Ocean / Mountains / Ocean

Beach Time:  October is the start of the two rainiest months of rainy season here.  Here in Boquete, the clouds descend very close to the ground, dump their load and then retreat again.  Very dramatic looking.  One of the many benefits of locating in Boquete (about 4,000 feet) would be that we could live in Springtime-like climate and travel to the beach when we want some hot weather and beach time.  The beach to the Pacific side is about 1 hour 15 minutes.  We traveled to a lovely beach there yesterday, Las Olas.  Great waves - toured a lovely resort there.  For $10 per person/day, you can use all their facilities and their lovely beach.  Restaurants, pool, gym, changing room and groomed beach - lovely. 

Clouds hanging over Boquete

Bocas Del Torros:
Plan to head to Bocas Del Torro tomorrow which is the opposite coast on the Caribbean side.  From conversations with locals, it will take us about 2.5 hours.  Have heard it's not as developed over there, but beautiful.  If the beaches and water are anything like we've seen in Belize, Cancun, etc. that should be pretty nice.  Sounds like the younger set particularly likes it there.  Lots of activities, so we'll check it out.
More Information from Locals:
Found a great little cafe near the park downtown frequented by locals and lots of expats, so we've gone the past two mornings to gather info on the area.  Talked to a man from Houston yesterday who told us about a huge Sunday morning, English-speaking service, Southern Baptist style, so we'll have to check it out when we come back.  Very impressed that the gringos have organized all kinds of community-service projects to benefit the needy in the area, especially some of the Indian population, many of whom are not well educated and are subsistence farmers - living from hand to mouth and no more. Everyone and I mean everyone we've met has just raved about the place and said they would never leave.

Restaurants:  many to choose from with lots of Comida Tipico (rice and beans mainly) but if you're in the mood for pizza, fish tacos, fine dining, it's all here too.  Much, much less expensive.
Real Estate and Rental Homes:
We went back to Valle Escondido, one of the nicer housing developments, but not for us, I don't think.  Don't mean to be unkind, but really did not get a very good feeling,  Even our guide mentioned that there were a lot of malcontents there.  Not celebrating this new and interesting culture, but trying to make a little America here and feeling frustrated.  Not for us.

Clubhouse at Valle Escondido

As a wise friend mentioned recently, " no place is perfect, trust me!"  Well, Valle Escondido looks perfect, but I did not get a good "vibe" as they say.  Felt dark and not very cheerful.  The folks who love it here are adventurous, appreciate the differences and love life!!

If we decided to take a short term (3-month) rental here, we'll look around some more.  I don't think we want to be surrounded by just gringos.

Back to Business:  Fortunately, doing business from Panama is easy with Skype, Magic Jack, E-mail and Bank bill Pay.  Today, we're spending some time taking care of business and I will be doing some research on the different Visa Options here - want to have the option to start a business and/or work for someone already established if we want to as well.  With all the great internet options, you can deal with someone in the states just as if you were next door!

Watched the whole debate last night, will catch the Thursday night NFL game tonight and with my trusty Kindle, the world is my oyster, stacked with an endless library.  Currently reading a great book by Marilyn Meberg, who was one of the speakers at this year's Women of Faith Weekend, entitled Choosing The Amusing - highly recommend for insight and a lot of laughs.  Have a great day!