Wednesday,March 23, around 1pm. Sitting on a little porch outside our room in the Riu Banache Resort grabbing a few minutes of quiet away from the incessant busyness of this resort. There is a constant barrage of hyped activities amidst folks from all parts of the world. The beaches are lovely, cold beer on demand and overabundant food but the experience is moderated by the realization that few residents of The Dominican are able to experience the lifestyle of these resorts that dot the country.
The wind has been increasing steadily building the surf for a couple of days. Observations: many “overcooked” bodies and a huge contingent of local workers necessary to keep the resort functioning. The logistics are actually mind boggling: the amount of food and booze that is consumed daily, massive laundry facilities, dozens of grounds keepers and beach cleaners and energetic bands of event “organizers/advisors.”
Oh, and I forgot to mention that I experienced the local medical system with a trip to emerg to attend to an internal infection. First up, who’s paying? Then photo copies of any insurance documents including my Mastercard before application of stethoscope! The consensus was I needed to stay overnight for more tests. That wasn’t going to happen given I was “on their meter!” Self medication and all was right...
March 29, Well, I'm back on AZ after 8500K of air travel and almost 24 hours of airports, highways and gas bars. Will hang here until I get a phone call from Richard in Panama who wants to meet me in Ft. Lauderdale, April 2 or 3. He needs some parts and he claims it's cheaper to fly there and back that ship the materials. I will determine EXACTLY what his schedule for departure might be. My guess is that I'll be firing up the Cit and heading back North rather than wait any longer...
April 1, In preparation for driving north, I thought I’d take the pragmatic step of taking the Cit into a local lube/oil change joint in LaBelle. A quick Google search, resulted in an appointment with Captain’s Quick Lube, an outdoor facility run by three huge Latinos. They were nonplussed by the car, drained and refilled the crank, checked tire pressures and other levels and took the lube gun to over 20 fittings in and around the front suspension. The bill came to $30!
If the internet gods cooperate, I might be able to post a few words from the highways and biwys on the way home.
