USA OR BUST!

        Conor's job needs him to fly back for  2 weeks to work again.  Hmm, what should we do? Have Con fly back solo,see his wonderful, loving family and friends, again, right aroud the holidays, probably have an early Christams with loved ones, and , of course, bust out his shifts at the hospital, all while is loving little family stays in Panama OR. . . Bring us all with him!?!!?!  What should we decide?

Who wouldn't want to travel with these two??

        I mean, come on, flying internationally with not one, but two dogs, a wife and all our baggage (actual and emotional) sounds so easy and inexpensive!  The decision was simple!  USA or bust for the whole Gorham clan!!
   
      After we decided we are going to bring the whole fam back, I quickly started scrambling around trying to get everything in order.  First off, putting the boat in a marina.  I called around town for prices, asked opinions of cruisers who have been here for awhile where they recommended and we decided to stay at Red Frog and move Gualby into a slip.  They worked with us on a price we could manage, we like the area, the marina is clean, and it is right next to where we were currently anchored.  We moved in two days before we left.  It felt different being in a marina again.  We have to watch our music volume level, make sure the dogs don't wander but we also can run fans and computers no matter how cloudy it is and Gualby got the fresh water scrub down and engine flush of her lifetime.  She looks so sparkly!

       Next the dogs.  I called the only vet in town, who actually isn't in town.  His practice is in Changuinola and he comes to Bocas twice a week.  My rough spanish and his kind demeanor on the phone got me through when and where I need to meet him for the health certificates so the dogs can leave the country.  The best part,  he doesn't even need to see the dogs, only their papers! How convenient and shady is that??  Who cares if they have mange or infection, as long as you have cash and rabies vaccination papers you can leave Panama with them.  No complaints here, it is way easier to just put me on a water taxi to meet this guy, then me and two perfectly healthy dogs.    After I got the health certificates, next I needed to figure out how all of us are going to get to Panama City.  The puddle jumper airplanes that fly from Bocas to Panama City don't allow dogs that are more then 7kg.  Pen and Bub are a pinch bigger than that so I felt like I was at a dead end until Con thought of checking to see how much a taxi ride would be.  We found our man, Headley, and for a mere $350 he agreed to drive two adults and two dogs the 9 hours to Panama City.  (Cheaper than 2 plane tickets but not as cheap as the  bus) I found a hostal that would allow dogs and our plan was to buy the kennels once we were in Panama City.  We met Headley in Almirante after our water taxi ride from Bocas, where the dogs were allowed with no extra fees, only an exasperated sigh from the ticket guy.   The dogs were tied into the back of the truck, Headley threw a tarp over our bags and we were on our way.  We think this is the first time Bubby has been in the back of a truck.  He and Penny both loved sticking their heads into wind and enjoyed the ride.  Bubby, however, ducked down and looked around nervously every time another vehicle would pass going the other direction.  Penny just rolled her eyes at him.  Penny eventually laid down in the only open area of the bed of the truck but she wouldn't let Bubby lay with her so poor Bubby, already nervous about the traffic, was stuck dealing with the baggage shifting and moving with the curves of the mountainous roads.  Half of the ride he was on top of the tarped bags trying to get comfortable.  Oh, and it also rained the last few hours of the trip.  Poor lil pups.

       We arrived at the hostal, checked in, the girl was cute and friendly about the dogs (phew), Bubby stared at the ceiling fan in the room for several minutes (apparently another first) , we ordered pizza and then went to sleep. The next morning Conor stayed with the dogs while I went to a Do It Center to buy the kennels.  There were several different options and I ended up buying two I thought were perfect, they weren't, the store let me return them (another phew moment) and purchase the correct sizes.  We put the dogs in them, gave them lots of treats and they seemed fine in their new international travel cages.

       Next day, Panama City International Airport.  Online all the sites say to NOT sedate your animal before a flight as it makes it harder for them to regulate their breathing as well as other possible complications with giving non routine drugs to your animals.  Conor and I decided that maybe a little Benadryl would be a good idea for them. We arrive at the airport and stumble out of our enormous taxi that is carrying us, our dogs, our bags, and our kennels.  Penny's kennel is so huge that is comes with wheels so we pile Bubby's kennel on top, my bag, Con carrys the rest and I walk with the dogs into the Panama City Airport.  Needless to say, we got a few looks.  I hid some benadryl in a muffin, Penny swallowed hers whole, Bubby put his on the ground and ate the muffin around the pill, Penny followed behind and licked up the crumbs along with his dose of benadryl. Ok, this is going smooth already.  I manage to get a little bit of benadryl into Bubby without giving any more extra to Pen and we made our way to the check-in counter.  Our check-in takes a little bit longer than usual, as expected, but it goes smoothly and we have everything in order so the check-in girl puts the stickers on the kennels, we put the luggage tags on in case of lost luggage (Oh my God, is that a possibility? is what I am thinking as I fill out the tag) and we are pointed to the conveyor belt our dogs will go on.  The dogs get put on the conveyor belt, Conor and I pet them through the doors, tell them what great dogs they are and we will see them in Miami and then we watch them go down the belt.  Both look nervous but are behaving pretty well.  Bubby's kennel disappears behind the thick, plastic flaps, Pennys is next, we are about to wave bye and leave for our gate when we hear frantic Spanish being spoken in between the airline conveyor belt people.  There is a huge cartoon-esque red button by the belt, a latina woman in heels and a uniform two sizes too small runs over and slams it, the conveyor belt stops, more frantic spanish is spoken, Penny starts growling, I am demanding Conor to immediately translate what is being said, Penny starts barking, I go behind the counter (where I am sure I am not allowed) to go calm Penny down, and Conor goes to talk to the airline personal.  An airport employee explains to Conor that the franticness and the dramatic pressing of the huge red button to stop EVERYTHING moving onto the plane was simply because Bubby's kennel tumbled down the conveyor belt.  WHAT?!?  They reassured us that "everything is fine" but I felt like behaving like Penny at this point, teeth bared, showcasing my most fiercest bark but with the calm guidance of Conor I don't make a scene.  It gives me some satisfaction, however, that everyone around us is now scared of Penny.  Con and I calm Penny down, she successfully makes it down the conveyor belt and Conor and I have no choice but to go to our gate and hope we see the pups in Miami.

       Several hours later, we all arrive safely in Miami, albeit some of us a little more shaken up than others.  Getting through customs was surprisingly easy and when we exited the airport we found the Miami International Airport Dog Park.  Not kidding.  Isn't that funny that the airport has a dog park, and we exited the huge Miami airport right in front of it?  Pen, Bubs, and I hung out there and took in the smells while we waited for Conor to come get us in the rental car.  Another funny first for Bubby (aside from being in America of course) is A/C.  He kept putting his chest up to the vents in the rental car and looking at us as if to say, "Man, you guys should get this for the boat."  We drove the three hours to Fort Pierce where Conor's family lives on a 12 lane highway with no potholes while we snacked on gas station grabs of anything we wanted.  We had made it to America.
M.

This picture was taken right after the airport personnel stopped the conveyor belt for Bubby

A growling, nervous Penny

On our way on board the airplane a friendly steward greeted me with a "Hello!" I smiled back at him, returned the hello and asked how he was doing.  Turns out the steward was actually the pilot and because I was the first person boarding the plane that was friendly back to him he asked if I wanted to take a picture in the cockpit.  Of course I do!!! (Me and every other eight year old that has ever been on a plane)

Conor tried to resist getting his picture taken but when the pilot of the plane is insisting, I think you just need to go with it.  And as it turns out, this could be my favorite picture of Con ever.  

Wha? A dog park as soon as we exit the airport? 

Sniffing good ole American soil