two months?

Nope it’s not possible. I realize the Romans threw together a structure, loosely based upon the rotation of the earth and its accompanying orbit around the sun. I guess since I live in the western world I’m obliged to accept that reality. But there is no way my mind and heart can accept the fact that I have been on the road for ONLY two months. It feels like a lifetime has gone by since then. Maybe even two lifetimes. I’ll have to check with Shirley McClaine and ask her how it feels to live two lifetimes. I’d like to say I’m spending this day on some remote beach, working on the tan, and reflecting upon my good fortune. If you want to pretend that I am go for it. I could use the positive energy. The truth is I’m sick as a dog with a head full of mucous and a body full of aches. I’ve been lying in bed at the amazing and wonderful Hotel Montreal in Panama City, Panama. Okay amazing and wonderful might be just a tad bit complimentary. How about ‘the safe and passibly clean Hotel Montreal.’ Yep that feels a bit more accurate. But it is safe and it is clean and it has been my home for 5 days now. The first 3 I spent with my fellow overlanders Erin, Kevin (whom ben and I met at the Belize/Guat border and I have kept in touch with along the way) Mike, Kori and Hartt. 3 different groups, all from Canada, riding to Ushuaia. We were sharing in the frustration of trying to get to Colombia. Those 5 arrived in Colombia over the weekend and I have spent the last two days sick in bed. Fortunately there is a grand total of 3 English tv channels on the TV here. So after watching a 5 episode marathon of the teenybopper melodrama One Tree Hill I was able to catch back to back episodes of Little People, Big World and finally I am watching some good ole’ NFL football with Spanish speaking commentators. Oh and I managed to squeeze in a 4 hour nap.

I feel like I should digress into a bit of a geography lesson to explain the dilemma the six of us wrestled with earlier this week. A quick glance at the map (or for some you may recall your hours spent staring at a Risk game board) reveals the Western Hemisphere to contain one continuous land mass. As we all know the only thing preventing this reality is the Panama Canal. However I’ve learn that not everyone is aware that it isn’t possible (it may be possible but is essentially a death wish) to drive the length of this landmass. My pounding head and snot filled nose are killing my enthusiasm to type so go ahead and read this real quick. Thus each of the 6 of us who found ourselves at the Hotel Montreal were fighting through the morass of logistics necessary to get around the gap. Riding motorcycles they had multiple options including sailboats, airplanes and cargo ships. All of which included many hours of legwork. My option is one. Cargo ship. After dozens of emails sent (and exactly zero replies) and hours of online research I finally found a name. So with that name I placed a phone call and on weds this week my truck goes into a shipping container and onto a ship bound for Cartagena, Colombia. I anticipated doing some exploring and sightseeing here in Panama but except for spending New Years Eve on the summit of the highest point in Panama (11,410feet), where I managed to run into four kids from my former home of Juneau, AK, my time here has been spent either in bed or in front of a computer screen trying to get out of here. Tomorrow I get to prep my truck for shipping and some more sleep and then South America awaits.