onto the blog. We are right on the beach and the home is quite a step up from our last place in Bocas.