By Friday, we had off-loaded the refrigerator and freezer, gifting other cruisers and the marina kitchen with butter, cream, cheese, horseradish, jams and jellies. Then we shut off the power (except the bilge pumps and propane sniffer) and locked up Astarte to head to the states. Mino from the marina picked us up by dinghy to get to shore and then we had planned to catch a bus to Colon and then Panama City. But it was our lucky day, and Jim from Nirvana was heading into Colon in his rental car and gave us a lift. Jack, from SV Anthem was also heading back to St. Pete, so the three of us piled in with Jim and made it to Colon. With all our "stuff" this was a much more comfortable way to go, so we were grateful to Jim. Then we timed it perfectly and got on a really nice bus to Panama City which almost left immediately. This is a bus that had air-conditioning, a movie (in Spanish), and very comfy seats. The hour and a half ride was quite pleasant - for $2.50 per person! In Panama City, we took a cab to the hotel and then headed to the old city for lunch and a walk.
On Saturday morning we had to be up to catch the 5 am bus to the airport to start our air adventure. We had eight air legs ahead of us over the next 14 days. From PC we went to Atlanta, cleared customs which was quite easy. Then we walked the length of Atlanta airport to the "better food concessions" and had lunch. We had 5 hours to kill before our flight to Portland.
We arrived early and had gotten through one-fourth of our legs without issue. Hope it continues as smoothly as we have an ambitious plan to see the moms and take care of doctors, accountants, brokers and our house. Plus we are excited about seeing friends and relatives.
Getting on those planes did remind us that we are glad we don't do that every week anymore!
We had a great visit in Portland with friends Tom and Jan, Sandy, Norma, Chris and Steve. Now, we're in Eugene with Michael's mom and her husband enjoying time together.
Next stop - Boston (via Minneapolis/St. Paul). Hope there's no snow.
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment