A road trip to the East Coast and a preview

The pandemic is ending despite the efforts of our politicians to maintain their power to limit/control our activities.  Time to get back to exploring new places.  Our 40-day vacation, so carefully planned last summer, has been splintered into pieces by new regulations, enough that the schedule had to be abandoned, but we are ready to pick up the pieces.  We were left with flight credits on United Airlines and Copa Airlines (a major carrier out of Panama).  Let's put the pieces back together:

We recently completed an East Coast trip; 13 days of visiting and 10 days of driving.  Flying would have been the better option except that we delivered to DC some furniture pieces that I made in my home shop.  A stop in Omaha to visit family, onto a DC visit with our son & family, and then we took the scenic route (Kiawah Is., Hilton Head, and Savannah) on our way to Florida.  Shorts, T-shirts, and sandals while visiting friends in FL; then Mobile, Longview, and Amarillo on our route home.  We had previously taken more northerly routes traveling through the Midwest and wanted to see new scenery.  The "local flavor" included more than the food.  Here in Colorado, the nights are still freezing.

NEXT TRAVEL:   

In June we again fly south.  This time to Bocas del Toro via Copa Airlines first class.  Also requires a commuter flight by Air Panama and then a boat ride to get there.  We have been to Bocas before, 2014; has it been that long?  We stayed at a B&B previously; this time it will be a very nice resort, Bocas Bali on Frangipani Island.  The accommodation includes all meals (incl. all liquor), kayaks, SUP, snorkel gear, swimming pool, and a spacious overwater bungalow.  It will be interesting to see how this compares to Roatan.  Our focus will again be on snorkeling and relaxing.  Bocas del Toro itself is somewhat remote, with a single-street downtown area and a "wild west" atmosphere on the edge of civilization.  Coming home, the flights don't line up, so we will be spending a night in Panama City at a five-star hotel.  We still need to get a COVID test before returning to the US; that could be our biggest hassle. 

       Bocas del Toro waterfront, most transport is by boat in this region

                                            Mainstreet Bocas del Toro

We are looking forward to the snorkeling at Bocas.  We lived on the Atlantic coast of Panama and enjoyed fantastic snorkeling, but now the invasive lionfish has changed the reef environment.

Life should be an adventure.  We will not always be able to do such things, The time is now!