Panama Take 2 Trip

We returned home this week from Panama to SNOW!  Just sleet and light snow, but it is way too cold after spending a week in El Valle, driving to Pedasi and being on the beach in El Palmar with ninety degree temps and sun!  El Valle had beautiful breezes and two nights of light misting rain (for short period of time).  There was a festival going on for four days with a parade and fireworks (this is a normal occurrence in Panama but in El Valle they bounce off the walls of the valley and sound like cannons).  We stayed in Casa di Pietra for four nights loving the earthiness (and treehouse feel of it--we were on the third floor), mosquito netting over our beds, open windows and blowing cool breezes at night.  We stayed at Manglar Lodge for two nights and although we appreciated the air conditioning, we found it a bit chilly (!) longing to open the windows and turn on a ceiling fan.  El Palmar beach was a favorite for walking (when we were there it was cleaner than the Coronado beaches in October), and we enjoyed watching the visitors being given surfing lessons.  We drove to Pedasi and back in a day (yes, a lot of driving and the four lane road isn't completely four lanes all the time--still driving on two lanes in some parts and the speed limits go up and down), but we are glad we can finally put a picture to Anton, Penonome, Aguadulce, Las Tablas, Chitres and finally seeing Pedasi.  Finally seeing the development of Costa Pedasi, Smileys, Playa Arenal, Maudy's Cafe for smoothies and the central park area. 
One day we spent with fifty or so expats at a St. Patrick's Day party in Coronado at a lovely home with HUGE bohio and gorgeous pool and man-made rain forest in the backyard. Another day we spent seeing Sora and looking at homes for sale in Altos Del Maria, and onward to Pedasi and talking to a sales agent for Costa Pedasi. Then we had friends drive us to La Joya de Chica and through the Campana National Park along with going into La Chorrerra, Punta Chame (not to the point), Chame, into Westland Mall, Do It Center, grocery store Super 99 and El Costo, buying fruit and produce at roadside stands as well as having the flat tire we got while in the park plugged at a roadside tire stand.  Had excellent pizza in La Chorrerra, we ate at wonderful restaurants in Coronado and El Valle and San Carlos, I tried breakfast (great!) at a Fonda, and we really feel like we saw so much more of the interior of Panama this trip.  We ended our week  having a tour guide, Andre, take us to the Old City of Panama.  We spoke with four realtors (no appointments with any except the one that took us into ADM) and an attorney.  We learned so much more and have ruled out a few more places for retirement.  If you want to read details of the trip, I posted it daily in my blog (2WannaBRetireesinPanama.blogspot.com) or feel free to inbox me any questions!
A great week and still so excited to head to Panama again!  Our next trip will be to spend five days in the city with an attorney working on getting VISA started (we didn't know this could be done--tomorrow rules could change, but as of today we know we can get the process going).  Maybe on that trip I can go on an Embero Tour or see some screaming Monkeys!  who knows what we will see next time, but we are really looking forward to our next trip!  Now for the paperwork...