Mountain Sojourn

We were finally able to tear Great Aunt away from her beloved beach yesterday. We took a trip up into the central Panamanian mountains and the town of Boquete. She loved it and we both laughed about wearing shoes for the first time in over a week. On Wednesday, another day at the beach, saw a true highlight for Great Aunt as the pair of beach dogs that haunt the surf at Las Lajas paid us a visit. Dogs are preternaturally psychic because they made an absolute beeline for Great Aunt. They must have sensed the canine love exuding from this human. They set up around her and promptly fell asleep for about three hours.

Sunsetting with Great Aunt and My Favorite Panamanian

Yesterday as we were buying some supplies Great Aunt bought some dog treats. I asked her if they were for her dog Remy, back home. She said they were for the beach dogs. When I cautioned her they might not show up again during the time she’s here, she blithely said that they would have to show up for the FBR during her visit and that I should save them for her to distribute. Dog lovers, we’re a strange breed. We ended Wednesday with another sunset observation party with our upstairs neighbors and their visitors. This included a sunset walk down to the surf line to identify that first star. In other words, yet another perfect beach day at Las Lajas.

Beach Dogs Find Great Aunt

And Set Up Shop

I was impressed that both Great Aunt and my Favorite Panamanian were able to rouse themselves and be ready for the trip to Boquete fairly early Thursday morning. Of course shopping was on the agenda so the surprise should never have surfaced. Great Aunt marveled at the beauty of Panama during the trip into the mountains. It was after sunset during our drive to the condo when she arrived so she was seeing the countryside for the first time. Ears popping, we journeyed up into the mountains towards Volcan Baru, the highest point in Central America. We made the obligatory stop above Boquete at the welcome sign for the views from there. Great Aunt was incredibly pleased to see the resident tribe of Coatimundis (Panamanian racoons). She still can’t pronounce their name though.

Meanwhile, Back in NJ, the FBR Trudges to School

Wednesday Sunset

And Attendant Party

Our first stop in Boquete were the fairgrounds. The amazing floral displays were their usual amazing with the plus of almost no crowd. I suffered the personal agony of the next couple hours of shopping with these two ladies. Boquete is a small town but I still had to move the car six times before the urge was sated. I finally got smart at the last location and found a perch in a café where I could enjoy a cold drink while watching in the ladies pillage. I was able to convince them that I was in danger of dying of hunger following this and we adjourned to the Rock restaurant.

Wife Strolling through Sunset Surf

Yep, Retired Life Treating me Okay

We’d never been there before but enjoyed the streamside location and the food. We chose the place for its claim of a gluten free menu. As I said, the food was really good but Great Aunt reported the one gluten free menu item, while tasting good, may have been contaminated, so be careful if you ever go there. After lunch, we took a driving tour of the hills surrounding Boquete which Great Aunt loved. We kept heading up and the roads got progressively smaller to the point it would only accommodate a single vehicle at a time.

Sis and I Above Boquete

Obligatory Sign Shot

The Fairgrounds

We traveled through the many coffee plantations that dot the hills around Boquete. They were harvesting in some as you could actually smell the coffee as we drove through, totally cool. My wife became enamored of a bunch of trees that were blossoming in a glorious orange. She claimed to have never seen this before. We continued up the road to hit our usual landmarks, a waterfall, the basalt cliffs, and a haunted mansion. My Favorite Panamanian became nervous when I continued up that rapidly shrinking road beyond where I’d ever been before. I’d done a map recon the night before and knew the road eventually turned back, completed a loop, and rejoined the main road above Boquete.

There were some nervous moments (for all of us), especially when we passed oncoming pickup trucks where both of us needed to have our passenger side tires in an almost non-existent shoulder (with a large drop off for one of us). There was at least three inches between our mirrors as we passed. Great Aunt gave an actual shriek at one point when the road gave away precipitously right in front of us. My Favorite Panamanian was in full panic mode and pleaded with me to turn around. I think the expression I was looking for was, the bit was in my teeth. The road did eventually turn but kept going up. There was a surprising amount of farming going on along the nearly vertical mountainsides. Great Aunt, as a born and bred New Englander, had the same reaction to the steep roads as I used to, these must be tough in the winter. Of course, not a problem here although I glanced at the outdoor temperature gauge in the car at one point where it said 16 degrees Celsius. That translates to 60 degrees Fahrenheit which means this was officially the coldest I had ever been in Panama.

My View of Shopping from the Café

The Orange Flowering Tree

We passed a lumber operation that looked at us in mild surprise. I guess, even in gringo soaked Boquete, gringos aren’t spotted that often so deep into the mountains. Great Aunt also marveled at the many Indios families we passed, along with their omnipresent broods of chickens scurrying around the road. She couldn’t believe the long walks to work and school many have to make from their remote locations. We returned to Boquete to confront a true emergency. My Favorite Panamanian had been literally foaming at the mouth all week about this trip to Boquete in order to score some Italian gelato. She was so pleased when we found a parking spot right in front but had her hopes dashed when we learned the electricity was out so the place was closed.

The Basalt Cliffs

We spent the rest of the trip down from the mountains with my wife furiously dialing the internet with her Panamanian phone trying to locate a supposed newly opened gelateria in David, ultimately unsuccessfully. This disaster couldn’t ruin the nearly perfect day as the temperatures returned to more Panamanian typical as we made our way back to the coastal plain. We spent a couple hours laying in the needed supplies for our return trip (any trip back to David means buying food). Great Aunt was able to score some gluten free snacks for her trip back stateside on Monday. That trip had been in not too sorrowful jeopardy when the was a reported threatened pilots’ strike from her airline. She was anticipating a longer stay when they settled. We ate dinner again, just as delightfully as the first time, at Terra (still best pizza in Panama).

Waterfall Selfie

We had one more surprise waiting for us after a very long day on the road. The usually comatose (after dark) small town of Las Lajas (about seven kilometers from the beach) was rocking. We’d noticed some large bamboo archways set up on the main road as we were leaving that morning. This was an annual “feria” which is religious based in origin but decidedly not in execution. We were reduced to walking speed on the main road as we dodged party goers and dozens of horses ridden with amazing skill. Many of these horses were tied up outside the town cantina (straight out of a Western movie). We reached the central square and the noise was deafening as the speakers were trying to set some sort of decibel record. It was all pretty cool. Great way to end a great day.

Wait a Minute!!!
It's the First Friday of the Week
We'll Have to Do Something About that!

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RECURRING CHARACTERS:                                     

ABFA – Amazing Best Family Athlete - my daughter in law; BR3 – Blog Reader #3 – granddaughter #3; BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel - second granddaughter; Cantankerous Friend – friend since grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to attract women; CRC - Connecticut Riverboat Captain – another close friend from high school, renowned sailor of the big river; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during him her single days in Brooklyn; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Favorite Panamanian - the wife (of course); FBR - First Blog Reader - first granddaughter; First Friday – celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Keene Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene, NH; Kindergarten Friend – friend since kindergarten whom I reunited with after many years; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3^rd Musquetera (musketeer); Namesake Nephew – son of Great Aunt and Soxfather named after me; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia member; PanaGals – female relatives /friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; PCR - Pittsburgh College Roommate– high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; PCR+1 - Pittsburgh College Roommate’s wife; Riggins - also known as the Grandpuppy, son's dog; Soxfather - my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger sister; Wingman – my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s mom, of course