Happy July!

On Wednesday Eric & I set out for a few days at the beach. First stop about 4 ½ hours away was Playa Blanca Our friend Wendy has a new villa there and we were taking a few pieces of furniture and tools for her new place in the van. She has rented another villa so we have a great place to stay, cooler packed and off we go. Our plan was to drop off the items, spend a little time at Playa Blanca and then go to explore an area we haven’t been in a while. Pedasi and Cambutal ( see the Panama Report)  both located on the beach at the bottom of the Los Santos Province and in some of the best surfing and fishing areas in Panama on the Pacific side. We have been anxious to see the progress there and since we would be somewhere in close proximity at Playa Blanca  we figured it was a good way to spend the weekend.

About 3 hours into the trip the chauffeur (Eric always does the driving so he won’t sleep) ran into a little problem and thus here is our Spanish word of the day!

Galote = turkey vulture - Here is what happened as I was perusing the map to identify some of the side roads and go down memory lane trying to recall events from when we traveled those side roads before – almost 3 years ago.

About 5 minutes following the accident  and while I was still on the phone with the insurance company we were stopped by the police who said we were speeding. Since there was no sign designating the speed limit and we were on the Pan American Highway I guess it was possible that we were, but highly unlikely since Eric was almost leaning out the window so he could see to drive. Unfortunately in all the hubbub Eric didn’t have any small bills so that stop cost us $20. It is typical to not take the ticket and just pay the cop. We did check on the way back and could not find any speed limit sign in the area nor we could we find the dead vulture – no doubt his friends and family “cleaned him up” so to speak.

Well – the good news is that our insurance company covers this damage with a $75 deductible. The roadside emergency service was great and very helpful, it was not a Panamanian holiday, and we are alive and well. On the down side we did have to continue to Playa Blanca with the windshield vibrating in the wind to drop off the things. There was only Panama City or David to go to get it repaired – one another 2 hours in the wrong direction and the other our “go  to” city.  We had a great dinner treat at Buenaventura Resort, slept over and turned right back around and headed to David in the morning to try to beat the rain so we would not have to use the wipers.  Every time Eric would turn the wipers on, little shards of glass would fall on the dash!

We never even saw the beach!

Eric always used to fish on his birthday which was yesterday and Vulture catching wasn’t quite what he was hoping for – we will have to make that up to him once the van is repaired. Now the challenge is to find a windshield for a 1998 Ford Van in Panama! Below is our culprit – or one like him!

Technorati Tags: , ,