It’s been over a week since we boarded FL635 bound for Panama City. So much has happened. It seems like it was a month ago.
We arrived safely and early in Panama City around 6:20pm on Oct 29th - got through customs, gathered all our luggage (triple checked) and made our way through the luggage check process without any complications. Everything arrived in tact, except my golf travel bag. The zipper broke (but has since been repaired) leaving the bag wide open. My clubs and shoes arrived, but a few hand towels seemed to have found their way to a new address somewhere. I arranged for van with a small trailer from my friend, Fabio Montenegro, to pick us up and drive us to our friends (Trent and Jody Schmuland and their kids) for the night (as they have each time we’ve travelled through Panama City). By 8 o’clock we were knocking on their front door. Thanks for your generosity to us, Schmuland family.
The next morning (Thursday, Oct 30), I had a few business meetings downtown, then returned to the house, loaded the luggage and started off on a 6 hour drive across the country to the David-Boquete area. I’ve made the trip 3 times before, and it was great to reacquaint myself with the landscape of my new home, Panama. It’s near the end of the rainy season, so the trees and foliage are dense showing off a rich and deep spectrum of green (almost neon green to deep dark greens) with occasional shots of orange, red and purple buds grabbing my eye as I safely drove (I promise, honey)along the InterAmerica highway. Some of the vistas from the tops of mountain ridges were absolutely breath-taking. As I moved closer and closer to Chiriqui province the beauty factor went up exponentially. For the last hour or so of my trip the trees were so overgrown that they actually provided a canopy over the highway. It was like driving on a never ending driveway into a private property. I think we live in the most incredible part of Panama.
By 6pm I was sitting in the parking lot of Rey’s (one of the newest grocery stores in David) calling my friend, Jenni Bliss, to see if they needed me to pick up anything at Rey’s before starting up the hill toward their place (just like I’d done dozens of time when we were here last).
After visiting for a few minutes, Jenni hopped in her truck and followed me to our temporary housing in Potrerillos Abajo, where our friends, Ken and Lynda Newton are renting a house. Wow! What an incredible place. Its been a fantastic place to land until we can find our own place. Thanks, Ken and Lynda. We’re looking forward to seeing you guys soon.
After unpacking some of our things, and a great night sleep, I got up and headed to David to get our Montero cleaned and ready to pick up Linda, Sydney and Joshua at the airport in David. It was Friday, Oct 31 - the first day of the rest of our lives here in Panama.
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