There I was. Here I am! What now?

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? YOU ARE GOING TO GET US KILLED!" the anguished scream was coming from our Costa Rican guide for the day, Ronald, who was white knuckling in the back seat. In hindsight, that was rich coming from a Central American driver! All we did was follow the (Canadian) law which dictates that when coming up behind a stopped school bus, all traffic must stop. Apparently, not in Costa Rica. When we explained why we stopped, he was puzzled; it made no sense to him. So we commented that is was to prevent children from getting hit by cars passing the bus. "That's crazy!", he said, "In Costa Rica we teach our children to look for cars!" DING!!! Darren and I looked at each other. Oh My God! Common sense is not dead; it moved to Costa Rica! That was the moment when we decided to move there when we retired. The 5 year plan was born. Yes, I know; I am in Panama. Bear with me! I am a Canadian who hates winter. Not a good combination and

🎶 His name is Rio and he dances on the bed...🎶 Apologies to Toto (the band, not the dog!) NO MORE DOGS! PINKY SWEAR! Yes, that is what we both agreed on after having our hearts ripped out by leaving our babies, Charlie and Tessa behind us in Canada as we started anew in Panama. We got them when they were 5 weeks old and moving to Central America was not even a blip on the radar. Charlie was a patient, loving saint of a dog and Tessa was the boss...of Charlie and Darren....she and I had our battles and I assured her that there would only be one alpha bitch in the household and it was NOT going to be her. After a year, she gave in and decided if she could not be top dog, she would be my dog..lol. I love big dogs; I could never get into little dogs except for Corgis. Fast forward 10 years. We knew that these dogs would not acclimate well to a tropical climate; they both hate the heat and love snow, unlike me! They were both starting to show their age but otherwise health