Feliz Ano Nuevo, Prospero 2009 y Adios!!

Fare thee well, Cassandra. We will miss you. The Fam.

Bridge of the Americas from our hotel in the City.


Last look at Gorgona on our final day. Sigh.

New Years Eve dinner at a local restaurant. Not the best meal we have ever had, but one we won't forget, for sure.



And the partings continue. Today was our last day in our beautiful Gorgona home. We ran up the AC, took a dip in the pool and ocean, I grabbed a bag full of black sand, and we drowned our woes in glasses of grape soda and diet coke. From there we made the drive to Panama City and the Country Inn that awaited us.

After dropping off our things, we drove to a bike shop (strange, huh? We drove to go biking...) and rented "bicicletas" for $3.75/hour each for a ride over the Amador Causeway to the nearby islands, negotiating cars, other bikes, strollers, skateboards, in-line skates and pedestrians. Stomachs are tricky things, however, so it wasn't long before Peter, Mom, and me were complaining about the lack of food. We persevered (all the while noting every restaurant we passed) until we were done. The ocean and its accompanying breezes were quite refreshing, and helped keep sweating at bay (quite a feat for anyone who has experienced "The Williams Sweat"- Annie, Chris, Marc, you sympathize?).

There was a TGIFridays restaurant connected to our hotel, so we stayed local and ate there for dinner. At around 10:19 PM, after watching "Apocolypto" and "The Snow Walker" en Espanol, Cassandra translating, we are all feeling rather sleepy, wishing we had the waves to rock us to sleep tonight, rather than dad's snoring (oh, it's coming, just wait).

I almost forgot New Years Eve! At about 2 PM that day we headed down to the local Chino market and found some rather inexpensive fireworks, the kind you know had to be on the black-market in the States. We weren't disappointed. After helping ourselves to rather salty local Chinese Food (there's a distinct Chinese influence in the area) we wasted little time in lighting the fireworks on the sandy beach. Mom found a bamboo pole on the beach to launch our bottle rockets from, which was dang useful. Each shot about 175 yards in the air. Some little fireworks, which we affectionately called "Russian Roulette", went anywhere but where we expected them to. Two landed in our neighbors yards after they skimmed over the top of our heads. We also lit up reams of fire crackers. The finale will rival future 4th of July celebrations for the next few years. The fireworks launched themselves one after one another in a sight that I could only compare with having a front row seat at the A's field firework's display. It was pretty sweet. And what was even better, we didn't need to clean anything up because it all landed in the ocean or got blown away with the sand (we are an environmentally friendly family...right).

I leave for home tomorrow, to Utah, a state a wee bit colder than Panama. Last I heard it was a frigid 25 degrees. I'll be taking home the laughs and smiles from my family, as well as their love, to keep me warm. And if that fails me, then I've snatched a bag full of sand and another full of sea shells to decorate my apartment. Oh, and my mom's razor blade. Shh...it'll be our little secret.

Happy New Years and bright tomorrows! Cassandra.