Panama - First Full Day

Saturday night we touched down in Panama City around 10:30, a bit tired but ready to begin our adventure.  We caught a cab to the Marriott, unloaded our stuff and walked across the street for dinner.  They didn't serve food, so we ordered drinks and settled in.  We quickly realized, however, that the young, beautiful girls lined up at the bar weren't there just to socialize.  It was sad and a bit shocking to realize what was going on.  We finished our drinks, paid our bill, and headed back across the street to our very upscale hotel and called it a night.

The next morning Brooke and Lex went running, Heidi hit up the gym, and Dominique and I swam some laps in the pool before packing up.  We all donned our first sundresses worn in months and caught a cab to Panama City's small domestic airport. 

 

By the time our flight left (about 45 minutes late - Panama time!), this waiting area was full.

Our ultimate destination was Boquete, but our flight was to David where we picked up our rental car.

There was some kind of festival/air show/grand opening/etc going on; we were greeted with thousands of onlookers when we landed and deplaned.  Or they were waiting there just for us, which seems much more likely.

We rented a car, and due to the crowds, were finally heading out of town about an hour later than planned. 

We never did figure out what was going on.

Anywho, we drove west to Boquete and finally rolled into Brooke's aunt and uncle's place mid-afternoon.  Mike and Debbie were among the first to purchase in this exclusive golf community and have a beautiful home and piece of property. 

 Pacific ocean in the distance.

 Debbie had lunch out for us, which we thoroughly enjoyed on the outdoor patio.

 After enjoying lunch, we commandeered the neighbors' golf carts and went on a tour of the course.

 The wind was ridiculous. (We were parked for this picture.)

The volcano is on the top left.

 After the tour, and before dinner, Mike and Debbie suggested we get in a game of Bocce and a few glasses of champagne.

 Team Heidi-Alicia totally kicked butt for the record.

 Then it was time for pizza!  The Mullins have a built in, outdoor Italian pizza oven, and we were looking forward to this for weeks.  It was time to get to work!

We all built our own pizzas then shared them and various Argentinian wines with the group. It was the perfect end to our first day!