April 24th

I need to talk about our trip to the Dominican Republic.

It was one of the best holiday's I have ever been on!  Karen and Dave's wedding was beautiful, I was a little stressed with being the photographer....but Karen and Dave are so easy going, they were just thrilled I was able to do this for them.   They took the pressure off, and I had a lot of fun photographing for them.

The week in Punta Cana was full of laughs, drinks, and relaxation by the pool, my body is still trying to recuperate from last week......although I think I maybe back to normal now...maybe!

Stew posted about the stress we had coming back to Panama......I am very happy to say that we were refunded completely!!!!!!!  Talk about relief!!!  I am just glad this is all behind us now.

Stew also talked about how we are driving back to Calgary......i know I had said in my point of view that I was totally done with riding back!   Well, I guess I am a slow learner, for I was the one that suggested we ride back.  Figured it would be great to go full circle.....ride here and back home again.
We know what to expect now, am ready for those 3 hour border crossings, and I don't intend to eat at any road side stands!
Stewart has gotten so much better with his spanish...me, I just rely on him!  We will see some areas a little better, since near the end of the trip coming to Panama, we just wanted to get to our destination.
We can take our time going, the kids will be done with school, and once we get back into the States we can move a little faster to get home.

Brandon will fly back to Calgary and stay with friends for the month of June.  He doesn't really want to ride back, saying it is more fun to drive than to be a passenger, so when we would talk about the days drive, Brandon felt he couldn't contribute to the conversation......thing is, I thought he could have contributed more, since he didn't have to concentrate on the road, he could look around and see the sights so much better.  Oh well, he can fly home with the school books, and anything else that we don't want to take with us.....driving home, we should be a whole lot lighter than when we arrived.

with that, I will sign off for now, but I will add some photos of Punta Cana and some photo's of Karen and Dave's wedding.

ciao
Karen

 Hotel in Panama city....spent the day at immigration

 Jada and Brandon being silly at the airport in Panama

 First night in Punta Cana

 Our great Friends...Karen and Dave

 We even have mutual friends...Dave Essiltine, who we knew from Rainbow Lake

Waiting for Karen and Dave to arrive

 Stew and I walked downtown....too far to walk back, we caught a ride

three of us on a motorbike.....I laughed pretty hard

 David's birthday party

 The two Karens'....

 Dave and Stew.....he is in much better shape than when he was in Panama

 My wonderful awesome family!!!  Love you guys!

 Jada and Karen

 the stag,  stagette party

 mother and daughter....having a blast as always together

 Dave, Stew and Karen

 Dave, Me, and our waitress Maria

 The Ladies

 Jada and Karen's daughter Katie

 Karen, Curtis, (karen's Son), and Brandon

 I took over 700 photos of the wedding, only posting a couple

 Mr and Mrs. Fraser

 Karen and Dave

 our waitress, Maria, gave me a necklace

all for now......will have Stew post when we get back from our little mini trip this weekend.

Leaving and getting back into Panama - Spoiler, not as easy as you might think!

We have been in Panama for 6 months now.  I still can't believe it has been so long!  Panama only allows you to be in Panama for 180 days before you need to leave for 72 hours.  No problem since we wanted to go to Karen and Dave Fraser's wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, which is right at the 6 month mark.  So this is where I mea culpa for not calculating correctly and booked the flights out at 184 days.  I really didn't think it would be a problem until I dug into it.  If you try to leave, they redirect you to Immigration to pay a fine for staying too long.  No problem if you know ahead of time.  If you don't take care of it before you hit the airport then they won't let you out until the fine is paid.  This can really screw up travel plans because it takes a few hours to pay the fine.

So, with the knowledge that we had to pay fines at Immigration, we headed to Panama city a day earlier than our flight to Punta Cana.  We checked in to our hotel and headed to the immigration office. We went to go in the office and were not allowed to go in.  I had forgot that hospitals and office buildings do not let you in as a man with shorts on (long pants are required) and as a lady with your shoulders showing.  So we walked for 10 blocks in the afternoon sun to Price Smart (Costco) and bought some pants and a shirt for Jada.

We got into the immigration office and went to information where we took a number and waited our turn.  It only took about 1-1/2 hours of waiting to get to talk to an immigration officer who started the paperwork and sent me out to get passport photocopies.  There was a crappy little van parked outside with a photo centre and copiers, so I got the documents copied and headed back inside (80 cents for copies).  Back to the lady with the copies, who did some more work and then sent us outside for pictures (now I knew why the van did copies and photos).  We only needed Karen's photo and got it done in 20 minutes for $3.00.  

We headed back into the office and a new guard followed Karen downstairs to the immigration office.   I was following too and he was trying to get her attention for something.  I asked what the problem was and he asked me to stay where I was and pointed to my feet.  We were both wearing flip flops, which is another no no.  The 1st guard let it slide, but this fellow was not happy about it.  By the time he reached Karen, she was back with the immigration officer and he was talking fast to here in Spanish and seemed pretty upset (probably because she didn't stop for him).  The officer was very good and she talked to the guard who then let us stay.  At this point all we had to do was pay the $55 and then get the final paperwork copy, so 10 minutes later we left with everything in hand.  Note that I was not over the 180 days (I had gone back to Calgary for a weekend to get the kids schoolbooks) and the kids were minors and did not have to pay the fine.

That night we had a good supper and then hit the VIP theatre for the new Captain America in English with Spanish subtitles.  In the morning we headed to the airport and had no troubles getting on the plane (phew!).

We will cover the wedding in Punta Cana in another post, other than the return flight, which fits better in this post.

We arrived at the airport in Punta Cana after the wedding about 3 hours before our plane was to take off (lots of time right?).  The lines were short, so we got to the COPA (Panama Airline) ticket counter fairly quick and she pulled up our itinerary and tagged our bags.  She then asked for a copy of our return flight information, which we didn't have because we are driving back to Canada.  She would not let us board without a plane ticket out of Panama!  This is a tricky policy with Panama Immigration.  

You need to supply proof that you have at least $500 in your account and a purchased plane or Tica bus ticket out of Panama, so that they knew you would not be a drag on the economy and would be leaving before the 180 days are up.  When we entered Panama, was able to talk to the Immigration officer at the border crossing, who let us in without a return ticket, because I had said we were driving out.  It was not that big of an issue at that crossing.  At the airport, I couldn't talk to an immigration official and the COPA airlines ticket lady had to stick by the rules.

So we left our baggage with her and rushed to the other terminal where there was free wifi so I could purchase tickets to leave Panama that we will never use!  I was so pissed at myself for thinking I could work it out with the immigration officer this time, not thinking that I would't be able to talk to one.  I thought it would be handled in Panama at the Immigration checkstop and not in Punta Cana at the ticket agent.  Another case of fuzzy rules in Central America causing us some problems.  All because we drove in instead of flying in.

We found the free wifi zone around a coffee shop, so I got a coffee and the internet information (free wifi - yippee).  We tried multiple devices for about 20 minutes to try to get connected with no luck whatsoever.  Add to this that the airport had lots less workers in it for Holy Thursday (shops and the media centre shut down for the holiday here).  I was really thinking we would miss our plane.  I asked a lady for some help and she spoke enough English that we could get our predicament across.  I had asked if we could pay to use her phone as a hotspot to buy our tickets.  She would not take any money, got us connected to her hotspot and left her phone with us as she went to work.  She asked that we leave her phone with one of the other workers when we were done and did not seem worried one bit about leaving here phone with strangers.  Really goes to show you that generally people are willing to help wherever you go.

With our internet connection I tried to book us on the TICA bus from David to San Jose Costa Rica (cheap bus tickets).  The TICA bus booking system kept freezing on us and kicking us out.  When I finally thought I had it ready to purchase, the system would not allow me to book.  This wasted another 20 minutes, so time was running short for us to catch our plane.  Stress levels increased and I finally gave up on TICA bus and went to Expedia to find flights.  I found some refundable flights for the whole family and booked the tickets.  I emailed them to the COPA ticket lady and we headed back to the other terminal to finish getting our tickets.  Before we left, we could not see the lady who lent us her phone or the other person we were supposed to give it to.  I found another officer and tried in my broken Spanish to explain that we needed to get the phone back to the lady.  It took a while, but another agent came by and seemed to know what was happening and took the phone.  I hope it made it back safely, because the lady saved us big time.

We made it on the plane and back to Panama with about 30 minutes to spare!!!

When we drive out, I have to remember that there will be issues, but that there is always a way around them.  Hopefully we find all the ways around issues that are not expensive.  

ttfn
Stew

What do we do all day?

Ok, so we had the last of our visitors head back to Canada.  It was sure nice to have all our guests visit.  It really lets us re-discover this wonderful country and forces us to go see good friends (when we take people to see the jungle in Altos Del Maria).  It also gets us out of our comfort zone here in Panama.  I wouldn't cal it a rut, but will call it a routine that is good to disrupt from time to time.

Here is a typical day for us here in Panama:
 - Get up around 6:00 to get the kids ready to head to school.
 - Make some coffee and drink it on the deck watching the sunrise and the fishermen go about their day. (There is one older man who paddles his small boat heaped up with nets so full that he has to stand, so it is like his own paddle board)
 - Cut up some Papaya and sometimes some pineapple for breakfast on the deck.
 - Get the kids on Jada's motorbike and off to school at 7:00 (school starts at 8:00, but it takes 40-45 minutes to get from door to door and the kids like to be early)
 - Once the kids leave, Karen and I go for a walk on the beach for an hour or so looking for shells and people watching.  We go either left or right with enough beach each way for a good long walk.  We make sure to go through the resort beach (Decameron resort) on Sundays because the other way has a lot of local people partying from before sun up, so it can be loud and makes us uneasy.
 - For a couple months we would most often stop and see our friends Ross and Debra at another condo complex for coffee and a swim in their pool.  Since they left back to Regina, we have to entertain ourselves. (We both miss our time with them)
 - By the time we get back from our walk it is time to have a snack and catch up on email or do some reading before lunch.
 - Lunch is usually a salad or soup unless the kids are home when it switches to baked ham and cheese sandwiches (yum).
 - The afternoon's bring another walk or a run into town on the motorbikes for groceries.  Often we hang out by the beach or pool.  Karen works on her tan and I people watch.
 - We spend too much time on electronics like our iPads reading news and playing games.  Although I have probably read 30 books down here and watched a dozen documentaries.  Most of the reading lately has been about health.
 - We have also spent quite a bit of time researching places to buy to retire and vacation.  There are some pretty cool places in Central America for reasonable prices (at least compared to Calgary).  I am really looking at catamaran cruisers as an option too.
 - The kids come home around 4:00 and do homework until supper. I wish they would spend more time in the ocean, but they don't go out unless I go out (so I guess that means I need to be more fun for them).
 - Supper is mostly fish or chicken with steamed vegetables.  The odd night we have spaghetti or tacos, but the beef down here is not great and we try to keep away from red meat most of the time.  There is a fish market really close and the fresh sea bass is very cheap and really good.  They catch the fish right out front of our condo, so we know it is wild and not farmed fish (so much more healthy).
 - In the evenings we play cards or more often watch tv or a movie.  Although a lot of evenings Jada has homework so she puts her headphones on to concentrate.  We have our apple tv box here, so we can get any tv show or movie we want to watch.  It is tough to spend evenings out because it gets dark at 6:30 so even though it is warm, we tend to stay in the condo.

 - When the kids have no school we tend to do more exciting stuff like heading to El Valle for lunch and the fruit/veggies market (my favourite).  Or surfing, or visiting friends or trying a new restaurante in the area.
 - The kids tend to stay up late and get up late on their days off (typical teenagers).  They also do homework if needed.

Here are some pictures of our beach area.
ttfn
Stew

 The view from our deck to the beach

 Just a cool sunrise picture

 A couple cool kids

 Nice sunrise

A resort boat that they use for booze cruises

Karen and Dave Fraser's wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

April

Since I am in the blogging frame of mind, I may as well keep going!!!!!

March went by so fast, April is going just as fast!!!!   With That, Happy Easter Everyone!!!!

Let's Start near the beginning of April.  

My Mom flew to Panama on the 29th of March, we booked a shuttle from the Decameron to pick her up from the airport, and they brought her to us around 10:30 pm.  All we had to do was drive about 4 blocks to get her.  

Stewarts Sister Peggy, and my cousin Sharon came the following day March 31st.  Again, we had booked the Decameron Shuttle to get them from the airport, they landed around noon, and the shuttle arrived near us around 3 pm.  They must have been tired, for they had taken the red eye to get here.

 Day one with Sharon and Peggy

4 in the afternoon....it's Cerveza Time!!!

The first few days we just relaxed by the beach and looked for shells.  The tide was low again, so we were able to walk around one beach area to another....once the tide gets high, we are unable to walk around a point.....they all arrived at the right time, since tide gets really low only a couple times a month.  For the first time walking around the point we actually saw a couple octopus.  I was pretty excited!  Loved my beach time with the girls!     With three extra bodies, we used the bohios a lot more, and started having 5 o'clock meetings again.......gotta love Cerveza time....I mean safety meeting time!!

 First Octopus we saw

 I thought it was stuck in the sand, so I dug it out a bit, as soon 

as the water came in it swam away

 Walking back to the point before the tide gets too high,

grocery bags full of shells, tide is starting to come in.

 first day at the beach

 kids arrived home from school, a photo shoot is in order

 My kids did grow over the past few months!

never realized how much.

 walking the shore!  my favourite other past time

 Karen, Peggy, Sharon

The next few days we toured around and showed them where we used to live, showed them some of our friends houses in Altos Del Maria, took them to the kids' school, Went to El Valle to do some local shopping, went to an outdoor market, and took them to the zoo.    We finally went to one Restaurant in El Valle that some of our friends were telling us to go to, it was called Cafe de lordes.  It opens up at noon, and you can only get in if you make a reservation.  Again, because it is in such a tourist area prices are a little more.  I loved my food, but I think we paid for the atmosphere as well.  Doesn't matter, was great to discover this place with family members.   

Traveling to Altos Del Maria, and to El Valle, I felt so bad for Sharon and Peggy.....both of them were feeling car sick.   They did okay, for they both took gravel before we drove off....Stewart took it slow, so we wouldn't have to clean up vomit!!!!  needless to say, we did not take them the back way to El Valle through Altos Del Maria.....was a lot more steep and windy and I don't think they would have lasted.  they got to see the jungle regardless.

Jada with one of her school mates.....Dillon, who is also learning through

Alberta Distance Learning

 Stewart feeding his sibling

 the restaurant at El Valle

Cafe De Lourdes

 outside of the restaurant

 The Lobby in Cafe De Lourdes

 Beautiful grounds inside as well.

We ate by the pool and the retaining rock walls

 outside of Cafe De Lourdes again

 Cheers to living life! going to different places, and family coming to visit!

 on the way home, stopped to pick up some gourds!

Which one do I really want.....lets make a deal!!

 Great friends in Altos Del Maria, Tim and Jennifer,

Also from Calgary

 going to the swimming hole in Altos Del Maria

 water is down a lot more and much clearer

 Stew and the Ladies!!

 The top of Altos Del Maria

Sharon, Phyllis, Peggy

I stayed onto my routine of waking up at 6 am to paddle with Deborah.  Our mornings together were coming to an end, for Deb and Ross were flying home to Canada on the 4th of April.  I am so glad my family was able to meet my wonderful friends!!!!  It was so hard to say goodbye to Deb.....my paddle board buddy........we would paddle every morning, then Deb would come up for a cup of coffee and some fruit and visit with everyone.....the afternoon, we would all usually be at Deb and Ross' condo drinking his beer and enjoying their pool.      Walking down the beach to their condo is just not the same anymore!  We walk to the other end of the beach, I look at balcony number 5 expecting to see one of them up there, the other one is usually by the pool.  I usually yell Deb's name, and she comes down and we all hang....... I said to Stew, do you think Nelson will let us in during the week when no one is there?  Man I miss those guys......Stew misses you too!!!  We will see you when we drive our bikes back....we definitely plan to stop in!   hugs to you both!!

 karen and Deb 

meeting for the morning paddle

 karen and Deb

Time for a coffee

 Jada and Brandon getting ready to hit the road

 Jada and Brandon leaving for school at 7 am

School starts at 8

My two precious babies!!!! I love how they have become so independent,

they have both grown and matured so much in this last year!

once we get the phone call from Jada that they have made it to school, we go for our walks, and are more carefree.....they will call us if they plan to stay after school, or if they will be leaving late.

 Karen and Deb coming in from a fantastic morning paddle

 Deb is carrying her board on the other side of phyllis, going in for coffee and fruit

 Look, the fruit man is ready to serve all of us breakfast!  Coffee is pretty good too!!

Later in the day, walking to Deborah and Ross's place for great company, beer,

and a swim in their pool.  see ya in a few months sista!!!

One Morning when Deb and I were paddling boarding a young man on his boat had passed us, and as usual we wave and say buenos Diaz.  Which in return we get a wave and the same response.  This young man was going pretty slow, which I really appreciated, so the wake wouldn't be too big for us....his engine ended up cutting out on him, and at first I thought he did that on purpose.  once we paddled by him and we were pretty far from him, I had said to Deb that I thought he was in trouble....figured this guy is having trouble with his engine.   next thing we are getting whistled at to come back.  I didn't hesitate to go and see what was wrong.   here this guy did have engine trouble, and he didn't have a paddle to go back to land with.  So I gave him my paddle, layed on the tip of my board and proceeded to paddle in with my hands, as well as give him a few big pushes in.  He was very grateful for my help and wanted to do something in return.  So because we had company we talked to him about giving all of us a boat ride to Farallon Island, and tour us around it.  Which he did when the tide came in....too many big rocks around the island when the tide is low.  Stewart and I really appreciated him driving all of us, so we gave him a little money for his gas.  All in all, we have become friends with Anthony, and his friend Edward, i am sure we can get a ride on his boat whenever we want........ as well, I am sure Anthony will have a lot of laughter at his expense for having a girl save him at sea!  

 Louis, Edward, Anthony

My Last day of sup boarding with Deborah was an emotional one. I just can't get over how the time has gone!  It feels like I had known Deborah my whole life, instead of just a couple months.  We became fast friends, and makes me feel if i had lived another life time, I most likely would have known her in it.   she didn't stop in for coffee that morning, but felt it best if she start packing for her trip back to canada.  so peggy, sharon, and phyllis all got to try it before I put it back by the condo.....They did very well, and we all had a good laugh!   Peggy fell in a couple times, and I am so impressed at how graceful she looked while falling.....she laughed at herself, got right back on, pushed herself to try again and was on for a lot longer before falling again.  You rock Peggy!!!!  that's how I look at life too, I tend to laugh at myself a lot too......and sometimes I just need to laugh more....sometimes I don't do it enough!

Peggy on the stand up paddle board

Peggy's Audience

Phyllis on the board

sharon on the board

With everyone up as well, it was perfect timing for Brenda and her husband Carl to come back to Panama to visit Brenda's son Ryan and his little girl.  Ryan has a time share in a Condo in Playa Blanca, which is another close neighbouring beach.  it is about a 10 minute walk to the beach, but his condo is further in from the ocean, so all in all it was about a half hour walk to his place.  At Ryan's condo they have the largest man made swimming pool, which looks like a lagoon, they have a swimming area, as well as a place for seadoos and motor boats.....quite cool actually.

 carl, Stew, Jada, Brenda, peggy

 Ryan's daughter

 Stew and Jada

After a day of swimming and relaxing at their pool, we had decided to go out for supper at that beautiful little restaurant in Panonome.   I am glad we had decided on this restaurant, it was a hit with everybody, and I think this is Brenda, and Carl's new favourite restaurant as well!  What a great way to end the day and share this little gem!!

After 9 days of everyone coming to visit, it was time for all to go home.

Sharon and Peggy left on the 8th in the morning.  We walked them to the Decamoran so they could catch their shuttle to Panama City.

Phyllis was going to catch her shuttle the next day, so we got up at 3 in the morning to get her to the Decamoran.  Since she only had one suitcase, we put her on the back of Stewarts bike, and I took the luggage, and we drove her to the Decamoran.  Once she was on we drove home and went back to bed....we told the kids to not wake us up the night before, because we will have gone back to bed....they did good not to wake us up.

the following are some photos I forgot to post......some are from christmas that were on Stew's phone.....The others are just good candids......I may do this on some other pages and just post photos instead of writing......sometimes photos say more.

 night shot off our deck

I will post more tomorrow.......April isn't done yet!!!!!!

Later......karen Adams