HELLO 2012

Jan 2012 – We arrived in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic late in the day of New Year’s Eve.  We left the house that morning at 4:45 AM so we were dragging.  Snuggles was a great traveler.  She slept most of the trip & caused no problems at all.  Getting her into Punta Cana was a bit of a problem.  We didn’t know what we were supposed to do, so we made it all the way to customs before we were stopped.  Some guy motioned to Collins to bring the dog & follow him.  I waited with the porters for almost half an hour.  I was really getting worried when Collins finally showed up.  Apparently, they couldn’t find the guy who needed to check in the dog & when they did, he had a bit of trouble translating our paperwork on to his.  We were very happy to get thru customs & find our friend Joe waiting for us.   He & Sue had their daughters visiting so they were planning a big night on the town.  We unpacked enough of our stuff & called it a night at 10:30 pm.  It’s the first time in a long time we haven’t been awake to bring in the New Year.

It didn’t take long to get back to our usual routine for Punta Cana.  It was like going home.  Within about a week, most of our friends, who weren’t there already,  had arrived.  I would guess we knew about 40 people this year.  They stayed anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months.



Collins doing his "usual" for the day



Diane, Mike & Karen



Most days were spent lounging around the pool or on the beach.  Most of the time, we spent the day at the pool but took a walk on the beach. 

Gail & Doug

Collins enjoying the pool

Sometimes you need a nap after all that fun!

Jimmy gives his opinion of the pool rules

Nicole & Paul

Snuggles on the Beach

 Much to our surprise, Snuggles really liked the beach.  She did not want to get wet tho.  We would take off the leash & she’d run down the beach.  When she got a certain distance, she’d stop & turn around to make sure we were still there.  People thought she was so cute & would want to pet her & ask her name.  It got to the point where we’d walk the beach & someone down the way, would say “hi Snuggles”.  They didn’t know our names, but they knew her!

Collins, Karen & Snuggles

The Beautiful Beach

Buying fruit on the beach

Sue, Karen & Collins

My friend Sue came for her usual 2 week visit at the end of January.    Her goal is to read as many books as possible during her stay.  As I’ve mentioned before, we’ve been friends since the 8^th grade.  She & Collins get along well, they both enjoy talking about politics & finances.  Sue was the only company we had this year.

While we were there, we had our usual dinners with friends, pot luck dinners, 2 birthday parties & a St. Patrick's Day Party.  It’s really amazing how fast the time goes by, just doing a whole lot of nothing!

Out to dinner with Gail, Karen, Collins, Mike, Dian & Doug

Shelly, Dian & Mike

Paula, Shelly& Steve

Sue & Joe at his Birthday Party

Mary Lou & Bonnie - her Birthday

Everybody takes a picture

Bonnie, Sam, Mary Lou & Sue

Gail, Pat, Allan & Doug

Steve, Jimmy, Collins, Paula & Brenda

Lucy, Sue, Joe, Chris, Joe

Mike, Dian, Shelly & Doug

Karen, Bill, Rob & Dede

Our friend, Jimmy, plays the guitar.  Every year he ends up playing one night a week at the beach bar a short walk down the beach.  Much of the audience was made up from people at our complex.

Paula & Jimmy



Ian helps Jimmy with a song



Marrietta, Cece, Collins & Karen listen to Jimmy play

We thought we would return to Punta Cana in 2013 for another year.  However, we met some people there who had been vacationing in Panama & they got us thinking about trying someplace new.  I started searching the internet for places in Panama & found a beautiful place in Coronado Bay.  It’s about an hour from Panama City.  This condo is on the 20^th floor of a high rise building.  There are 3 pools,  one on the roof & a gym on the top floor.  We booked it & are really excited about having a new travel experience.  We're a little sad we won’t see our winter friends again next year.  You never know, tho, they may decide to come to Panama the following year or we may return to Punta Cana.  We just felt it was time to try some place new.

It was surprising how soon Mar 31^st arrived & it was time to leave.  We sadly said goodbye to all our friends with hopes we will meet again.

Collins & Snuggles waiting at the airport