We left at the crack of dawn Tuesday morning (on this vacation, what else is new) to drive out to Pedasi. This is on the southeastern tip of the Azuero Peninsula and the dryest of the dry in Panama. It is mostly a fishing village of about 2,000 people, and Carnival is HUGE here. It has a new development of houses on the beach that Ray and I noticed a year ago. So if we found the development (Costa Pedasi), we wanted to do a "drive by and look and see". Our intentions were also to pay attention to the towns of Anton (the bank line we noticed was packed with people sitting in seats waiting in line), Penonome, Aguadulce, Chitre and Las Tablas. We both have read so much about these towns, we finally were able to see them and most likely rule those out as a future home for us.
Our updated map for our GPS of Panama wouldn't recognize Chitre, so Ray being so smart took a detour and drove us through the town. This was good--we saw the area of shopping and restaurants. This was bad--we missed the bus station for the fried chicken I had read on Indacampo's blog, and we didn't really want to go into Chitre. The road from Chitre to Las Tablas will be fantastic once all four lanes are in use. For now, it goes from four to two to four so that we were driving on the opposite side of the road at 30, 40, and 60 KM/H. Slow going. Next we see a sign that says "Pedasi" (but not really the beach area of Pedasi), and Ray turns left. He gets us to our first police checkpoint (good first experience--hand over your license and go about your business), and we are off again. We arrive to Calle Principal, or Main Street, four hours after leaving El Valle.
Since we knew that our new friends, Jeff and Denise, were at Casita Margarita, we thought we would check in on them and see if they wanted to have lunch or a drink. According to the very sweet owner of this Bed and Breakfast, they had just left to tour Isla Iguana and would be gone for the day. No problem. She gave us a map of the town and pointed out where Costa Pedasi could be found. She is also the reason (besides reading about the places on blogs) we ate our way through the town. First stop was Mamallenas for $1 caramel ice cream (me) and strawberry cheesecake ice cream (Ray) and use of the rest room. We ate our yummy, delicious treats at 10:30 am in the park. I, also, walked the park and took pictures. We then drove to Costa Pedasi and saw the housing development where the blogger, Iris of Postcards in Panama, has settled into her new home. We spoke with the agent, Michael, and really learned a great deal from him about his development and Pedasi (zero rain). He shared with us that we could build a house off the model scheme as we went along, the cost of housing and life in Pedasi. Ray and I have realized Pedasi is a little too far out there for us (farming country). Chitre is within an hour (once roads really set up correctly), the beaches are gorgeous (!), but it might be a bit too dry for us, also. Smiley's was our lunch break (Ray still tries ordering hamburgers. Okay, sort of. We were told to try Tortuga's (a new restaurant but no one was dining there, and we wanted to be with others.), and Maudy's was a wonderful stop for smoothies "para va"! (To go!). On the drive back there were several fires being put out by the hard working bomberas of Panama. Did I mention it is super dry?
Fried Chicken. Since I had read about the fried chicken in a restaurant at the back of a bus terminal, and my dear friend is going on a fried chicken pilgrimage, I was in search of this chicken. We found it! Since driving through Chitre caused us to miss the car dealerships and the bus terminal earlier, driving out of Pedasi we stumbled on it (the GPS was right). And it was to die for chicken. So moist and the skin was super crunchy (a bit salty which made it all the better)! We shared a piece that was served to us in a brown paper bag. It was a great pit stop!
Away we went continuing back to El Valle and this time we took Michael's advice (the agent from Costa Pedasi). He told us they had finished road work in some areas but never took the speed limit signs down, so we should just follow along with the flow. We decided the McD's in Penonome should have a clean bathroom (so I stopped again at one)--it did not, and we picked up drinks. With two stops on the way back from Pedasi to El Valle, the drive took three hours and forty-five minutes.
I told Ray if it was misting again up the mountain, then El Valle might not be the place for me. It has been sunny for two days off the mountain, but we keep coming back to rain. We start out at elevation being 210 feet and 25 degrees Celsius (around 80 degrees Farenheit). At Copecito, 8 km mile marker, it is 700 feet in elevation. And where we stayed, Casa di Pietra, it is 1900 feet. AND it was warm and sunny--it had been sunny all day!
Once in our room, we "facetimed" with our daughter showing her our treehouse. She loved hearing the birds in the background. We learned about her week and shared stories of ours. Out the door to eat at Carlito's which is new in El Valle. We had eaten here on our last visit in San Carlos. We met the owner, Omi, who is so friendly! There was a parade honoring San Jose (Father of the town of El Valle), and Omi told us the Panamanians are so warm and humble. They come down the mountain to honor their Father. We stood and took pictures and watched the parade until our fantastic empenadas, sangria and thousand sheets cake came along! When we arrived back to our B&B, Luis told me to expect pancakes for breakfast and said our check out time could be as late as four pm (it is usually one pm which is pretty late to begin with for what I am used to). We told him what Wednesday had in store for us and that we would be down for breakfast asap.
This researching for retirement is hard work! But I really felt much better seeing Pedasi. I had to get those towns out of my system, and now Ray can concentrate more on researching fewer, localized towns. But who knows. We may get here, venture to Boquete and decide that is where we want to be! Things could change...that all happened Tuesday. It is Thursday now. The last two days have been even more seeing, listening and learning--those posts will have to wait since a shower is calling my name! When in Panama, sometimes two showers a day are necessary! Stay tuned!
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