A New Chapter Begins!

Our time in Panama has ran out.  Yesterday Brandon flew home to Calgary (although his bags did not quite make it all the way) and today Karen, Jada and I ride South.  Tonight should take us as far as David, near the Costa Rican border.

Reflecting on our time here brings a couple things into focus:

- we will miss the friends we have made here the most and hope to see some of them in Calgary sometime.

- you don't need stuff to be happy.  I could live without missing anything with what I can pack on a motorcycle, and nothing I pack on the motorbike is worth anything really.

- people are basically the same everywhere you go.  My dad gave me a very good rule a while ago "every place is basically the same.  Every town has an Asshole, a loudmouth and a whole bunch of good people and generally 10 minutes into town you know who is who." and he is right on the money!

- time passes fast.  Enjoy the journey.

- the best experiences don't cost very much if you have an open mind.

- most of us live in places that other people think is paradise when they visit.  We should take time to appreciate what we have.

Ok, enough sappy stuff.  Time for details on what we are doing over the next few days.  We will go through a country a day until we hit Guatemala (weather might change this though).  In Guatemala we might stop at Lake Atitlan for a mini break for a few days.  We missed it on the way down here. After Guatemala we head up the East coast of Mexico into Texas.  We hope to meet Bob, Nan, Gerry and Rita Schneider and others (hopefully Stu Gammel can make it) in Albuquerque New Mexico for the convoy home.

On our way down here we took 40 days and travelled 10,000 km including about 10 no travel days.  this time we are taking the more direct route that should cut off 2,500 km and we hope to be back in 25 days give or take.  This depends on weather and how much we enjoy certain areas.  If we like somewhere then we might stay a little longer.

Enjoy the journey!

Stew.