Travel Day to Santa Catalina

February 17, 2024

Tom set an alarm and got up super early to get to the rooftop to take a timelapse of the sunrise with his 360 degree camera. I never heard him leave, but when I did start to wake up I heard him in the living room and asked if he had missed the sunrise and he told me he had already been there and back! He told me that a security guard had told him that nobody was allowed on the roof at that time, but when Tom told him what he was doing he was super interested and let him stay. The security guard didn’t speak any English so their entire 45 minute conversation was done using Google Translate. I haven’t seen the pictures yet, but can’t wait to see how they turn out.

The hotel offered a complimentary breakfast so we took advantage and checked it out. Boy was that the right move! This was not a typical hotel breakfast. This was full-on buffet like I was at an all-inclusive resort. They even had a chef making made to order omelets! Since it was going to be a long travel day for both of us, we both ate well and had our fill.

Tom and I said our goodbyes and I departed the hotel at 11:15 and Tom headed to the airport via Uber a short time later. After driving around Panama for the last 10 days, I was most nervous about navigating out of the city by myself to rejoin Pete, Laurie, and Linda at our next AirBnB that was 6 hours away. It turns out I had nothing to be nervous about. It was a pretty straight shot out of the city (I didn’t have to go down any one-ways) and the roads felt particularly empty . . most likely because it was a non-workday. I was happy for that. As soon as I got out of the city I stopped at the first gas station and filled up for the long ride. Along the way I spotted Mickey Mouse along side the construction area where traffic slows down. I thought it was odd that Mickey was on the side of the road and didn’t realize until after I passed that he was there asking for money. I translated the sign tonight an it says “Help me with a coin”. Other than stopping for gas, I only stopped one other time at a McDonald’s to use the bathroom (honestly I’m glad McDonald’s is prevalent in the bigger cities for the use of their bathrooms. I’m not sure where I would feel comfortable stopping if it wasn’t for McDonald’s). I didn’t get anything to eat and kept on driving. I’m not disappointed that the drive was pretty uneventful.

At 5:15 I pulled up to the gate of the residence area where we are staying. Pete and Laurie walked down and opened the gate and guided me to our AirBnB. This is a very nice two story house with three bedrooms and each bedroom has their own bathroom with shower. We chatted and got caught up with each of us have been doing since Wednesday. Funny story . . Laurie asked me how we found the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center because she was trying to get to it, and I asked her how she found the Pipeline Road Trail because that was where we were trying to go. We both ended up where the other had intended.

Laurie made a meal of shrimp pasta with pesto sauce for dinner and then played a game of Swoop and Mexican Train. I was the Swoop winner, while Linda came out ahead in Mexican Train. I had been leading for the longest time and Linda had been losing, but with only 3 or 4 hands left the tide totally flipped. It was a lot of fun.