WE MADE IT TO PANAMA!

 All right!  I really do have to start posting about the trip Ray and I just took to Panama!  I have so much to say and feel a bit overwhelmed by this task.  I am super organized and like to get things done in a timely fashion, but the postings might take a few days.  Today it makes sense to start writing because Hurricane Sandy is heading up the east coast, and we have nothing else to do but to batten down the hatch, stock up on water, find the flashlights and watch some missed recorded TV shows from last week (I really do need more of a life) while we still have electricity.  Hopefully we won’t lose power, but we have been told to expect high winds tonight through Tuesday.

Bright and early Saturday morning (six am) we picked up my sister and her son and drove to Dulles International Airport.  We wanted to be at the airport by eight am to secure our exit row seats (more leg room and only two seats instead of three).  Departure to Panama was easy.  We arrived to the gate at 7:30am, ate breakfast after a stop at Starbucks (my sister does love her some coffee), boarded the plane at nine am, and we took off on time at ten.  Easy breezy.  We were given immigration papers on the plane to fill out, but we weren't given any other forms.  We sat on the left side of the plane and had wonderful views of Panama City and coastline.

I noticed that when we landed in Panama, even though we weren't at the gate, everyone stood up and unloaded the overhead bins.  In DC, the pilot would have told everyone to sit back down, buckle up and wait until the plane was at the gate and no longer moving.  Not in Panama.  Once we landed, we had to wait a few minutes to get to the gate and everyone stood up ready to go.  Nothing was said. 

The one glitch was that when we were passing through immigration, we weren't given forms to fill out on the plane.  The woman was very nice and patient, too, since all four of us had to fill out our destination plans while on line.  Next stop was to have our bags scanned though customs (this is where we handed the forms that we filled out on the plane) and to pick up the car.  We used Budget rental and took off in a Toyota RAV along with a GPS---well worth it. 

We drove to Coronado which took us about ninety minutes.  On the way to the Bridge of Americas, there was a broken down van, construction and just slow traffic.  Men were selling M&M’s (not in packs, just individually pouring them into cups) and Panamanian flags.  The drive took us through jungle-like areas and small towns.  The speed limit went from 80-100 KM. 

Panama skyline (Welcome to Panama!)

The very old and the very new in Panama

Once in Coronado, we went through the first gate to our condo building (Coronado Bay).  As visitors, we had to always drive through the gate on the far right side.  The road is rough with potholes that are deep.  It is $120 to get a chip for the car so that you can travel through the other lane.  One reason why I don’t want to live in Coronado.  Georgina, the owner of the condo, greeted us in the lobby.  The security gate to the building is very secure.  It took us a while before having them just speak to Georgina on the phone to let us pass through.  We stayed in a two bedroom, two bathroom condo on the eleventh floor of Coronado Bay Condominiums.  Georgina showed us the condo and the grounds.  She told us when to swim in the ocean and when not to due to the current.  The sand is black and white.  When Ray and I walked one morning there was debris on the beach close to the building (either guests leave it laying around or it washes up) but not as we walked closer to the larger homes.  I decided to find a white sandy beach to swim in later in the week (Santa Clara).

Coronado Bay

Black and white sandy beach

Kitchen, dining room and part of family room

Family room and balcony (new building going up)

Gets windy out there on the roof top

My view out one window when I would wake up

I finally met Clyde and Terry that first night at Locos Backyard Grill.  I also met the owners of the restaurant, Stephanie and David.  It poured in Gorgona that night.  We just kept moving the table in closer to the center to avoid getting rained on (most of the restaurants we ate at were under cover but outside—bug spray is a must).  Clyde and Terry are just as wonderful in person as they have been “virtually”.  We had great conversation with them.  We didn’t scare them away and felt it safe to continue with our plans of visiting with them again at their house on Tuesday. We drank sangrias and ate super large burritos (delicious).  

My sister wasn't feeling well so we called it a night (long travel day).  We had big plans the next day to go on ATV tour with Ty from Ty’s Sports Bar.

Bright and early in the morning!