Traveling with Dogs

Traveling with dogs is different. It is something that brings a lot of metaphors to mind but will spare you. Since we are motel bound for the next (forever) 12 days, it makes the choices of what you can and cannot do very difficult. Baby sitting comes to mind here since we can't leave them alone in the room, we can't go out to a nice restaurant, but we can love them!

I will be very happy once we get home and they will have their own place to run and romp.

It will still be freaky to leave them a lone, los perros no hablan espanol!

Moving Right Along

Well it is day two of our move from Idaho. Not to our surprise we still had way too much stuff and left things behind for the new owners, some handy some not so handy. Anyway they did say that if we didn't want it they would probably be able to find a home for it.

After a grueling 15 hour drive we landed at our first stop in Casper, Wyoming to visit with family and friends (of Jana's, since this is where she was born and raised). Our first night we stayed at an old motel that had converted all rooms to non-smoking. The only problem was we got a room that had been smoked in for the past 20 years and not redone, which made it very hard to breath. When you first walked in it hit you like a ton of bricks. I was surprised when at check in they made you initial that a $350 fine would be applied if you smoked in the room. So our next day was spent looking for a new place that truly had non-smoking rooms and are very happy with our choice. We were also able to drop the trailer in Jana's moms garage where she is living now which makes it very easy to drive around town now.



Next big trip will be to Denver next Monday. I think we got things squared away for storing all the stuff so we can dump the trailer when we get there and not drag it everywhere. What a pain.

But I am waiting for the next Big Trip which will take us home.

Let's leave NOW Part 2 - Final

Ok, this one it too much to handle. Our landlords came over last night and asked what time we would be leaving on Wednesday. We said "Oh maybe around 4 AM." She said "Well if we get here early, is it OK if we wait in our car outside until you leave." Are they that crazy??? What difference does a couple of hours make?? My god, I can't believe this is going on.

So maybe we will trick them and leave earlier!!! I really don't want to wave goodbye, good grief, give us a break. How would you like your landlord showing ups at your place at 4 AM waiting for you to leave????

If they are there, a picture will be in order to share with everyone. Come on and let's leave this place!!! People ask us why are we moving to Costa Rica, nuf said.

Controlled Chaos

Well today we had our last goodbye party with most of the folks we worked with. It was hot, but a good time none the least. Like we said; we will miss these folks here, but not over there. Anyway we hope to see these smiling faces in the near future at our house looking for a place to stay.

We now sit in an empty house with an air mattress for a bed, old leather white couches (nice!), no tables, no TV, just our bags that we are trying to fill for the trip. I guess you might call it controlled chaos as we put our few possessions into them. We are losing our washer and dryer on Tuesday so we will have to wash everything before that happens. So many things so little time.



Our list for Monday is lengthy and will take up most of the day to get all of the things done. I am not looking forward to the 13 hour drive to Casper on Wednesday but there is no other way to get there. "Cowboy up!", I think is the phrase used around here. I have another phrase, but I will save that for later.

Well I guess it is time to stare at the blank walls and listen to the Ipod, thank god we have 17 days of music (thanks to our best friends who lent us their cherrished CD's to rip, you know who you are!)

Last Work Day is Here

After all the hand wringing the time has come to say goodbye to the work force. I am making room for someone else to take over and have a good time.

Now for the next 20 days we will be on the road going from town to town making our visits to family as we prepare to hop the plane and head south. We have a lot to look forward to and are ready to get down there and get started on our new lives.

What little furniture we have left will be leaving us today, the biggest part is our King bed we will be trading for a queen size air mattress, not sure how Kaya will take to that, she usually hogs all the bed. Our big TV goes away today too. Oh well, we need to get used to not watching as much as we have been anyway.

The farewell parties are almost complete, one left tomorrow when we will see a lot of the folks we have worked with over the years. After that we are packing what we have left into a trailer and heading east. Once we get to Denver we will get the dogs vet certified and ready for the plane ride.

It is all coming together after all these months of planning.

Pura Vida here we come!!

21 st Century Arrives

It is hard to believe that there will be street signs in San Jose. I am sure that this will be a big hit and might even spread throughout the country. Instead of 300 meters west the of last church on the right, it might just be 37 Calle Rosa. How cool will that be?

We are always having to give our address, or should I say direction since there are no real addresses. We are 1400 meters southwest of Puerto Viejo, Playa Negra, that nails it down to a 1 sq km area to look, no problemo, no? Especially if you need help; I am sure that help will arrive soon.......

So I would expect that one of these days our little dirt road will have a name and that our house will have a number assigned to it. Progress or just wishing. I don't know, I kind of like being 1400 meters sw of town.

The Last Week

Time does march on even though it feels like it is standing still at times. The last week I will be a passenger on the bus as we move toward the close. I will provide guidance but type not one word (if I can help it).

We still have many things to get in order as we get ready to leave the COW. We are checking things off our list as we go but I am sure we will probably forget something, hopefully not. Every time I look as all of the stuff we need to pack into our bags to take I just shake my head and wonder how we will get it all down. We will probably have to make some hard decisions on what stays and what goes. Pillows seems to be the biggest problem, can't live without them. I am sure that it will all work out. The dogs are getting used to their kennels so that is one good thing.

The Replacements

My replacement showed up today at work. How cool is that, do you know what that means? It means my days are growing shorter and shorter. I soon will not be working and leaving for Costa Rica, that is way cool!!! The only problem is that it can not come anytime too soon. Not that I don't like my work, it is just that I like my other home more and would like to be there now.

We have so many things to do once we get there and I would like to start sooner rather than later. Anyway we are packed up and ready for the big move.

Let's leave now

OK, I walk out of the house tonight only because I heard voices outside, and here are the land lords taking about putting in french drains in the yard. It hasn't rained in a while and probably won't rain until after we leave. So my question is, Why in the hell are they outside talking about this on a Monday night without giving us notice that they were going to do this???

Can we just leave now and for get about all this crap. If I was a land lord I surely would not show up uninvited. Give me a freekin break. I have really had it with these guys, nice people but way to nosey.

Oh to be able to be far, far away from here. Only 30 more days until we arrive in Cost Rica. Hurray sundown.

New things in Puerto

Ironically on my last day as I was leaving town I looked at this building and low and behold was a Post Office complete with mail boxes and right next to it was a new Banco Nacional (mas cerca de usted). Puerto is growing up, it will soon have two banks in town with more than one ATM!! Now there can be two lines of people waiting to get money!

Too bad I didn't have a camera to document the new arrivals. We will be seeing if we can get a box if they are available so we have a real mailing address. How cool is that!

Way to go Tío Sam!

The big issue to hit Costa Rica lately is the involvement of the US Military in the Drug War in the waters of Costa Rica. Not only will they be cruising the waters but also coming ashore on leave. Not having a military since 1948, this begs the question, What is next? Will there be a base built next?

This effort will probably only stop about 1% of the flow of drugs, it seems like the drug Lords are always one or two steps ahead of these things. I am not saying that the drugs don't make it through Costa Rica, they just found 800 keys in Nicoya. But with the present of the Military brings feelings toward US expats in general. It is hard enough sometimes to fit in and become part of the community without the help of Sam! The image says it all and I really don't want some to think that all expats are in favor of this invasion.

Although the government has agreed to allow this and will not change their minds, most Ticos are not very happy about their decision. Once the crack starts, it can be hard to stop. Let's hope that is not the case!

Take the Bus and leave the torturing to us!!

Yesterday we took the bus back to San Jose. Don’t get me wrong, for the $10 ticket it is truly one of the best bargains. The problem is with the amount of room between the seats. CAUTION, if you are over 6 feet tall you will incur some of the most agonizing pain in your knees you have ever felt for 4 hours. From the back of the seat to the front of the next is about 28 inches, just fine if you are 5 ft 5. I think most of the buses come from Japan.

The trip was real pleasant (except for the torturing of the knee caps) and allowed you to see things you normally don’t get to see since you are driving most of the time. Even though it was not air conditioned all the windows provided plenty of diesel smoke to breath. Since this bus was not the express, we had to chance to stop in Cahuita and Limon. The other neat thing is that the driver stops to pick up some of his friends that have a chance to sell things to the passengers (for a slight fee of course).

If I had to do it all over again I would try to scout of a better seat location, there are about 8 seats where you might have a chance to spread out a bit.

Even with all of the torture we arrived safe and sound in San Jose right on time and in the rain, it is the rainy season after all.

Puetro Viejo (Old Harbour)

As I signed into my blog this morning, google was all in spanish, after all I am in Costa Rica. Might take a bit getting used to but I think I manage. We have been here for three days and it has been real nice. Sorry to hear that they are still having record cold weather in Moscow, too bad for them!! Let me see the weather here has been nice, warm, sun shine, a little cooling rain, and of course let's not forget the beach.

The trip down was longgggg, the 13 hour layover ind Denver kind of puts a kink into the neck. Got asked questions as we came through customs about what's in the big box but made it ok without having to pay duties. Almost could not find our ride to the car place since Walter was out there walking around and not holding up the sign. Just as we were going to get a taxi I saw him and was able to take us right to the door. He even waited with us until it opened. After getting together with the Lawyer (who showed up before 9AM) we were on the road. So it took us about 4 hours to drive, we were making good time until we got a little ways out of Limon, 40km/hr with slow trucks and no where to pass. Made it into town around 130 or so. Our good friends Larissa and Rami greeted us and provided a cold beer. No better way to end a long trip.

We went into Puerto yesterday around 1030 in the morning and you have shot a cannon down the street and not hit a thing. Now had you done that at a local bar, half the population would had been wiped out. The World Cup was on TV and everyone was glued to the TV's only to watch Brasil loose, oh well four more years! Yea, we were the only two people milling around town.

I think I need to embrace is our neighbors roosters, most will crow early in the morning but 1:30 is a bit tooooo early. Maybe after a few months they won't even register.

That's cool I just did a spell check and all the words are misspelled, the spsell checker is spanish, doooo.

We drove around the other day and went to BriBri and on the way back the policia had a road check set up in Hone Creek. The other station is in Penshurst and is being remodled. They are checking for people coming from Panama since it is only a few kms away (not to mention gringos!)

Good news is they have graded the bumpy roads, bad news is now everyone drives faster! They are really paving the road which will be a first since I think all the other attemps have been to get recycled asphalt and roll it on the gravel which lasts about 3 mintues into the first real rain, then its back to normal bumps again. This time they are using hot asphalt and rolling it, every car suspension loves it, the car mechanics don't.

We bought our bus tickets for our Sunday trip back to SJ, I will be kicking and screaming the whole way. Hurry August!!



I almost forgot. We have unwanted guests, locust. These things are eating machines and have rended some our plants into little stubs. They are black, with red wings and orange antena. We have tried different humane things to keep them from eating, but now the only thing that seems to work is RAID! Hey we tried.