Manny Molin

Manny Molin, I don't even know how to spell that, was something we said as kids. We'd see something neat and say, "manny molin!" Or we would just say it to be goofy. This weekend, at my family reunion, my cousin's husband, John, said it and it brought back the most incredible memories. I can't believe he remembered that and said it and manny molin did I ever crack up. I think my brother, Andy, made that one up. Correct me if I'm wrong, if any of my family members are reading this.
The family reunion in, Hayward, WI. had been an amazing time. We got here Friday afternoon after a fun car ride with my girls. We laughed and cranked the music and had every window down so our hair was flying wild. We laughed and sang until our stomachs hurt. When we arrived it was like a walk down memory lane. The smells, sounds, views were all the same and I felt 10 again.
We got settled into our room in the main house and I was so excited. It was like the feeling you had at Christmas as a kid. I couldn't wait to get there and here I was.
Here is a synopsis of our weekend:
-swimming in the lake
-tubing
-water skiing
-lounging on the beach
-30 family members
-the lodge
-cabin 9
-cabin 3
-ping pong
-John picking up his guitar and playing at random while we all did whatever
-laughing
-screaming
-go karts
-riding in the boat
-eating
-sitting around the fire
-catching up with my family members
It was a wonderful weekend and I wish we could do this once a year.
I have a super cool family. My Mom was there in spirit. I could feel her there.

WHIRLWIND!!

Whew! What a whirlwind we have been on. We got home on the 19th, as I blogged earlier, and had 3 days to put it together to drive to MN. We threw a party for Jack up at our house on the 22ND. August 22ND was Jack's 50Th Birthday. It was our tenants idea to invite some friends up for a BBQ and just have an easy time of it. We loved the idea and he spread the word with a few phone calls from me. The weather was perfect, except with the threat of rain which it never did. We had a bonfire in the backyard and had a couple of grills set up for cooking burgers and brats. Our great friends, the "O'Donahue's", brought up Bison burgers with chili's and homemade guacamole and let me tell you. TO DIE FOR!!! Sean was the master hunter and shared the result of his marksmanship with us. Thank you, thank you, thank you guys. Very generous and you know you are one of my favorite families. One day I am going to blog about your family because you are an incredible family and you deserved to be talked about. Sean and Evette brought up fireworks. REAL fireworks. They blew up the sky and we celebrated in style. I took pictures from my camera which has a firework mode on it. They were way up in the sky and look at the pictures my camera captured. I was impressed. Sean even had a grand finale which was very impressive. We all were hooting and hollering. It was amazing.
Jack had to go to bed, he is 50 now. The hard cores left right after Jack announced he was going night, night and we were in bed by midnight.
The following morning we woke up feeling a bit groggy. We weren't even close to being packed. I still had laundry to do and cleaning up the house. It was not pretty. Plus, it was the first day of school for Summit County. We were to leave on this day so we didn't send the kids to school. 2 years ago, before my Mom died and before I home schooled, I would never, never have kept the kids out of school, let alone the first week and a half. Now, I am much more at ease and confident and know that we CAN miss school and be fine. It's all good. We will get the work done and we will have our family time and that is way more important then anything. So, I threw in the laundry, cleaned up the house and we drove out of our driveway at 1:30 in the afternoon. A little later than I wanted to start driving but at least we were on our way to MN. We drove to Grand Island, NE, as it started raining. Hell, I though. Rain shmain. We are used to it. But, when you are driving on the freeway and it's dark, things are not fun. We got a motel room and called it good. I'm glad we did as we all got a great nights sleep and the next morning we were all raring to go and the weather was beautiful. We got to my Dad's at around 6 p.m. We had dinner and were in bed early.
This was the first time I drove to MN since my Mom died. Usually, I look forward to the drive. As we were getting closer I was getting all teary eyed and when we got to the driveway I lost it. I didn't think I would but I couldn't help it. I pulled in the garage, which my Dad had open for us, and I got out of the car and I was now crying so hard. I opened the door to the house and I was sobbing. My Dad let me cry as he hugged Jordan, Hannah and Jack. They were all good about letting me cry. I walked in and I was imagining her sitting on the bottom stairs with her oxygen and standing up hugging me. She wasn't there. I looked up at her chair and imagined her sitting in her maroon chair, smiling and saying hello, so very excited to see us. She wasn't there. I then went to my old room and opened the closet door and took her ashes down off the shelf and put her on the dresser that I put her on so I can see her when I go to bed and when I wake up. We had a moment together when I set her on the dresser. I lay on my bed and talked to her and told her how much I miss her and that I'm glad she is still with me. I layed there for a good long time and finally felt better. She was here, in my room so I could talk to her and that felt great. I washed my face and put myself together and went to say hello to my Dad. He understood, as he always does.
Today is now Thursday and the weather has been perfect. I went for a run today and Jack rode his bike. The girls are happy and my Dad had been great. We are grilling out every night and we are eating in the family room with the sliding glass door open and it feels like home. Tomorrow we leave for Hayward and cannot wait. The house will be taken care of and we are expecting excellent weather for the week.
IT'S ALL GOOD!!!! PURA VIDA!!!

The People of Costa Rica, an example

Wilson is a Tico. Born and raised in Costa Rica. He speaks very good English and has a beautiful wife and 2 1/2 year old son. He works hard and had built up a good clientel. It's obvious he likes what he does and he is very good at it. This is an example of the kindness of a Costa Rican.
When he picked us up at the airport back in June he was right on time and very attentive to our needs. Our needs weren't much but we had just flown in on the red eye and we were now in a new country and the shock was hitting us at 5:30 in the morning. He wheels out our luggage, which was a lot (check out the picture of our first Costa Rica blog), to his van. He's chatty and asking us if we'd like to stop anywhere for food, groceries, etc. No, we just want to get to where we are staying and re-group. He get's us to the B&B giving us tons of history and showing us points of interest, an unlike a lot of the drivers in CR he drives careful and slow. It feels good not to be gripped on those roads as we have been in the past. The next day he picks us up again and we have a wonderful but long drive to our place at the beach. The entire drive he is making sure we are comfortable and cool enough. We stop for lunch and we get fresh fruit at a fruit stand and we stop for groceries. He knows everyone and seems well liked. We get to the casita and unload every piece of luggage from the van including his suitcase, by accident. He drove away and gets about 20 min on the road and realizes his suitcase is missing from the van, drives all the way back to the casita and gets his suitcase, APOLOGIZING TO US!!! It was our fault for grabbing it in the first place.
As we are in his van we are asking him how to go about getting a phone for the summer. He says he has a spare one since he got a new one the previous week. He hands us his spare phone and says we can use it if we pay for our calls. No problemo. We're thinking, "Man, this guy is trusting." We tell him we'll take care of the phone and if anything happens to it of course we'll pay for it. He gives us all of the information and we now have a phone. COOL! The phone didn't last long. We used it twice before I got it wet. It was nice and dry in my backpack and the rain soaked it and it never worked. I emailed him to tell him about his phone feeling aweful. He emailed back and we agreed I'd pay him the $70 he paid for it. That was the deal. Well, now it's time to leave Costa Rica and we call Wilson to set up a ride. He was available and he met us at our house at 10a.m. We were so happy to see him, gave hugs all around and loaded up in his van. We were chatty and he had so many questions to ask us and we told him stories about our summer. He was genuinely interested. We spoke of the phone and he felt horrible about charging us the $70 for the phone but hey, that was the deal. He then says he is going to drive to a cell phone store that he knows of and see of it can be repaired. We stop at the store and he and Jack go in and us girls waited in the van and watched the chaos with the people and traffic outside. About 20 min later they came back to the van smiling and Wilson tells me the phone is fixed and we just owe him $6 for a new charger. He was so happy and I was ready to just give him the $70. He totally went out of his way to double check. He was so uncomfortable to take that money from us.
We get to the B&B and say goodbuy and I am sad to see him leave. About an hour later Wilson drives up the driveway and I'm thinking, "OMG. We left something in the van and he had to drive all the way back here. Or, we took something from the van, again, and he had to drive all the way back here." Nope. He FLIPPING HAD A PRESENT FOR US!!! He had purchased 3 bags of wonderful Costa Rican coffee for us and came back to give it to us. It was so nice of him and my mouth was just dropped as he drove away for one last time.
If anyone is ever going to Costa Rica please, please contact me. You need to hire Wilson as your driver. He is honest, nice, cute and a good guy.

Our Last Costa Rican Adventure

Our last day in Costa Rica was an adventure. I couldn't have been happier to be back in adventure mode, the unknown of the day. Most of our days in Costa Rica were just that, at the beginning but our last month was very mellow and we had settled into a wonderful life. With the exception of a few days.
We had breakfast in the cool air under the bodega. It was cloudy and nice. Not raining but threatening. We decided to catch the bus, always a crap shoot, to see the Poas Volcano. It's not like Arenal. Arenal is an active, smoking, bubbling volcano. Poas is a volcano that has blown its top and is now a crater on the top with a lake. I guess it's pretty neat. Margarita told us where to catch the bus so after we finished our breakfast we walked down to the bus stop and waited. It came and we got on. I asked the bus driver if he went to the bus that brings you to Poas and he rambled something that I couldn't understand but I felt good about the answer so I waved my family on the bus and we went off. We had a bunch of stops and picked up a whole bunch of people. Once again, there was standing room only and how they would get one more person on that bus was beyond me. But they did. We got to the bus terminal and it was busy. It was sheer chaos. Buses, people, chickens, motorcycles, vendors, homeless dogs (and people). The chaos that we experienced at that bus terminal was just something. We got off and before we did the bus driver was telling me where to go to get on the Poas Volcano bus. I followed his hand signals and we started walking up to another area where there were more buses. I love the people of Costa Rica. We were clearly lost and didn't know what we were doing or where we were going and a guy runs up to me an says, "Volcan?" "Si,si" I say and he looks at his watch and starts running pretty fast to a bus, asks the driver something, the driver points and he's off running. I figure, hey, this guy is helping us.  We need to run with him. So all 4 of us are running behind this guy and he is trying his hardest to show us the bus to Poas. The Bus drivers he talks to are all now involved and after 15 min we are told we missed the bus. Everyone is clearly bummed for us. We aren't terribly upset. It happens. We're in a different city now and it's time to go explore. We find a panaderia (bakery) and get goodies. It's next to a pet store and there are puppies and kittens galore so we are cooing over the babies while munching on our pastries. We decide to try to catch a different bus to this Zoo which I had read about that takes injured or abused birds and monkeys and sloths and all sorts of things. But this is tricky because there is the main zoo in San Jose which is NOT the one we want to go to. The zoo we want is in La Garita where our B&B is. After asking 2 different bus drivers where we go to catch the bus we couldn't understand them and they couldn't understand us. I am now getting frustrated because I forgot my Spanish book in the room and I have no idea what to say. Every time I say or ask they respond with some huge long response and I don't know how to reply. Some guy walks up to me and says he speaks English and can he help us. I hug him and he translates for me. He explains that the driver, who I am trying to talk to, just dropped us off and we want to go to the Poas Volcano. I say back to my new translator buddy that yes, we tried to do that but missed the bus and now we have changed our plans and we now are trying to get to the zoo in La Garita. AHHH. The bus driver now understands and says HIS bus goes there.  We all laugh because it is pretty funny.  So, we get back on the bus that we had walked off of about an hour and a half earlier. He drives us his route and we get off right in front of the zoo. We go in and have a wonderful few hours seeing monkeys, hundreds of birds, crocs, and so many other things. We saw an ocelot and a cougar and a margay. We are now wondering if O.C., the ocelot from the casita, is really a margay. We read on the info post of his cage that it is the only cat that can climb down a tree head first while hunting. O.C. always climbed head first down everything. It was amazing. So, we now think it was a margay and not an ocelot. Who knows. The only thing we didn't see was a sloth. We were really wanting to see a sloth. We had seen a sloth on our last trip in 2008 trying to cross the road. It was quite a sight. Of course, I was fixated mostly on the spiders in their spider webs all over that zoo. There were spiders, fist size, and tons of them.  I was busy trying to find bugs to throw into the webs and get pictures. 
The zoo was close to a restaurant called Rancho Muriel. Rancho Muriel was a cozy, clean place and the food was fantastic. Muriel brought out her special mixture of carrots, onions, cucumbers all mixed in a pepper mixture and when I dove in to get a spoonful for my salad the kitchen staff started hooting and hollering because of the spoonful I had heaped on my salad. I shrugged if off thinking, "must be a Tico thing" when I took a bite and it almost blew my head clear off my body. It was a tad spicy. Good thing I had enjoyed my lunch already because my taste buds were ruined. I didn't want to be rude because Muriel obviously kept this concoction for her friends and family so I ate the rest of it. I was crying and sweating after finishing it and they were amazed. So was I.  They were definitely laughing at me and not with me.   Gringa Estupida.  Taste before I go and grab a double heaping helping. I learned my lesson.
We walked back to the B&B which was about a 30 min walk. It was nice to get back. I was in the mood to chill. The girls grabbed a movie from Margaritas huge movie selection and I took a nap in my ginormous king size bed. It was so nice. When I woke up we had couple of hours before it got dark and I didn't want to walk that busy road again in the dark so I asked if there was a pizza delivery and there was. We ordered pizza and grabbed a glass of wine from the fridge behind the bar and enjoyed the evening. The pizza was fine, the wine was better and my family went to bed at around 7.  I was on the computer at our table on the patio and our neighbor was out drinking wine as well. He walked over and poured me a glass of wine from his bottle. He said he noticed I was drinking wine and we got to talking about wine. He and his family were from Holland. He has 3 teenage kids and they were all very polite and quiet. I told him how nice the wine was and he told me he is a wine maker. We ended up talking about his winery in Italy and he only grows Sangiovese grapes and he makes high end, expensive wine. He showed me pictures of his farm and the vats and it was so interesting. I kept thinking of how I couldn't wait to tell Megan, our Sommelier at S.T. and how she should be talking with this guy, not me. I'm glad I knew a little about wine. He was a very interesting person.
I went to bed thinking my last day/night in Costa Rica was perfect.
3:30 a.m. came entirely too early. The taxi was at our door at 4 and we loaded up and drove to the airport. I need to remember to get to the airport at least 2 hours in advance when we fly out of Costa Rica because once we got our departure tax paid and papers filled out we were in line and checked in. I turned around and it was a zoo. We were already done with it all. Time to get a cup of coffee and chill and wait for our plane to load. We were not all sitting together and they asked us if we wanted to upgrade for $15/person to the front of the plane and there would be much more leg room and we would all be sitting together. We normally would never do that but this time we did and I am so glad we did. We had nice large seats with a lot of leg space and we were all sitting together. It was well worth it. The flight was uneventful and we landed in Denver at noon. We were on U.S. soil again and it was nice to talk without having to think about what I was saying. I COULD SPEAK ENGLISH AGAIN!!! We missed our shuttle to Aravada and once again, we stood there looking lost and a shuttle driver asked where we needed to go, we told her and she took us for the same price. Lucky us. My cousin picked us up and we were now heading to her house to get our truck and drive home to see our beloved pets.
We got to Patty's house and our truck wouldn't start. After a couple of hours and Jack is now starting to get belligerent I got on the phone shopping for rental cars. Patty offered her van for us to take but the last thing I wanted to do was drive back to Denver the next day. She called one of her friends, who has a diesel, and he came over, made a suggestion to Jack that he do something and it worked. The truck started and we were all high fiving and we drove home. We got home and it was freezing. We couldn't find the keys to our house so we were locked out for about an hour. I'm freezing my butt off and Jack is trying all of the windows now. Good thing we know our house isn't easy to break into. We contemplated breaking a window and I took one last look for the keys and found them. FINALLY!!! We're inside where it's warm. The pets were so happy to see us. I think. They both gained some weight. They are now on a diet. But, they look great and Greg, our house/pet sitter did a fantastic job taking care of everything for us. We are very grateful.

Our Last Day in Playa Avellanas

We woke up Monday pretty early. All of us. It was a great day for the girls and not a great day for Jack and myself. The girls wanted to get home, Jack and I did not. It was pouring down rain in the morning which is not the norm. Usually during the morning it is sunny. Not this day. It was socked in and raining like crazy. I took one look outside after I heard the rain and just thought, "shit"!!! Well, it rained for awhile. It was a good time to get the house spic and span. We didn't know when Liz and Bart would arrive but assumed it would be sometime in the afternoon. It stopped raining, after awhile, and we poured some more coffee and sat down out in the front to enjoy the sounds. The sun was coming out and it was hot. We heard a honk and saw the car in front of the gate. It was Liz and Bart. We were surprised because it was so early. They were welcomed by their dog who missed them very much and us. We all got caught up on our last month and they unloaded their car and we headed for the beach on our bikes for one last time. We rode to Freddie's and had an ice cream. He was on vacation but we said goodbuy to the other guy who always waved at us. We got to the beach and rode our bikes down to dead tree. We set up camp and headed in the water and had ourselves one last good ocean swim. It was low tide so it was prime for searching for treasures. I headed over to the rocks and gathered some last little shells. The weather was coming back in and the sky was black to the East so we decided it was time to get the bikes back to the casita. We were really waiting for Liad and Idan to get home from school so we could say a proper goodbuy. They got home at 2:30 or so. We rode up the road, which was extremely muddy. Ahhhh. The good ol' muddy road. We put the bikes away and said our goodbuys to Steve, Cindy and Elliot and the casitas and headed to the boys' house. The puppies were out so we figured they were around but they weren't. We kissed and hugged the puppies and left a note. The puppies kept trying to follow us out of their front area since we were once again on foot. We ended up setting them up on the couch and hoped for the best and ran like crazy out of the driveway. We were walking down the road saying goodbuy to it all. I was seriously sad. I was trying to look at every plant, bug, dog, house, mud puddle. I wanted it embedded in my brain. We walked back to the house and Bart and Liz were getting ready for an early dinner at Cabinas Las Olas. They asked if we wanted to join them and we did. We got there at around 4 or so and had an excellent dinner. After dinner we were talking about the day and Jordan, being such an emotional person, started crying uncontrollably. She was so sad she didn't get to say goodbuy in person to the Poni Family. When we got back to the house she was begging us to lower the seat on Jack's bike so she could take it to the boys' house. It was 5:45 and since it get's dark by 6:30 I was reluctant to let her go. We couldn't walk since the walk would have been at least 1/2 hour and it looked like rain. I was not up for that kind of adventure anymore. We got the seat lowered a bit and she took off. After awhile it was now dark and Jordan wasn't home yet. I sat down out front to wait for her and here she comes, right on time. It was now JUST dark. She said everyone was home and she got to hug everyone and when she got to Keren, the mom, she broke down and cried so hard. Keren said she would never forget us and that made Jordan feel great. Jordan and I went out back by the pool and sat in the hammock and talked about it. She was extremely happy that she rode up there to say goodbuy. We went to bed after a little t.v. I listened to the frogs and kept thinking to myself how cool they sounded.
The next morning we woke up early and got things organized for Wilson who was to pick us up at 10a.m. Jack got in one last surf session and the waves were good. A huge bonus for him. Wilson was right on time and it was great to see him. He got a new van, which was beautiful. As usual, he had a cooler packed with water, pop, beer, juice. He had snacks and books and his wonderful, cheerful, friendly self. We said our goodbuys and were off. Sniffle, sniffle, tear, tear. I know Jack was choking back and so was I. The girls were definitely not chatty and they were taking it all in too. It finally hit them that we were leaving and no one said a word for awhile. Then, we just started telling Wilson all about our summer. He said when he dropped us off at the casita that first night he was really worried about us. He felt it was to remote and that we wouldn't be happy. Little did he know. He was so relieved when we were telling him stories of our summer. He had no idea we were so adventurous. Neither did we.
We stopped for lunch and I ordered a casado. The picture is a typical casado.
We got to the B&B at around 4 and we pulled in and were greeted by the owners. They are a wonderful family and I liked them immedietly. The room of our B&B was so great. Very charming and inviting. The B&B was perfecto. Our room had a king sized bed, with nice sheets and pillows, not usual in Costa Rica, plus a queen and a twin bed. It had a huge bathroom and hot, hot water, not usual either. There was a bodega that had comfy chairs to lounge in and also that is where breakfast was served. There was a bar stocked with beer, wine, liquor and it was all on an honor system. Very, very charming and nice. If you ever go to Costa Rica get in touch with me because it is a great place to stay near the airport. We walked to dinner which was recommended by Margarita. We were thinking it would be a semi tourist, upscale place and when we got there we were pleasantly surprised. It was a small restaruant with a simple menu and CHEAP. The beer was ice cold and the food was excellent as was the service. Margarita told us to let them know we are staying at the B&B and they would drive us back for free. I told him and he put his hands on a pretend steering wheel in front of him and I said, "si, si". We were given a ride back and I was so happy about that. The walk to the restaurant was about a 20-30 min walk. The road was super busy and having no sidewalk to walk on we had to walk on the road. Now that's scary. There was a super drunk guy in front of us that kept weaving on the road. Since he was so drunk we caught up to him in no time. Cars kept honking at him and he almost got hit. We got to a driveway and I wanted to wait for him to cross the road because he was trying to do that. I didn't want to get near him because it was so scary watching him with the traffic. I thought forsure he was going to get hit. He somehow made it across the road and we just kept walking. He started yelling something at us and we all started walking real fast hoping he wouldn't try to follow us. He ended up sitting down and that was the last we saw of him. Since we didn't know where the restaurant was we were getting worried that we had missed the turn or were walking in the wrong direction. We finally followed our gut and landed right to it. So, I was thankful for the ride home.
The king bed was a huge treat.
We woke up the next day and enjoyed and excellent breakfast under the bodega. It was chilly and I was dressed in long sleeves and sweats. After sweating like a pig all summer, it was a nice feeling to be cool.
Here are some pictures of the things I mentioned in this blog.

Ok, so I left off with Saturday.
Sunday we woke up and it was sunny and not a cloud. We were invited to go with Steve to see his other plots of land. Let me tell you, he owns some beautiful lots in Costa Rica. San Pedro is on the way to Santa Cruz. It is literally 10 minutes from Santa Cruz so it's very close. The mountains around that area are beautiful. Lush, green, lots of rain in the rainy season. We got to Steve and Cindy's, which is what we used to call the casita. After meeting them it's clearly Steve and Cindy's place. They have built a paradise for themselves.
Steve took us to San Pedro first and we saw the parcel of land he had purchased. It is set on the hill so lots keep climbing up and up and the views get better and better once you are on the upper lots. We headed back towards the beach and he showed us more land he bought and I just fell in love with one lot in the beach area. I pictured a small house, bodega, pool, gardens. DREAM ON HEF!!!
We were glad to see it and it was quite a day. Steve, once again was a bundle of info and we sure learned a lot from him. Cindy didn't join us as she has other stuff going on.
We rode home on our bikes and the girls never left the house. They didn't swim because the pool was in such bad shape. They watched t.v. and didn't even go out to the beach.
The pictures are of Steve's land.

This is it

Jack actually shed a couple of tears over breakfast this morning which, in turn, lead me to get choked up as well. The girls were making fun of us for getting emotional. This, after Jordan cried so hard at the dinner table at Cabinas Las Olas when we didn't get to say goodbuy to Liad, Idan and their parents. We went by to drop off the bikes and left them a note. Not the way we wanted to say, "hasta luego"
We've had a busy week and I can't believe I haven't blogged in that long. Everytime I was meaning to blog it seemed to be raining beyond belief or it got dark or some other obstacle came. Let see. I'll try to catch you up.
After our last Santa Cruz trip which, I guess, was a whole week ago, we came home and had dinner and went to bed early. Early enough. I am listening to a book on tape so I am glued to the computer listening since my ipod went kuput. Thanks Kay and Brooke for the audible membership. It really is wonderful having a book to listen to. Thursday we woke up and after Jack surfed we decided to ride to Tamarindo and to the lot once more. We left at around 10am and rode out to the lot, looked at it and said goodbuy. We started riding and I was not feeling well. I decided to let Jack go to the bank machine down the big hill solo and I hung out at the coffee shop and ordered a fruit smoothie and sat outside to try to get myself back together. The guy at the counter saw me walk in and I think he knew I was in need of something as I was dripping wet with sweat. He made me up a blended banana, papaya, and pineapple smoothie and I told him he saved my life when I finished it. I saved a little for Jack. It was so hot and humid that day. We were with money again so felt better after riding to the bank and we were on our merry way back to the house. We went to the beach. The beach is getting boring to the girls. They are in go home mode and can't wait to get back to Colorado. It's hard and Jack is taking their bitching personally. I am over it too.
Friday we woke up to clouds and the weather has been so rainy early that you never know what the day will bring. The pool was starting to look super icky. We couldn't get it clean and the algae was getting bad. We kept thinking we should do something but they didn't want us to do anything to the pool so we were stuck with nothing to clean it with. It was getting frustrating watching that pool get cloudy by the day. Friday was the day that Steve and Cindy, Elliots parents, were to get back from being in the U.S. all summer. We still had not met them and Steve was so helpful via email with getting us our power pole built and questions we had, 1000 questions, about everything. We were invited to a pizza party at their house on Saturday and I was asked to bring guacamole. We were so looking forward to that party and Elliot, being a chef and an ex-pizza shop owner, makes an excellent pie. Jack and I had bought some avacados the day before at a fruit/veggie stand in Villareal the day before that weren't quite ripe yet so I was worried that they wouldn't ripen. That Saturday we played hard in the water. Hannah was on the boggie board and I was on the surf board and catching great waves and riding them all the way to the beach. It was a blast and we couldn't get enough but knew we had to be at the party before dark so we left the beach and showered and rode up there. My guacamole was a hit. It came out great and the avacados ripened up just fine. We finally met Steve and Cindy and they were nothing like I pictured. Steve, who has this soft spoken, almost feminine voice over the phone, is an ex-marine who fought for 180 days in the bush in Vietnam. He has tatoos up and down his arms and on his back. He's burley and hug-able and a boisterous man and tells a great story after story. He was so interesting and I liked him right away. Cindy, who is the love of his life, was just fun and obviously takes care of everyone. She has had a full life with 4 kids of her own. I'm sure they could write a book they. Their life seems incredible. I was in awe.
People kept coming over and there must have been over 20 people by the end of the night. It was a great time. We all settled on hammocks and chairs outside while listening to Steve tell stories of how he wooed Cindy.
The Bussy's rode home in the dark, just like old times, and when we got home we talked about the fun we all had.
More later.
The pictures are of me having my smoothie at the coffee shop, the police station in Panilla, and some other buildings we pass in Panilla and I love looking at those buildings.

Last Bus Trip to Santa Cruz

Yesterday we took our last bus trip to Santa Cruz. During our last visit to Costa Rica we were told about the pottery in Guatil, which is 10km to the East of Santa Cruz. Guatil is famous for it's pottery. Here is a short blurb of Guaitil I copied from Planetware.com.
"This small community is famous for pottery making. About 100 families here engage in the pottery industry, most of them descendants from Chorotega Indians who once inhabited the area. The pots are made in a
variety of sizes and shapes from local clays. They are fashioned in the pre-Columbian Chorotega Indian style, and are painted using natural colors. Artisans sell the pots in front of their houses, and lucky visitors may be invited inside to watch the potting process. Most of the ceramics seen decorating homes, restaurants and hotels in the Guanacaste province come from Guaitil."

We got to Santa Cruz and the minute you step off the bus at the bus station they have these "taxi drivers" trying to get you to take their ride. Some of them are drunk, they all are smoking one after the other, and they look a little desperate. I had read in a tourism book to always take an official taxi. They are red and have the traditional taxi light on the top of the car. As I was explaining this to Jack, we decided to walk to the center of town where I was sure I had seen taxi's lined up in the street. Sure enough, we got to the main area and there must have been 10 or so red taxis waiting for gringo's like us. I walked up to the nicest looking taxi driver, who was sitting in his taxi, and asked him "Usted conduce a Guaitil? ¿Y si es así cuánto costará? "Si" he said and we loaded up in his taxi. It was 6 mil colones. $12 bucks. We could do that and I didn't feel like haggeling. As we were driving along this gorgious road up into the mountains, through beautiful fincas, looking at the vacas, we were also driving into a major rain storm. We got to the tiny town of Guaitil and it was pouring rain. Luckily, I remembered the umbrellas, which we only brought 2 for the trip. I kept meaning to buy 2 more but never got around to it. So, we had to share our little umbrellas and run to the closest house which was open with clay pots and tons of other handmade clay items. The Tico's who live here were all hanging out in the back of the store, which is where they make their clay pots. He brought us back to that area and proceeded to give us a demonstration on how they go about making these things. It was wonderful to get a little class on this. Plus it was raining buckets, literally, and we needed somewhere to get out of the rain. Lucky break. The one guy was explaining to us how they collect the clay and what it looks like when they get it. Then they ground it up into a super fine sand with this huge grinder that looks like a giant muddle. As he is explaining this to me I am trying as best I can to translate to the girls what he is saying. Then, this other guy is actually making a pot and showing us the process of that. He whips up this pot in no time. It was impressive. They also had 3 bowls of natural color that they gather from the earth. Everything is done by hand. It's very cool. We bought a pot before we left. We ran, in the rain, to his neighbors and the neighbor had many of the same stuff only designed by him and made by him and his family. His daughter was crafting as we were walking on their dirt floors looking around. It was messy with the rain, dirt and flip flops. Some homes even closed their doors. I don't blame them. We walked down the road to the next home and Jack and I are both thinking the same thing. That taxi dropped us off and there is not a car, taxi, person, bus in sight. It's raining and how the heck are we going to get back. We step into the next home and the elderly man is admiring my Jade necklace that Jack brought back for me from New Zeland. He goes into his living room and gets his Jade necklace and slips it around Jordan's neck. He wants us to buy it but we don't. I'm eyeing one of his pots though. I'm thinking it would be perfect for salsa or guacamole or some other condiment. I ask him how much and this time I try to haggle. No way. He stands firm, even as we walk out. Jack meanwhile, is talking to the man, about our age, on the front step. I walk back in and buy the damn pot at full price because I like the guy. We all get a chuckle out of this and we're all satisfied. Jack, this whole time, is asking the guy about taxi's and do they come back? How often? Etc. He tells us at 4:30 to go over to the corner over there in the green building and one will be there. We slowly make our way over to the green building and the guy our age is following us and whistling at us. We see him pointing to a guy with an umbrella and he's explaing to us that this is our taxi driver. We ask him how much. This time it's 5 mil. $10 bucks. He is the brother of the guy our age and his brother obviously called him on the cell phone and he came out of his house to make a buck. We go to his house and he's explaining to us that they are brothers and they live here together with their families and so on. Hannah goes into panic mode because THIS IS NOT A RED, OFFICIAL TAXI MOM!! Man, that girl is a sponge. Well, this guy was not drunk and he had a nice enough car that had the Virgin Mary stuck on the window and a picture of Jesus as well. Plus the rosary was hanging from the rear view mirror. I felt safe indeed. We chatted, small talk, he spoke no English as has been our experience here. I asked him to recommend a restaurant in Santa Cruz and he knew of a good one and dropped us off right in front of it. We thanked him and had a wonderful, cheap early dinner before catching our bus. What another great experience. We loaded the bus and got to sit right up front. I like the front seats so I can see the road and all of the things we are about to run over. It adds to the thrill. Hannah and I sat together and we were holding hands saying, "goodbuy Santa Cruz, goodbuy Panilla bus, goodbuy nice bus driver, goodbuy mean bus driver." It was sad and we were both feeling the sadness of our last bus trip into Santa Cruz. The bus smelled of fish and sweat and the guy didn't drive with the door open, unlike the other drivers. It was a stuffy ride back. The Tico's like to have the windows up during the night. I've noticed that they all put the windows up. One guy asked us, in Guaitil, if we were cold. I thought that was funny. It's all relative.
We got home at 7:30 and sat by the pool listening to the frogs. They were loud last night. They're loud every night. It was a fun day. I can't wait to see Guaitil again and actually spend some time there walking around more. My Mother would have loved that part.

Purging

I've donated all of the books we've read and the clothes we have decided not to take back with us. It filled up 5 grocery bags full. The gal who works at the store down the road had been so nice to us and always gives the girls little candies or some kind of treat when we go there. We usually get milk, eggs, coffee, bread. Just the essentials. She's sweet and likes to learn English words. She'll ask me what a word is and I'll ask her. We communicate as best we can. She is always singing along to the radio and is so cute. I decided to give the items to her since I like her. I figured she could pass them on or keep whatever she needed. Or sell them. It lightened up my load. I also purchased a few dozen pencils and have given them away to students. I have to go through our things one last time and my give away pile is slowly getting larger. I won't take any of the flip flops home. Things like that are hard to come by here and they don't last long. Hopefully someone will get some use out of them. Another reason to shop at thrift stores for us. I don't feel compelled to hang onto the clothes I have purchased. Sometimes I get this greedy feeling that if I have spent a bunch on something I need to keep it and get my money's worth. Now, my Chaco's. I keep.
I'm bringing home coffee. I'm going to miss the coffee.