Christmas Week

Monday afternoon, we had a full house of teenagers over to help bake shortbread cookies.  Kayleen and Jessica are Joey and Eida’s teenage daughters and they and their friends, Diana and Joshua came over to help.

It was an interesting baking experience, as we don’t have a lot of tools to use here.  The batter takes about an hour to cool in the fridge before you can bake; and during this time, I gave the 3 girls French manicures.  They loved them!

I found out though; that with 4 teenagers helping you bake, there weren’t a lot of cookies at the end; but we all had a lot of fun.  In fact, Jessica wants to get together again real soon to bake cakes.

Unfortunately, because the butter and flour are so different here; the cookies were good; but not near as good as what we make at home.

We are located right behind the main park in Jaco; and there have been lots of activities going on there lately.  On Tuesday, we heard music and lots of voices; and walked over in the afternoon.

There was a very long, slow moving line of very well behaved children.  Figured they must have been waiting to see Santa, cause where else would that many children behave so well for so long.  I was right.

Because we are so close to the beach; we’ve headed over 3 or 4 times already for sunsets.  Much nicer to live this close to the main part of town than tucked away up on the mountain.

Thursday night, we headed over to Joey and Eida’s for a visit.  She made a delicious pork appetizer called chicirona’s and we shared a Christmas drink.  Along the way, we stopped and wished a few of our friends a Feliz Navidad and gave them maple candies and chocolate loonies… they were a big hit and I felt like Santa for a few minutes.

Before we left home; we bought a few “truly Canadian” presents.  A micky of Canadian Club; a bottle of 100% pure maple syrup; hard maple candies; chocolate loonies; a deck of cards with a map of Canada on the back; and a set of Canadian coins.  From the penny right up to the toonie; all made in 2011, so nice and shiny and new.

We gave Joey/Eida the bottle of Canadian Club the night they picked us up; and it turns out they liked it so much; that while in Panama earlier this week; they bought a bottle at the boarder.

And today, we cooked an old fashioned North American turkey dinner, complete with all the trimmings; and shared it with our new  friends Bob and Sherry from  B.C. and Joe from Indiana.

It was very tasty and the 5 of us enjoyed a nice evening together.  We bought the turkey a few days ago; and got the smallest one we could… turned out to be almost 20lbs.  Thank goodness we like turkey leftovers.

The past 4 days have seen little to no rain; and today was hot and sunny.  Glad that the turkey was being cooked at Joe’s place and not ours.  

We would like to take this time to wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas!  It was great to talk to so many of you today.

Feel free to take a look at our pictures.

Now that we have a “home”; this past week has just flown past.

We live in a “gringo” area of our complex.  The first condo are Bob and Sherry from Salmon Arm, BC.  Behind them is Liz, a Canadian ex-pat from Alberta.  Then us; attached to us and to the left is Joe from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Liz owns her unit; and manages the other 3.  The owner of our unit usually doesn't rent; but his health is not good; and he's not coming down this year; and since we're "friends" of Liz's, he agreed.  The cable was hooked up a few days ago; and is included in the rent.  We also have free wi-fi from the park that's in front of our condo.

We all get along really well; and it’s nice to have English speaking neighbours all around us.  On our 3rd day here; Liz got out her Ladder Golf game and Liz and I took on Joe and Mike. 

We had good old fashioned Christmas music playing; and Liz had her Santa hat on.  It was a lot of fun.  If it ever stops raining; we’ll play again I’m sure.

We have the most “equipped” condo out of the group.  And it’s quite nice.  And even came with a bike.  We’ve borrowed Joe’s a few time; and it’s great to be able to pedal around town.  A little wobbly at first; but I’ve got my bike legs back again.

We're getting used to only having hot water in the shower.  Most Tico homes do not have hot water; so dishes and hand washing is cool.  To get hot water in the showers; most Tico's have rigged up something called a "suicide shower".  There's an electrical heating element above the shower head, which the water passes through before coming out.  Most people don't mix water and electricity; but sometimes you do as the locals and don't ask too many questions.

We also really love living so close to the town.  Very convenient to get to the grocery store; go out for dinner; or down to the beach for a sunset.  We’ve only been to the beach twice; as it’s done an awful lot of raining here since arriving.  We’re still at the tail end of the rainy season; but still mid to high 20’s daily.  And very humid.

We had a couple of close calls relating to wallets.  Last Saturday after picking up all of our stuff from Joey/Eida’s we took a cab to our new place.  Since they didn’t know us at the gate; they wouldn’t let us in until we showed some I.D. 

I had taken my wallet out to pay the driver; and when I got out to go talk to the guard, I dropped it.  Thankfully he wanted to see my passport; and when it wasn’t in my purse, or pocket, I panicked, for just a bit… there it was lying on the road… phew!!! Needless to say I’ve been extra vigilant since.

A few days later, Joe left his wallet on the table at Rustico’s after his breakfast.  Didn’t notice until hours later.  Tore his place apart before panic set in.  Went to Rustico’s… just in case… and luckily for him; a worker cleared his table shortly after he left; and they had it for him; money intact; at the cash register.  Talk about both of us getting lucky.

We biked over to the clinic to say hi to Dr. Brenda; but she’s moved on and no longer works there.  Also our favorite pharmacist David (he helped us last year when we had the parasites) is no longer there; and Sadie, one of the sisters who owns Rustico’s; is now working in San Jose. 

But our friends Herman, Jose, Chris and Joey and Edia are still around.  Felt like old homecoming week around here the first few days.  Lots of smiles; hugs and handshakes from people who remembered us from the spring.

Mike has used the pool a couple of times; I’m waiting for a bit more.  But there hasn’t been too many hot sunny days yet.  Also not near as private as the last year’s but no stairs… yay!

Feel free to click here to look at our pictures.

A Catch Up

I know that it’s been forever since I last wrote a blog; so bare with me if this one is a little long.

We arrived back from our East coast trip middle of August; and the rest of the summer just seemed to fly by.  Lots of dinners; cards and campfires with family and friends.

Then some sadness settled in on Mike’s family.  We lost 3 of his beloved Aunts, Jeanette, Claire and Marie since the end of August.  All 3 were loving, caring, happy women; and all 3 will be missed.  Also in September, Mike’s brother Rob lost his battle.  We had a celebration of his life in October.  His life was way too short; but he’s in a better place now.

Amongst all the sadness though, was lots of laughter.  Sharing memories and stories.  And although the circumstances weren’t great, it was really nice to see so many family members and friends.

We both also had surgeries since my last posting.  Mike’s hernia surgery went off without a hitch in early October, and he’s completely healed from it.  Then I had a surgical procedure on November 29th and that caused our delay in leaving for the South.

This past week has been pretty caotic to say the least.  On Sunday we had a Christmas get together with Mike’s family; then busy packing on Monday; closed up and winterized the rig on Tuesday.  Had dinner with my folks in London; then off to Toronto early Wednesday morning (thanks again Dad, we really appreciated the ride!).

Wednesday was a very long travel day, but we arrived safely at the Best Western Irazu in San Jose around 10 pm.  Our friend Joey picked us up the next day and we drove through downtown San Jose to pick up his wife Eida and daughter.

There were literally 1000’s of people roaming the street complete with the crazy drivers.  Glad that I was a passenger.  We then stopped at Pricesmart (Costco) and picked up a few items that we knew we would be needing.  Ended up getting a double bag of cereal for free!  3 different people to check you out; and all 3 missed it sitting clearly in the cart… thanks!

We then took the scenic way home and stopped at a quaint little Soda (tico food) restaurant.  It was in the middle of nowhere; but the food was good and the ambience was amazing.

The owners family has had this property tucked away on a mountainside for over 100 years.  They run the Soda; and have livestock, orange trees and sugar cane out back.  She toured us around and it was very interesting.  Much more personal than Gray Line, thanks again Joey and Eida for picking us up.

We found a hostel to spend the night; and off to Papa’s & Burgers we went for yet another delicious burger.  The hostel was pretty bare bones, but cleanish and safe.

Friday and most of Saturday we spent walking up and down main street; talking to anybody that had a condo for rent sign.  We ended up back at the hostel for yet a 2nd night; and things were looking grim.  Off to Rustico’s we went for dinner, and it was just as good as we remembered.

By late Friday afternoon, we had met up with our old friend Herman; and he took us to see a couple of potentials; but nada.  Next day, we finally met Liz and she had a place, but only til the end of this month.  Well it was the most decent place we had seen and affordable to boot.  We grabbed it.

Found out just an hour or so ago; that the owner isn’t coming down this year; and if we want it; it’s ours til May… yay!  We’re a couple of blocks from the beach and right off main street.  Minutes from our friends business and restaurants. 

Glad to be settled.  The condo is cleaned and we’re all unpacked.  Even went and got a few groceries today; so we’re good to go.

Last night there was a horse parade down main street.  Started at 6 pm, only about 3 hours later than advertised… that’s tico time.  About 150-200 horses walked, danced and pranced down main street.
1000’s of people lining the side; Salsa music playing.  It was pretty cool to watch. 

And tonight, we had a first sunset at the beach… ahhh the life!

Feel free to click here to take a look at some pictures.

The Last Few Days in Nova Scotia

We’ve spent the past 2 days watching the tide go out; then come in; then go out; and then in again.  Aaah!  What a life.

We found a nice little campground and pitched our tent about 20 feet from the Tatamagouche Bay in Broule, Nova Scotia.  And since we had packed up a little on the damp side, the open space with lots of wind and a sunny sky was a welcome sight for us.

In short order we had the tent set up; but before we put the fly on; we used the poles to hang all our linens; to either dry them out or give things a chance to freshen up a bit.

And then we just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view in front of us.  We have been pleasantly surprised with amazing sunsets while out East.  We thought for sure that we would have to get up pretty early to see some spectacular sunrises; but that hasn’t been the case.

The first night there; once the tide had gone out; with the aid of binoculars, you could see all kinds of seals.  Playing and cavorting with each other.  The next morning; the tide had gone out again; and with just your eyes; you could see all kinds of seals sunning themselves on the exposed rocks.  As the tide came in, they would seek other places, or just start swimming around again.

There was also a family of 4 who went in swimming just in front of us; and they had a couple of seals swimming not far from them.  The water was pretty cold; but we did manage to wade around in it for a bit.  Not hearty enough to actually swim in it though.

When Mike went to the office to get wood; he asked where there was a nice place for seafood in town.  The workers response was the Chatter House.  A few hours later, when heading out; we stopped and checked with the fire guy to make sure that we were on his list (as they delivered the wood to your site); and asked him about this Chatter House; told us it was good; and about 10 minutes away.  So off to Tatamagouche we went.

Driving through the town, we often read out loud names of places, especially when we're looking for a particular place.  Within a few minutes, we passed the Chowder House.  Hmmm, could both of the workers meant the Chowder House and not the Chatter House?  Turns out that the accents here are a little strong; and yup, the Chowder House was what they meant; and it was very tasty.  No lobster; but scallops and a seafood bake instead.  I told our server the story; and she got a laugh out of it.

Also the past few nights; after being awed by incredible sunsets; within short order a yellow/orange moon can be seen on the low horizon… nice.

Today, we left Nova Scotia; with a little sadness.  I totally fell in love with this beautiful province; and if it wasn’t so darn cold in the winters and so far away from our families/friends; might even consider buying out here.

We are now in Miramichi, New Brunswick.  We followed the Acadian Coastal Trail for most of today, we can’t seem to get enough of the coast.  And are currently set up in a quiet little park, far off the highway.

Feel free to click here to take a look a some more of Nova Scotia’s beauty.

A Few Days at the Tip of the Cabot Trail

The past few days have been filled with lots more of Nova Scotia’s beauty.  We headed up the Cabot Trail on Thursday morning; and unfortunately it was very foggy and misty.  And we didn’t get to see very much of the breathtaking views that it’s known for world wide.

We did however, arrive at the Jumping Mouse campground right on the tip of the trail at Bay St. Lawrence.  Our sister-in-law Rosie, has 2 sisters who live on Cape Breton Island.  Marg and her husband Fred own the campground; and have a beautiful place to call home. 

Shortly after arriving and setting up; we headed down to the harbour to give Fred a hand preparing their sailboat.  Within a short time Fred, Ken and Mike had a lot of the gear set and ready to go.  The sailboat hadn’t been used in 7 years and there was a lot of prep work to be done; before Fred, Marg and Ken headed out for a sail.

We got an unexpected sail on Friday; Fred wanted to give the boat a “shake down” cruise; and we were quite happy to oblige.  The day was beautiful; and it felt good to have the wind from the Atlantic blowing you along… nice.

On Friday, we met Rosie’s other sister, Claudia and her partner Rejean.  Nice couple and we helped them pick berries for them to bring to the local market to sell on Saturday.

On Sunday, we took a drive over to Meat Cove and the end of the road; literally.  The day was clear; and we were awed by the amazing views.  There’s a campground with a great view of the ocean and just around the corner, you’re in some guys driveway. 

We also got treated to a couple of saunas while here; and both times the heat felt wonderful.  Also enjoyed a full moon and a few fires before it was time to head.

Last night was spent at Cheticamp; a nice place beside a cove; and we finally got to enjoy our first lobster dinner… and mmmm mmmm was it ever tasty. 

Today, was spent driving along the Northumberland coast and we are currently camped about 20 feet from the Tatamagouche Bay… WOW  what a beautiful place.  We plan on spending two days here before we starting slowly heading West.

Overall, we have really enjoyed this trip and are glad that we did it.  Feel free to click here to see some of the beauty we’ve been seeing.

A Beautiful Drive along Nova Scotia's Shore

We packed up and left Sunday from Five Island Provincial Park before the rains started. 

And although it continued to rain steadily for most of the day, we still thoroughly enjoyed driving along the coast of this beautiful province. 

We are both really impressed with how beautifully maintained homes and yards are.  I was under the impression that the East had been hit hard economically; but so far, we haven’t seen any signs of that.

The houses here all seem to be unique; and although most of them seem to be white or beige; once in awhile you come across some outlandish colour.  Fuscia greens, oranges and pinks.  My favourite so far was the pink with green/purple trims.

Some of these houses have absolutely spectacular views.  There are plenty of islands along the coast; and lots of coves.  Mike mentioned that he’s never seen so many names with “cove” as along this coast.  Makes for a very interesting ride.

And curves!  Holy smokes we’ve gone around countless curves.  And although I miss my big, stinky, noisy truck, can’t say that I miss it on this trip.  Much easier to zoom around some of these curves in our Escape than it ever was in the truck.  Also much easier to stop at the side of a road for a picture, or to take in yet another breathtaking view.

After spending 6 months in Costa Rica, I can’t believe how clean things are in Canada.  Don’t think we’ve seen enough garbage along any of the roads to fill a small bag yet; and we’ve come a long way so far. 

Because of the rains on Monday, we totally wuused out and stayed at a B&B.  It was very nice on a quiet road, with the ocean right out the back.  There was also a nice tub, which I totally took advantage of; what a nice way to soak away 5 days of driving.  Our hosts were very nice; and after a hearty continental breakfast, we were on our way.

Part of yesterdays stops included The Bluenose II, unfortunately it’s under re-construction, so other than seeing a whole bunch of scaffolding, there wasn’t much too see.  Next we stopped at the Swiss Air monument, and then on to Peggy’s Cove.  Lots of people at both.  And with Mike’s hernia and my foot, we’re both content to see things from the car.  We do get out and walk short distances to see the things that we need to see, but the emphasis is on short.

Last night we camped in a very quiet campground on Murphy’s Cove (about an hour East of Halifax).  We were at the end of the road, nestled up to the water; and not a another person in sight or hearing range… nice!  And although it’s right on the Atlantic Ocean, we were nicely protected within the cove.

Today's drive was pretty much of the same.  We've been following trail markers and today's was the Marine Trail; oddly we hardly even saw the water today.  We did have to take another short cable ferry and the drive reminded us both of Northern Ontario along Lake Superior.

And after a long day's drive, we are camped at the head of the Cabot Trailer in Baddeck.  We'll head out late tomorrow morning and head for the tip of the trail to the Jumping Mouse Campground, and where our sister-in-law Rosie is house sitting for a while.  Looking forward to it.

All in all it’s been a great tip so far.  Here’s some of the beauty that we've seen so far.  Feel free to take a look. 

Summer of 2011 and East Trip

I’m not sure where the summer of 2011 has gone, but snap your fingers and here it’s already the first week of August.  I don’t know if the time is going faster cause I’m getting older, or I’m getting older cause the time is going so darn fast.

Our busy summer has been spent visiting with family and friends.  We’ve had BBQ’s, get togethers, poker tourney’s and lots of cards nights with Ken and Rosie.  Rosie loves to cook; Ken, Mike and I love to eat whatever it is that she comes up with; and the 4 of us love to play pepper.  It’s a win win situation for all of us.

We’ve also had lots of campfires at our place, but oddly, we’ve only burnt one load of wood so far.  The summer has been so busy, that we decided that it was time for a good old fashioned camping vacation.

So this past Wednesday, after loading up our new escape, we left Strathroy shortly before noon and headed East.  We had pretty heavy rain through Toronto and it wasn’t until around Kingston that it finally eased up.  We spent a night just West of the Quebec boarder.  Within no time at all, we had our camp set up. 

Mike and I haven’t been on a camping trip since the summer of 2004 and it felt pretty good to be spending a night in a tent. 

Thursday we continued along and found our selves in old Quebec City.  There was some kind of festival going on and there were 10’s of 1000’s of people roaming the streets. 

We ended up driving around as much as we could, as there was also a fair amount of construction going on.  After spending a good couple of hours driving around, it was time to head on.  We drove for a few hours more and found a campground for the night. 

The next night we spent in New Brunswick; and arrived in Nova Scotia around noon on Saturday.  Roughly 1900 kilometers from leaving London.  And only 3 ½ tanks of gas. 

The weather has been wonderful so far.  Mid 20’s and today is the first day of rain since leaving on Wednesday. 

We are currently camped beside the Bay of Funday in a place called Parkers Cove.  And we are heading counter clockwise around the province of Nova Scotia; along the coast as much as possible. 

This is my first time here; and Mike hasn’t been here in 40ish years.  It’s absolutely beautiful.  Lush green rolling hills.  Well maintained houses on beautiful lots.  And hardly a piece of garbage anywhere.  Most of yesterday and today were spent driving through the country side and we passed one farmers field after another.  And going through one little quaint village/town after the next.  What a great way to spend the day while driving through a beautiful province. 

We also stopped in at Anne Murray’s center in her hometown of Springhill, NS.  I’ve been a big fan of hers since I was a young girl; and it was pretty neat to walk around, see her history and hear some songs. 

Please click here to see our pictures.

Settled In; New Wheels and A Golden Anniversary

The time has just flown by since we’ve been home.  Busy cleaning, unpacking, opening up the rig; and lots of shopping.  Throw in a few visits with family and friends; and just like that, 2 weeks have gone by.

To some, we live in a trailer; but to us, our rig is “home sweet home” and boy does it ever feel good to back amongst our “stuff”.  You don’t realize how comfy you got it; until you leave for 6 months and then come back to it all.

We had a few decisions to make this past winter; and one of the big ones is that we’ve decided to park our RV wheels… at least for a bit.  We’re not giving it up totally… but for now we’re going to call Trout Haven in Strathroy home; and we’ll head to a tropical destination for the winter months.

Our truck needed a lot of work and money to be brought up to snuff; and we felt with it being a 2002, it just didn’t seem worth it.  Also with the price of gas rising on a daily basis (it seems), the cost of pulling our rig will only sky rocket.

We’re pretty content with where we’ve been and what we’ve seen over the past 4 ½ years.  We’ve been from PEI to Key West and from Vancouver Island to just North San Diego; and lots of points in between. 

We always said that once Molly was gone, that we would be able to travel in a different way.  Her last gift to us was the freedom to travel; and although we still really miss her; we're filled with great memories of her.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Costa Rica this past winter; but the beauty of our lives is that we’re not committed to going back.  We’ll spend some time looking at maps over the summer and figure where we want to go. 

As a result of this big decision, we traded in our truck for a brand spanking new 2011 Ford Escape.  We absolutely love it!  One of the things that I’m going to look forward to the most is no more outrageous mechanic bills.  Other than an oil change every 5000 km’s or so, there won’t be much for us to do.  Going to love that!  It was a little bittersweet trading the truck in; as it had a big role in pulling us around the continent. 

And 50 years ago on May 27, 1961, my parents Jack and Joyce got married.  Congratulations to my parents on this milestone.  My brother, sister, grandkids, Mike and I, took them out for dinner a few weekends ago.  And this weekend their celebrating in Toronto.

Not many people celebrate 50 years of marriage; in fact my Dad is the first in his family; and my Mom is second only to her older brother.  I’m sure that it wasn’t always easy; but they persevered.  And in a world where divorce happens more and more all the time; I’m proud of my parents for sticking it through the rough patches.

Have a great time in Toronto Mom and Dad… we love you and look forward to celebrating many more years together.

Please click here to look at our pictures.

The Rest of our Costa Rica Trip

We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our stay at Arenal Lodge.  Unfortunately the rainy season had begun; and for most of Sunday and until we left on Monday afternoon, it was rainy and very foggy. 

The best view of the volcano turned out to be on Saturday afternoon; and even then we didn’t get to see all of it.  The volcano has been quiet for the past 8 months now; and we didn’t even get to feel a tremor.

The lodge itself though was beautiful; and despite the rain, we walked around the grounds Sunday afternoon.  We spent a few minutes in the butterfly garden.  Only 6 blue morphous butterflies, but apparently there weren’t any last month.

We then went on a mile hike through a rain forest, right on the lodges’ property.  It was a little hard on my foot, as we spent most of the hike climbing and the descending stairs.  It was a beautiful hike though; and we got to see lots of beautiful foliage.

Monday afternoon we were picked up at 2:30 and off to San Jose we went.  It was about to be a 3 ½ hour roller coaster ride.  The driver wasn’t near as crazy as the two previous ones, but I was still holding onto my seat in front of me a few times.

It poured rain for most of the way, and the further up the mountain we climbed, the foggier it got.  You could see very little and I was relieved when we got into San Jose, where there was no fog or rain.

We had dinner, collected our deposit money, well some of it, and headed off to bed.  We were out the door and headed to the airport by 5:00 a.m.  We passed through customs without any problems and started the long journey home.

The flight was uneventful; we arrived in Atlanta and by the time we went through customs and security… again… we had roughly an hour to grab something to eat, before the next leg.

We arrived in Toronto; cleared customs without any problems and were met by my parents a few minutes later.  It was great to see my folks again, there’s nothing like a hug from family.  We stopped for dinner at Kelsey’s and arrived in London at 10 pm.  Visited with Ken and Rosie for a bit, before hitting the hay.  It was a long day, but we were happy to be back in Canadaland.

It’s wonderful to go away, but there’s nothing better than coming home.  I’ll write a new blog in a day or two with what we’ve been up to since being home.

Please click here to look at our pictures.

We Dined with A Macaw

Our last few days in the condo found us busy packing and cleaning.  It’s hard to believe that 6 months have come and gone already.

Joey picked us up late Friday afternoon, we stopped at the cable place to return the modem, then stopped to say goodbye to our tour friend Herman.  A quick stop at Joey’s to put some of the perishables we gave them away; then off to a beautiful sunset spot we went.

We drove up the highway for a bit, before heading up the mountain.  When we reached the top, we parked and hiked a short distance to a spectacular view of the Pacific, Jaco, Hermossa and surrounding area below.  It was beautiful.  Unfortunately the sunset wasn’t very spectacular; so after a few pictures we headed back to Jaco.

We had dinner at the Taco Bar and then stopped in at Joey and Eida’s to say goodbye.  A very nice couple and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.  Only wish that we had met them sooner. 

This morning, we headed downtown to catch our bus that would take us to Arenal volcano.  I got to sit in the front passenger seat; and the driver pointed out a pineapple orchard, and a dinosaur (okay, it wasn’t a live dinosaur); unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a shot of either. 

The surroundings were beautiful and we got to see a little more of Costa Rica.  We stopped after a couple of hours; at a restaurant and had a half hour break.  We had a piece of banana bread; and then headed around back to see what was there. 

We were not expecting to see a half dozen or more red macaws.  All hanging around, squawking and posing for the many cameras.  Also a couple of peacocks and some other birds.  It was pretty cool.  We transferred our luggage to a second bus; and off to Arenal we went.

More beautiful country side all around.  Lush green foliage.  I was really glad not to be driving.  The road was filled with lots of twists and turns and more than once I was grabbing the seat in front of me to keep from being tossed out of my seat!  Both of today’s drivers were crazy drivers; but fortunately we arrived safely and there was lots to see along the way.

We even had to stop for 3 wild horses to cross the road.  If it wasn’t for the jeep behind us, that passed us and broke us the little soiree; we would have also watched some “afternoon delight” between 2 of them.

After almost 2 hours of a roller coaster ride, we arrived at the Arenal Lodge.  And boy is it ever nice!  We didn’t have too much of a chance to wander around yet; but what we have seen is pretty nice.

We did find time to relax in the hot tub with Arenal Volcano right there.  How cool is that!  Then late afternoon we headed over to the restaurant.  The black cloud had lifted and more of the volcano was exposed.

As we were ordering dinner a blue and yellow macaw came and landed on the patio.  Sweet!!!  When our smoothies arrived, she landed on the chair right beside me and then on the table.  She was heading for Mike’s smoothie when the waiter scared her off.  Her name is Stephania and she just lost her partner a few months ago; and she’s a regular here.

While we ate, she sat in front of us squawking.  Mike then hand fed her a strawberry and orange.  When the waiter took our plates, she flew away, squawking the whole time.  Like she was upset that the food was gone.  It was the first time that either of us had a macaw join us for dinner; and it was quite an experience.

The last hour mother nature again has entertained us with an amazing lightning show right off our patio.  Plus there is an orchestra of frogs, crickets, etc. all around us.  As I finish writing this blog, the storm has moved on; hopefully we’ll be able to see some lava running down the volcano; or at least feel a decent tremor.

All in all it’s been a pretty amazing day. 

Please click here to look at our pictures.

A Drive Through the Mountains

Early Tuesday morning, Joey and Eida picked us up; and we headed for the mountains.  We’ve been looking at these mountains for the past 5 ½ months, and finally we were going to drive through them and see what was over there.

The day was beautiful, hardly a cloud in the sky; and soon we were driving through the dense, lush foliage of the country side of Costa Rica.  It was beautiful. 

It didn’t matter which direction you looked, there was beauty to be seen.  The road was narrow and gouged with pot holes, but there was very little traffic.

About an hour or so into the drive, we stopped at the top of the mountain, and found a local soda to have breakfast.  A typical Tico breakfast is rice, beans and an egg mixed together. 

The food was good; but the views were breathtaking.  360 degree of beautiful, lush, green mountains.  Nice way to enjoy a meal.

We then continued on and eventually drove right across the ridge.  Jaco was spread out below; and it was a great way to see the town that we’ve been living in.  We could even see our condo; but not our balcony, cause there‘s so much foliage in front of it. 

And it was pretty cool to see the Pacific from this great vantage point.  Along with a lot of the many buildings and businesses that we’ve been too.  All in all it was a great way to spend the morning; and we all enjoyed it.

We then stopped in to stay good bye to our favourite doctor Brenda; we wish we could bring her home with us.  Then we continued downtown, picked up a few more souvenirs stopped in at the pharmacist; but the rest of our pills still weren’t in yet; so we headed home.

We ended up having to go back downtown later that night; and thankfully the pills were in.  We’re both starting to feel better; but it’s important that we get all of our meds in us.  Also turns out that we both picked up a different kind of parasite.  Both amoeba family, but different.  Hopefully by the time we arrive home on Tuesday, we’ll both be rid of it; and feeling 100% again.

Including tonight; it’s 6 sleeps til home and 7 til our own bed.  Looking forward to it. 

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Still Sick

The last blog update had us meeting our friends on the beach for a cookout.  By the time our friends arrived, the winds had picked up and it started to rain.  So much for the cookout on the beach.

It was pretty funny though at one point.  Now bare in mind, the temps were still 25-27 (80-84) and the wind was actually really refreshing.  One of the young girls with our group, stood up, wrapped her arms around herself, and declared that she was freezing!  I thought, sweetheart, you don’t have a clue what freezing is.

I wasn’t feeling the greatest at this point; so we headed home.  I won’t go into details, but by Sunday I was having dry heaves and pretty much felt like crap. 

Mike wasn’t feeling much better and at first we thought it was something that we ate.  A few days later, we thought maybe we had picked up a virus or something.

We stayed pretty close to the condo for the next few days; but finally on the Saturday of the Easter weekend, we headed downtown. 

There were 1000’s of people walking the streets of downtown.  Thought the week of Christmas was busy, but nothing compared to this weekend.  We stopped and said hello to a few of our friends; had a burger at Papas and then headed to the beach.

A few weeks before, you could have counted the people on the beach; a huge contrast to the amount of people out this day.  The tide was also in, which made the beach even smaller.  It seemed like the majority of the people were teenagers to late 20’s. 

People playing games, having cookouts, surfing, playing in the waves.  Every direction you looked, there were people… and lots of them.  I personally prefer it when the beach is almost empty.

Still feeling crummy, we headed off to the clinic this past Tuesday and by Thursday afternoon, it was confirmed that we both picked up a parasite.  Great!  We started the 10 days of medication last night; and with any luck, we’ll start to feel better sooner than later. 

When we got home on Tuesday from the clinic, we had a tucan land on a branch right off the balcony.  It was pretty cool.  And we even got a picture of it.  

As a result of our being sick, we’re going to stay in the condo for an extra 3 nights.  We’ll hopefully still have a chance to go to Arenal Volcano for the weekend, before heading home on Tuesday.


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The Sights and Sounds of Nature

Mike has been having some issues with his hernia; my foot is still sore; and this past week, we’ve both been battling some kind of “stomach flu”.  If we’re not over it later this week; we’ll head to the clinic and see if we’ve picked up a virus, or worse a parasite.

As a result of so much “down” time; we’ve spent a lot of time on our balcony over these past 6 months.  Talking, discussing our future, and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature.

Too many of us don’t ever stop to “smell the roses” and it’s amazing the show that is being put on around you, if you only stop to notice.

Here’s some of the amazing things that we’ve seen and heard off of our balcony.

Before coming to Costa Rica, I’m not sure if I really knew what a macaw was.  Well, after having them fly over us, almost daily, for the past 5 months… I do now! 

They almost always travel in pairs, squawking the whole way; and they have beautiful brilliant colours on their backs and wings.

Almost every morning, we have a squirrel who makes his way from one almond tree to the other; and it’s quite the process watching it eat.

A few weeks ago; a beetle landed on a leaf right in front of the balcony.  I grabbed the binoculars, and quickly discovered that she was in labour.  Watched her for almost 3 hours; and eventually there was a line of tiny white eggs.  She quickly gathered them up; as a group of ants were quickly moving in on her; and away she flew. 

We also had a few leaf cutter ant colonies; and it was quite amazing to watch them devour a huge leaf within a matter of hours; leaving nothing but the stem.

Most days, we have a hummingbird flying around; we’ve had 2 turtle doves land on our railing; and we seem to have a resident motmot that likes to live in the tree in front.  Yesterday, we had a group of 4 tiny brilliant green birds fly past us; we think they were either budgies or parakeets. 

We have also heard the noisiest sicadas… ever!  We thought the sicadas at home were noisy; but they ain’t got nothing on the sicadas that we’ve had here.  From dusk up to an hour; there were half a dozen of them right near our balcony; and talk about loud… Sounded like chain saws choking and sputtering, and then this high pitched screech that went on for a few seconds; before starting all over again.  Glad that they’ve moved on; now we get to listen to the frogs and crickets instead.

We have also been entertained countless times by mother nature’s fireworks.  The manmade fireworks that we enjoyed between Christmas and New Years, were nice, but nothing compared to the lightning shows that we’ve had right in front of us.

For a couple of people who love to watch a lightning show, it’s been a pretty nice place to do it.  We’ve only been chased off the balcony twice due to heavy rain, but most nights we’re able to sit out there without getting wet.

So, even though we’ve both been sick from time to time over this past winter, we picked a heck of a nice place to do it!  And got to see some things that were new to both of us.

Please click here to look at our pictures.