Thurs, July 29-Boredom (it's not what you think)

When one is a pool rookie, like myself, you forget to bathe. After all, I am wet most of the day and it seems kind of like a huge bath. I am so content and tired at the end of the day and all I want to do is cool off and fall asleep. Usually I am pretty cooled off at the end of the day. So I get on my jammies and I’m good to go. After awhile I am quite aware that I haven’t taken a shower in some time. Like right now. I should be taking a shower but I’m sitting on the front porch where it’s nice and cool watching it rain hoping Jordan has some common sense and comes home because Hannah did and Jordan is hanging out with Liad and Idan. If it starts raining too hard she’s going to be S.O.L. with riding home in it. As the crow flies they don’t live far but walking or biking, it’s far. Especially, in the rain. Our road right now is almost not drivable. Check out the pictures I took of it last night before it got dark. It wasn’t a road anymore. It was a river. We did have a nice beach day after breakfast today. It was cloudy so we didn’t lather up on sunscreen, which is a process, and it was nice and cool. I didn’t even go swimming. I just sat on my towel on the sand and watched the surfers and people. It’s so fun to people watch at the beach. Everyone has something different they do to keep themselves entertained. The Tico’s play soccer, the teenagers like to sit and do nothing, if they aren’t surfing, kids usually are in the water non-stop. Nobody has sand toys which is so funny to see. I remember a time when I would come to the beach and the kids were little and I used to wonder, “What are the kids going to do without sand toys??” How stupid. It’s like giving a baby a box. They’ll love it. The local kids play with shells, water, sand and their hands. No toys. I used to have this mesh bag in my camper filled with junk. There were buckets, pails, shovels, watering cans, balls, etc. I used to dump it out for the kids and they would go through the stuff and within 5 minutes all of those annoying toys would be spewed all over the place, forgotten by the kids, and I would be tripping over them and yelling at the girls to pick up these toys, which would never get done. But, every camp trip that mesh bag would be repacked and re-dumped out and I’d get annoyed all over again with all of those toys. Things would get lost or taken or misplaced. That mesh bag has nothing in it anymore and I won’t replenish it. We do have our actual toys like smash ball and stuff like that that we still use. I wish I would have never concentrated so much on the pails and shovels and cool sand toys that Target used to sell. It was such a waste of money and after being here watching how all of the local kids can play in the sand perfectly fine without colorful sand toys makes me smile. One of my biggest worries before coming here for the summer was if I would get bored. I had all of these images of me being bored, too hot, cranky, and so on. I was actually scared about stuff like that. Being here now it’s so unlike anything I imagined. If I feel an eensy bit bored I can fix that in a hurry. Just get on the bike and ride or take the umbrella and walk in the rain and check out the flooding. There are so many different things to do here and when you don’t have a car it makes it that much more fun. Having a car is a necessity, we have decided, but we are fine this time around. Today, we came back to the house and I started making tortillas and rice and beans. It’s so much fun to cook from scratch. I do a lot at home too but never in my wildest dreams would I consider making pizza dough or bread at 10,600ft above sea level. Even rice, as I’ve written before, takes an hour and almost 2 for brown rice. I am loving my ability to cook anything here. I’m going to tackle empanadas next. Jordan just showed up sopping wet and having a ball. Having friends here sure makes a difference in their summer. It will be a summer they will never forget. Me too.

Wed, July 28- Jack and the Car

Jack took Barts car today to get propane and deliver our 20ft power pole to our lot. Bart ran the car out of gas so it’s running on fumes and I’m not sure he’ll make it to the gas station. He said he ran it out of gas and to get to a gas station first thing first if we needed to take the car for any reason. Otherwise, we aren’t suppose to drive the car. Fair enough. But, the gas station is 30k away. We all got in the car to go with because, of course, it sounded like a great adventure. Jack pulled the car out of the garage, drove it up to the gate and it stalled. He couldn’t get it started as Bart had said there was some funkyness to it. Sounds like our plow truck you need to start with a screwdriver. Being Jack, I knew he was capable of figuring this out dilemma . He got super stressed and decided to go for a swim. I took the girls to check emails and do computer stuff at the Mauna Loa. When we got back the car was still sitting in the same spot. Not good. I made a suggestion, which suggestions from me are usually not taken very well. Is that a wife thing?? Do other wives make suggestions to their husbands and get the eye roll every time?? Usually, I make suggestions because they are good suggestions. Granted, I know nothing about cars but my gut sure tells me a lot and I usually follow my gut. My suggestion came from my gut and it was impossible for me to not say anything. So, I suggested Jack do such and such to the car. BIG eye roll, I walked away and he sat there for a little while. He walked to the car and BAM! It started right up. He followed my suggestion and even told me he did what I said and thanked me. HUGE! So he loaded up the propane tank again and the other stuff he needed to place the power pole in the ground. He said, “c’mon girls, let’s go!” “We’re staying.” I said. Given the fact that he was stressed as it was I couldn’t imagine loading us all up only to possibly run out of gas in the middle of nowhere or have the car stall again and not be able to get it going. He can do all of that perfectly on his own thank you very much. Secretly, I know he was relieved to not have us tag along.
It’s been a perfect, cool, rainy, quiet day here. The girls and I had a book uploaded on the computer so we all crawled on my bed, grabbed a pillow and started listening to it. It’s a Judy Blum book which are always entertaining. No it’s not “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.” They can read that alone. I fell sound asleep and I woke up to the girls screaming “Look who’s here!!” It was Liad and Idan. Their mom dropped them off at the gate and drove away. Just as the girls went out to say hello it started to pour. Liz and Bart made it very, very clear that we are not to have ANYONE over and I totally understand that. Now, what am I suppose to do? The boy’s are here, no ride, it’s pouring and the girls are so excited to see them. They are extremely great kids and of course I didn’t say, “sorry guys, you have to leave in this rain and don’t come back.” I made the decision to let them stay for the afternoon and they are all having a great time. Playing cards, swimming in the rain, and just hanging out talking. They wanted to play pool but I said they couldn’t. Meanie, I am. I feel so guilty right now for them being here after us promising we wouldn’t have anyone here. It’s just the way it is today. No harm is being done except the fact that I broke a promise. I really feel like that I had no choice and I wasn’t about to send them away in the rain. That said, I feel better and I made a choice I felt was up to me at the moment. Like I said, they are good kids and I’m glad my girls have them friends. I still think we are great house sitters. Kind of like my great friend Joe Hall. He’s the easiest houseguest anyone could ask for. Plus, he fixes things. I don’t ask, he just feels compelled to fix all of the stuff that we have let go for so long. Every time I switch on the lights witch on the stairs I have Joe to thank. When I get a glass of ice cold filtered water from my fridge, I have Joe to thank. Liscence plate bolted down, thanks Joe. Make a call using my hands free, Joe, again. Thanks Joe.
I think we’re about to lose power. The lightning and thunder is amazing and it’s pouring. I am on my computer blogging with Microsoft Word. I’ll just post it when I get the internet tomorrow.
Jack is not back yet and it’s 4p.m. Am I worried? Nah. Not yet. I will be if it gets dark and he’s not here.

Hannah and Mom Time

Yesterdays adventure with Hannah was so much fun. We made it on the bus and as we were driving it started to rain. It rained harder and harder as we went along the bumpy road. We got to 27 de Abril (that's the town's name) and it was coming down so hard. I thought the bus was going to have to pull over but no, it kept on driving. We got to Santa Cruz and needed our umbrellas, which I didn't forget, and went straight for food. We ate at the fast food place called Pollo Frito. Fried chicken and it was yummy. My system didn't like it but my tastebuds sure did. We then went shopping for stuff. We got some little items and headed to the panaderia for a sweet treet and some coffee for me. Later we walked to the ice cream store and Hannah had an ice cream topped with gummy bears. I enjoyed an ice cold beer. We went to the grocery store for some other stuff and loaded the bus. The ride home was dark and dank and the bus smelled like it was under water for ever. The musty smell reminded me of the casita. I kept thinking scorpions were going to crawl out of the seats any minute. They didn't. We got dropped off right in front of the road to our house and walked the 5 minute, super muddy walk to the gate. My feet were so caked with mud that I felt like I was walking on planks. Hannah was laughing at me so hard and wanted to get a picture but the mud fell off just as we walked through the gate to the driveway. I also remembered bug spray and we doused ourselves good right when we got off the bus. It's such a bonus walking without getting attacked by mosquitos.
Jordan and Jack were in the pool when we arrived so we all went for a swim to cool down. It was a great day and Hannah was glad to have some Hannah and Mom time, as she called it.

Riding to Tamarindo-WHEW!

Hannah and I are going to try our luck at catching the bus to Santa Cruz again today.
Yesterday Jack and I decided to ride to the lot and get some groceries and do some other errands. We put on our packs, good shoes and bug spray and sun screen. We rode, first, to get groceries. Jack said we should go to the Auto Mercado in Tamarindo so he could go to the bank and get some money out to pay his guys. It's a haul. I felt very strong and my beach cruiser is wonderful. Maybe I'm ready for a single speed. NOT! We got some groceries and loaded our packs and started riding to the lot and Jack said he wanted to ride back because he wasn't feeling well. He was actually bonking. I've never seen Jack bonk before so it was interesting to say the least. It's me who always loses my energy and can't keep up. We didn't go to the lot and got back to the house 3 1/2 hours later. The kids are so great about keeping a watch on the dog and the house isn't trashed when we come back. They are turning into such responsible young ladies. I love it.
Jack got fueled up and re-hydrated and we sat in the pool and then went to the beach. The beach was perfect today. Clouds, a little wind and no people. I love it like that.
We paid the electric bill for Bart and Liz. We were instructed to go to the blue building/store in Panilla next to the other store and we walked in and said we were there to pay an electric bill. He asked, "como se llama?" We said the name and he produced a bill for $46,000 colones and we paid. He stamped the bill and it was quick and simple. I thought it would be more painful than that. It wasn't, thank goodness.
We stopped at the fruit and vegetable stand which is the best one we have found and they only set up on Monday. We loaded up and they also have 3 coolers full of meats and seafood. It's where Jack purchased the Tuna a few weeks ago that was to die for. We decided to get some shrimp this time. Last night I made a shrimp for dinner. It was wonderful. It's been so much fun cooking now. Having a Kitchen Aid, and bowls and pans. I am making homemade tortillas. They are phenomenal. And not that time consuming. I need to get a Kitchen Aid as soon as I get home. I can't believe how long I have gone without one. I've been making homemade pancakes every morning as well. MMMMMMMM.
As we were in Panilla yesterday we saw the bus to Santa Cruz and it was down with a flat tire. So, today will be a crap shoot as to if the bus shows up or not. We won't wait for an hour today. I'll give it 15 minutes.
Time to see how the pool boy is doing. He was cleaning it when I left. I'll post a picture of him.

Lawn Boy

Pretty sure this is the first time he's ever mowed a lawn. So he tells me.

Heat Wave

We’re having a heat wave. I’m sure it has something to do with no rain for the 3rd day in a row. The house we are in now is terribly hot. They have no screens on the windows so open them at your own risk. Personally, I do open the ones in our room to get some air flow through there during the day. I pull the blinds down and so far there doesn’t seem to be any bugs coming in.
Last night was horrendous trying to sleep. We had a storm come through here at around 10. The power went off and we were not comfortable. We all went to bed at about 8:30 and it was so hot. The ceiling fans help but not much. I finally got up and took a cool shower. Jack got up at around midnight to take one too. They have air-conditioning but they took all of the remotes so we wouldn’t use it. I’m sure they were thinking that we are users and not conservers and thought we’d run up the electric bill. Although, they did leave us with the electric bill to pay ourselves for last month. We can’t take it personally as I told Jack. They live a very untrusting life almost to the point of paranoia. I guess the first time you get ripped off here it changes the way you live and that is what happened. It’s sad, though, to see. We are the perfect house sitters. I am a cleaning fool and Jack is a fixing fool. But, they don’t know that. They had a hard time leaving the house in the hands of virtually, well, strangers. I hope we make them happy when they come back. They sure have nothing to worry about. Especially with the dog. Julietta is a sweetie and it’s nice to have a dog to take care of and spoil. She’s a good girl.
I keep thinking of my Mom with the air-conditioning thing here. As much as the power goes out, how would someone, who truly needed the air-conditioning to help her breath, survive this place? And, we have been in two places where it just plain didn’t work. I mean, if we ever built here, she would never have been able to come for a visit. But then again, we live in a similar place as far a convenience is concerned, and she did manage to come out often. There was a time though where we all agreed she couldn’t visit us anymore because of the altitude. It kicks your butt. My mother in law doesn’t come to our house because of the same reason. It’s just too high in the sky. We are literally 2 miles high.
We keep comparing our life at home and the way we live there compared to here. It’s so similar here only we are at the beach. Everything is 2 or 3 or 4 steps and the convenience of having everything at your fingertips is a drive. The big difference is that you can get things done at home pretty quickly and easily without too much waiting around. Here it’s always a wait and things are on Tico time. Tico’s don’t have a time. Usually it’s mañana. Getting quick service in a lot of restaurants is just unheard of. It may take 15+ min to get your drink after you’ve ordered it. And if you ask for water, you may or may not get it. Especially if you order tap water, which we always do. It’s never quick and usually there are things added to the bill. We’ve studied our bills very closely and there always is a discrepancy. An extra beer or the price of the beer changed from before when we ordered there. Jack is so funny when he gets the check in restaurants. He studies it like he’s studying for the ACT or something. A few times the waiter will stand there and ask him what’s wrong? He’s just being cautious but sometimes its overkill. We have adjusted to this life very well and as long as you realize that it’s just the way things are done here you’d do fine. Many people are too impatient and cannot handle it. Those are the people who wait longer. I’ve noticed. We are patient and we don’t complain. It’s a good way to be. Nobody likes a complainer, especially the Tico’s. EVERYTHING here is Pura Vida to them and if you ever get a chance to come to Costa Rica, you’ll see why.
Jordan has a terrible ear problem. It started a few days ago swimming in the ocean and now it’s escalated to a very painful problem. About the only thing we don’t have in that darn first aid kit is antibiotics. If her ear is infected, we are going to be scrambling for a Dr. For now we are trying to flush out the wax with a bulb syringe and warm water. It’s painful for her and I hate to see her uncomfortable. Especially when we have a ways to go with water surrounding us. If anyone has any suggestions as to what to do it would be appreciated. The last time we were here Jack had to go to the clinic it got so bad. They kept flushing out his ear and all of this wax came out. Water gets trapped behind the wax which I’m sure is what is happening to Jordan. I’m hoping we can eventually flush it out ourselves. She was up from 2am this morning to 7. A huge no bueno. She’s sound asleep now.
It looks like another beautiful, hot day for the beach. Jack rode out to the lot this morning to see if the back hoe did the job. And to bug the lady who’s in charge of turning on our water, to turn on our water. She just won’t get that process going with us. It’s the same old story. Mañana.

The Ocelot Left

Yesterday the buzz was how it was day 2 without any rain. Jack mowed the lawn for Bart and it was still wet. It looks nice. Hannah and I tried to take the bus to Santa Cruz, just the two of us, but we waited on the road for an hour and it never came. It was kind of a let down but that's the way things roll here. You just never know if the bus broke down or what. Which, chances are, that's probably what happened. We often wonder what happens when a bus breaks down and it's packed with people. Does everyone just start walking or do they call another bus, which I'm sure, takes forever to come? I wouldn't want to be on a bus if it breaks down. We see alot of them on the side of the road.
We got back to the house and decided to ride over to Elliots because Jack owed him some money for the power pole that his workers made for our lot. It was so nice riding over there. We were all feeling so warm and fuzzy when we turned on the road leading to his house. I was pretending like I was crying and Hannah was laughing at me. It felt so good to be riding that road. It was dry. There wasn't a puddle on it. We hadn't seen it like that before. We got to Elliots and it was wierd to not pull right into the casita and jump off the bikes and rinse off in the outside shower. It wasn't our casita anymore. We walked into Elliots and he warmly greeted us with hugs. It was great to see him. We saw Bob, who was so happy to see us, and Chica and Nikki, the dogs. Rosa and Pancho were quiet and we said hello to them. We asked where OC, the ocelot was and Elliot said she left. He hadn't seen her for 5 days and figured she went off to the wild where she belongs. We were so sad but happy at the same time. Elliot said that right after we left she caught an Iguana about a foot long and ate it. A good sign indeed. He was asking all of his neighbors if they had seen her because he was worried if she shows up at someones house they would take her in. No one had seen her. So, it's decided that she went on her own will and is growing up where she should be growing up. Hopefully she'll survive. I'm so glad we have video and pictures of her. What a treat to have her for the time we did. Elliot did get a new pet bird that someone found on the side of the road. He saves animals and everyone knows it here so if something is found they bring it to Elliot and he'll take care of it. This bird is a Parakeet and is hurt. He's nursing it back. She's pretty.
We rode away feeling so refreshed that we went for a visit and went back to the house and went for a swim.
Jack and I decided to ride to Panilla, the town, and dump the trash. The bad thing about staying where we are is trying to figure out what to do with our trash. Panilla has trash cans surrounding the soccer field so when no one is on the field it's easy to dump the trash. Yesterday when we pulled up it was going on with everyone on the field and we felt not right dumping it so blatently. So, we picked up some essentials at the store and rode back with our trash. Bart and Liz really need to pay the $14/month for trash pick up. Do it you two. You'll be glad you did. Or maybe not. But the convenience would be worth it in my book.
We rode to the beach for a sunset view and a beer and it was so peaceful. The sunsets have been pretty much non-existant here as far as the sun literally dropping off in the horizon. It's to cloudy on the ocean so the sun is never seen as it's setting. We still have yet to see a clear sunset. I'm not sure we will given the fact it's rainy season.
The monkeys are going off right now. I wish I had my camera. They are crawling around the trees, playing and happy. I never see them on the ground. I'm not sure they ever walk around on the ground.
Time to go enjoy the beach. It's sunny and it looks like day three of no rain. We'll see.
Chow!

Jack, aka Superman

So, after Jack returned the car to Tamarindo, instead of putting the bike in the back of the trunk, granted it would have been banging around back there and probably a huge pain, he opted to run/walk/swim back. He's got a gift for just knowing things like where to go. He gets lost a lot and when we're with him I just go absolutely nuts about it but when he is alone, have at it and get lost. He enjoys the rush. He drops the car off and heads back via the beach. Now, he knows it's high tide which could pose a problem if there are cliffs. There were cliffs. So he's now on the beach getting to the point where the waves are crashing on the cliffs and he knows he has to get above the cliffs and away from the water. He heads up and wings it and is now on top of the cliffs. But, there is security all around watching this madman walk along where, I'm sure, is not the norm. The security guards are from Hacienda Pinilla, which is the J.W. Marriot and it is swanky and stuffy and pretentious. I'm sure if one can afford to stay there it's awesome. We'll never know. We did walk down the beach our first week here all the way to it and it sits directly on the beach. So, naturally, we walked up, past the sign while the girls were yelling at us not to go in because we are not guests. They don't get the fact that you can look. We weren't going to poach on the pool or anything although Jack kept saying we should. We get up to the infinity pool which is huge and it is exclusive. Definitely not my kind of place, although, I'm glad we checked it out. We were being watched the whole time by the workers who were dressed in black pants and starched white coats. They looked hot and miserable.
Anyway, now Jack is on top of the cliffs in front of Hacienda Panilla property. They have miles of beach front spots and homes they rent for a zillion dollars. There is an 18 hole golf course on the ocean and Jack is walking right in front of it all looking haggered, being watched the whole time. He gets to a river and being high tide has to cross this thing. Rivers are where the crocs hang out. It's also where lots of Tico's get their dinner or hang out and swim or whatever. Jack gets up to the river and all of these Tico's are watching him. He's in running shoes, socks, and he has a backpack on. A wave comes up and crashes over his shoes and all of the Tico's start laughing at him. He sits down, takes off his shoes and socks and holds up his backpack over his head and swims across this river. The river is not shallow and it is not short. I've seen another river crossing just like the one he's telling me about it and they have these boats you wave down if you are across the river and they motor over to you and you pay something like $1 for a lift. This river had no boats because there are no tourist attractions around it. He said the Tico's were cheering and laughing. I'm sure these people are just in awe of him. He's superman, I'm telling you.

Back to the Beach

I am sleeping. Finally. I feel rested and I go to bed not worried about anything. There are geckos crawling around the walls but I don’t worry about them crawling on me. In fact, yesterday I opened the window in our bedroom to get a little breeze going through and a gecko crawled out of the window. I was telling Jack that and I said to him, “I hope he crawls back inside”. Jack was laughing at the irony of that statement. Geckos are good to have inside your house here. They eat all of the bugs and are very non scary. I had read that if there aren’t any geckos in the house to catch some and let them go inside.
I have had to sleep with earplugs here as well. The first night Jack and I were lying awake in bed listening to the sounds. It’s so loud with everything awake at night. There are tons of frogs but they make a weird sound that is really loud. I can’t identify anything by their sounds but every sound is so different and loud. So, I pulled out the earplugs last night and man do those things work. Deb and Patty, I’m sorry I ever gave you a hard time for wearing ear plugs. All in fun.
Yesterday, the girls and I finally ventured out to the beach. It’s been so nice hanging out at the house, plus the weather has been icky so staying home was easy. At the casita it was kind of a bummer being hunkered down when it rained. Not really a bummer but it was super loud because of the metal roof, damp and dark and usually the TV. reception would go out as well as the power. So, we would all hang around and I’d read a book or something. Here, if it rains, as long as it isn’t lightning out we can swim, and it’s bright and we can play pool or foosball. It’s nice. I’m glad we have a dog, Julietta, to dote on. I do miss Bob (the cat we named that looks like our cat Buster), and OC (the ocelot) and the spider that I would feed. It’s definitely a trade off. I’m so glad we had that experience first.
We got to the beach yesterday thinking we would have a little bit before the rains came. Well, it cleared up and turned out to be a beautiful day. Jack had to ride to the lot to hire a back hoe so we were on our own. We boogie boarded and swam all afternoon. The ocean was warm and clean and calm. The tide was going out and it was so beautiful being there. The walk to the ocean now is closer so it is more of a hassle to ride the bikes and park them at Las Olas where I would be worried they would be ripped off. It’s fun to walk and now we cross that long wooden bridge through the mangroves. It puts us right out in front of ‘dead tree’ where we like to sit so it’s very convenient. Lola’s s is no more for us which is nice. I like not having my bike down there to deal with.
The power was off for the entire day yesterday. It went off at 8:30 and returned at 3. It changes things when there is no power. I can’t believe how often it happens. It’s just a regular thing here.
Dinner was excellent last night. I got to cook my beans in a pressure cooker. It didn’t take me 2 days to cook them. No soaking overnight, no boiling for 2 hours. What a concept. I had never used a pressure cooker before and being that we don’t have internet I couldn’t get online to Google ‘pressure cookers’ so I was winging it. They turned out perfecto and it only took about ½ hour. I didn't realize I shouldn't take the little thingy off of the top of the pressure valve and I did. DO NOT DO THAT!! Just sayin'. Liz also has a rice cooker and I used that and made rice. Living at 10,600 feet above sea level it literally takes about an hour to cook rice and boiling water takes a lot longer too. Here at sea level I love the fact that things cook. It’s wonderful.
Jan and Angie, if you are reading this, you are both extremely lucky to have a pool. Every time I go for a swim, which is a lot during the day, I think of the convenience you both have in the summer of cooling off. What a great feeling it is to take a dip and relax and cool off. Don’t ever take it for granted. If we ever do get a place built here a pool will be a must.
Life is grand. The day looks nice so far. Jack is meeting with some people at the lot today so he needs to ride out of here this afternoon. I hope for his sake the weather stays nice.

Arenal

Saturday morning we woke up after a great nights sleep. I had nothing crawling on me at night, I didn't have to swish a scorpion off of me during the night, I wasn't worried about cockroaches the size of a hand in my room, I didn't even put in my earplugs. It was quiet with the exception of the volcano erupting during the night which was just plain cool. I was rested and ready for the day. Our first night there we drove up the road towards the base of the volcano where the national park is. I had read that you can just pull over and watch the lava flow down the mountain when it's active. We drove to a point where there were people sitting on the side of the road watching. It literally is like going to watch fire works. People bring blankets, coolers, and sit and wait and watch in the dark. Unfortunately the lava never flowed but it was a good experience none the less. As we parked I had read the sign for the Arenal Observatory Lodge and I had read a lot of that place and wanted to go back and see it. That was my only request for being in Arenal. So Saturday morning after a breakfast of cereal, granola, fruit and some brewed Costa Rican coffee, which we had on our little deck with the birds, we drove up to the Observatory Lodge and there was a small fee, $4/person, to get through the gate. We parked and walked up to the deck of the lodge which has the best view of the volcano. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and you couldn't see it. The grounds were gorgious and they had some hikes around. We walked across the hanging bridge to where there more rooms and the pool and Jordan wasn't into hiking so we left her sitting by the pool with her book and took off. We wanted to see the waterfall. the signs said do not hike with flip flops. Make sure you have the proper hiking gear. I was in a dress and wearing my Chaco's, Hannah had on $1 flip flops from Old Navy and Jack was in his flip flops too. We looked at each other and said "good to go". We were on the trail and the only thing I kept thinking was this trail is muddy and rocky which isn't a problem. But what if there are snakes and that is why there are the warnings about the shoes? We didn't see any but I was sure looking. The falls took us 20 min or so to get there. Very impressive and pretty. We took the long way out for a little more adventure and saw another hanging bridge. We got back to Jordan sitting contentedly by the pool chatting away with a mom and dad while their 2 younger kids did their thing. Jordan said the Mom had so many questions. I'm sure she did. Like, "where are your parents?? You're NOT staying here?? They just left you here while they went for a hike?? You are in Costa Rica for how long??" We are not the normal family, I'll give you that.

Anyway, we walked around the grounds for awhile admiring the flowers and smells and birds and never did get a looksee at the volcano since it was cloudy all day. But well worth the drive up there. We went back to La Fortuna and did some souviner shopping. We hit EVERY store. The girls had never really experencied shopping for souviners like that and they were throughly enjoying it. Jack was patient which kudos to him. He's normally not. We didn't buy anything. The woodwork is so pretty though. The next day we did go back to get Hannah this carved sloth that was so neat. She was extactic. Jordan got to get a little bracelet. Now they have something to remember Arenal by. The next morning Jack and Hannah went to the local Panadaria (bakery) and got some goodies for breakfast and we sat one more time on our deck with the birds and then left by 9:30. We got back in lightning speed and didn't have to return the car until Monday morning by 8. So, we went grocery shopping and drove to the lot again and got to our new digs by 2:30. Liz was surprised to see us so soon. I felt like not being in their way because they were trying to get out of town the next morning and so I suggested to Jack we leave for a few hours and get out of the way. We told the kids to wear a swim suit and we were going on one last adventure. We drove to Las Tortugas, which is such a special place for us since it was the first place we ever stayed at in Costa Rica and had a great time with our friends the Hoods. So we got there and the kids were screaming and so excited. Avellana, the dog and Ron, the cat were still there. We had a margarita while the kids swam in the pool and the same staff was there. It was good to be there. We ended the night with dinner at Kiki's which is the place we used to walk to in the pitch dark from our apartment we rented there. We got back to the house at 9 or so and went to bed in our new place.
I can't even tell you how comfortable it is. It's new for one, just under 2 years construction so everything is new. The bed was perfect, the ceiling fan is quiet, and my bedside light is so awesome. To bad I whipped through all of my books. I'm going to read Jordan and Hannah's now.
We woke up the next morning, Monday, to the house to ourselves and Jack left to return the car at 7:30. He walked/ran/swam the entire way back from Tamarindo. I'll elaborate later. It's worth it's own blog.
We never left the house yesterday. We swam, ate, played pool, swam, played foosball, swam. It rained all day and being in this house is such a treat. We grilled hamburgers on the grill by the pool for dinner and after dinner we hunkered down ON THE COUCH for a little t.v.
What did I ever do to deserve this life?? I thank whomever for letting me live it the way I am. My parents for one. Had I not received their support in everything I chose to do with my life it probably would be different. They were/are totally awesome and supportive in all of the choices I have made, lifestyle wise. Thank you for that.

New Digs

New Digs
We’re baaaaaaack.
We are officially at our new place and it is nice having a pool, we are closer to the beach, Jordan and Hannah get their own beds, Jack and I are in a queen now, we have an oven, grill, all the cooking essentials I need, we even have access to fresh herbs. The only thing lacking is the internet. A big bummer. So, I’ll have to walk down to the Mauna Loa or somewhere to get internet access. We didn’t have any internet access on our trip to Arenal either so I wasn’t able to blog or check emails.
Here is a quick replay of our trip to Arenal.
First off what a magical place Arenal Volcano is. We got our car Wed night at around 5pm and Bart and Liz drove us to Tamarindo, which was huge. After a stressful time with the card being declined we got our other card to go through and drove away with a Toyota, Yaris. A fine machine. It was a low rider in Costa Rica standards and we were bottoming out on the potholes and bumps. I haven’t even touched on the shape of these roads here. More on the roads later. We picked up some beef tenderloin for dinner with Liz and Bart and came back to their house and had dinner. We got home pretty late and the casita was pretty much all packed up and ready for our departure in the morning. The next morning Jack got up at 7 and went surfing and I pretty much packed the car, cleaned the casita and by the time Jack got back we were ready for our road trip. We left at 9:30. Not bad. The drive was excellent. We were getting mixed messages as to how long it would take. Some said 8 hours, Elliot said 3 ½ to 4 tops. We decided to follow Elliot’s lead since he has not led us astray once. On anything. That kid knows his Costa Rica facts. I guess living here since he’s been 13 helps. We decided to take the Liberia route to Talaran and around Lake Arenal that way. It was a good and beautiful choice. Lake Arenal is huge. The road is super tortuous. The landscape was amazing and there were tropical flowers everywhere and everything was breathtakingly beautiful. The backdrop with the mountains and the lake and the tropical flowers was just unbelievable. It was Lake Dillon with jungle. Picture that. We had plans to stay at Los Lagos and splurge for a night. It was a very expensive hotel but the grounds are spectacular, we were told, with hot springs, water slides, gardens, frogs, birds, all sorts of other things too. It’s a kid’s paradise. We arrived and walked into the lobby and it was a zoo. There were people checking in and the concierge was busy and there were people on the internet. Kids are excited and there were about 5 different languages being spoken. We waited and waited and waited to enquire about a room. Finally we got to the desk person and they after looking us over pretty hard they decided they were full for the night. We were out of luck and Hannah took it pretty hard. I was unaware that its busy season right now in Arenal and this is their busiest month. We left totally frustrated and Hannah was crying and we now were thinking it might be hard to find a place. We drove down the road to Baldi, another high end hot springs resort and they wanted $260/night for a room. We aren’t the people who can pay that so we were off looking for another room. I had found a place online a few weeks ago and the grounds looked beautiful, the rooms were clean and it looked perfect. We drove right by the tiny sign that we could have easily missed because it sits on the corner of the busy road. We turned around and drove in and they had a room available. We looked at it and I went back to the lady and said it was “perfecto”. And it was. The room was situated in its own little cabin not connected to any of the other rooms. It had a beautiful patio that looked directly at the volcano and the trees surrounding the place were amazing. Plus, there were birds galore. I mean big birds like peacocks and geese, and other species I can’t identify right now. It was very entertaining to see them come up to us and look. They had roosters and hens and chickens and ducks. They were free to leave their pen and roam the grounds. It was so cool. We unpacked and took a swim in the pool. I was in a trance looking at the volcano waiting for something to happen. It’s active so at anytime it could erupt. And it was always doing something. There was a steady flow of steam coming out of the top of it. It was just like something you’d see on a nature show only I was seeing it in real life. I almost started to cry it was so amazing. We cleaned up and went to La Fortuna just down the road for dinner. La Fortuna is a small town but very, very touristy. Souvenir shops are everywhere, all selling the same stuff, restaurants everywhere all serving the same, over priced food. It’s one road in and everything is basically on that one road. We opted for Pizza at Luigi’s which was great. The service was good and the people watching were fun. Everything is outside, open air so it’s nice and cool. While I was packing in Colorado I had heard that it gets cool in Arenal at night. I was not about to be cold one bit after the Colorado winter so I packed fleece and sweats and a few short sleeve shirts. Cool to the Costa Ricans is like a heat wave to me. I was sweating like a pig the entire time in Arenal and not once did I need my fleece. I haven’t even worn sleeves since I’ve been here except to go zip lining and that was even overkill. I will never pack any fleece for Costa Rica again. Ever.
We all got back to the room and fell sound asleep. I didn’t even have one thing crawl on me, I didn’t have to wear earplugs and I had a bedside light. It was pure bliss. I slept like a baby. Except the air conditioner didn’t work and the windows opened and had bars on them so I wasn’t worried about security but they didn’t have screens on them. The last thing I needed were bugs in our room. It wasn’t too bad sleeping though. We woke up the next morning and had cereal and coffee and granola and we had read that they sold tickets to Baldi hot springs for $20/person, $25/person including lunch. We decided to get the lunch too and we are glad we did.
Baldi Hot Springs is indescribable. They open at 10 a.m. and we were there at 9:30. We left and came back at 10:30. We had a backpack with towels and my camera and our suits. We walked in and just started walking around looking and getting our bearings. There are 20 different pools all different sizes and temperatures. All situated throughout this resort on a hill with tropical gardens surrounding the whole area. Then, of course, you have the volcano towering above it all. We hopped from pool to pool and they had 3 water slides that dropped into a great big pool. Everything is natural rock, waterfalls, gardens. They had a couple of restaurants with swim up bars in the pools. The place was someplace I’d only ever imagine about. It was surreal being there. I was laying on one of the rock beds in a hot spring overlooking the volcano with this huge waterfall in front of me and I was thinking that at any moment I’d see Donald Trump sit down in his swim trunks or some huge star walking around. We didn’t see anyone famous but we were sure thinking we would. The thing is, is that there are a few of these hot springs resorts in that area and each is unique in its own way. Baldi just happen to blow us away because we had never seen anything quite like it.
We got dressed and headed to the restaurant where we were to have our lunch that we paid $5/person for. We were handed menus and offered a beverage. We were confused because we thought it was a buffet and so we asked what lunch was and they said it’s all a la carte off the menu. We had a 3 course lunch with a beverage. And the portions were perfect. Not to small and enough food to fill everyone up. I was blown away at that deal. We would have been crazy to not take it. It would have cost us more to go to town and eat or get food from the grocery store. We were happy. We swam a couple of hours more, went back to the room for happy hour and rested and rehydrated and went to La Fortuna for dinner. After dinner we went back to the hot springs to see this spectacular place at night with the lights and it was just that, spectacular. We were sitting in my favorite hot spring, the one with the rock beds, and decided to move down to the pool with the swim up bar that had the perfect view of the volcano in the daylight. This pool is very large and there are cool places to sit and look at the volcano. Well, being night you couldn’t see the volcano and we decided to make our way down to the lower pools and call it a night, since it was almost 10 and they close at ten. All of a sudden the volcano explodes, and it was this loud thunderous sound. When it goes off as it was doing all day, it sounded like thunder and everyone stops and looks at it waiting for something. Usually, the steam would stream out of the top of it and that was pretty neat to see. This time the thunder was loud and we turned around and looked up at the sky and here was the volcano erupting and massive amounts of rock and lava and molten were shooting out of the top of the volcano. It was UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! People started to clap and cheer like it was the best fireworks you’d ever seen. It was the icing on the cake for our day. After it was over we high-fived and walked down to another favorite pool and sat in it and talked about the volcano erupting right before our very eyes. I have goosebumps just writing about it and thinking about it. We got back to the room and Jack and I sat on our rocking chairs staring up at the volcano in the dark waiting for another eruption. It never came and we went to bed totally satisfied.
I have to continue my story tomorrow.

501 Spanish Verbs

Today was interesting. We are starting to gather our things after everything being spewed out over the past month or so. We are trying to dry out our shoes, which is nearly impossible for the running shoes Jack and I brought. The Keens are inside drying now and they dry faster. I wish I would have purchased those for myself and left the running shoes at home. Live and learn. However, when I blogged about spending a bundle on my Chaco flip flops and was wondering why on earth I would drop that kind of money for flip flops, well, I'm so glad I did. Jack has already gone through 2 pairs, luckily he found a pair at the grocery store so he's on his 3rd pair, and the cheap ones that the girls have are almost done. Mine are still like brand new and they are beefy. I do EVERYTHING in them and I have even ridden out to the lot with my Chaco's on. They are great. A good buy for sure. We headed down to the beach to catch the beautiful weather. We did our usual. Swim, surf, boogie board, and watch the clouds get dark overhead. When it starts to lightning that's when we get a move on it to the bikes to ride back. The storm was kind of circling around us in all directions so it was hard to tell what was going to happen. The clouds inland were black and moving towards us but the wind was coming straight from the West. Then, the sea was black and the storm was moving towards us from the ocean. It was a mad dash to Lola's for shelter. It was raining so hard the last 400 yards or so and it hurt getting pelted by raindrops. All of these people were huddled under the only roof at Lola's. The mood was festive and we all had our cameras out to capture this storm. It was coming down so hard. We usually would hop on our bikes and deal with the rain but today was different. We we not going anywhere. So we ordered beers and french fries and hunkered down for awhile. The videos were of that moment. We were actually cold and I didn't have anything dry. So we were wrapped up in sopping wet sarongs. It was better than nothing believe it or not. I couldn't sit there in just my bathing suit. I did have board shorts on and that helped some too. Poor Hannah, she was only in her bathing suit and I remembered I put a dress in the back pack for anyone to wear and she put that on. Toasty.
Jordan had had enough of being cold. She wanted to ride back and waited for a slight break and went for it. Smart girl. We had just ordered some fries and waited about 20 min for them. We were having a good time just looking at everyone in such awe at the weather. It was very impressive. We loved it. After awhile we decided to ride home and so we paid and off we went. The road completely changed. There were rivers where there were none. The bridge flooded and as Hannah and I came upon it I didn't know if we should cross it or not with our bikes. Jack was behind us so I suggested we wait for him and make the call. We really had no choice. How else do we get home? He rode up to us looking at the river coming over the road and started to laugh. "We have to go for it" he said. I told him, "you first". He did and I said I was going to take my $60 Chaco's off in case they got washed away. Glad I did. It was raging. I walked through that thing barefoot, pushing my bike and Hannah was waiting on the other side for us to give her the O.K. So I thought. She was carrying 2 boogie boards bungeed to her bike and starts across the flowing river right behind me. It was a sight. I didn't have time to set my bike down and help her before she decided to cross. I was snapping pictures left and right. Another funny moment we captured on camera. We made it home and I heated up some coffee after taking my first hot shower in Costa Rica since we've been here. I actually dug out a fleece from a suitcase that is stashed under the bed and put it on. The wetness of the day was making me so chilled. We had a peaceful afternoon in the casita playing cards, watching TV and reading. There were some good movies on TNT and we watched 2. I'm dreading bedtime. Here we were in the "comfort" of our double bed last night, sleeping, and all of a sudden Jack yells at the top of his lungs, "OUCH,!@#%#. WHAT THE $#@# WAS THAT? OMG!!!! He was stung by a scorpion. At 11 o'clock at night. I still had the whole night to go. Why couldn't that have happened at 5 o'clock in the morning when it's almost time to get up anyway? I grabbed my headlamp from my makeshift night stand and there was that bad boy scorpion. I knocked it to the floor and grabbed my book, "501 Spanish Verbs", from my makeshift nightstand, and threw it on the scorpion. It squished him dead. So, once again, it was a sleepless night thinking Mrs. scorpion was still in bed and she was coming after me next. I even put lavander in the bed last night thinking that would keep things away. I need to remember that when something is crawling on me at night, or anytime for that matter, do not try to smush it dead against your skin. Jack didn't brush it off of him and instead swatted it and that's why he got stung. I'm glad he didn't brush it off of him because he would have brushed it right onto me. 2 more nights of this. Why will I miss this place???? Because I just will, that's why.
So now it's way past my bedtime. It's 9:30. And I'm thinking if I stay awake a little longer I'll be sleepier for bedtime and I'll sleep. Think it'll work? No. But I will lay awake and think of all of the critters I won't miss. Tomorrow we pick up our rental car and get the power pole delivered to our lot. We were suppose to get it delivered today but it didn't happen. Now, I'm going to have to go pick up the car and drive it from Tamarindo to here. I have never driven in Costa Rica before. It sounds funny being nervous to drive but I am a little nervous. Plus, I'll be in the car all by myself and have to be brave. A big girl moment for me tomorrow. I'm glad I got used to the roads on my bike and know exactly where I'm going.

The Beautiful People

I thought people from Minnesota and Colorado are beautiful. Granted, they are, but here, in Costa Rica, I have never seen so much eye candy. There is something about the women from MN and some men too. They are pretty. And pretty healthy. Colorado is the same. People are good looking and healthy. Here in Costa Rica, we are rubber necking all day. Jack, and the girls, and me. All of us are in awe of the beautiful people here. Jordan and Hannah are always commenting on how pretty that little girl is or how cute that little boy is or how that grandma is so pretty because she has a flower in her hair. Whatever. We are noticing. It must be the sun, how it tans the skin (no one seems to have tan lines), and the Tico's/Tica's, of course, their skin is naturally beautiful. It's not the tourists here, it's the locals. And even the locals that aren't Costa Rican. Everyone surfs, or if not, they walk on the beach, run on the beach, do yoga on the beach, stretch on the beach, you get my drift (ha, ha). I'm so in awe of everyone here and the beauty surrounding us. The beautiful landscape and the beautiful people. It's just plain beautiful.

Yes, it was a Ginormous Cockroach

I have identified the bug that is almost the size of Jordan's hand.
IT'S A COCKROACH!!!!!!
I was in serious denial and I finally couldn't take it anymore and had to google it at 2:30 early this morning as I couldn't sleep. I didn't hit the sack peacefully after that little discovery. Why do I do this to myself?

You have to understand something. I HATE cockroaches! I used to live in Pacific Beach in San Diego with Jack in 1987 for about 8 months. The first time I had ever seen cockroaches were in that house 4 blocks from the beach. I was terrified one night when one crawled on my leg while I was in my bed sleeping. The next morning I called the landlord to have the place exterminated, which is a pain for the people living in the house. It's quite an ordeal. We lived with Marty and Bonnie, who had been in the house forever and were used to critters. They were furious with me and totally put out. Now, I can see why, but then, I just wanted those roaches destroyed. Which they were for a time. Apparently they do come back but the extermination does last for awhile. Me, being from MN and not used to stuff like that, it was just gross. I used to wake up in the middle of the night, in that house in PB, and go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I'd turn the light on and see them all scurry. I hated that more than anything. It's the roaches that creep me out most of all. I'm glad I didn't know it was a FLYING cockroach on my wall given the fact that I had my face right up to it to get a better look. And, why I was so close to it just confirms my ignorance as to what it was.
YUCK!!!!!!!!

Today is Monday. Jack rode out to the lot with a pack full of little trees. He's into it. We have 3 more nights here in our casita. As Jack and I were having our coffee this morning, me in the hammock, him in the chair, we were talking about how almost sad we are to be leaving this place. I know I've said it before but the entertainment around here had been awesome. I hope we won't miss out staying in our new digs. But like we were saying this morning, it's time to close this chapter and open a new one. It'll be our Part 2 of this journey, one that I am looking forward to and one I'm sure will be just as awesome.

We're suppose to get a huge rainfall this afternoon. Time to ride down to the beach and enjoy what we can. The water yesterday was so refreshing and warm. I love the temp of the ocean here. It's almost bathwater warm but refreshing and wonderful. It is so inviting and you cannot help but play in the water when you're at the beach. The other time I remember the ocean being like that was in the Outerbanks when we took a trip with my parents and brother's and kids. It was such a memorable trip, one that I know we all would like to do again. The ocean water in September in the Outerbanks was so nice. It's like that here. Not shockingly cold.

Time to hit the beach. Later.

Spiders Nest

Call me crazy but my new favorite pastime when it's raining is to catch bugs and throw them into the huge spider web I stare at from the middle hammock. It is absolutely facinating. It's like my own personal real life National Geographic right in front of me. Do I sound like I'm going crazy??
Maybe I am.

Just a Sample

This was yesterday at around noon.

All in a Day

We woke up this morning to a note from Jack saying,
"rode to lot with 4 banana trees. I'm planting them." We ate and I talked the girls into riding out there to see the progress. Hannah and I were looking forward to it but Jordan was not. I made her go because she hadn't seen it yet and Hannah and I rode out the other day. We were riding on the back road and Jack comes over the hill. Bummer. Well, he didn't want to turn around and ride back so he and Jordan rode back to the casita and Hannah and I went on to the lot. It was a nice ride. We got there about 45 minutes later and Jose Luis was working and the fence is finished. He also cleared all of the dead bushes out and Jack planted the 4 banana trees. Things are looking great there. Check out the pictures.
Can't you just imagine Jack with 4 banana trees on his back riding his bike? Who would've thunk????
As we were riding back, we were very close to home and came across these 4 cows, one being a calf. That said the black cow was having none of us and started to moo at us and snort. Thank God that driveway was there because we had to ride up it and out of the street. We were just hoping that they weren't going to take a turn up this road. Then we would have been scared. Needless to say, these wayward cows kept on the main road. I'm sure some rancher will be searching for them tomorrow. Hannah's adrenaline was pumping pretty hard after that. It spooked her.
Not as much as our new bug spooked me though. Jack decided that I needed a break from the kitchen tonight so we all put on our raincoats and walked to Las Olas for dinner. It was still light so we knew we would be returning in the dark. Headlamps in our pockets and we were off. It was muddy since it rained hard all afternoon. When it rains that hard it's amazing what comes out of the cracks. We got home after our muddy walk home and I went to the bedroom to get into my jammies and looked up on the wall and yikes. This bug in the picture was huge. Jenny June, if you still read my blog you did a fine job of identifying the creature. Can you identify this?? Please don't tell me it is a cockroach. I don't think it is. I had to put my glasses up next to it and take this picture to give you an idea of the size. That is Jordan's hand next to it too. I realized it wouldn't attack after we tested the waters with a few things first. The other bug I found in the shower yesterday. It's cool as well. I made Jack catch the huge thing and take it outside. Usually when I ask him to capture a bug or spider or whatever, it always, always escapes. So when I asked him to get rid of it please I had my doubts. I was so afraid that he would lose it and it would crawl on me in the middle of the night and terrorize me. I'm sure it already has.


I wish I could write and show you every single detail of our days here. I just tell the stories of some parts of the day. Every minute is so unreal somehow. It's hard to explain. I would love to have a webcam on my head all day everyday to show you how it is living here. If I could I would write it all out but I couldn't possibly put into words what we are experiencing. It is truly an experience and I am so happy we are able to live this life.
Time to do the once over in my room for critters and go to bed.
It's late. 8:20p.m.

A Perfect Sunny Day

Yesterday was the day I was so wanting to have. After some serious rain for a few days the sun was shining, all day, and it was a party at the beach. There were so many happy beach goers.
We got up and met Jack down at the beach by 9am since he was already down there surfing. We walked down to 'dead tree' and set up camp. Liz and Bart and their 2 renters from Brasil walked up and we all moved to another spot down the beach. The mood was great. Everyone was happy to see the sun, with no threat of rain. It was great conversation with our friends.

There is a rivermouth down the beach a little way and Jack likes to surf down there, along with many other surfers. The waves break over rocks and it gets good when it breaks just right. Anyway, there have been crocodiles that come out of that river INTO the ocean. They are huge crocs and average 8-10 feet long. We were talking about it yesterday because a croc was spotted right in front of 'dead tree' a while back, where we like to swim and surf. The locals always warn that if you see a "log" in the water get the heck out because it's probably not a log and it's a croc instead. Now, I don't know about you but if I saw an 8-10 foot crocodile swim next to me in the ocean that would be the end of my trip. For one, literally, the end because I would be lunch for that monster, for two, I can guarantee, if I lived through it I would not go out in the water again. Not seeing one was enough for me. I was sweating like a pig and had to go swimming. Never mind shuffling my feet in the sand to get the stingrays out of the way. I was on the lookout for swimming "logs".

I'm anxious to see our lot. The fence is finished. Jack says it looks great. They made a little gate for us too. Jack went over to talk to Elliot about planting trees and what some good fruit trees would be to plant before we leave. We have nixed the idea of palm trees for now. We have no irrigation on the property and when it's dry season here starting in November we have no way to water them. It is dry, dry, dry, which is hard to believe. So, Elliot gave some names of indigenous trees in this area which won't need any water during dry season. He told us to take some off of his property and put them in the ground on our lot. Jack just left with 4 banana trees in his basket and backpack and rode to the lot to plant them. I may have to have some oatmeal and ride out there.

Tico's and their Machetes

It's a pretty common sight to see a bike like the one in the photo. Most have a machete attached to it. If it's not attached to the bike somehow, the person riding the bike is carrying it. The first time I was riding my bike down the road and came up to a Tico, full of mud and sweat, usually built like a brick shit house, carrying a machete, it scared me a little. Of course my imagination started working wonders and I was imagining to much. I rode by the dude and murmered a meek little "hola". He just waved his machete at me and replied, "Pura Vida". It's now something I'm used to seeing. These guys with machetes walking or riding along just going to chop down the jungle. One day, we were getting a ride from Elliot to Tamarindo for some groceries and he waves to a Tico that he knew. The Tico stopped us and asked if he could have a ride a mile down the road. Jack and I are in the back of the car and Elliot and his friend are in the front. The Tico get's in and he's got a machete the size of me. He lays that thing on the floor and I'm careful not to rub my ankle up against it and accidently sever it off. When he got out of the car he takes his machete with him and we all admire how strong this guy is. It takes a lot of work to swing one of those things, I'm sure. The funniest sight we saw was this group of workers we always pass if we're riding out to the lot. They all travel by bike. There are about 5 of them. They all have on long pants, mud boots up to their knees, long sleeve shirts. I am riding by in shorts and a jog bra and still sweating like a pig, and the funny part, all of them have helmets on. Usually they wear their helmets OVER a cowboy hat or a baseball cap. But the hat remains under the helmet. Now, I'm all for helmets, but when I see the size of the machete they are balancing on the handlebars while trying to ride the bike over bumpy roads, I'm sure the helmet won't help if they fall and impale themself with their tool. I have to get a picture of those guys. It's classic.

Next week we have a huge change coming our way. Our last night staying here is on the 14th. We pack our bags and leave the 15th. We have rented a car and pick it up on the 14th in the afternoon. We'll bring most of our things over to Liz and Barts and then we drive to Arenal for 4 days. Arenal is an active volcano that is pretty incredible. We'll stay there for the weekend and drive back on the 18th, return the car, and move into our new digs. It's going to be quite the change from here. I'm going to miss it here. We have had a great time and given the bugs, noise, heat, I'd stay here, most definitely, again. It's been so entertaining and I hope we have the chance to do it again. But, time to move on and start a new chapter in the Costa Rica experience. I'm sure it'll be just as entertaining in a new way.

A very belated "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" Gugger. I thought of you on Monday. I hope you did something fun.

We need to take advantage of the sun while it's shining right now. Time to hit the beach.

The Moth's

I can't say I have EVER seen rain like this. They say that in the past 2 weeks we have received about 20" of rain. That is a LOT. The mountains must be unbelievable. Here, at the beach, it is not as extreme, which is hard to believe. We woke up at 5 this morning and it was an absolute downpoor. It's so incredible that it doesn't flood in this casita. No bowls have to be placed under leaking roofs. That would be a bummer. The family we met who were staying at Las Olas said their roof leaked, right over the bed, and was dripping on them in the middle of the night during a rain storm. A huge no bueno.
Last night after an excellent dinner of tuna, Jack purchased a Kilo of it, green beans, rice, and salad, we sat down to a little t.v. and it started to pour. It gets super loud when it rains that hard and we all get our lights ready for when the power goes out. There are these little moths that obviously hate the rain. When it rains they want inside in a bad way. Something must have been different about last nights rain. The moths went crazy. A few were getting in through cracks or holes in the screens. That's normal. Next thing we knew we were surrounded by hundreds of moths and they were scrambling up every window trying to find a way in. Hannah had the fly swatter and couldn't swat fast enough. The moths would come in and they seemed to be flying in circles until they would splat to the floor and crawl around on the floor until they died. We literally could not walk on the floor with out stepping on moths. I think they were going to the floor because the concrete was shiny and they were flying to the shine of it. It was just a carpet of moths. They were everywhere. We had them crawling on our legs and arms and in our hair. I would sweep and sweep and Hannah and Jordan would swat and swat. Jack finally had enough and went to bed. I couldn't sleep knowing the carnage we would wake up to. So I stayed awake with the girls trying to deal with these moths. They were taking over our casita. After awhile things started to die down a little and they weren't coming in. It was crazy. We cleaned up as best we could and let the remaining moths flutter around. The girls and I all grabbed our books and sat in our chairs and read. It was just another night at the casita with the bugs. Even the frogs were going nuts on the porch. It's rained that hard before so I don't know what got into these critters last night but there must have been something to make everything go nuts.

Lazy Day

Yesterday was a lazy, lazy day. We got up early to catch the 8am bus. It never came. From what we could understand from Armando, the store owner where we catch the bus, it is not running anymore from Playa Avellanas for awhile. Unless you want to catch it at 5:30 in the morning. We couldn't really understand him enough to get the whole story but the bus is out for awhile. I'm thinking maybe it's because the kiddos here are on a 2 week break from school so they have cut back. Who knows?
We walked back to our casita, made some breakfast and hung out. It started to rain after a bit and I went back to bed and read my book for awhile until I fell asleep. I took a good long nap. Something about sleeping when it's raining is very soothing.
I read some more after I woke up and really didn't do anything all day. At 3:00 Bart and Liz came over and we all went to the store and got some dinner stuff. We wanted to treat them to a cocktail for driving us so we went to Las Olas and had some drinks. We came back to our casita and I cooked us dinner which was a stovetop delight. I'm getting pretty good on that stovetop. It was a fun evening and I can't wait to do it again. They are good people.
The creatures are not in any bathroom. Who knows where they went. I'm sure we'll get another one before we leave here this month. Today we make our reservation for Arenal. 3 nights there and that will be our mini vacation from Avellanas. We are really looking forward to Arenal. Everyone here raves about it.

The pictures are of the girls walking on the road to the bus this morning. It was a gorgious morning. The road was a little wet from early morning rain. The mosquitos were terrible.

The Bug in Hannah's Ear

I was drifting off to sleep last night and, as always, one of the girls comes into the room, turns on the overhead light because there is a problem. It was Hannah this time and she can't sleep because she thinks a bug crawled in her ear and is flapping around in there. Being my Mother's daughter I go into "what if" mode. What if we need to get her to a Dr.? What if there are no doctors close by (which, I'm pretty sure there are not)? What if there is ACTUALLY a bug in her ear? What if she goes insane like the girl who had a beetle in her ear on the show "HOUSE" and starts screaming uncontrollably right now? What if it's that darn creature from the girls' bathroom who has been M.I.A. for nearly a week now. Could that thing even get into her little ear? UGH. The questions I have going on in my head make me feel like I've got a bug in my ear too.
Hannah goes to our bathroom and asks me where the 'ski tips' are. She is queen of this. Saying the wrong thing for something. I know what she is talking about because it happens all the time. I'm not sure sticking a Q-tip in her ear is a good thing but I let her, knowing there really isn't a bug in there, and she is digging around and itching her ear and asks me to look inside her ear. I do and I see the tiny freckle that is right in her ear and I say, "nothing in there". Good enough for her. She decides there isn't a bug in her ear either. We all make our way back to bed, Jordan too because she had to get up to see the action. Hannah sticks the Q-tip in her ear for one last swoop and her eyes get huge and she say's, "MOM, the creature had a baby!"
Here, IN MY BATHROOM, that we all share, is a mini creature. I can't say baby creature because that would give you the impression that creature #2 is small. I almost started to cry because up until this point my bathroom was 'safe'. Even though I still grab my towel with just my pointer finger and thumb and shake it out, even though I look on the floor before I walk in there just in case, even though there are geckos on the wall, good thing because they are probably eating the scorpions. My bathroom was 'safe'. Now it's not safe because the creature from Jordan and Hannah's bathroom probably made it's way to my bathroom and that long walk made it lose some weight but by today it'll be full size again. Only creature #2 was much more spunky. The original creature just sat there and didn't do anything until Jordan would blow on it and it would move at lightning speeds behind the mirror. Creature #2 was moving his whips like he was hunting for spiders and bugs. Those whips never stopped moving. They are like 2" long.
Jordan and Hannah skipped to bed and I was left in by bathroom staring at this #2 (creature, ha ha) just not tired anymore. I turned off the light as I said, "goodnight creature #2" and went to bed. I was back to pulling the sheet up to my chin after I had graduated to the sheet just pulled up to my chest. It took me awhile to get to sleep. And, as usual, I woke up at Amityville horror hour just because that's my schedule. I'm itching, like always, and wondering what I'm getting bit by and itching and finally I fall asleep again. I slept in until 8 this morning. A good, deep sleep until 8. I am rested and ready to conquer the creature in my bathroom because if I leave it there I'm going to be a trainwreck. I like the relocation idea best. I will get a pair of gloves today and figure this out.
To be continued: