With a plan in place, we were ready to go.  At the last minute, my co-worker couldn't get the time off.  So I decided to go it alone.  I had gone to Panama City and down to Chepo on another trip so that was the easy part.  The Interior was next.  I can't remember all the details because it  was some time ago.  But, I stayed in motels and ate at any local restaurant.

Usually had ham and eggs for breakfast and some chicken/rice dish for dinner.  Oh yes, I did drink the water.  Only 3 nights really come to mind when I think back.  In Santiago, on a warm summer evening, families were selling small samples of their favorite dish.  We would call it a "taste fest" today.  It was sponsored by their church as a fundraiser.  Families would donate any money from their sales to the church.  Hundreds of people walking up and down the various streets, mingling, walking and talking.  I sampled from many tables and I remember mostly pasta or rice dishes and not much meat.  In Conception, it was the festival for the town's  saint.  The town's people seem to gamble on anything and everything. Cockfights, dice and shell games were all very popular.  Money, lots and lots of money - for a average annual income of around $500.00.  They had it all this weekend, wads of twenties that would choke a horse, as they say.  Huge crowds everywhere.  As I wandered the streets, I came upon a dry-goods store and I got the idea to buy a traditional "Panamanian" hat.  I didn't know the correct name for it.  So, I used "sombrero".  I found a clerk and with my broken Spanish and a lot of sign language tried to make my purchase.  After being shown several large Mexican sombreros, I could see this wasn't going to be easy.  She looked at me and in "Perfect" English said, "Do you speak English?".  It blew my socks off.  I could have died.  My first English-speaking person in several days.  She had married an American serviceman.  He had retired and they bought this little store in her home town.

I was getting very sore from riding around on the motorcycle so I cut short some of my adventures and headed back to Coco Solo.  I decided to drive straight thru.  At about 1:00 a.m., it started getting really cold because of the windchillfactor at 50 mph.  I put on every piece of clothing I had but once chilled, it was hard to get warmed up again.  I looked for a place I might catch 40 winks.  I found a huge pile of straw and crawled in.  Mostly just rested, too many little insects nipping at me and still too cold to get any real sleep.

What impressed me the most was the big beautiful beach near Las Tablas down the Peninsula.  Miles and miles of beach and not one foot print.  It was like the first Europeans seeing Pacific Ocean for the first time.  The Interiorof Panama was so varied, lush green rivers and dry plains.  Nothing like the dense rain forest or jungles of the Canal Zone."