WI hunting/TG

In the beginning of November, I moved out of my coffee farm house. I put most of my stuff in storage at the landlord's house on the same property, and stayed with Jess for two weeks. Lucy the horse was due to have her foal at any time. I was hoping it would happen before I left for WI for deer hunting, and I even asked her to hold out until I returned in December. While in WI, I talked/FBd Jess frequently to find out the status, but the baby didn't come. Today, 12/17, the foal still has not come out. Several nights have been disrupted on the half-hour for "mare watch." Apparently, the larger the horse is, the larger the window for date of birth. And this horse is massive. It's never a dull moment on that farm. The other day, I got off the bus and as I was heading to the gate, I noticed two horses in the corner of one pasture, and the stud (picture the Headless Horseman's horse) was in the same pasture. The stud had broken through his stone wall and was attacking the other two horses. Jason was able to capture the stud and put him in his stall. Half an hour later, the two horses that were being harassed had escaped their pasture and were eating the banana trees. Jason went to try to catch them but they took off and ran over a goat, making it bleed in several places. We were finally able to catch the horses and return them to the pasture. Apparently, they learned how to open one of the gates, so we secured it. 10 minutes later, I hear horses screaming, and one of the horses that was being beat up by the stud was at the stud's fence kicking him in the chest. I chased her away, but she did it again 10 minutes later so I had to close the stud off. 10 minutes later, my puppy Jabberwocky got run over by a car (driven by a lady that was on a trail ride with Jess while all of the above was taking place). Luckily, the pup was OK.

Anyway, backing up, I left Boquete on the 14th and stayed at a Hotel I'd stayed at before. The Hotel provides a pickup and dropoff between the bus terminal and the airport for free. A taxi is normally $30, so this ends up being a great deal for a $55 room. Waking up refreshed the following day was well worth it. The shuttle cut it close getting to the airport, but I made it. I arrived in Chicago and took the train to Ben and Karen's salon, we ate, then went back to their house and hung out. The following day, I took the city train to Amtrak and arrived in Milwaukee to meet Dad and Karen. I will definitely travel this way again next time. The trip home was great. I got to see most of my friends, and spent a good deal of time with immediate family. Hunting was a little slow this year in terms of deer...I got skunked, Andy got one, and Dad got one. The weather was great though, warmer than usual, no snow. Andy hosted a TG dinner at his place in Madison, which Mom and cousin Angela came to. The next day, TG at Dad's. Both meals were amazing. I went to Andy's new job to play volleyball with his co-workers who all play pretty hard...I was sore for a couple of days after. Mom and I went out to eat a few times and she assisted me with several shopping errands. Andy took off of work and drove me around a lot too which was very nice. I did some shopping with Dad as well. I made it a point to eat Sushi, Thai, Pho, Mexican, and Indian while home in WI, all foods that are not common in my part of Panama. Mom's address was used to receive several packages of things to take back to Panama, including a horse saddle, bridle, spurs, reins, lawnmower parts, a weedeater attachment, and an auto part (things that if you ordered to be delivered to Panama might never make it). Dad and Karen dropped me off at the airport with my two 50 lb bags to check. Note: Anytime you have heavy bags and/or you are running late for check-in, utilize the curb-side check in guys. Not only did the guy take my bags, skip to the head of the line, and print out my boarding pass in a matter of minutes, he also waived the baggage fees for me. All of this for a $3 tip and everyone is very happy.

I arrived back to David and was greeted by Jason and Bob, eliminating the need to lug 150 lbs total of luggage onto the bus to Boquete (In Panama City, I had 30 lbs on my back, 20 on my front side, and 50 lbs in each hand. I was drenched by the time I crossed the mall to the bus terminal. I was a pack mule for sure). It felt good to be back in Panama having alleviated my WI home-sickness for the time being.


Me and Andy - Bowling hair.