Jan. 30 – Santiago to Panama City

Got off to a fairly late start, with no breakfast or coffee.  Fairly boring ride through flat agricultural land;  both of us complained of being sleepy and tired.  Stopped for lunch at a roadside bar, and continued on until finally breaking out at the start of the Bridge of the America’s,  a very picturesque and beautiful entrance to the city of Panama.  We wandered briefly in the confusion and traffic of this large and spread out city, and then lucked out by stumbling into a very commercial and government district with dozens of hotels, seemingly on every corner.

We checked a few hotels, and picked one that seemed reasonable.  We felt lucky to have found a place so easily.  The hotel had a pool, which we both made good use of, and found good food for dinner.  We made an early night of it.

As of today, I have been on the road for 58 days, and have logged 7,000+ miles since leaving Michigan.  Arriving in Panama City is really a major milestone on this long ride south;  it may not be half-way in terms of time or distance, but it does represent the end of the first phase of this journey.  We will rest here, get geared up and re-equipped for the next leg of this fantastic adventure.  We both have the same enthusiasm and determination that we started with, and are excited to have made it this far safely.  We have to keep reminding ourselves (and each other) where we actually are, because sometimes it seems unreal even to us!