Day 31 - MB: On to the Next Adventure

MB Posting:

We hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays and we missed not being with our family. We spent Thanksgiving Day riding through Panama into Panama City. The first leg of our journey is now successfully completed!

We are spending three nights in Panama City. The city has a beautiful shore line walkway that highlights the city skyline. Watching boats going through the canal was very interesting.

Rains a lot here. We’ve had to do some multi-hour rain riding for the first time in our riding careers while riding through Panama. At least the air temperatures are very warm so we don’t get cold riding in the rain. The rain and high humidity must be why getting a salt shaker on the table at restaurants is so challenging. Even when the shakers are filled 90% with rice, the salt just globs up and won’t shake out.

Got an oil change for my Suzuki in Costa Rica. Actually found a Suzuki mechanic in a small town. It felt a little strange leaving a $10,000 bike with a group of people we didn’t know at all in a strange country. All worked out well though. Next, we noticed a bolt was missing on my engine guard. Noticed it because of the vibrating, rattling noise that we started hearing. Of course, of all the extra bolts we packed just for this type of situation, there wasn’t one the correct size. However, Bruce did a great “Mexican” temporary fix. He managed to insert the plastic top to a coke bottle in between the two vibrating bars to stop the vibration.

Got a call. Both the dryer and the refrigerator in our rental house need to be replaced. Thank goodness our friends, the Souzas, are back at home taking care of things for us. We know our renters are in the best hands.

We’ve had no riding incidents since guatemala. My initial nervousness about traveling on such a heavy, big bike has diminished. However, I am greatly relieved that I have Bruce to help manhandle my bike in the many tough parking situations of uneven ground, broken pavement, rocks, mud, gravel, etc. …. especially when I have to back up the bike. It has become a great strategy session when we pull in somewhere to park. What will our exit options be? What is the slope of the terrain? Are there large rocks or potholes around? Can we get our kickstands down?

Some of our latest interesting sights:
- Whereas you frequently would see squirrels runnings accross electric lines strung over streets in the U.S., in Costa Rica I saw a monkey run across an electric line right over Bruce’s head.
- A man pushing a wheelbarrow full of groceries alongside the highway and his son pushing a kid size wheelbarrow with the toilet paper. Adorable!
- Cows with big bumps on their backs/necks. Brahman cows we think.
- Hot dogs with our eggs for breakfast at our hostel.
- Terrain getting more and more tropical. Leaves really large. Ferns and palm trees. Broad palm leaves bigger than a man.
- Panama flags flying from lots of cars and buildings. A patriotic bunch?

Next section of our trip will be the sailboat from Panama to Columbia. This should be interesting!

Thanks for all of your ongoing encouragement! We love hearing from you.
MB

a cabana one night in a gringo surfers compound in Costa Rica

The lovely color coordinated outfit I have to resort to wearing out for dinner when all my other clothes have been sent out to laundry. I love plaid on plaid! The skirt is actually my scarf just tied around my waist.

The terrain has gotten very tropical looking.

Panama City