Happy Birthday to Jon!!!!!! And Margie!!!!!And Sarah Grace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our fantastic grandson Jon has a birthday today (20th)!!!!!!!Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish we were with you!!!!!Have a fabulous day!!!!! We love you, Grama and Grampa!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my Darling Mom on the 21st!!!!!!!! Would love to be blowing out the candles on you cake!!!!!!!Have a fantastic day!!!!!!!! Love, Susie and Steve

Happy Birthday to Beautiful Sarah Grace!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a fabulous fantastic birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We love you so much!!!!!!!!Can't wait to see you again!!!!!!!Grampa and Grandma

Feliz dia de San Valentine and Happy Birthday Ben!!!!!!!

Special happy birthday to our fabulous grandson Benjamin!!!!!

Happy Valentines Day from Pedasi!

These Pictures are from the Pedasito Cafe- Feliz dia San Valentine!

Checkpoint!!!!!

CHECKPOINT

We had our first checkpoint today-I LOVE THIS PLACE! As we drove into Pedasi we saw a few cars stopped in front of us- it was to check for drivers licenses and passports. Sweaty palms, heart racing, thoughts  like “did I put the passports in the car” “hide the beer” where’s that Imodium?”

We were used to Mexico where out of nowhere 20 guys in army fatigues and automatic weapons who look like they are 12 years old stop you and tell you to get out of your car, go through your luggage, and give you the distinct feeling that if you would just give each of them money and a few beers they wouldn’t take you to jail and keep your car.

This was fabulous! We showed our passports and Steve’s US license, the first polite policeman entered the passport numbers in a handheld smartphone type devise, saw that we were legal and that was it! No car search, no inferred need to give them money, NOTHING! Just a polite gracias!  The only trouble I could have gotten in would have been if I did try to give them beer!

TIP- take a few copies of your driver’s license and passports and keep one in your luggage, one in your purse or wallet, one in the glove compartment just in case.

Bingo!!!!!!

Every year in Pedasi there are fundraisers for the biggest event- Carnival!!!! It is in April for several days- and its right outside our door! There are floats and Queens and princesses- it is really fabulous! We got a preview when we were here in October- and the beginning of November for the Miss Pedasi event and the Independence Day parade the following week- everyone in town goes and parades go around the block for hours! Then the music goes on all night! I can’t imagine it being more of a spectacle than what we have already seen, but everyone tells me it is!

This fundraiser was a bingo tournament- we figured we could meet the locals and work on our Spanish at the same. Everyone was so sweet and helpful- they taped down our bingo cards and gave us the beans to put down on them. They helped translate all the numbers and laughed as we tried to say what we thought the numbers were. We met a wonderful girl and her family- she is in her fifth year at the university- I believe her name is Isabel. She is going to be a teacher just like our granddaughter Callie Anne! So fun! (We didn’t win, but had a great time! Next time we will get the shiny stones that several of the gals had- then we will look professional!!!!!!!)

sad day

Today is a sad day. This is Baloo and he is in heaven today. Baloo thought he was ten feet tall. When other big dogs would walk by the fence where we live he would run and bark, bark, bark letting them know in no uncertain terms that he was in charge and they better not mess with him. In his mind he was 10 feet tall. He would come when we were on our patio and just lie down next to us and hang out.

Baloo was one of three darling dogs that belong to our beautiful landlady Carolena. Pray for her today because she is really sad.

El Toro beach in front of Andromeda Ocean Estates

This is the beach next to Pedasi, the wonderful town we are living in. We go walking every morning and some afternoons! The water is so warm!

This section of El Toro beach is in front of Andromeda Ocean Estates, a beautiful oceanfront community that will have a beach club, restaurant and bar overlooking the water, tennis courts, walking trails, etc, etc. Just beautiful. They are just finishing the infrastructure and will be starting the beach club in the next few months.

 I go snorkeling by the rocks and it is Steve’s favorite fishing spot. Look at the birds diving! The fish are everywhere!

birthday boy!!!!!!

The 23^rd. Steve’s birthday! He had a beautiful card from my Mom (Margie,91) that she tucked in my bag to surprise him. We are hoping she and my sister will be coming for a visit. The weather is perfect- there is a slight breeze that keeps things comfortable. I really love the “dry” season. It is less humid and fewer bugs! A lot of the trees lose their leaves this time of year and then blossom with the most beautiful flowers.

Steve caught a huge Yellow Jack- his biggest fish from the shore in Panama!

Steve's birthday

Moved into La Rosa de Los Vientos, the B&B on the way to El Toro beach. Robert and Isabelle are the owners and are the loveliest couple. Their B&B was written up in Lonely Planet guide as the #1 place to stay in Pedasi!  As you sit on your porch you see giant ships making their way to the Panama Canal, as well as pangas (small boats for fishing and diving). This stretch of shore is known as the tuna coast and has a laboratory for studying hatchlings until they are 3 months old. It is associated with Scripts Institute of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.

Opened a fabulous bottle of wine that Gretchen and Tom gave us (it survived the flight with the help of bubble wrap!) and watched the sunset from the porch- very fun!

Beach at Venao

Next was Playa Venao. This is a famous surf spot. The beach is a huge crescent. There are three hotels on the beach. One secluded and romantic, one in the center is fun and out of a Tommy Bahama poster- huge palapa bar w/ internet! Great hotel. The one at the other end of the beach has a large palapa bar as well and is building some cabanas. (Had to leave his custom Da Kine board at home- over sized and extra- would have been another $150 in freight!) The surf was high and several of the locals were out on the waves. Steve was so inspired he is buying a boogie board!

Playing tourist

On the 20^th we are getting acclimated to Pedasi and playing tourist. After fresh fruit, yogurt and muesli at Pedisito (the fruit here is so good it is like candy) we headed to a “fonda” for lunch. A fonda is a restaurant in someone’s home. They are all over Panama and usually very good and reasonable. We went there in October with our friends Bobby and Lisa and the portions were twice as big and half the price. We must have and “gringos” written on our forehead- as Steve said “the chicken was so skinny it looked like it was pulled through a knothole and the catch date of the fish was uncertain.’ Hopefully it was just a bad day!

After lunch (?) we went to see the lot of our friends Bobby and Lisa- so gorgeous- you can see the waves from their property. They are going to be building a B&B- she is an artist so I can’t wait to see the finished project! Bobby is a fabulous musician- can’t you hear the jazz going out across the hills to the ocean?!!!

On to Pedasi!!!! We checked in to our beautiful boutique hotel –the Pedisito Hotel- built by the owners of the Andromeda Ocean Estates (shameless plug). It is right next door to the Pedisito Café- chef Tyler is fabulous. This is a very welcoming spot- free internet, very cozy and the food is td4. (Trying to act like I can text, which I can’t.) Our room has it’s own private patio where I am enjoying an afternoon glass of wine and Steve is smoking his Padron no. 6 (miss you Don) and drinking his 12 year old Abuelo (Bobby can you hear me???)

Continuing airport story

As we brought our 7 pieces of luggage and 107 inch long fishing pole carrier, the woman that checked us in informed us that between Christmas and the end of January they only allowed 2 bags each- after looking at Steve’s panicked look she allowed us to take all the bags. The price for the first bag over the limit was $50 (she said “just because we can”) and then $75 because it was an extra bag and $75 more for overweight up to 99 lbs. Three extra bags per person- sooooo….. the next extra bags were on my ticket…soooo- $50 (because they could), $75 for the extra bags and $75 for overweight! About $700 for 700 lbs!

Going to Panama!!

Blog 1-18-2011- next day Panama! Wanted to make sure we made the plane on time, so left San Luis Obispo at 3:15- our flight left at 1:00 in the morning of the 19th. Got to LAX at 6:30… wouldn’t you know-no traffic! Thought we would drop off our luggage at the airport and do something fun- there was no one at the ticket counter so we called Copa Air- they said someone would be there at 11:45- the flight boarded at 12:00! We decided to wait and they came at 9:00- lesson for all- don’t believe 800 numbers!

Miss Pedasi Festival

This darling little girl is a dancer at the Miss Pedasi Festival. She is wearing the traditional dress. There are more than 600 festivals a year on the peninsula.