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Transitions

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3 Days of Transition Day 1 Cebolla drove us from Lake Gardens near Nuevo Arenal to (Ay-Chihuahua!) San Jose. As we approached San Ramon just north of San Jose, you could feel Cebolla's tension increase 4 fold as the traffic became bumper to bumper, all the way into San Jose. At one point Cebolla asks, gesturing with his right arm, "This is right, si?" Yes, curious question but hey, like the rest of us learning a foreign language, vocabulary needs a review. A few kilometers later Cebolla looks at me and says, "Give me directions to your hotel." Oh crap! Fortunately, Myra had it loaded on Google Maps so she handed me her phone, I was sitting up front. It was totally weird because it looked like we had to do a U-turn. Great -  stupid app! And as we got closer traffic was ground to a halt - major construction on the main arterial. A little further up it did indeed do a turn-loopy- kind of thing?? We had lots of time to decide on a strategy as traffic was veeerrrryyy...
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Tropical activities.

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Our dinner out at Moya's Place with Rob and Dawn after going to the falls has a little more story. Their friend Andre was there too.  He knows Lane - a guy we met at a House Dinner a while back. Turns out Andre is also imbibing in the traditional medicines in the area. Hmm. Maybe this is how city troubles finds its way to smaller towns?  We stay late enough to catch some entertainment. A couple of excellent guitar players. One of my new favorite tunes is "Me Gustas Tu." Here's the YouTube link of the original:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs6Y4kZ8qtw Capo on 2nd fret: Am, G, Dm, Dm. Reggae strum pattern.  Fun stuff to play along with: "Mi corazon, mi corazon!" Tuesday we drove out to the Butterfly Conservatory, largest in C.R. Excellent roads, and I mean in comparison to the Falls road Excellent all the way. Ample parking. Knowledgeable staff, beautiful displays and live environments: Blue wave Butterfly Malachite Butterfly Clear wing Butterfly Doris Lon...
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What does off-roading look like in Costa Rica?

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Yesterday around 10:30 a.m. I was ticked, grumpy and more than a little disgruntled.  Our mission: Vientos Fresco Falls.  Google maps indicated that the small-intestine shaped road that was the last 3 km of the trip was yellow a.k.a. slow traffic. That was a very subtle way to say "cow trails with a chance of washouts." I have never been over such rough terrain in a vehicle, short of a quad, in my life.  You could not see the trail in front of the hood of the car. I know a vehicle can't go up a forty-five degree slope, but these sure looked like it. I should have realized the condition of trail when the ol' guy selling tickets said, "Your vehicle will do just fine!" - that was my try at translating his Spanish, but in fact, he was saying, "The clearance and 4-wheel drive capabilities of your vehicle will definitely get a work-out on this trail! Check your insurance, and I don't mean for the vehicle!" The last of the trail and the very worst of...
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Se vende: Pura Vida!

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A Multiple Choice Love story.  (Choose your favorite word from within the brackets) We meet a new couple, about our age. "Hello." "(Hello, Hola, Howdy)." "Where are you from?" "(The Divided States (55%), Alemania (25%), Canada (20%)), but we are living here now." "Wow! How long have you been here?" "We came down here on our honeymoon (2, 3, 4) years ago. We thought we'd travel around, but when we saw this place we knew this was it and bought here." "Amazing!" "We are on top of a mountain, just turn up the hill past (the blue church, the third bridge from town, the touristy café). The view is spectacular!" But what is not said is that the road has a 800 meter vertical change in elevation and is "pura shit-a." "You should come over." We accept. Later in the week and early in the day we arrive vowing never to travel their road again, because it almost took out the (transmission, clutch...
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And along the way...

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 We've turned into bird watchers: And a couple of "La Cucarachas" When we rented our car, the rental agency noticed that my driver's license expires at the end of the month. Normally that is not a big deal because everything is online, but it was also time to renew my photo, which must be done in person. Unfortunately the 1-800 number doesn't work here, but fortunately our phone plan here allowed a direct 306 call and I was able to get a 90-day extension.  Whew! Nothing like driving around with an expired license in a foreign country. At one point I thought of using this one from the Alien Restaurant here in town: We've been looking at real estate here - as part of the whole holiday plan.  There are lots of properties for sale.  People from our travels elsewhere keep telling us: It's easy to buy, but difficult to sell. I think it's good we are down here for a while just to see if it's something we can imagine ourselves doing. So far the answer is, ...
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A Special Day

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What the locals call a Broccoli tree. Myra purchased tix yesterday online for the Mistico Hanging Bridges near La Fortuna. Google maps indicated the distance as a 40-minute drive. We hoped a reasonable contingency would be to leave an hour ahead of time. We ended up with 10 minutes to spare.  Lots and lots of rain. There is an extravagant 10cm shoulder on the highways here. No guardrails. And one-way bridges around blind corners. Just to name the big differences. And an improved driving experience... When Myra and I drive in dense traffic (interpret that as you like) we have some key phrases to get us into traffic flow: "Busy, Window, Clear." Needless to say we trust each other with our lives. Now we've added some new key words: "Gentle turn, Tight turn" (slow down), "Hairpin" (shift-down), and the extreme, "Switchback" (first gear). It's amazing how an extra set of eyes on Waze (or Google Maps) to describe the upcoming turn can help so m...
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