Onto Panama City, November 13th - 15th, 2010

The two weeks at Playa Santa Catalina went quickly and it was with regret that we said our goodbyes to Juventino and Abby with promises to see them again when we return to Panama in about a year. We have had lots of fun but it is time to get prepared to take the RV to Colon for shipping and arranging our flights to Cartagena. Our plan is to stop at XS Memories one more time, clean the RV and tanks before going to Panama City on Monday to start the exit process. We have also been using up all our refrigerated and frozen foods in preparation for leaving so our only stops on the way to Santa Clara is at a home depot type store for plywood and the pet store to purchase a travel crate for Winston. Our RV is open from the front cab to the rear and we need the plywood to create a temporary wall to separate the front cab from the living quarters and this will hopefully, deter anyone from stealing our personal items. After the stop in Santiago we are once on the panamericana and once again.....yep, same lead-footed husband, same spot and..same traffic police with radar gun. We both groan and try to look contrite. Tom wound down his window. "So sorry, so sorry" he repeated as the policeman came up to us. "My friends" he shouted "how are you?" as he firmly shook our hands. "Too fast, too fast" he said. Tom continued to apologize. "No problem" he said "we are friends". We are travelling with T-shirts and baseball caps from the San Jose Fire Dept, which Tom got when he retired and we offered him a T-Shirt. "No, it's ok", he said and after about a 10 minute chat, we all shook hands again and we started to drive. I sent the remainder of the drive, driving Tom a little crazy by reminding him of the speed limit was at any given time. We spent Sunday figuring out the plywood for our temporary wall, sprucing up the RV and bathing Winston. Monday, it's Panama City and the Balboa Yacht Club again. We also have a vet appointment for Winston. He needs some shots updated and the vet is going to prepare the paperwork for flying into Colombia. In the evening we adjourned to the club and sat outside, skyping family and friends and watching the flotilla of boats of all sizes meandering their way up the Panama Canal whilst having a glass of wine. It really is a beautiful view.