Dates: Tuesday February 13 to Wednesday February 21
Sela and I went to visit – Kirt, Arjelis, Sofia(16) and Ariana(11)

Sela and I planned and made our air reservations on Tuesday January 23, just 3 weeks in advance of our trip. I was still in Apalachicola on camping trip but I had pretty good internet connect.
Both Sela and I were flying to Panama City: Sela from Portland and me from Atlanta, Both of our flights arrived around 7:30 and we had arranged to meet in the baggage claim area. The area was very crowded but we didn’t have any trouble meeting up. We got through customs and made it to our hotel around 9:30PM. We were able to get rooms across the hall from each other.

After stowing our gear in our rooms we went down to restaurant for a small bite and a well deserved glass of wine – salad and ceviche. We had a good talking and catching up but decided to wrap up a little after 10:30 because we had a 7:30AM flight to David.

We took the 6AM shuttle from the hotel, Crowne Plaza, to the airport. The hotel was only a quarter of a mile away and we were told to be in the lobby 15 minutes before the hour. Wwe were and it was a good thing because 1 minute after 6 the driver was pulling away as some folks, who didn’t listen, were walking out of the front door – the next shuttle was at 7AM. At the Panama City airport we had to take a bus to the waiting aircraft and board using ramps.

Kirt was waiting for us at the airport and drove us the 45 minutes to Boquete where his house and farm is located. Sofia was getting a private tennis lesson on the court on their property so Ariana the youngest daughter gave us a tour of the property and to meet their 2 horses. Kirt left for an already scheduled golf game and he all met at the country club for lunch around 2PM – wood fired pizzas, delicious!

Left to right: Tia Sela, Sofia’s friend, Sofia, Juan(Sofia’s novio), Ariana and Arjelis. Below a little fun on the golf course after lunch. Sofia swung at least 7 times before actually connecting with the ball – plenty of laughs.

After leaving the country club around 5:30PM we drove to Ariana’s Taekwondo class and watched her practice – she’s about ready to take her green belt exam. We got home around 8PM and that concluded our first day in Boquete.
The next morning, Thursday February 15, we went to Morton’s bakery before doing some shopping, Sofia ordered for everyone – I had a fried egg and avocado sandwich on sourdough bread, delicious.

After the bakery and shopping we had enough time when we got home for a short rest before going on a epic hike – see the post on Cerro la Piedra de Lino Trail.

Blacken Salmon

Creamy Grits
– 1/2 Cup yellow grits – I use the organic yellow grits from the bulk section of Earth Fare
– 1 cup of whole milk plus some extra for thinning
– 1/2 tablespoon of butter
– Pinch of salt
– a little cream cheese
Put the yellow grits, butter and 1 cup of milk in a small pot – slowly bring to a low boil stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to low and cook 5 to 8 minutes adding more milk or water if the consentience is to thick.
When the grits are soft and tender add the cream cheese and stir to incorporate.
Serve and enjoy.

Buckwheat Bread
– 250g of All purpose flour
– 50 g of organic buckwheat flour –
– 100g of Sprouted Spelt Flour
– 1 Tbsp – brown sugar
– 1-1/2 tsp salt
– 1 package of instant rise yeast
– 1-1/4 cups of water
– 1 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
Mix all of the dry ingredients together, add the tablespoon of EVOO to the 1-1/4 cups of water, stir the water and EVOO mixture with the dry ingredients – cover and place in a warm area to rise for 5 or 6 hours.
Pre-heat oven and dutch oven to 450.