Bus stops and stray dogs

Using our somewhat trusty navigation system, who we so lovingly refer to as "Bambi," we made our exit from the Panama Canal and found our way onto what I thought was called the Interamericana. Turns out, that’s what the road is called in my Lonely Planet guidebook. However, when actually in the country, all signs say Panamericana.
This is the highway that in six or seven hours time will take us from Panama City to David. We weren’t going to make the ride straight through; we had decided to stop at the halfway city—Santiago.
The highway was decent, with two lanes going in each direction. However, beware of the looming potholes ... there are many and some are quite huge. A lot of them just laughed at our little rental car and tried their best to rip our tires off.
The roadside scenery wasn’t much to write home about. We passed through several small towns that each offered similar amenities: a gas station, a convenience store, and bus stops. The good thing was there was no reason to worry about finding a gas station along the way because there were plenty.
The amazing thing was the amount of bus stops and stray dogs. Bus stops are literally everywhere. I began to wonder how far these people traveled and for what, work? I know friends of ours who have hours-long commutes into the city to work, but I'm thinking these Panamanians might have to travel even further!
And if you are a dog lover, the sight of all the stray dogs will depress you. They are thin to the point where you can see their ribs and they are just walking the highway. It made me want to pick them all up and bring them home.
A friend of ours told us about El Valle, about a half hour off the Panamericana. With our stomachs growling for food, we decided El Valle would be good place to stretch our legs and eat.