Enjoying the Finale

Here we are on our next to last day of Costa Rica. Laura & Neil have been with us since last Friday, and we have really enjoyed them-- taking them to our favorite places in paradise. Sometimes that is somewhat difficult due to the need to do activities in the AM because of the inevitable rain in the PM. They are getting their fill of typical Tico food. Jim has become addicted to the local 'casada'. Yesterday we took in the festival at San Ramon for the patron saint. They had the big parade today, but there were plenty of revelers yesterday. It was fun for a while, then we left to eat at our new favorite restaurant -- Il Pomodora. Italian entree names with Spanish subtitles on the menu-- does no good for us! We enjoyed the attention of a very attentive & comical Italian waiter, so it was fun, too-- & excellent food.
Laura & Neil will fly back to Dallas tomorrow morning, & we will leave around noon. We are distributing our left-over 'stuff' to friends today! Lots of wonderful memories here, but we NEED to be home!

Zoo Ave Botanical Garden






































Sarchi









More pix later-- Laura's camera takes great pix!

Living La Vida Loca!

OK, folks-- this is what I've been waiting for!! Geriatric Ziplining in action!! Yes, Zoey & Reece, it really is Mimi!
It was so fun!-- just like everyone had told me it was. I was only 'anxious' (what an understatement!) on the first line-- I got stalled before I got to the next platform because I was squeezing the pulley rope so tightly! But after my flock of butterflies throughout my whole system went away, I could enjoy it. And I could actually LOOK AROUND by the 8th & last line! That one was almost 2300 feet across & lasted a very long minute! I went by myself, but made 2 new friends immediately-- 2 sisters, one from Michigan & one from Connecticut, Michele & Cheryl. Trauma seems to bond people! Had 2 very capable & young guides who seemed to delight in making us jump up & down on the line as we were going across! Truly worth the ride! I think I look more like the Wichita lineman, myself! Jim was back at the base, reading his book & praying!
All of these pix are at the park Turu Ba Ri & were in the forest as I was zipping:

Paradise -- Reality

I just 'fascinate' myself! As old as I am, I still am somewhat surprised by life's rhythms-- especially the one in which the really meaningful events in our lives are almost always bittersweet. We're in our last 9 days of Costa Rica, and I want to be home for MANY reasons (children & grandchildren most of all), but I find myself in my usual pre-departure Blue Funk because there are so many things I will miss about Costa Rica-- namely the wonderful people we have met here. I didn't count on THAT close of an emotional bond with people here in such a short time! They have all been so giving, loving, and supportive-- and we so appreciate & revel in that. We will be very glad when Laura & Neil arrive on Friday so we can have some fun with them before we leave on the following Tuesday. Needless to say, there is a strong temptation to stay here because of the weather (75 degrees high today compared to 102 in Pleasanton!). :-0
Anyway, enough of the bittersweet stuff! Last week we stayed pretty close to home, with our friends Lynne & Ray and Keith, Sabina, & kids coming over to our casita for swimming and meals. We only had one UA (Unplanned Adventure), & it turned out fine.
Yesterday, we went to Else Kientzler Botanical Gardens about 20 miles from here and enjoyed some more of Costa Rica's natural beauty. A man built & named the garden for his mother, Else. Hint, hint: Roy??? The pix in this blog were taken there, but they hardly do justice to the place. I purchased a little container of orchid seedling-plants to bring home-- we'll see if I can grow them... Joni-- you get the first bloom if there are any! Then after that excursion, we had a 'small' UA, then ended up at Agua Azul restaurant for mid-afternoon lunch (had ribs, but they were not like we have 'um in Texas!). Beautiful mountaintop view from there... I forget, do we have mountains in Pleasanton, Texas??
We went to our adopted church this AM, and I have really enjoyed attending the ladies' "conversational prayer meeting & Bible study" on Wednesdays. You ladies out there will already
understand what that title means; men don't get it much!!
So let's see how successful I can be with these photos! Wish me luck--sorry I don't know the names of all (many) of these plants, and the zoom on my camera is broken, so the close-ups are not very close. Is that enough disclaimers??













































































































































Legend: (pix down the page). (I still have not conquered the text first, then pix or the text next to the picture technique!). If I 'accomplish' it, when I publish it, the text has gone to a different picture!)
1. Banana tree bloom
2. Rushing river below; does not rush during dry season
3. "A" scheffelera
4. Small, beautiful flower!
5. Larger, beautiful flower!
6. "A" fern
7. Unusual bromeliad
8. Bromeliad I'm used to
9. Ginger plant (cone stage)
10. Maybe another bromeliad
11. Orchids
12. Wild orchid
13. & 14. Cacti!-- amazing to us that these can totally flourish here with hundreds of inches
of rain. Central Texas cactus has nothing on these guys!! Huge!
15. Beautiful flowers on tree
Most of the flowers here are the same as the tropical plants we buy for pots & outdoor planting at home. BUT-- these are all houseplants on hormones! That's what happens with so much rain & sunshine. (I think the blog is still publishing as it wants to-- so just count the pictures to read the legend!). Don't worry-- I'll NEVER try to make a map!

Enough botanical wonders! See some of you in person soon!

Paradise Regained!

Jim told most of what went on at Barcelo. My paradise WAS regained with the luxury, the pampering, the mattress & the air conditioning. We had icicles on our noses at night because we had it set so cold! Unfortunately, the human body does NOT store up coolness for later use! Lots of good food (oink), sun, reading & 'slothing.' A little added bonus was that I made $90 out of $10 on the slots in the casino! I'm really a big spender! We immediately cashed it in so we would have 'something for our investment!' A few more pix:

The beach (not so pretty, but the
scenery around it was)














Slothing




Big Tex






2 of our friends,
Iggy & Guana.
Not my favorite
species, but what
can I say? We
were outnumbered!
And these guys
reportedly often
'stand' on their
hind legs, then
run up the tree!
Also, they are often
called Jesus lizards
because they can also run on top of the water!
I thought it best to give them as much space
as they wanted, particularly since they tended to travel in herds!



















I regret that I didn't get any shots of the gorgeous/noisy scarlet macaws in the trees. Planned to after our horseback ride ('walk'!)), but it was pouring rain by then! Also, I wanted to photograph the Costa Rica Pothole Gran Prix on the road in front of the resort (another one of those Costa Rica 'paradoxes'). I did not because I was too busy pounding on Jim's arm & screaming "slow down" and clutching the dashboard with white knuckles while we raced along 3 cars abreast on a narrow 1.5 lane road! Besides that, I commenced to praying when we saw a couple of cars disappear into the worst of the holes and were never seen again! (kidding!)... but it was definitely Mr. Toad's Wild Ride! Hasta luego, amigos!

Playa Tambor

It has been a week since our last post here and a busy week it has been. On Monday the 9th we drove to Puntarenas and took the ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya to the Nicoyan Peninsula. Then drove 20 Kilometers to Playa Tambor and the Barcelo Hotel. The Barcelo is a family resort hotel with an all inclusive plan that includes everything except purchases at the gift shop and gambling. It is on the beach - a pretty beach, but not really special. Has several large and connected swimming pools and lots of bars (alcoholic beverages are included in the all inclusive plan), and two dining locations - a buffet style restaurant and a snack bar. The best thing about it was the beds and the air conditioning. Costa Rica is not known for its comfortable beds so it was a treat to sleep in comfort for three nights.

We drove back Thursday so it was a full four day trip. It is only 90 kilometers, but with the ferry and the maximum speed limit of 50 MPH it takes 3 hours. For us it was 6 hours because we got to the ferry at noon to catch the one o'clock ferry and found that only one ferry was running so there would be no boat until 3:00 o'clock.

Friday and Saturday we scouted around for things to do when Laura and Neil are here at the end of the month. They'll only be here for four days so we have to make every minute count. They have been to a resort on the Pacific coast but we want to show them the real Costa Rica. So far we have two Costa Rican restaurants, Zoo Ave (a zoo where many of the animals are not in cages), Escazu and Multi Plaza. Escazu is sometimes called Little America 'cause of all the expats living there. It has several American restaurants (Tony Roma's, TGI Friday's, McDonald's, Outback...) and the Multi Plaza - a huge mall. In Escazu you see typical Costa Rica and transplanted America side by side.

About time for church so I'll get some pictures uploaded and close this post.


The ferry boat. The ride took about 90 minutes. There was an air conditioned area and some deck seating for the more adventurous.








An island in the middle of the Gulf. Looks like about 5 acres. We thought it would make a wonderful homesite. We later learned that the beaches literally disappeared at high tide.






The Barcelo at Playa Tambor. Kathy will probably posty more pictures, but this is typical - the pools.







There were Iguanas everywhere. I think you can see one in this picture. One morning I came out of the room and saw nine of them just lounging on the lawn.









Wrangler Kathy. We went for a ride on the beach.








Isla King on the ferry ride. Isla's parents and big brother were vacationing at Playa Tambor as well.







More of the hotel and pools.










Kathy on the beach.








A larger ferry boat on the way home. It had a lower deck for cars. I had to park so close to the bulkhead that I couldn't open the driver's side door. I had trouble folding myself into the little car under normal conditions. Getting out of the passenger's side was interesting. I'm too old for this stuff.