We came home last night to find ourselves infested with bugs and geckos all over our kitchen. There is only one cure for this infestation. We are getting out of Dodge again in 2 weeks for warmer climes. Our Eastern Carib sailing adventure begins soon.

We came home late last night in sort of the same fashion we left...flying by the seat of our pants, using alternate means of transport after our SLC-to-Medford flight was cancelled by Delta due to terrible, foggy weather here in Oregon. We caught a last minute flight to Eugene, where we rented a Chevy Cobalt for the bleary-eyed drive home. We were exhausted, and Kathy and I alternated drivers 3 times for the usually brief 2.5 hour drive home. We sank into bed at 3 AM, not even bothering to exterminate the kitchen. We were just grateful to Stacy and Mark for getting our home thermostat replaced so we had heat. We cranked on every spaceheater and our pellet stove along with the furnace, and ratcheted up our electric blankets, and still we are cold. To think, just 36 hours ago we were complaining that the AC in Panama City was inadequate ! That all being said, we are so grateful to be safe back home, sans luggage, and having this time to regroup, rebalance, renew. Today we get to shop for food, pay quarterly taxes ( did you know that Panamanians pay only 5% taxes), visit the hairdresser, return our rental car to the airport, run on the treadmill, blog, visit the bank to plead for more money (still waiting for Obama's national vacation coverage), and maybe start to watch some of The Office or The Unit episodes we missed.


The lessons of Panama are still distilling in our minds, and I think we will maybe present a few final thoughts about this recent 6 week hide-and-seek over the next few days, but for now we are just basking in the pleasure of warm water memories, new tan lines, better relationships, and the reward of living life less hurried and more relaxed.

Peter and Dad enjoying a last moment on the beach just before we returned our rental car. Here at Veracruz just west of the Canal next to the runway of what used to be Howard AFB (birthplace of John McCain). Isla Taboga ( see prior post) in the background.

Our trusty steed for the past 4 weeks. Turns out that somewhere along the way we managed to acquire a scrape on our driver's side fender, which we discovered on the last day and added to the unanticipated cost of the trip.

Our next to last day in Panama. We have never, ever done this on any of our past trips, but we decided to try an all-inclusive resort for a day at Playa Blanca west of Coronado. It was listed by the NYTimes as one of the 50 top vacation spots in the world this year. The NYTimes has just lost some more credibility for me. This was the least favorite place of any of our lodging locations of the past 6 weeks...small, conventional hotel room next to construction site, very mediocre food, impersonal, crowded beaches, too many people, no waves. Just nothing special, for a lot of money. But it was WARM, and I'm pretty sure we won't find any casetas con techo de paja back home in Medford.

We found iguanas here. Kathy's happy. Also, watch out for the dreaded garden hose snake.

We found fresh water turtles here. Kathy is very happy. They like cinnamon granola bars.

This was the view from the beach of the Las Olas hotel at Playa Barqueta. This was an impulse stay. We left Boquete after just 4 of the planned 5 nights there. I loved Boquete, but Kathy was missing the warmth of the beach ( actually we all were). So we made on-line reservations and drove southwest an hour or so, less than an hour from the Costa Rica "frontier". This turned out to be the very best beach of our entire stay in Panama. Very BIG waves, great body surfing. Very broad beach, no people( we were the only people for at least 1/2 mile). Clean sand, very warm water. Peculiar absence of any shells. I loved it, and in retrospect would have enjoyed staying here longer. The hotel is pretty average, but acceptable.

The market place in Boquete. I enjoyed photo-graphing the locals.

There were cops everywhere throughout Panama. They use a lot of radar on the roads. We were pulled over several times, sometimes for document checks, sometimes for who knows what. Only once did I deserve it. One cop was going to cite me for going 10 KM over the posted limit of 100kmh, but he lost heart after 5 minutes. The ticket form is very long, and he knew I was a tourist on my way out of the country. And it became apparent to him that I was willing to let him write the ticket without reaching into my wallet on the spot. I never saw a cop follow anybody in their vehicle to stop them. They would just wave at you from the roadside to stop and you were expected to pull over. They all carried side-arms. Saw only 2-3 rifles or shotguns in the 6 weeks though. All generally nice and non-threatening. Almost none speak any English at all. Imagine that in Panama.

Our hotel in Boquete. I liked it a lot. Sat at 3700 feet elevation, cool, windy, lush, verdant. Some skeeters, rained one night. The light in Boquete was amazing. The colors were all so clear and intense. The south of France was always touted as having a special light, but I found the light here remarkable. Made me want to take up painting. Each cabana had two levels. Our room was on the bottom level, and had a bedroom, small kitchen and sitting room. Rio Caldera ran right behind it. It sat in Valle Arcoiris (valley of rainbows). It deserved its name.

From our ATV adventure. This view on top of Volcancito overlooking the town of Boquete. Very beautiful spot, but intensely windy. Our ATV guide took the picture from atop his ATV...hence the movement artifact in the photo.

Another picture of Boquete from same vantage point. Looking north. Highway to David runs to the south. Our ATV adventure was one of my top 2-3 events of the 6 week trip. The mountains were just beautiful. The light was phenomenal. It was so warm. The wind was wonderful. After hiking 5000' up Volcan Baru 2 days before, climbing 2000+ feet without walking was nice. The scenery was just remarkable, despite Peter's sarcasm.

Coffee everywhere here. Juan Valdez is just smelling the beans, Bishop.

Keith