Up in the Air

Texas...gotta love inflight wifi.  

That plane was much bigger in person.  

Well, all in all it's been a great day. Got some Starbucks and a carnitas taco in Dallas. Tomorrow it's back to the old grind, but not for long.  Summer is just around the corner!! I've decided that we are going to get Rosetta Stone and keep practicing Spanish over the summer... My Costa Rican treats made it through customs too!! Woohoo!!!   Couple more hours to go. And then it's home sweet home. Aaahhhhhh

Truth be told...

The pilots were excellent!! My previous post was intended to be funny.  Gracie's expression was priceless.  I gave the amigos (my new pilot friends) a big giant California Muchas Gracias when we landed safely.  They were awesome!!!  And it was a very smooth flight. Buenas noches!

The last "Hoot"rah!!!!

So, right by the Marriott there's a fish restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, a Peruvian restaurant, and a ... Hooters.  Everyone felt like eating American food for dinner...so Hooters won.  I got take out from the Peruvian place.  They have awesome sea bass ... had it on the way into town too.  Anyway, meet the Costa Rican Hooters!!!

Seed pod from the Guanacaste Tree - the National Tree of Costa Rica.  It has really beautiful seeds inside.  

The Hooters Ladies

Getting ready to take off from the beach - on the "pond hopper"...  

We sat right behind the pilots.  Not my first choice next time we fly one of those itty bittys...I was constantly thinking of how I was going to land the plane in the event of a simultaneous loss of consciousness (both pilots losing it).  Good thing they were okay.  Judging from Gracie's expression in the previous pic, I think I have my ground transportation partner for next time.  Woohoo!!!

We made it!

Happy Easter!!  We made it to San Jose.  Easy and fairly smooth flight in the pond hopper.  We are in the much cooler land now.   There are 2 temperatures in Santa Teresa - Hot and Hotter.  Here in San Jose it's a cool 70 something.  We went to the iShop - (Apple Store)...It's across the parking lot from the Courtyard Marriott.  We will be on the 6:30 AM shuttle to the aeropuerto manana.  My Spanish is getting better!  now that we're leaving...   ha.  I'm sure you had a wonderful Easter day!  I'm tasting the Bloody Marys now.  ;o)  (did you have any???)   I tried to text when we got here, but it didn't go through... I don't know why.  Hopefully all of these problems will be resolved when we get to Dallas.  Speaking of Apple products... boy are they worldwide!  Everyone seems to have iphones and ipads...all people speaking all kinds of languages with apple products.  Okay.  I love you al!!!

Sand Land

packed up, watered up, heading out!  Hasta Luego Santa Teresa!!!

Happy Easter!!!

Packing it up here!!! Getting on the mini plane at 2:30....  The Easter bunny came to Santa Teresa!! Woohooo

Hasta Luego Santa Teresa

April 19, 2014

Great last day here.  Built a GIANT "sand country/castle".  I have video...will post manana.  Checked out some new spots on the ATV.  Gracie drove a little (the ATV)... Natalie and I prayed a lot.  ;o)  I think a gecko kicked the bucket in the bathroom...parrots landed in the tree in the backyard and ... well, more monkeys.  Took some sunset shots... Also, my mac mail isn't working well here.  Must be the water.  ;o)  Anyway, I can read messages, but it's really difficult to respond.  I start to type and then it locks up and "kills the pages".  I don't know why.  Hopefully it won't continue once we get home.  Anyway, I love you very very much, and have read your emails.  We will be packing up tomorrow, getting back on the mini plane, and spending the night in San Jose.  I'll talk to you then!  I love you very very much!!! Lesterita

Gracie's "I love you" 

Gracie catching the frisbee

Natalie catching the frisbee

plumeria

Zipline Pics

Here we go!!  

Nat... Wooohooo

A more conservative approach

A flying squirrel!  Or, is it superman?

I guess they're pretty comfortable...

Look! No hands!

And some more of the family... I just can't resist. 

Manana is the last day... Looking forward to coming home!  But it's hard to believe it's coming to a close... Thanks for tuning in to "Costa Rica"  Dad, are you having trouble with mac mail?  It's just crashing all the time....  I love you!!!  Say hola to Eric!

Happy Good Friday!!

Sunset was beautiful!!

Girls and I did a little snorkeling...saw some beautiful little fishies... Went zip lining... Winding down and getting ready to head home!  Thinking of you all and Eric at Easter. I love you!

Zipline... On our Way

April 18th - Winding Down a Little

So, here's what's great about vacation - 

1) No more TV.  Girls aren't as interested in watching it. 
2) The biggest problem so far today was trying to figure out if the gas station was open.  Today is the biggest holiday of the year - Good Friday - and the sidewalks are busy, but a lot of merchants are closed.  Policia told me the gasolina was closed...but I found a really nice lady at the Toyota Car Rental that called the gas station for me.  They were open!  Woohoo!!!  
3) We are headed out to zipline now... 

More pics to come!!!!  Adios!  

Iggy the Iguana

Trip to the Beach...Again...

Meet Iggy

So the most exciting news of the day is that the toilet got clogged. (Keep it clean Lindo... lol) There's a really nice guy named Mario who lives in the guesthouse and he fixed it!  Yay Mario!!! Okay, Chris and Mario fixed it together.  The language barrier can be an issue...but they made it work.  I think I had an easier time in the kitchen with my new friend.  She's from Nicaragua.  

Jungle Hike

Wednesday, April 16th

Just a quick video...

Wild Wednesday - Butterfly Farm, Nat'l Park, and Jungle Trail

Cattle Ranch on the road to the Butterfly Farm.

Our knowledgable and really friendly Butterfly Farm Tour Guide

The Butterfly Eggs - on the host plant

Yep, you guessed it! Caterpillars...

Chrysalis - It was moving!  Really Cool

Gracie's new pet.

She got Natalie to hold one too.

Gracie's got another butterfy

question: "What's Natalie doing?"

What do you see???  (Not talking about the guy in the glasses back there.) What animal
 do you see on the wings?  Hint: It says "whooooo whoooo" - great defense mechanism!!

Mission Accomplished!  Gracie got her hands on the "Queen of the Jungle"

On our Jungle Walk

The National Park - Cabo Blanco - 

Local mercado in Cabuyo.  Our Butterfly Farm tour guide was from this little town. He told us that 1% of kids from his town go on to University. He was in the 1%.  He is studying to be a biologist/secondary teacher and is really involved in the eco-movement.  

My new amigo!  ;o)

Tuesday, April 15th - Tax Day