Mi casa su casa

     We went to dinner the other day at the house that will be ours on August 1st.  Here are some pictures of the inside...

The house comes fully furnished and has two bedrooms, an office, and a "dry" room for storing papers and anything that can mildew or mold.  It also has three bathrooms and a patio that measures over 600 square feet.  We also have a maid/gardener that comes twice a week.

...Not bad for a couple of old retired folks!

We also went to a craft store this week and got a hammock for Connor, our grandson, and a couple of other gifts for the family...
Tomorrow is another surf session, and Tuesday we have another adventure...we're going back to the 'States for a visit...so that's all for now from Mike and Sandy's Excellent Adventures...in Panama!

Another Parade, this time for Horses

I was busy mopping floors this morning when I heard a nose like a car backfiring several times.  The nosie was getting louder and I realized it was fire crackers. Then I heard the drums and "Musica" and I knew a parade was close by.  The word is the children were Celebrating a week of Horses.  Anything for a parade... The "Musica" was definitely Latin and the moms and a few dads were two stepping it down the street with their hips just movin...They had a couple of men on horseback leading the parade.
Then came the children, all different sizes and grades....all of them riding THE STICK HORSES and wearing their black cowboy hats. It was so damn cute.  All the traffic stopped and everyone was smiling.
I realized I never thought that the noise could have been gun shots. Another reason we live here, I cannot wait for November, that is the month with the most holidays and fiestas. I am only sorry Mike missed all of it, he is in Panama City doing more paperwork and blood tests for getting his Panamanian drivers license....
Another Adventure and I only had to walk out my front door and turn right....Who Knew!!!!!!

Things we do in El Valle

     Last Friday we finally got to go surfing.  We went to a beack Called Playa Tetas.  Going to the beach here is unlike California.  All the beaches are at the end of the road...and sometimes the road looks more like a creek bed than any road you have ever traveled.  Tetas is a good break and we spent an hour in 80 degree water and only had to share the break with two other people.  All in all we couldn't have asked for a better first day in the water. 
     Four or five days a week I try to get 45 to 60 minutes in on a bicycle.  I got one from the local general store...paid about $100...and try to do a big cloverleaf around town that is a mix of flat and gentle sloping asphalt.  My friend "N" rides with me, and is patient about riding slowly so I can keep up.  He's been riding for 35 years and usually rides 100 to 120 miles a week.  Twice a week he climbs out of the valley and rides to the Pan American highway and back...a distance of about 30 miles round trip.  He's a good climber and rides at a totally different level than I do.

Here he is, beginning a climb on his $9,000 bike with the shoes and pants and jersey and helmet...

And here I am, on my $90.00 bike in sweatpants and shower shoes, doing my best to keep up.

Yesterday we went on a hike up one of the local peaks.  It's called the "India Dormida".
The legend is that it's a buried Indian princess, who killed herself when her father disapproved of her choice of a boyfriend.  The mountain takes on the form of her supine profile, with her nose at the highest point.  It is considered the easiest climb in the valley, but you couldn't prove that by me.


                        Here I am at the top of the climb.

         And here's the view of the valley...the reward for all the effort.

     Sunday is buffet day at Ty's Sports Bar...all you can eat for $7.95...and many of the local gringos get together for lunch.  It's nothing formal.  Just whoever is in town and we swap gossip and lies about ourselves for a couple of hours.

     This is Ty's Sports Bar. All you can eat...until it's all gone!  So that's just a few of the things we do here in the valley...that is when we're not sunning ourselves or watching the rain.   Annother day in paradise with Mike and Sandy's Excellent Adventures in Panama.


"No See Ums" and maybe some Surf

My sister-in-law Kate was the first person to tell me about "No See Ums". They don't bother Mike but I am always swatting myself when something stings me or it feels like something is crawling on me. Most of the time I can't find anything but I still feel it.

When we lived here in Panama in the 1968 we had "sand fleas" that bothered me for a few months, then I seem to tolerate them. You could never see them but you would be slapping your ankles, legs and arms all the time. The "No see Ums"..... I have heard other people here in Panama say the same phrase.

We were busy killing flies the month of may, now I only see 1 or 2 each day. The little bitty ants are almost gone as well as the flying ants. Butttttttttttttt, we still have the large stinging ants who love to come out as soon as it is dark and you turn a light on. We have even started putting a towel on the floor in front of the door where they can crawl under. It gets dark at 6 so that means you cannot read a book because the ants appear and you spend most of your time killing them.

We watch T.V. (about 8 channels in English), golf and basketball in Spanish along with HLN World News.  We hope to have a better feed when we move in August. SO there are times when we go to bed before 8 p.m.

As soon as I get up in the morning I start sweeping floors and do the bug count.  LOL !!!!!!
We are hoping these ants disappear soon. Living in Paradise comes with bugs, many different kinds that I am still learning about.

Yesterday we went to Coronado, picked up a bucket of KFC and started driving to check out our local beaches. Alot of the time you cannot find a public beach, they are behind gated communities.  The locals know how to go to the end of the road and walk thru the trees and you are at a beach. We have found one that we will go to tomorrow, it has white sand beaches and facilities for me as well..

So this morning Mike dropped his board in his truck, called his friend N and they were off to find the one break that they have heard of that is around Coronado.

Needless to say he left with a big smile on his face!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

Wheels at last

     Yesterday was liberation day.  We took the bus into Panama City and made our way to the Kia dealer.   We only had to wait a few minutes and we were readdy to go.  First stop was the gas station to get $20 worth of diesel at $3.65 a gallon.  Then the fun started.  Panama City is a maze posing as a city, and they further complicate things by having closed intersections every few blocks.  They're digging for a subway system and that, in combination with some new overpasses and elevated roadways, means that there is construction going on everywhere.  I might add that they don't believe in street signs here, so getting out of town was quite an adventure.  But we made it without too much trouble and the ride home was uneventful. Now my new steed is grazing quietly in the front drive, waiting patiently for our next challenge.  This week we'll be going to David to visit with my lawyer's family and to get my Panamanian driver's license...maybe a trip to the beach in there too...but for now, so long from Mike and Sandy's Excellent Adventures in Panama.

When you assume you make...

     I know I said that last Monday we were going to pick up the new truck...and I was pretty sure that's what we were going to do.  As it turned out all we picked up was a lesson in assumption, and you know what that can get you.  It seems that Panama has made great strides toward assuring that all drivers in this country have liability insurance and that cars and trucks are properly registered.   One way that they accomplish this is to make you wait for a new car, even if you pay cash, until all the insurance paperwork is filed and the plates are on the car.  For us that means that next Monday, not last Monday,  is the pickup day.  For those who are curious, I've included a picture I got off the internet of just what the truck looks like.  You can't get one of these in the States, but I fell in love last year and have wanted one ever since.  You can't pick up  chicks with one of these, but that's not my game right now.  What you can do is put three adults comfortably in the back seat, and still have a six foot bed in the back.  The back wheels are all under the bed, and all three sides drop down...like an old VW or a Greenbrier.  The result is plenty of passenger room, great visibility, and  great cargo room in the back.  I might add that it's a 2.7 liter diesel with a high-low four wheel drive, so it'll go just about anywhere we want to go. Diesel is about $3.65 a gallon here now, so economy comes into play as well.  Right now we're waiting patiently for Monday...it's easy to do here.  The rain has finally come for today and that's cooling things off.   For now I ride my bike for an hour in the morning, we get a little sun before noon, and watch the rain in the afternoon, but come next week we'll have some wheels and there will be more to come in Mike and Sandy's Excellent Adventures in Panama!                                

Where on Earth are we?

          Almost everyone can find Panama on the map, but few know just where El Valle is, so I thought I'd include a little geography lesson.  Panama runs mostly West to East, and the Pacific Ocean is south of us.  The capitol, Panama City, is in the center of the country, and you travel southwest from there to reach the major beaches.       .

 Shortly after passing through Playa Coronado, you reach the village of Las Uvas. There you leave the Panamerican Highway and turn north for the 28 kilometer (17mile)trip into the mountains.

  

                                      Las Uvas is just past San Carlos                                             

The road to El Valle has over 100 twists and turns and climbs from sea level to about 3000 feet before it drops into the valley.  I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but El Valle is in the bottom of a dead volcanoe and we are completely surrounded by mountain peaks.  This gives us spectacular views and our own unique weather patterns.

This is a computer simulation of the topography of our little valley.  The  floor is at 2000 feet elevation and the surrounding peaks top off at 3200 feet.  The valley floor is a little under four miles across, and then everything goes straight up!

This is a street map of El Valle.  It shows a few points of interest...the little red dot in the middle is where we are living now.  It's just down the road from the central produce market where we get fresh lettuce and tomatos and cucumbers almost every day.  The second dot, about two blocks off the main avenue, is where we will be living as of August 1st.  Don't let the white lines fool you, though.  Our new street, like many of the residential streets, is really a grass lane shaded by large trees.

Here's another map of the town, and it includes the names of the larger peaks.

So, that's it for today's lesson.  It's a beautiful place to live...my friend from Kuai likes it better here than the Islands, and that's saying a lot! Soon we'll be getting our new wheels, and we'll be seeing more of the country, but for now we're just looking forward to today's buffet at the local sports bar...all you can eat for $7.95!

Adios and hasta lluego from Mike and Sandy's Excellent Adventures in Panama!

Adventures come in many forms

     Today is Friday and the living is easy...but not entirely uneventful.  Last Wednesday I went to Panama City with my friend, "N"....to go to the bicycle shop, and to check out a truck for me.  "N" is a cyclist and needed some work done on his bike.  First we went to the Kia dealer in the city and I found what I wanted in short order.  It's a double cab Kia diesel that isn't sporty looking, but is really roomy and practical.  I put a deposit on it to hold the deal and now I'm waiting for the wire transfer and the arrival of the money.  Things went a little differently for "N".  Last week he had a cable break in his derailer shifter and a small broken part was clogging the mechanism.  Let me point out that "N" has over $8,000 invested in his bike, and he rides five days a week, and the down time was giving him fits. When the mechanic told him that the work would take a vary long time..."many tiny parts"  we asked what a replacement would cost...and that's where the fun began.  We asked about the cost of the new shifter,(it's built into the brake handle and ,of course, nothing less than the best would do) and we thought he said it was seventy-something dollars, so the replacedment was done.  Stupid Gringos! When it came time to pay the bill, we found out that the parts were seven hundred dollars!  It's a good thing I had some plastic on hand or "N" would still be walking....anyway, all ended well and my friend is racking up the miles again, and my money transfer should be done soon and I'll have some wheels.  That means we'll be surfing soon and travelling around this beautiful country in search of more Excellent Adventures.  On a geography note, I'll be posting a couple of maps soon to let you all know just where El Valle is and a few more tidbits about our new home.  Much to do in the coming weeks.  I'll be getting a new car, I have to get my Panamanian driver's license, and on August 1st we'll be moving into a big house on a quiet street... but not before a quick dash back to the States for the 4th of July!   So, adios for now, hasta lluego, from Mike and Sandy's Excellent Adventures in Panama.