I’m back at my Las Lajas base after a couple days running around the mountains of Central Panama. For some reason Facebook wouldn’t allow me to post my last Frail Deeds post. I got a message that the post resembled spam even though I have specifically avoided putting any kind of advertising in the blog. For someone wanting to catch up, you can tap the post on the right, titled 7 Days etc. That post lays out why my Favorite Panamanian was able to pry me away from the beach, seven days without swimming due to the recalcitrant ear. She’s incredibly close to the ex-wife of one of her cousins who lives in the mountain town of Volcan. So that’s where we headed on Wednesday morning.
Wife and her Friend in Volcan
We
found a new road to Volcan which avoided having to drive through the traffic excesses
of Concepcion. We were spending the night in the apartment the lady were coming
to see rents out. It was luckily free for the night. Our hostess is a
recognized artist and has beautifully decorated her home over the years. As
luck would have it, the Upstairs Neighbors also happened to be in Volcan for
the day so we vectored them into our location. Our hostess’ architect son lives
next door and had seven, week old, golden retriever puppies. The very proud
parents were a lot of fun and absolutely beautiful. It tugged at the heart a little
bit as I was reminded of our beloved goldens, gone for so long now. 
And the Upstairs Neighbors
The Puppies
My
Favorite Panamanian immediately started campaigning to acquire one of the
puppies but we’ll be back in the States before they’re available. That’s fortunate
timing because I’m not sure I could have resisted. We all went for a fun lunch
at a local eatery where I scored a rare, for Panama, treat, chocolate chip
cookies! The neighbors had to return to
the beach while we retreated back to our hostess’ home. I went into this visit
with my eyes wide open. I knew what was going to happen. I brought a fully
charged Kindle because when my wife gets together with this friend, the conversation
is going to be constant, without break. I set up in the breezy, terrace,
enjoying the cooler mountain air, and started reading.
Proud Dad and Mom
My
Favorite Panamanian came up for air in the early evening and we snuck out for a
dinner at a nice local restaurant/hotel, Los Brezos, where I scored the pepperoni
pizza I was denied last Friday. Then it was back to the house and the
conversation. I was coaxed into the main house with a promise of chocolate cake
and cable television. I watched a Marvel movie in Spanish while the two ladies
carried on. I couldn’t hear much of the dialogue over the spousal conversation,
because, as I have stated before, in Panama, the loudest one gets to talk first
in any conversation. Our hostess is originally from Brazil but she’s been in Panamá
long enough to acquire that tendency. Of course, she was up against the
recognized master of the spoken word, my Favorite Panamanian. I
retired after the movie while the ladies carried on, briefly noting my departure.
I was awoken, despite my wife’s best attempts to quietly enter the room, around
2am which is when they finally ran out of either words or energy. I’m guessing
energy. They picked up right where they left off in the morning as we prepared
to leave. One of the developments of the night before dialog was a plan to
return for a week next year where my wife will receive painting lessons. I’ll
probably be left at the beach (hopefully). My Favorite Panamanian had also
planned on stopping by another recently acquired friend in another mountain
town so they reluctantly had to break off the conversation. This was indeed fortunate
because my kindle was warning me it was almost out of power.
Los Brezos Dinner
We
took a quick trip up the mountain road towards Cerro Punta to stop by the hotel
where we spent our honeymoon 42 years ago. We stayed there a couple years ago
and were disappointed that it seemed to be on a downward spiral. There must be
new ownership because it looked great. Our next stop was the mountain town of
Boquete. We reached it through a back road we’ve taken a couple times which I
really enjoy riving because of the twists and turns and abject natural beauty the
mountains of Panama offer. We arrived in Boquete in time for lunch and gelato (a
wifely requirement whenever we visit and who am I to object?). Our new friends,
who are considering buying the condo next to ours, live in a gated golf community
called Valle Escondido.
42 Years Later
There
were a couple layers of security in this place and it was obvious this was a
very exclusive place. One of the security guys jumped in a golf cart to escort
us to our destination. This is where a large percentage of the foreign ex-pats
of Boquete live, including a lot of Americans. We spent a nice short visit with
our new friends in their villa where it was obvious they are really “well off”.
He’s from Oregon and she’s yet another Brazilian and they feel like long time friends
already. We hope they can make the condo purchase and we’ll have to increase our
gang to “Ocho Amigos”. We wended our way out of Valle Escondido, which means
Hidden Valley. It really is, within walking distance of downtown Boquete but
hidden between two of the towering mountain ridges endemic to the area. Luckily
my wife wanted to shop in Boquete. I know. That sounds weird. Me using the word
“luck” in the same sentence saying my wife wanting to shop. The luck involves
her forgetting her pocket book back in the friends’’ villa. If we hadn’t stopped
to shop, she wouldn’t have noticed until we were back in David, well out of the
mountains and the friends were leaving the next day for the States. 
Our Honeymoon Room on Bottom Left
Lunch in Boquete
Our
immediate return to Valle Escondido involved a lot more drama. We were
following a taxi towards our destination along with the security guard. There
is a narrow twisting road up a steep hill and the taxi couldn’t make it up and
started falling back towards us. He stopped short of us but decided he couldn’t
make it up, so I had to back the rest of the way back down the road with verbal
assistance from the security guard, the taxi driver, and, loudly, from my wife.
As luck (there’s that word again) would have it, the backup camera screen in
the car was hard to see since the sun was at a bad angle hitting it directly. The
paved road was just a little wider than the car and lined with expensive foliage
on either side. I ended up with my back tire off the road and that’s when I started
getting a lot more “guidance” from all three sources. I finally blocked them
all out and guided on the near side of the road which I could see. We got the
taxi down, us up to the villa, pocket book retrieved, and the wife shopping.
After a brief stop in David to see her mom, we just missed arriving back at the
condo in time for the sunset. Small worry, it was good to be home and I’d just
had a truly enjoyable time with my better half in some of the most beautiful
terrain in the world. In two days, I’m back in the water!!!!
Side of Friend's Villa
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back on the Beach This Morning, Still no Swimming
But the Kindle is Recharged
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 3rd 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; Seis Amigos
- two couples from our condo complex and my wife and I; Soxfather – my brother in law; Tia Loca – wife’s younger
sister; Wingman
– my son in law; Wingmom – Wingman’s
mom, of course
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