As part of our prep for my retirement day, we've been working to get healthy and lose a bit of weight. We're employing various things to accomplish this. one way is going for walks:
That's from Crystal's fitbit. We ended up at an insane number of floors climbed that day. We took the Papo truck up the hill a ways, then did a walk that was all uphill to the turn around point.
We started on the healthy track last June and we're both having a decent amount of success. I've lost about 30 pounds. Crys is doing well too. It's kinda fun to have a bit more stamina and strength, and not have to squeeze into my pants. Right now we're on the 7th week of Lift4 (a beachbody program) and we do a 36 hour fast once a week along with a low sugar, low carb diet. It's easier than it sounds.
Back to my on line shopping.......
The dark of night does not come after the golden glow of the day's sun but before it.
We are Living Out Loud... and loving our lives together.
Monday, December 17, 2018
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Dive gear
It's a fact that when you choose to play a sport it takes some stuff to do it.
Like our scuba diving. We did the initial half of the Open Water cert in Denver and at that time we picked up mask/fins/snorkel/booties/wetsuit. Then we went to the U.S. Virgin Islands and took the other half of our class. This week I'm changing up our game a bit. Our scuba shop in Denver, Abyss Scuba: http://abyss-scuba.com/index.html offered a deal on a full face scuba mask. It was just too good to pass up. :D Of course that means that (at the very least) I'll have to get us set up with the regulator set for it all. Often stuff like that comes much cheaper in a package deal, so I'm looking into that as well.
We put the money down on our sailing school as well. Captain Mike Brown of the DelMarVa Sailing School location of Captain In You Sailing will be our mentor and skipper.
http://www.delmarvasailingschool.com/index.html
We're pretty darn excited about it and looking forward to the road trip out and back as well. We'll get to have our class, visit my family back east and pick up Autum for the summer.
Update also on the rebuild of Papo's Ford, looks like the boys are getting to it at Moonlight Customs. With any luck our 5 month wait will soon be at an end. :D
Like our scuba diving. We did the initial half of the Open Water cert in Denver and at that time we picked up mask/fins/snorkel/booties/wetsuit. Then we went to the U.S. Virgin Islands and took the other half of our class. This week I'm changing up our game a bit. Our scuba shop in Denver, Abyss Scuba: http://abyss-scuba.com/index.html offered a deal on a full face scuba mask. It was just too good to pass up. :D Of course that means that (at the very least) I'll have to get us set up with the regulator set for it all. Often stuff like that comes much cheaper in a package deal, so I'm looking into that as well.
We put the money down on our sailing school as well. Captain Mike Brown of the DelMarVa Sailing School location of Captain In You Sailing will be our mentor and skipper.
http://www.delmarvasailingschool.com/index.html
We're pretty darn excited about it and looking forward to the road trip out and back as well. We'll get to have our class, visit my family back east and pick up Autum for the summer.
Update also on the rebuild of Papo's Ford, looks like the boys are getting to it at Moonlight Customs. With any luck our 5 month wait will soon be at an end. :D
Monday, October 22, 2018
Scary money moves
This morning we got our plans all together and made payment on a sailing school.
We'll be attending: http://www.delmarvasailingschool.com with Captain Mike and our buddy that we love to travel with. It'll be early summer of 2018 and will mostly complete the expensive part of the planning for our upcoming retirement. We've a couple more classes to go, but this is the high dollar one. On the docket for winter will be upgrading my diving certificate from Open Water to Advanced Open Water and the enhanced air certificates. Then sometime next year we'll get the class from the American Sailing Association for Catamaran, and perhaps Celestial Navigation. We'll see how that goes.
It's pretty exciting to get all this set up. We're really hoping it all goes well and there's every chance it will. Our big early summer class will be back home by my parents (25 minute drive from their house) and we'll make it a big old road trip.
Here's to spending storm money on boating!!!!
We'll be attending: http://www.delmarvasailingschool.com with Captain Mike and our buddy that we love to travel with. It'll be early summer of 2018 and will mostly complete the expensive part of the planning for our upcoming retirement. We've a couple more classes to go, but this is the high dollar one. On the docket for winter will be upgrading my diving certificate from Open Water to Advanced Open Water and the enhanced air certificates. Then sometime next year we'll get the class from the American Sailing Association for Catamaran, and perhaps Celestial Navigation. We'll see how that goes.
It's pretty exciting to get all this set up. We're really hoping it all goes well and there's every chance it will. Our big early summer class will be back home by my parents (25 minute drive from their house) and we'll make it a big old road trip.
Here's to spending storm money on boating!!!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Cruzin the U.S.V.I. with Steve
Here are a few more pics from our vacation. They're all from the day we spent with our friend Steve. It was a pretty great day.
That pic is of a sugar mill, long abandoned.
These are the resident wild donkeys. :D They're quite friendly.
Steve took a pic of Crys and I at the sugar mill.
Steve and Crys on the power-cat he borrowed for the day to take us around looking at stuff.
Crys and I and the friend we traveled with. He does not want his face on the internet.
Overlooking a bay with our hesitant buddy, and Steve was playing with the panoramic feature.
The gang on the power-cat.
And this is the sea turtle we saw that day. Pretty damned cool if you ask me.
That pic is of a sugar mill, long abandoned.
These are the resident wild donkeys. :D They're quite friendly.
Steve took a pic of Crys and I at the sugar mill.
Steve and Crys on the power-cat he borrowed for the day to take us around looking at stuff.
Crys and I and the friend we traveled with. He does not want his face on the internet.
Overlooking a bay with our hesitant buddy, and Steve was playing with the panoramic feature.
The gang on the power-cat.
And this is the sea turtle we saw that day. Pretty damned cool if you ask me.
Thursday, October 11, 2018
Virgin Islands trip October 5 to 10
We left work at about 3 PM, a friend and we. We got to Denver pretty quickly. Stopped outside the TSA and had a snack that Crys prepared for us all. Then we got in while they were trying to close the TSA operation. Apparently this makes them somewhat angry. :D The friend and I both got groped. It was a little bit fun, mostly annoying.
Then we had a 3 hour wait for the first plane from Denver to JFK. It was a bit of a drink fest :D. Then we drank a bit on the plane. Then we got to JFK and tried to chill as much as possible before boarding our next plane to the USVI. That went well, but it started to feel a bit long.... and with only 2 on board bathrooms....... it got a little ........ too intimate.
At the USVI, Charlotte Amalie, they drove trucks up to both ends of the plane and got us all off quickly. It wasn’t too much of a wait for our ride back to the B&B with Helen. That was a pleasant way to get here. She let us check in early and we got to chill and shower before heading out for some exploring. That included a round of beers and some fries at the Tap & Still. After that we went to a great Indian food joint. Pretty much the best Indian food we’ve ever had. During one conversation at dinner the propritess was asked about the speed limit in town as we hadn’t seen a sign. Her response? “No one gives a shit”. :D This is coupled with the odd notion that one can drink, but shouldn’t be drunk while driving. Funny differences. Then another round at the Tap & Still and a walk home.
Folks here are genuine. We’ve had 3 strangers reach out to make our stay enjoyable so far. None of them had any connection to us. It was just them being nice. One nice fellow overheard us chatting about a liquor store and saw our general direction and he was moved to let us know, “don’t go there, don’t go there, it’s much cheaper 2 blocks down and one block inland”. :D
Tomorrow Crys and I will try a scuba class for open water. If it goes well we’ll do another on Monday and then we’ll be all Scuba certified.
We’re having a great time. It’s pretty fun to travel with friends. That’s what we’re finding out. :D
Today, Saturday, was pretty fun.
Crys and I walked to Red Hook Dive Center and did our first 2 dives for our Open Water PADI certificate. We started with blueberry waffles and eggs cooked up by Helen at our B&B about a 10 minute walk from Red Hook. Then it was a nice walk down the hill to the dive center. We did paperwork, a little refresher test and got Crys a new snorkel that keeps the water out better. A couple folks went along on the dive boat and did a bit of scuba while we took our class. We both did fine and Crys even started having fun! Probably important to note that starting out Crys had a bit of trepidation and the dive master, Andy, was patient and supportive. That was well appreciated. Can’t say we noticed very much about the two really cool dive spots we went to that morning, we were very busy learning all the ways you can die underwater.
Then we joined our buddy at a bar at Secret Harbor beach. That was fun. By the end of the night we’d hooked up with our friend Steve and we got to bed happy and tipsy and tired.
We’ll have to see what Sunday holds :D.
Today was a bright and shining day. It was day 3 and we woke up to a delightful breakfast made by Helen, our hostess. Coffee and eggs with fried potatoes and toast. It was fab. :D
Today our buddy suggested visiting the nearby island of St John. St John is lightly populated and 3/4 a national park. We were joined by the friend we came to the island to visit (Steve) and his recent runnin buddy Olivia. (BTW Olivia was pouring the heavy drinks the night before that led to several types of shenanigans). We made it to the ferry to ride the 10 minutes to St. John and Steve and Olivia made it just before the boat took off. There, we did a quick stop for water and snacks and a rented Jeep and we were off.
Steve drove since here in the USVI they drive on the left based on a heritage of Dutch rule that established the custom. We took in the views, saw beautiful countryside and did little hikes here and there. We stopped at a beautiful beach called Trunk Bay, one of the most beautiful beaches. Look it up. You’ll see.
We saw the house built by Oppenheimer on a property filled with tragedy. We saw sugar plantation ruins with their legacy of slavery and green grass growing on the sad stains of the past. The beach was incredibly delightful. We spent hours there. Then we stopped for a quick lunch and a beer on the way back to the ferry to St. Thomas. Notable on this trip is the resident sadness the folks that call the islands home carry following their double hurricane whammy a bit over a year ago. Some small islands that were lush with trees where pelicans used to nest have been stripped bare of vegetation and soil and are simply barren rock, whole forest sides on the hills are still stripped and rocks show through where there was triple level rain forest before. While it’s still beautiful and amazing to us, it holds a sad spot in their eyes while they look out on it.
Tonight we ordered pizza and had it on the front veranda. This spot is pretty darn cool. Two Sandals By The Sea, I recommend it.
Tomorrow Crys and I will finish the last 2 open water dives for our PADI certification. Our buddy might go along to snorkel (for a small fee of course). We’ll see how it goes. Life is good, today was grand, yet again.
Monday, U. S. Virgin Islands.
This morning we got up at a semi decent hour and had our egg & cheese waffle sammiches with fresh juice and coffee/tea. It was a nice breakfast for the 3 of us on the deck looking over Red Hook Bay. We do love the convenience of having breakfast here without having to think about it.
Then Crys and I went down the hill to Red Hook Dive Center for our 3rd and 4th open water dives for our PADI certification. Andy and Captain Don were there and ready to go. A couple friends of theirs were there and ready to go, along with a nice teacher fellow from the Island. They’re so nice, helpful and supportive, and there to do what ever makes the day more pleasant. Andy is the dive master for this, Captain Don and he trade off on Captain and dive master duty. It’s pretty fun to watch them discuss skill tests and the best ways to go about each. Today Crys did her CESA swim along with donning and doffing all the gear in the water. (I did that yesterday). She did great! Most of the work was on Dive 3. Dive 4 was pretty much all exploring a reef along with watching our air and doing a slow controlled ascent along with the proper safety stop. We saw a sea turtle. In fact on dive 4 we got the joy of diving like we will from here on out. Andy led the dive as is common for a first dive in a new spot and we got to see the reefs, the wildlife living in them, the fish, the amazing turtle that swum by and the floating islands of Sargasm sea weed that the islands are experiencing this year. On at least one occasion the floating weed was so thick we mistook it for the boat! Another word on the sea turtle. The friends that dove along on this trip did a “tank bang” to get our attention and we got to turn and watch the turtle swim up and past us. As it went past it pivoted just a tiny bit in the water to take a long lazy look at us as it gently swam past. It was one of those amazing moments, the ones you hope to get.
It’s funny, we set this trip up to get to get out on boats and start getting some familiarity with the ocean in prep for retirement. The SCUBA cert came to me in one of my weird morning reveries when I wake up and have to pee. Setting it up came together more by chance than design, but it gave us a chance to have a task while we were here and focused the trip in a fun way. We had also hoped to get to see our friend Steve, and it led us to invite our other buddy to come along with us. It’s neat when everything works out.
This afternoon the 3 of us have spent some time drinking and celebrating. We’re now chilling in the room while the rain abates. Then we’ll hike down to Secret Harbor and see if we’d like to chill in the water while the sun sets, then have some dinner and drinks. Tomorrow perhaps our friend Steve will pick us up and we’ll explore a bit on a boat he has access to. Maybe Olivia will tag along.
Time to see what’s up at the beach. Again. it’s pretty dang decadent.
The beach was good at Secret Harbor. We did a bit of night swimming . Then cocktails and dinner. Life is good.
Tuesday in St Thomas:
Today started with breakfast from Helen, today it was a quiche with a potato crust. It was quite tasty. Along with the fresh juice, yogurt, coffee tea and toast. Yum.
Then we met our friends Steve and Olivia. Steve got a borrowed power cat boat and we went out exploring. He took us all over the U. S. Virgin Islands. We had lunch at their secret bar on a beach, saw blow holes, dragon holes, hidden caves and lots of cool stuff. We had to hurry to return the boat at 2 PM through a stiff current and wind which made for a delightfully energetic ride. I got lucky and got to ride on the front of the boat. Wham bam whoosh and spray!!! After we rode around and met Nekid Moses at a tiny secret beach. Apparently it’s about to be gated off by the rich folks who have bought the private land on that road. It would seem that there is a lot of that going on following their double hurricane from a year ago. It drives the local folks kinda crazy. The beach was down a crazy long staircase with most of the boards in place. It was really cool. We then took off to Secret Harbor for the happy hour food. 2 item pizza for $6.
My hit of the day was the key lime pie at the lunching spot. It was delish.
A note on Steve. He grew up here in the U.S.V.I. and has amazing and entertaining stories to tell. Many of the spots he showed us are places he and his friends found together. There’s a good bit of the history of the islands he shares with us, and he knows all the good happy hours to hit for an inexpensive dinner. He’s a good friend we met at Valley View some years ago and we’ve always meant to come visit. He was surprised when we actually did, and cleared some of his work schedule to spend time with us.
Crys and I finished up the day at Fatty’s bar where Olivia works, Steve met us and we played a couple games of pool while having a Cruzin Confusion with Cruzan Black Strap Rum on top. I liked it, Crys? Not so much. Crys got to see the bioluminescent plankton, which is apparently pretty cool.
Tomorrow will be the long ride home.
Pretty sure we’ll be back.
Travel day dawned bright and clear. Many of our days here were overcast and a bit rainy. The last three have had enough sun to get to appreciate just how beautiful this corner of the world is. The sparkling sands and turquoise waters are no myth. And if they are? We’re living the myth, which is always something to aspire to. :D I’m up early, typing up my notes and cleaning them up a bit. Crys and our friend are sleeping in a bit. I’ve chatted with Helen and made sure our ride to the airport is set up along with some other fun details, like she’ll extend check out till noon for us today in view of our 4 PM flight time, also that she’ll let us load our luggage and she’ll pick us up in town where ever we choose to have lunch. :D
It’ll soon be time to wake the sleepyheads and have breakfast.
Travel day back was long as most travel days are. Our plane was a tiny bit late leaving St. Thomas but got to Miami in plenty of time.
The only hitch was in getting off the place, when we all had to sit back down while customs had a little chat with someone.... Our friends and my plane to Denver was just fine. The taxi to the take off was so long that I did begin to think we were actually just going to drive to Denver....... It was pretty darn chilly too. Denver was 38 degrees when we landed. That's a bit less warm than the Carribean or Miami.
The only hitch was in getting off the place, when we all had to sit back down while customs had a little chat with someone.... Our friends and my plane to Denver was just fine. The taxi to the take off was so long that I did begin to think we were actually just going to drive to Denver....... It was pretty darn chilly too. Denver was 38 degrees when we landed. That's a bit less warm than the Carribean or Miami.
Then he and I drove home. Crys went on to Las Vegas to help out her dad and bro. I've got stuff all put away now and the house is settled down.
Monday, September 17, 2018
Working into the details for upcoming retirement.
This last weekend we worked into a couple of details for my retirement in a year and 2 months.
We went to Denver and took a SCUBA class. We did OK. Both of us got a bit shitted here and there and it all turned out well. We'll take the second half of the class in the Virgin Islands in a couple weeks. I've spent the morning ordering stuff in that will help us do well. In the spring we're looking toward some sailing classes that will help set us up for a boat to play on.
We've worked our whole adult lives. And now we're going to:
PLAY
We went to Denver and took a SCUBA class. We did OK. Both of us got a bit shitted here and there and it all turned out well. We'll take the second half of the class in the Virgin Islands in a couple weeks. I've spent the morning ordering stuff in that will help us do well. In the spring we're looking toward some sailing classes that will help set us up for a boat to play on.
We've worked our whole adult lives. And now we're going to:
PLAY
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
astrisk
A couple of the pics in the following post are out of order. Specifically, the pizza pic is from the first day in Santa Barbara, when Crys managed to order us pizza without help and kept us alive. One pic of Autum with breakfast isn't from Stella's in Monteverde but from our trip to Colorado Springs to get the processing done for her TSA Pre Check. I'm sure I made other errors, the gist is accurate though.
Costa Rica
We just returned from our Summer Trip to Costa Rica. It gets capital letters because it's the first time out of the U.S. for Crys and I in quite a long time and the first time ever for Autum. I made notes each day, and I'll transfer them in here with pics, so it'll be a long post.
JULY 13
Today we traveled from Denver to San Jose. We left home at 4:30 AM, drove to Denver and parked at Pablo's house. He took us to DIA. Flights and everything went fine and we even got through customs in San Jose going into Costa Rica just fine.
It helped having a little guide online that we'd saved in our phones before we left. Then we wandered out and found our ride to the rental car outfit. We used Adobe Rent a Car, and they were great. Renting a car in Costa Rica is expensive but well worth it for our first Air B&B spot. The only problem was it was darker than well diggers bum hole and raining like it was about to float the Arc. On the advice of the rental car guy, we found a near by hotel for the night, had our usual "destination arrival meal" of pizza and got to bed.
It was still raining.
July 14
July 15
July 16
JULY 13
Today we traveled from Denver to San Jose. We left home at 4:30 AM, drove to Denver and parked at Pablo's house. He took us to DIA. Flights and everything went fine and we even got through customs in San Jose going into Costa Rica just fine.
It helped having a little guide online that we'd saved in our phones before we left. Then we wandered out and found our ride to the rental car outfit. We used Adobe Rent a Car, and they were great. Renting a car in Costa Rica is expensive but well worth it for our first Air B&B spot. The only problem was it was darker than well diggers bum hole and raining like it was about to float the Arc. On the advice of the rental car guy, we found a near by hotel for the night, had our usual "destination arrival meal" of pizza and got to bed.
It was still raining.
July 14
Monteverde/Los Tornos: day 2 of vacation.
Today we went from San Jose, Costa Rica to .... well..... all over the damned place. We started out thinking we had everything all mapped and set up nicely for a delightful morning drive to our Air B&B around Los Tornos. We had the GPS on the rental car, the address we were going to, a backup set of directions in google maps.... and then reality set in.
The google back up was gone. The GPS doesn’t include Los Tornos in it’s list of towns with directions and somehow all of it left out the bolder strewn single track dirt road that climbed up into the cloud forest.
Basically, the usual on a vacation. :D
Crys kept me level, Autum was fine and we made it to our spot before noon. We ended up at a breakfast place called “Stella’s” near the Rain Forest Preserve. (Stella Wallace BTW).
At this spot the nice lady on duty served us a delicious breakfast and let us know we were “a long way” from where we wanted to go. A couple Air B&B messages hooked us up with our hosts daughters hubby who got maps loaded, and us on the right path. It wasn’t “a long way” at all. :D
So we found the place and got mostly settled in when our host, Hermida, showed up. she’d left fruit on the table along with eggs on the counter already. This time she brought some fry breads that we used for dinner along with the eggs. We munched the delectable bananas all afternoon. Hermida was a delight (probably still is). She told us about fun things to do, places to see and how to explore her coffee and fruit plantation. We were admonished to NOT purchase fruit, coffee, milk or eggs anywhere. She’d be happy to bring all we wished. Thus far, we’ve met nothing but nice folks, including customs and immigration here.
The rest of the day, we chilled, and took a long walk in the big up and down hills. We’re still planning what we’ll do while here but it’s pretty sure a zip line through the cloud forest is on the list. Between walks we found a liquor store (yes, we’re still US you doofus) and explored a bit in the car. This evenings walk included a nice drizzle of rain.
It’s nice here. And there’s property for sale.....
July 15
Finca Lluvia de Gloria de Ermida
(Rains of Glory Farm of Ermida)
This morning we slept in for as long as the rains and the roosters would allow :D. Crys and I both slept over 10 hours, Autum got more. Then we made coffee that Ermida had left for us. This, by the way, is coffee she grew, dried and roasted herself. We used the really cool coffee maker they use here. It’s a stand with a coffee sock in the top. You put the coffee in, then pour water through it into the collector cup below (a big one so you can share). It was fabulous.
After that we walked the nature trail on the farm here. We saw some birds but no other critters, apparently one needs to go out after dark for that. We’ll try it again tonight with my little flashlight. On the walk we saw some fruits we’re allowed to pick: avocados; passion fruit; several kinds of bananas; plantains and Chayote squash. We ended up at Ermida’s home at the end of the walk. There she showed us how to make passion fruit juice. And we set up to have dinner with she and her family tomorrow night. They offer this for a small fee (it’s a deal). On the way out she gave us a big old bowl of various fruits and veggies to make at home. Manzanilla Bananas, which are an “apple banana”. Those things rock. She also leaves eggs here for us. This Air B&B is like the deal of the century.
Soon we will leave to go visit a “Soda” which is a quick eatery in the ultra affordable range where the locals usually munch. Then we’ll try the longest zip line in South America before we come home to make dinner from all our fresh stuff and perhaps have a beer or two.
CONT......
Finca Lluvia de Gloria de Emerida day 2 continued
We just got back from the zip line adventure thingy. It was pretty darned fun. This joint had 9 zip lines, 3 bridges, a rappelling bit, a Tarzan swing and 2 Superman runs. They claim to be the longest zip line in South America. The Tarzan swing was pretty butt clenching. you basically step off this platform and fall 30 feet before the swing starts to catch you. SUPER butt clench. The rest was fun, some was fast, some was slow and some were long. The Superman one was fun, and REALLY high up. Way over the canopy.
We also shopped and lunched in town at a local Soda and various stores. After the zip line we looked for an advertised bar and it was a L O N G way from the sing, and then not so interesting as to entice us in. Now we’re making dinner with the fresh stuff Ermida gave us this morning. And it’s raining it’s ass off. :D
Pura Vida. Tomorrow is another day.
July 16
Day 3 at Los Tornos.
We have chosen today as chill day here in the Monteverde area. We slept in, had a banana for breakfast along with some fresh blendered mango juice. Then we all took a turn at the shower.
The shower is an odd thing. One doesn’t see these where we come from, though the idea is kinda cool. The shower head has an on/off position, a “warm” position and a “hot” position on a slider knob on the upper part of the shower head. 120 volts runs right into the shower head. Yes. Power runs right into the shower head that the water runs through. Here, you choose hot, then adjust the water flow down to just barely running and you get a delightful hot shower. I’m guessing if the wiring here were better it would be possible to have a hot shower with more flow, and even given that? It’s pretty nice.
Power here is odd. The main lines are quite good, on concrete poles which is common in this area of the world. The secondary is quite another thing. At our place, the meters are all out by the road, and the triplex runs overhead for hundreds of feet, strung through the trees, laid on the ground, wrapped around the next wire rather than a nice squeeze with oxide inhibitor like I’m used to. I might hit up our host, exchange some power work for a free place to stay....
Hey it’s worth a try!
We’ll leave here for a little town just north of San Jose (the airport town) tomorrow morning. Then we’ll spend a few days there.
Today’s walk was nice, just a good little jaunt down the dirt road through a less traveled neighborhood. There are a lot of dogs, and they stay in their yards and barely bark at you. Not many cats. We wonder why.
CONT.....
Dinner with Ermida
Tonight was “Dinner with Hermida”. All over the Air B&B site folks would write in that you should not miss dinner with our host, Ermida. So Crys set it up for tonight. It was a complete delight.
Ermida met us and welcomed us into her home where she was already cooking. We started with meal with a creamed squash soup, rich and delicious. Following that were patacones tortillas. (Plantains, twice fried and at the end in the shape of a tortilla). We ate those with some of her homemade mango salsa and refried black beans. The beans carried through the meal. Following that was a plate of tamales. Tamales in Costa Rica are different than the ones you buy in the U. S. This is more like a loaf tamale, wrapped in banana leaf and tied before baking. Then at dinner you unwrap the loaf and fry the slices of tamale. These were egg and bean, where the eggs were sliced hard eggs, and black beans. Delicious, also with some of the refried black beans and a bit of salsa. The next course was turmeric rice (with fresh turmeric from her farm) along with a chayote squash/white corn medley. You mixed that with a little black beans as well. A salad accompanied that on basil leaves so big they’d cover a dinner plate. It was seasoned with not cilantro but culantro. Similar but different. Throughout the meal was drank passion fruit aqua fresco. Ermida made that as well.
Throughout the meal, we practiced our Spanish. Crys’ is not bad, mine is an embarrassment, while Ermida told us tales of the property and her life on it. We ended the evening by purchasing various flavors of the coffee she grows, roasts and sells from her home farm. As a final delight, she shared some of the places home grown Cacao. She has one tree. We found an odd tree on our walk, big giant ugly fruits that I thought must be Durian, but when chatting we figured it was JackFruit. She snuck a seed of one out of a restaurant in San Jose, Costa Rica and planted it on her farm.
When we come back, Crystal is supposed to share the ways she learns to cook JackFruit.
Darn. We’ll have to come back.
July 17
Day 5. Going to Santa Barbara
Today we went from Los Tornos to Santa Barbara. It was a few hours drive. Along the way we went to a beach because Autum really really wanted to see a beach along the way.
We arrived in Santa Barbara, and luckily our host drove up at the same time we did to let us into our Air B&B because otherwise we’d a been screwed.
There were monkey's at the beach:
We got our stuff settled then Crys and I took the rental car back to Adobe Rent a Car. That went well. Traffic and roads in Santa Barbara are insane. They’re like just one traffic lane wide and right of way seems to go to he who has the biggest balls.
I win.
We returned the rental car, and no problems, they’re now officially recommended. They asked if we needed a cab. We replied, “no we’re gonna walk” at which point the 3 guys there shared a “crazy-mother-fuckers” look. OK, it was 5 klicks, and uphill, and hot..... but we stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Autum chilled at home waiting for us.
It’s a pretty luxurious place for us. All fancy. Deck, view of the city lights. As usual, first night in a new place, we ordered pizza. we had to wait at the entrance gate for the moped delivery dude. I think he’s still laughing. Now we’re just chilling. Warm showers, no bugs, it’s nice, and yet not the nice, weird, real place we left.
Tomorrow we’ll chill out here. Look for things to do the rest of the time, like go to the Arnenal Volvano. ]
Or perhaps we’ll just chill and visit.
Life is good.
Pura Vida.
July 18
Day 6. Chillin like a villain.
We’re still trying to decide what we want to do with ourselves here in Santa Barbara. Most “fun” stuff is kinda far, or kinda expensive. Today, we got up and got started late. Bummed around and did nothing for a good while. Then we went to town for some groceries, and ended up getting a lift back with our host because she stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. Good thing, Autum had a GIANT bottle of soda. No one wanted to schlep that big old thing up the hill.
It’s a bit of a hill to our residence. Think, “no way in hell am I walking up that steep bastard in this heat and humidity” and you have it right in your head. So we came home, walked around outside for a bit. Shook a few mangos off the trees, grabbed a downed banana or 3 and went back in.
Later on, Crys made some guacamole and fried some of the tortillas from our last place to make chips. I think that’s dinner today. :D
I might go to sleep early. It’s a good place for that.
July 19
Day 7, It isn’t old yet.
This is the middle of the rainy season which is considered winter here. Oddly enough we managed to time our visit for the 2 weeks during the rainy season that is referred to as “little summer”. That’s when the sun comes out much more often for 2 weeks and keeps the locals from killing themselves and everyone around them due to the incessant rain.
We win.
That said, we had a delightful downpour yesterday afternoon. That was rain like we never get at home. We kinda love it. It was sleep inducing, and we went to bed early. As is usual for me, going to bed early means getting up early. Today I got up and made coffee, read and chilled till Crys got up. We looked around us and found some stuff to do so that we get to see a bit more while we’re here at this Air B&B in Santa Barbara. It’s a really nice place to relax, not necessarily the easiest place to go see other stuff from. We did that for a while, then walked to town to swap out some money at the bank, grab a late breakfast at a Soda (that’s what they call little restaurants )
and stop at the grocery store (Super Viquez) and the Fruterea for some squash for tonight’s dinner.
The rest of the day we read, and sat and planned out tomorrow and Saturday. Tomorrow we’ll catch an Uber to San Jose and walk around a bit, and on Saturday we’ll grab another Uber to go for a Jeep ride and hike around Barva Volcano in a park. It’s right up our alley, little visited and a a bit of a hike. Autum, who slept in today, will go along.
All that remains of today is to drink a bit, make dinner and go to bed. Might even take a shower just for a bit of excitement.
July 20
Day 8, hiking for coffee
We changed up our plan for today, a local coffee company named Britt has an outlet store just on the other side of the town we’ve been hiking to for groceries and to visit a Soda. We got up, had our morning coffee and took off in the light rain for Santa Barbara and then a couple of Km to Jesus. We stopped at our little Soda we’ve been visiting, Olandra, for a nice big breakfast. It was good as usual, Crys and I had the gallo pinto with an egg or two. Autum had a couple tortillas with home made sour cream for dipping it into. We all shared of course. The girls had hot chocolate, I had Tamarind juice. We all decided that was a hit.
Then we wandered on toward Jesus town. That still makes me laugh. To see the Britt coffee outlet. What we most want is to get the local coffee maker, a chorreador. It’s a stand with a coffee sock. It’s much like a pour-over coffee maker.... just better. They had them at the local store in Santa Elena but we waited to purchase one and so are now looking.
None at Britt Outlet in Jesus.
The local coffee plantation/restaurant/inn was about another Km up the hill so we went there next.
None there either.
So we wandered home, stopping at the grocery for a couple things and getting home about 1 PM. From there we’re just chilling, Crys is making dinner. It’s a quiet calm day.
And tomorrow we go for a Jeep ride to an old volcano.
July 21
Day 9. The Volcano Adventure Trip
Today we went to the Barva Volcano and took a hike. This should satisfy all our friends that are always wanting to tell us to go take a hike. :D
We set up for an Uber ride at 7 AM so we could get to Heredia by 8 to meet our Jeep crew, Eduardo and Diego. This would have been better if this weren’t our first time trying to use Uber. We didn’t get the pick up address in correctly and missed our first ride. Crystal did figure it out in time for us to correctly do stuff and get a second ride to make it there with 10 minutes to spare. Guess we should have called Glen. He could have made it all work flawlessly.
At 8 our Jeep tour guy, Eduardo picked us up. His fellow Jeeper, Diego, had a bit of trouble getting his rig going and he met us up the road a ways. Then we took the twisting, turning rocky road up to the seldom visited Barva Volcano. It’s sleeping for the last 200 years Diego told us. This leaves everything there in a delightful selection of every green you could think of since it’s a rain forest. It’s seldom visited because the tour buses can’t make it up the road. At the parking lot to the national park there were 3 other cars. We paid our entrance fee and shared the fruit snacks Eduardo had brought for us, then we hiked up to the top by way of Eduardo’s favorite trail. Those two guys are a delight. They love 4 wheeling, they love exploring the volcano and they love showing it to new people.
The walk was wet, rainy a good bit of the way, muddy in a number of spots. One nice lady from Belgium walked it with a hole in her shoe and the older gal from Chicago struggled but wouldn’t give up. It was a good, fun, steep walk. After a goodly hike we got the the little viewing shed that overlooks the lake that sits in the old caldera. They guys say it’s 8 meters deep and one of them “almost” tried a drunken dive into it on his August birthday last year. That would have been on hell of a dive!
After the viewing shed you hike up another 17 floors to the “overlook”. It’s pretty cool, you watch the fog drift in and out, the wet wind blows over you and it’s just pretty darned cool.
Then we hiked down. That was easier than up. :D When we got to the bottom we push started Diego’s Jeep. (The ride Crys, Autum and I were in). Then we bounced our way down to a restaurant the fellas take folks to after the hike. The food there was delicious. We had beer and food and folks at the table shared with each other so it was just a delightful meal.
Afterward, in the driving rain, with no cover, Diego’s Jeep wouldn’t start. We all worked together and tried a number of times which moved us a few kilometers down the hill but to no avail.
No Start.
By then I was soaked to the bone even through my rain coat. Part way down Crys and Autum were in Eduardo’s Jeep. Finally Diego gave up and stayed behind with his Jeep to call for the hook.
I rode down on the back of Eduardo’s Jeep, holding onto the roof. Bracing my feet on the spare and a bracket, ducking my face out of the rain and bouncing with the pot holes. Crys kept looking at me like I was nuts through the back window of Eduardo’s Jeep which was packed full of 3 folks with no room for any more. Autum had a drip over her head, but didn’t care because she was inside. She says she’d have loved to ride on the back.
Maybe next time.
After we got dropped in town we went into a municipal building where some art was and a nice lady was singing really loudly to a small group of people.
They had open bathrooms. WE WIN!!!!!!
Then we wandered a bit. Had a cup of coffee and a doughnut to warm up since I was soaked to the bone from head to toe. OK, I embellish, I had a dry spot on the middle of my chest. Every where else it just ran off. And I was a bit chilly. I lobbied for us visiting a souvenir store I saw on my map so that we could just totally chill tomorrow, the girls went along.
That store had EVERYTHING! It was an EXTRAVAGANZA!!!! We all found the little bits we needed. Then we caught an Uber home and I got a warm shower.
No.
A WARM shower, not a golden one.
It was a delightful adventure of a day. Couldn’t have been better.
July 22
We decided that today would be a relax at home day since we travel home tomorrow. Crys and I got up pretty early and had coffee. Then we walked down to Santa Barbara do a little bit of grocery shopping. It was a pretty nice walk and I'm happy to say we've gotten used to the hills here.
The rest of the day we chilled out. Read, slept, relaxed and ate up the stuff we had laying around. Packed up slowly and got organized for the trip home.
July 23
Travel home day. We got up at 4:30 AM to get up, dressed and meet our Uber. He was right on time and the trip to the airport was a breeze. We also flew through security and were at our gate early which left time for snacking and shopping. :D Crys and I got some duty free booze to bring home, Autum got a thing or two and the girls bought me a "thank you" T-shirt.
The flight left on time and got to Houston just like it was supposed to. We were the first one at the customs desk and the Mobile Passport App took us through there in nothing flat. Our flight to Denver was delayed an hour so we got plenty of time to chill and grab some lunch and even a beer.
That's about the time we found out that the flight delay was due to weather in Denver. The story gets long from there. We took off at 4:20 PM instead of the 3:45 PM original time and were on our way to Denver. Part way there the place started making circles in the air above the San Luis Valley. :D (IF we'd only had a parachute......)
And the arrival time kept going up.......
Later, we redirected to Albuquerque for fuel and sat there for a while. The big mistake was the airline letting people get off the plane. It took forever to get them back, some didn't come back, and then they kept losing count of passengers. They checked ID's 3 times looking for some jack ass that disappeared. The end of this story is that we got to Denver at 11:45 PM instead of the original 5:30 PM. Pablo was gonna give us a ride but he had to work the next day so we caught a Lyft ride to his home where we'd parked the car. I decided I really just wanted to be home, so we drove home. I took a little nap just past South Park when I started seeing shit, and we got home at 5:15 AM.
It was a GREAT trip!
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