March 2018 - Page 5 of 5 - The Adventures of Sugar Shack

Returning back to Los Angeles or as I affectionately call it “la la land” (way before the movie came out) is always exciting because I get to see my family! It makes it especially nice because my sister lives in Hermosa Beach with a beautiful view of the beach and ocean – so I am not too disconnected from Matt and the boat. I call it la la land because I can go around saying “la la la” with no responsibilities other than seeing my family and enjoying life.

After a few hours of sleep, my nephews, Cole and Cameron, and my sister and I made a plan – we are headed to Santa Monica Pier! Even though it is only about 11 miles from Hermosa Beach, it will take us about an hour to get there with traffic – during the day at 11am in the morning.

Santa Monica Pier has a huge merry-go-round, tons of games, vintage stores, eateries, and of course lots of shopping. The boys wanted to take me to Bruxie, where you can get a waffle sandwich. It is a complete novelty in Los Angels being the health nuts that they are to get anything on a waffle sandwich, but for us Texans its not out of the ordinary. I had my first chicken waffle sandwich at a SXSW event many moons ago, but it is not something I have often. I wanted to see what a la la land would do to this special dish.

Bruxie with Cameron and Col (and Kimberly not pictured)

They did it well! Let me tell you they had vegetarian, chicken, and mushroomsandwiches all on waffles. It was very tasty and very worthy of a Texas tradition!

Overstuffed, we headed to the Santa Monica Promenade to check out the shops. It always amazes me how LA gets the newest stores and the latest trends that won’t hit Texas for months or quarters, and won’t hit the islands for years, if at all. Not that I need to be on “trend” anymore, but it is kind of cool. We found a new store called RH Baby and Child that was part of Restoration Hardware family and it was spectacular. They had some of the most beautiful rooms, décor, and furniture. We had a little fun with some of their accessories.

Goofin around with Kimberly and Cameron

Next stop is the famous merry-go-round. Kimberly and I used to come here as kids as my mother loved the merry-go-round. The boys were not 100% sold on actually getting on the ride, but we didn’t give them a choice!

Cameron quickly claimed the goat, Cole hopped on the pig and sis and I just grabbed horses nearby. It was surprisingly faster than we remembered.

Santa Monica Merry-Go-Round Adventure

A fun and fabulous day in Los Angeles!

Kimberly arranged for a pre-birthday celebration on Saturday night at a local eatery. She brought balloons, candles, décor, and a tasty cake. A few good friends, a delicious meal, and lots of libations had by all! Check out the white roses that she dipped in gold glitter – love these special touches!

Kimberly and Greg (Deborah’s boyfriend) and I top left, Vicki and I (top right), Kimberly and Troy (center left), Greg, Troy, and Andy (Vicky’s husband) (center right), Vicky and Andy, Deborah and Greg (bottom left), and Greg, Troy, and Andy (bottom right)

The bar joined in singing “happy birthday” and I got a naked furry belly showing from a random drunk guy. La la land always provides some funny entertainment.

Me celebrating the naked drunk guy (top and far right), Deborah and I (left), entire group (center), Vicky, Kimberly, me, and Deborah (bottom right).

The next day, our family came over to celebrate a batch of birthdays. Unfortunately, the flu held Donna, Diana, and Mark back (my aunts and uncle), but we made the best of it. Kimberly made her famous chili, decorated the house and we ate and feasted our hearts. Top: Troy, Uncle Joe, Cameron and Cole, 2nd row: Me and Matt and Uncle Joe, 3rd row: Me, Kimberly and Dad, last row: Uncle Matt and Dad and Kimberly and Dad.

It is always hard to leave my family, especially knowing I won’t get to see most of them for over a year. But my heart leaves full of love, my mind if full of new memories, and my soul is overflowing with laughter.

Thank you, Sissy for making this a wonderful 50^th pre-celebration.

Me, Cole, Cameron, and Kimberly at Ruby’s

Special Thank you:

Kimberly for going out of her way to celebrate my birthday
Dad, Joe, and Uncle Matt for driving to Hermosa Beach
Cole and Cameron for being such good sports
Deborah for celebrating my birthday and the cool Google Home
Vicky for the beautiful gifts
La la land for being so beautiful and magical

It’s that time of year again where I head back to America to visit with family and friends and see my doctors. This trip will be an extrordinary one as I will be pre-celebrating my 50^th birthday across America! As many of you know, I like to have a birthday month!

I could not sleep and was awake with the sunrise. To my utter delight it was magnificent.

Sunrise on Sugar Shack

Traveling to and from the San Blas islands requires a bit of work as they are not easy to get to. I worked with Judy Lam at Lam Tours who helped me with all the arrangements. She is incredibly thorough, courteous, and customer centric!

The panga was supposed to pick me up at 0730 from Banedup in the East Lemons, but since we had moved the boat to Carti, the pick up was pushed to 0830. So, at 0725, we thought we had plenty of time to eat breakfast and finish my packing. But, no. At 0730, a panga circled about and asked if I was ready. Eek gads, an hour early? Nope, I asked them to give me 30 minutes and they agreed to come back. We ate quickly, shoved last-minute items into my back pack and finished getting ready. I got the panga all to myself.

In my private panga on the way to America.

After exploring the Carti islands, we had thought that the “terminal” where the panga drops you off and where you pick up your 4×4 was on the mainland. Incorrect! My panga driver, expertly wove us through the beautiful Rio de Carti Grande.

My friendly panga driver

The water was brown, but all of the trees and brush were a vibrant green. It was a lovely trip down a quiet river.

Traveling up Rio Carti Grande in the panga

Within 15 minutes we arrived to Port Bosukun where we met our 4×4 driver. My original panga ride would have taken 45-65 minutes from Banedup, so having Sugar Shack in Carti saved me from a much longer, bumpy, wet panga ride. Cost from Carti $5 (from Banedup).

Arriving at Port Bosuken in the panga to await my 4x4

Arriving at Port Bosuken in the panga to await my 4×4

There were loads of people waiting here, which was surprising. Where did they all come from.

Terminal at Port Bosuken

Since my panga driver was early, I had to wait over an hour for my 4×4 driver. I milled around, spoke to a few people and tried to avoid being eaten alive by the no-seeums. After about 45 minutes, my panga driver came over to me and pointed out my 4×4 driver. Six passengers loaded their gear in the back and we were on our way. The ride is 2.5-3 hours.

The 4×4 turned out to be a Landrover with a transmission problem. Our driver, Angel did his best up and over the hills and through the windy roads, but it was a struggle at times.

Six passengers in the 4x4 ride to Panama City

Six passengers in the 4×4 ride to Panama City

Our 4×4 Landrover chariot

Thank goodness, I sat in front, otherwise I probably would have been car sick. We made it to the airport in one piece after almost 3 hours. Cost: $30.

This is the last trip where I can enjoy my platinum status, so I took great pleasure in skipping the huge line and walking up to the short priority lane. The amazingly sweet AA agent was able to book me on an earlier flight out of Panama and into Miami. Instead of having to wait 4 hours at the airport with no Admirals club and no wifi, he got me onto a flight that left in 2 hours. In addition, he also got me on an earlier flight to American so I now arrive at 2300 instead of 0100. Lucky me. America here I come.

I walked the entire airport and poked me head in several stores. I did not buy anything as 1) I’m on a budget since we are not working; and 2) I don’t have a credit card since I lost my wallet in Columbia. But it is always fun to window shop.

My chariot from Panama City to Miami

The flight to America (LA) was equally uneventful, always a good thing. I had hoped to sleep, but was pleasantly surprised to see entertainment systems at each seat. Instead of getting a much-needed rest, I watched 3 movies from MIA to LAX! Sweet. One of my favorite past times and I had a lot of movies to catch up on.

Landed in LA around 2300 and was picked up by my sweet brother in law and whisked back to his house for a good long rest.

The Adventures of Sugar Shack

– Sailing Aboard a Catana 471

Monthly Archives: March 2018

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