My Own True Nature: Power Shopping in Volcan

On Saturday, we headed to Volcan with our friends for a day of shopping and sightseeing. Volcan is on the other side of Volcan Baru and is about a 45 min. super gorgeous drive. The town is a bit more spread out than Boquete in my mind and made for a very fun day. First stop was Nita's Flea Market, a little roadside shop with wonderful collections of this and that. Beanie Babies come here to die. There was a snowman collection to rival my own and a gazillion other little finds. However, by far the best was a wonderful pair of PINK rubber boots which I had to have. There's part of our property that I've yet to explore due to fear of snakes (none of which I've ever seen here, but fear them none the less) I am fearless in my pink boots and can't stop admiring them. The boots, not the snakes.
We found the local Todo Dollar, much better than ours, and made a quick pass picking up odds and ends for the casita. Then off to the St. Benito Catholic Highschool thrift store where you can pick up all kinds of food, clothing and other goodies. They have quite a collection from LandsEnd and other US stores of discontinued or out of season items, and I found some acrylic paints for my painting class as well a top for cooler days. Every now and then, I put on a long sleeve shirt, but not too often. One of the perks here.
Took a break for lunch at Mana, a lovely restaurant for sloppy jorge's (hor-hays). You may know them better as Sloppy Joes. Powering up, we continued our shopping tour to Berard's, a rather upscale grocery store, and a fabulous bakery for macaroons and chocolate muffins.
Heading out of town, we passed through ex-presidente Manuel Noriega's private hidden airstrip for running drugs (no longer in use as far as I know) and headed out to the Jansen coffee estate, a stunningly beautiful ranch where we were chased by cattle being rounded up by the local caballeros. Of course, I had to jump out of Jim's truck for a photo, but quickly hopped back in as they started gaining on us. On up to the top of the hill for coffee and views. Made a quick pass though the events room to check out the art and found a poster for yoga on March 2nd. This was a new one for me. Chocoyoga. Why did I never think of that? If only I could go, but alas, I am sharing a table at the Chiriqui Flea market that day to sell off some things and will have to miss it. I will be there in solidarity with all the other yoginis blissing out on chocolate.
Noticing the sun was slowly passing down over the mountain, we made one last detour to the truck stop for empanadas de pollo and spent some time out on the scenic patio overlooking the jungle. I didn't have my binoculars with me (remember, this was a shopping trip) so couldn't identify all the birds circling. They were awesome. Big brown and white somethings....most likely hawks of some type. Panama really is a birder's heaven. So as the last bit of sun colored the sky orange, we headed home to Boquete. A little note here. The roads are beautiful, but full of curves and hairpin turns. They are utilized heavily by people walking day and night. Believe it or not, many people don't own cars and actually walk to their destinations, which is why they are in great shape and we, not so much. We drove very carefully so as not to hit anyone and only had to swerve a few times in order to miss a few runaway cows in the middle of the road. An owl did flap in front of the windshield VERY CLOSE, but no one was hurt and we made it home tired but happy from our Volcan adventure.
Sunday was another work day here, but we did manage to get over to visit with some folks from Deer Park, see a little of the Daytona 500 (Dennis, not me) and catch up on the news of the area. They are here for a few weeks before heading back to Spokane, where they are preparing a final move back here for next year. They have quite a menagerie, dogs, llamas, chickens and more, so had to make it a quick trip. Dennis had been emailing with them for the past few months, and we finally were able to hook up and meet. Super nice couple, (Marge and Fred) and we all hit it off and chatted the night away. They came back to our place for a bit of wine and watching the sunset before heading back to their little treehouse at Hostel del Refugo, one of my fav hostels in Boquete.
Update on the house. Mortar is done. Dennis is done with ladders for a while. Time to celebrate. But wait, there's more to do. Alas, celebrating will have to wait. We are going to have a big fiesta. You are all invited. "FRIENDS COME AND GO, LIKE THE WAVES OF THE OCEAN, BUT THE TRUE ONES STAY, LIKE AN OCTOPUS ON YOUR FACE." Robert Wiloborg