WE MADE IT!!!!!!

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WE MADE IT!

In 1914, the Panama Canal was opened for ships to pass from the Pacific to the Atlantic
through one of the greatest engineering feats of this century.
97 years later, in 2011, little Bella carried Marc and Sarah across the canal
after a 7 month journey from home...

A dream we both have is to cross the Americas in their entirety
Our reality was that circling through Mexico and heading back was a possibility that would be acceptable to us
Our goal, that we spoke fairly quietly, was to complete Central America in our little Bella...
A goal we have just accomplished.

How many times did we say "We´ll just make it as far as we can..." or "We can be happy that we made it this far..."
Things that you have to say when you buy a 1978 VW bus and head out on the road trip of a lifetime...
and, here we are in Panama... as far as we could possibly drive away from Canada.
We always said that when Bella died we would deal with it, and here she has brought us.

In Virginia, when we almost lost our Bella 5 days into the trip,
we wondered if we should be doing it at all
In Belize when we sat, broken down and unable to move forward for 2 weeks,
we wondered if we should turn back
At the Guatemalan border when they refused us entry into the country
because we were pushing our broken car across, we asked "what next?"
On each tow truck we have sat on the flatbed of, bumping along to find someone to fix us,
we tried to keep our confidence
Through each argument we have had about directions while lost in the middle of nowhere...
we knew we'd find our way
After sleepless nights, police checkpoints, border days, and breakdowns....
we kept going.

And after all 9 countries and all of our frustrations and set-backs, here we are,
and all we can think about are the opportunities each one of those moments has brought us.
The amazing experiences that we've had would not have come in any other way.
We have been shown endless kindness, we have experienced central american culture in the most intimate ways,
we have learned lessons we will never forget...
all fruits of an adventure full of hiccups.

When we look back at all of the times we have wondered "what were we thinking",
our minds shift to thinking about the friends that we have made...
The times when we have been down and out and wonderful families have come to our rescue,
The times when people have insisted that we come into their homes and share in their lives,
The mechanics who have saved us and helped us learn more about our Bella,
And the friends we have made living this same wild adventure that we are...
Friends we were immediately able to share moments, emotions, stories, ideas, advice, and motivations with...
and more importantly friends who were there for support, safety, fun, and not so fun...
They are friendships formed out of a mutual respect for where we are in this moment.
Thank you to all of the people who have brought incredibly happy and unforgettable moments to our trip!
You know who you are!

Also a giant thank you to 3 people who have become an immense part of our journey...
Kahung, Melanie and Dante, (and we can't forget the Mule),
In the short time we have known this family we have become important people in each other's trips...
we have experienced things together as if we have been friends forever!
We have had late night discussions around the fire about this trip and on life in general,
we have shared hysterical laughter, awesome suppers, and felt more support than we could ask for
And honestly... together it's just been more fun!
We have shared amazing moments we will never forget with these guys... after all...
"Happiness is only real when shared"...

So here we are, the significance of reaching the Panama Canal is huge to us, and to anyone who has made this journey.
I am sure you would understand if you could have heard our giggling as we crossed over the Bridge of the Americas...
realizing that we made it here!

Sarah

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And now the Border...