21 hours, 5 airports, 3 planes, and a taxi... we made it to Panama!

SeaTac airport is mostly empty at 4:30 in the morning on a Wednesday.  So it was fairly solitary as we checked our 5 rolling bags at the Southwest check-in counter and lugged our 5 carry-on items through the lonely security checkpoint line and towards our departing gate.  After a quick stop in Denver we arrived in New Orleans (Naw'leans?  Every local says Naw'leans!) for a not-quick 4 hour layover and plane change.  Our flight was late to leave New Orleans for Ft. Lauderdale and so the showdown was set for the critical moment of our trip... would we make our connection in Ft. Lauderdale from Southwest Airlines to Spirit Air so that we could catch our flight to Panama?

I have a love/hate relationship with Spirit Airlines and FLL (Ft. Lauderdale).  Spirit Airlines is cheap-- it costs as little as $39 dollars plus tax to fly from FLL to Panama, $39!!!!  The tax and airport fees costs more than the airfare :)  BUT if you arrive in FLL via Southwest and need to catch a flight on Spirit, say an hour and a half later, you are in for some excitement.  Ask us how we know :)  We must arrive on Southwest, collect our 5 bags from the baggage claim, check-in at the Spirit counter and re-check our bags, re-go through the security checkpoint line, and then leisurely jog to our departure gate with our 5 carry-ons in an hour and a half.  FLL has 4 separate terminals.  Southwest is in Terminal 1 and Spirit is in Terminal 4.  No problema (Espanol guys!) because there is a shuttle that runs constantly between the terminals.... until 9pm.  So when we arrive --at 10pm-- and wait 15 minutes for the shuttle that isn't coming we have the *privilege* of running what must have been the longest mile ever from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4 with ALL of our luggage.  Good news is that Spirit restricts checked baggage to 40 lbs so we only had to carry 200 lbs of checked baggage and 200 more lbs of carry-on luggage as we were sprinting along.  Oh well, my hopes of arriving in Panama smelling fresh and clean were dashed after that little jaunt.   After sitting in the check-in line at the Spirit counter for eternity and making it on the plane for our 11:30pm flight at 11:45pm we were off to Panama.... there was no going back now.

We arrive in Panama City at 3am.  David Watts is waiting for us as we exit customs with our luggage.  Who is David Watts?  He is a brother in one of the Spanish congregations in Panama City who drives a taxi for a living.  He and his wife are pioneers.  He stands there with a huge smile-- I don't know how, its 3am for crying out loud!-- holding a sign with our name and a Watchtower magazine.  He takes us to an apartment rented by two brothers-- Jon and Abdiel-- who have an extra room they are willing to let us stay in.  This is our first glimpse of Panamanian living, as we enter their apartment... is it what you expected?