Update for before our trip and for our first day on trip

Here's what's been going on lately.....

On Oct. 31, Halloween, we had breakfast with Mom at the IHop on Hot Wells.  We are so glad we had one more breakfast with her there before leaving - we all enjoy their breakfasts very much (wait - all 3 of us can get the senior sampler?!!?) and it's so relaxing to just sit there and talk.  Afterwards we went to Kathy's house and watered her plants.  Guillermo also tied some of the taller plants to their fence so those plants wouldn't keep falling down.  Then we dropped Mom back off at her house, and Guillermo and I went on to Linda's to use the internet and then we drove out to El Verde Rd. and helped our friend and former neighbor take down Fernando's old basketball hoop.  We visited with him a while after that was done and then Mary came over and we walked around our property with them.  We all knew that by the time we got back from our trip, things probably wouldn't look like we remember them.  Then we drove to HEB, picked up some things for dinner and went back to Mom's house.  It was an evening of washing clothes, putting things we won't need in our car, and going over to Linda's one last time for the internet.  Trick or Treating was going on at that time, so driving to and from her house was fun - seeing all the trick-or-treaters!

November 1st - we were packed up and ready to go by 9am.  We said our heartfelt thanks to Mom and our sad goodbyes to her.  It was nice to be able to spend so much time with her!  It was fun having breakfasts with her, going to church every now and then, cooking dinner for her (and sometimes Linda and Jacob), watching one video over a period of 3 evenings, watering her plants and many other things.

At 9, we drove our car over to our friend John's house.  We took everything for the trip out of the car, locked it up and waited for our taxi to arrive at 9:45.  Our flight at 12 left on time - what a teeny plane!!!!  Overhead bins on one side only and they were small - Guillermo was afraid he was going to have to check his backpack, since it was so fat!!!  But he managed to squeeze it in.  We actually got to Houston early which was nice, gave us a little more time to relax.  We found our gate, got some Panda Express, and tried to get internet afterwards at our gate but just couldn't.  None that was free anyway, but we weren't going to pay.

Our flight to Panama City left a little late and even though the flight was a little shaky at first, it was a good flight.  When we got to Panama City, it was raining.  The person from the hotel was waiting for us and we piled all our stuff into his truck and were at the Balboa Inn by around 9pm.  We were pretty tired, but glad to be in place and excited about our new adventure!

Today, November 2nd, we opened the curtains to our room and it looks like we are in a jungle.  Lots of vegetation around us and plenty of birds singing.  We had a good breakfast down on the patio, and enjoyed watching the birds and agoutis scurry around.  As I'm writing this, it looks like it's going to rain again, but that's ok, since we plan on just relaxing in our room at least until lunchtime or maybe even later.  So, we're here, we're fine and now we need to plot our next move......

It is 5:00 in the evening, and it is raining hard here, and has been raining hard for the last 30 minutes!  It's so nice to be sitting on this breakfast patio watching the rain, although we did come out here to look at birds.  They're all gone now, with this rain.  We hear thunder every now and then - it feels so very tropical.

This is where we have breakfast!

You can't really tell, but it is raining very hard behind me.  You can see the water rushing out of the gutter at the bottom right of the picture....

In the evening, we went out to the Amador Causeway.  We had a taxi driver drop us off at the same restaurant we ate at last year (Mi Ranchito).  But before settling down to eat, we decided to walk along the causeway for a little while.  Very nice walking along there - warm breezes and beautiful views on both sides.  By the time we got back to the restaurant, it was dark and the lights from all the high rises of Panama City could be seen across the bay.  It is just so beautiful!!!  We got an excellent table underneath a "rancho" (which we call a palapa) at the restaurant and were going to enjoy a nice wine with our meal, but all liquor is forbidden today, since it's the Day of the Dead!!!  Ok.  But we had a great meal anyway, and just enjoyed the weather, watching the boats and admiring the lights of the city.