In God We Trust America?

This morning I read that Mike Fisher, captain of the Nashville Preditors announced his retirement after 17 years in the NHL. His celebrity wife, Carrie Underwood posted on Facebook how proud she was of her husband and she was looking forward to what God had planned vfor him in the next phase of his life. One would expect positive responses of congratulations from followers. However, the very first response was from a fellow questioning what God had to do with it. This resulted in a thread of 36 responses back and forth both condemning Christians or supporting Carrie's right as a Christian to mention God, even if others don't believe in God. The fellow continued to bash Christians but also made some very leud remark which confirmed what kind of a digusting person he was. What surprised me though was how quickly a simple post turned into Christian bashing and the deep feelings of resentment towards God exists in America today. (Canada is probably even worse.) The second person to reply directly to Carrie's post said that Fisher was a lousy player, a mean and unfounded remark. That these people would take the time to reply and continue to answer to responses to their comments makes me wonder what scars they have in their lifes that would cause them to want to turn a nice social comment into something hurtful and negative. "In God we trust" may be on American currency, but overall, North Americans are far from trusting their maker.

Go East Old Man, Part 3

July 13 - Today we began our long trek home. First order of business was getting out of the DC area, not a small fete. It took close to an hour to slowly get out of the busyness. We crossed many states today, from Virginia to Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio. I was amazed at how forested it was. Most areas were solid deciduous forests fully covering hills and valleys, with some farmland, corn fields and Appalachian rock outcrops. Quite nice. There were few evergreens anywhere, especially as we moved west. There were nice town names like Meyerville, West Virginia! Things went quite smoothly. We even went for a walk around the town of Athens, Ohio, home of Ohio State University. We found a Walmart near by and bought some meat and cheese and grape-related beverages. (The meat went missing though. My theory is that Donald's son got some Russian spies to sabotage our trip in order to encourage us to return to our foreign land.) We mapped out the remainder of our trip, taking a short side trip to Estes Park in the mountains north of Denver.

July 14 - Our weather fortunes seem to have turned. Yesterday we arrived in Athens, Ohio after a rain storm had moved through. We had mainly sunny, hot weather. Today we learned that after we left Washington, a major storm hit the city, causing problems including canceled flights. The TV had weather warning of severe rain and flash flood problems for the Midwest but for us it has been hot, and humid. We drove across Indiana, Illinois and into Missouri, going through Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis and into St. Louis.  It was to be a 7.5 hour drive and was going very smoothly and on schedule until halfway through Illinois, when we hit major construction delays. We lost over and hour in intermittent slowdowns and stoppages. (Between lunch stop, gas stop, and construction delays, I think I passed one truck at least three times.) We also gained an hour by crossing into the Central time zone in St. Louis. St. Louis was a very industrial looking city, and not very attractive. We did get photos of the Arch. We passed on a few of the standard motels we had been frequenting because they looked a little seedy. We settled for The Hampton Inn near the airport so we could get out of town quicker. We had dinner at the restaurant next door, a ribs place. We of course had to have St. Louis ribs. Very good, although, to tell you the truth, I prefer baby ribs that don't require covering your hands and face in ribs sauces, but I really enjoyed the backed beans with actual meat in it, rather than the piece of fat that comes in pork and beans cans.

July 15 - It was difficult to write too much about today because I had no complaints. Our travel went very smoothly, with no traffic delays, and the weather was nice. It reached into the mid thirties, although who would know with the A/C blasting icy air at me all day. OK, I have one complaint, but it was a little one. We drove through Kansas City, and my only regret  was that we did not get any photos shots of Arrowhead Stadium, home of the NFL Chiefs, although we did get a shot of baseball's Royals home, immediately in front of it. KC straddles the border of Missouri and Kansas. In fact there are two separate cities called Kansas City, sharing a border but independent of each other. Who knew? We spent the night in Hays, Kansas, a university town. Now, I did have an issue with Hays. The entire town was designed to make me drive all over the place. Every direction I wanted to go in was blocked or one way, or there were distractions so that I would miss a turn. I drove for many blocks to get to the Mexican restaurant a few blocks away. My family now realized it was not easy being me, with so many things conspiring against me. It is amazing that I still have my cheerful disposition!

July 16 - We left Hays, Kansas and headed for the mountains. Driving eastern Kansas it was a hot day, but the skies in the distance looked threatening. Then the dark clouds rolled in and the sky seemed to come down upon us. We saw only a few drops of water before things cleared again and we had sun the rest of the day. Temperatures reached about 32 degrees C. We arrived at our destination, Loveland, a suburb of Denver, early. We spent the afternoon going to Estes Park, about an hour away in the Rockies. We had visited Estes Park many years ago when we camped in Colorado Springs, but we hardly recognized it. A quaint, little mountain town with a large Christmas store with lots and lots of Dickens houses, was now a town with many motels, condos, etc., and many shops. I think the Christmas store was a good part of Joanie's motivation for wanted to visit here, but alas, it was no more. Probably saved me over $100! We still enjoyed the new walkway and the little shops, and the drive through the mountains was beautiful. I also enjoyed visiting the sports store, and sneaking up on Joanie with a KC Chiefs mask on. She jumped into Leah's arms, which was good exercise for both of them. You're welcome. In the evening Leah visited with an old friend who lived here, while Joanie and I broke down and went to McD, and then walked through a sculpture garden, with bronze and steel statues displayed in a garden setting, very nice. On a side note not related to anything, we have probably never seen so many exceedingly obese people on our trip through the USA.

July 17 - Today being the first day in a new time zone, mountain daylight time, I woke up an hour early and couldn't get back to sleep. Last night I conducted an experiment to see how safe a place called Loveland could be. It passed! We came to the car to discover that my drivers side window was completely open, but nothing was missing, including the GPS on the dash beside the window. It was a risky move and not one I would be very happy to see Joanie do.  We drove north in Colorado along side the Rockies, and then into Wyoming. The drive was on a two lane divided highway that wound gently through high grassland with long stretches of nothing. The speed limit was 80 MPH, or 128 KPH. Unfortunately, while we were miles from anything, our oil lamp went on, the first auto incident on this trip. The next town we hit had only an unmanned set of gas pumps and a sign saying the store would open soon. We had to drive another 25 miles to find a regular gas station. Perhaps the high speed contributed to the oil light going on. I did put some oil in and the problem went away. The auto manual suggested adding oil every 2,000 km. So, I have never added oil and on this trip, we were just 8,000 over the recommended procedure. The only other problem was finding an actual rest stop for lunch. There were unserviced pullouts but very few rest stops. We had a good drive and enjoyed the scenery. It was also a prophetic day. I had everyone on antelope alert. As we crossed the Wyoming border, Joanie said she wanted to see bison. Less than five minutes later, we came upon a herd of bison at the side of the road. We also saw a farm with several camels. We saw a few pronghorn antelopes but it was always too late to take a photo. I said I would find some antelope and if no one was on my tail, I would stop. Sure enough, not long after, I saw a herd of about 10 pronghorns and pulled over on the wide shoulder. The sign said emergency stopping only but this was an emergency. Do you know how danger it is to take photos while driving 135 MPH? We got some good pictures. From then on, see saw a lot of antelope, probably between 200 and 300. I had never seen so many before. We also saw a deer, some elk, and a dead fox. (You take what you can get.) We spent the night in Billings, Montana. A good day. We were looking forward to being home, although the thought of cleaning house and other duties did not appeal.

July 18 - The drive from Billings to Spokane, Washington was uneventful, which is always a good thing. The weather was good and there were no traffic problems until we entered Spokane in rush hour. In parts of Montana it was very hazy, and we wondered whether that could be a result of the wild fires burning in B.C. Most of the hotels we stayed in were 2 to 2.5 star jobs that included breakfast. I was looking forward to getting home and having an egg that had not been sitting in a bin for who knows how long, or those packaged scrambled eggs. I generally went with the waffle but even those were not always great, depending on the texture of the batter. We generally had lunch at a rest stop somewhere. We brought meat, cheese, buns or bread as well as peanut butter and cream cheese, so we usually had to eat only dinner in a restaurant. We decided to book our hotels at least the night before online, since a few of the places we were in were sold out soon after we arrived. I had tried to book the Kelly Inn in Billings through Expedia, but I kept getting a message that the booking could not be completed and to try again later. I clicked on Customer Support and messaged my problem to them. After not seeing a reply, I booked through Book.com for a better room, king sized beds vs. queens. This evening I got a response from Expedia support saying I should contact a Sales Rep. I am not sure how telling people to call a sales rep is providing customer support, particularly a day after the enquiry. We booked the Days Inn in Spokane through Book.com as well. It was located on the west side of town near the airport. I have to say it looked a little sketchy, and some of our breakfast sharers were a little shabby, but we made it through another night unscathed.

July 19 -  We loaded up the car for the last time and headed for home. The drive between Spokane and Seattle was very nice. First the expansive landscape of rolling wheat fields that transitioned into our more familiar alpine setting with mountain passes, evergreens, etc. The plan was for me to drive until about noon, have lunch at a rest stop before entering the busyness of Seattle, and then head for the border! There were rest stops early on but those disappeared as we approached Seattle. I should note that it would be really nice to have rest stops with nice views you could enjoy as you eat or wait for everyone to finish their potty breaks, but from across Canada and the USA, this seldom happened. We did not find a rest stop before Seattle, so when We joined onto Interstate 5 from Bellevue, I stopped for gas. At the side of the building, in front of the car wash, were two little cement tables. We decided that we would have a quick lunch break. It was too much for Leah however when she came out of the store to find the table nicely covered in a table cloth, plates and glasses laid out, etc. We looked a little odd. When we got back into the car and got on the freeway, there was a sign, "Rest Stop 1 Mile". Crossing the border went very smoothly. We did not even get asked how much we spent, which was a good thing because he probably would not believe that we were gone for 28 days and only brought back less than $200 for the three of us.

Go East Old Man - Part 2

July 2 - 4 - These days were filled with family gatherings, games, food, etc. On Sunday afternoon we took a boat cruise up the Rideau Canal. It was a sunny, warm day when we boarded, and we had a nice cruise to the end point, Dow Lake where we turned around. Just as we arrived at the lake, the skies opened up. It poured like crazy until were half way back, and by the time we disembarked it was sunny again. We also spend a day at a lake in the Gatineau hills of Quebec. On July the 4th we actually had a sunny day from beginning to end and we did a 3 hour bike ride around Ottawa and across the river in Quebec. We followed this up with lunch at a pub. This was perhaps the highlight of our activities. For dinner we were to have a catered Moroccan dinner to celebrate John and Beth's 50th anniversary. The tables were set and everyone was ready when we heard the bad news. The dinner had been accidentally arranged for the wrong day, tomorrow. Beth was devastated, and informed us that they would have to order pizza instead,but within minutes two brothers quietly slipped away and came back with a pile of snacks, including samosas, veggie dip, a cake complete with inscription. The evening was fine.

July 5 - Dave and I had a challenge to see if we could get all the goodbyes said and have our vehicles out the driveway by 10:15. They were on their way to Quebec City and we decided to travel together as far as Montreal, where we would go our separate ways. At 10:14 our car backed out of the driveway and onto the street. Of course, Joanie was not in it, but c'est la vie! We made our way to Montreal, driving through the first section of the city, before turning south. This stretch was ugly, with old, dilapidated overhead crossings, road construction, and industry. We could see downtown but turned before that. We found a small, local little neighbourhood park along the highway to eat our leftover pizza before saying our goodbyes to Dave and Sylvia. We headed for the Vermont border. We were a little surprised by the landscape, flat farmland with corn fields, with the odd mountain in the distance. More like the prairies than some parts of the prairie. Entering Vermont, the landscape changed significantly. There were now rolling hills and small mountains covered in trees. Vermont's nickname is Green Mountains. We exited the interstate and drove along secondary roads, looking for covered bridges. We found a local map at a art store we stopped at and did manage to visit about 3 covered bridges. We found a room at Comfort Inn in Barre, near the capital of Montpelier. We walked around in Montpelier and had Mexican dinner there. It was actually quite a small, quaint place, and was very picturesque. We had a few jokes about the many steepled churches, many that had rainbow lines on their signs to clearly indicate that sexual persuasions were welcome. Our drive through the Vermont countryside was very, very nice.

July 6 - Our stay at the Comfort Inn was excellent, right down to the all-you-can eat freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, help yourself small pop cans, coffee, etc. as well as a decent free breakfast. It was a nice, sunny and warm day as we left, again taking a secondary route to find covered bridges. We did manage to see about 9 bridges, and by then they all kind of looked alike. It did add about an hour to our travel, but the beautiful countryside made it worthwhile. We were all amazed at how manicured every yard was. People with an acre of grass would have it all nicely mowed. No weed gardens and unkempt yards. We crossed the border into New Hampshire and the landscape changed. The rolling hills with manicured farms were replaced with more forested areas and we did find some messy yards. As we crossed into Massachusetts the traffic not only became heavier, but more aggressive. Up to now, driving had been calm and pleasant. Suddenly there were cars weaving in and out, tailgating, being cut off, lots of honking, etc. I was beginning to understand where my impression of Boston Bruin fans might have merit. We arrived at our first destination, Salem, at about 1:45PM. We parked all afternoon in a parkade for only $4.25!
Salem was a little disappointing. The city itself, which is about a 30 minute drive from Boston on a good day, looked depressed. The roads were in very rough shape. The city seems to play entirely on its history of witch hunts and the hanging, and crushing, of a number of people accused of witchcraft back in 1692. These events took place over a period of about four months before a government official's wife was accused of being a witch, and he suddenly decided to end the prosecution of accused witches and release the few hundred still in jail awaiting trial. We visited the house of the presiding judge, and various other sites related to the era, including the grave site where prominent citizens of the 1600 and 1700's were buried and where stones were added to commemorate the condemned people who were declared innocent a few hundred years later. Stones on the ground implore God to forgive the murder of innocent lives due to superstition and hysteria related to people who are a little different than others. (Donald, are you listening?) There of course were a lot of morbid museums, cheesy reenactments of the trials, and people offering séances and fortune telling. I even passed on adding to my shot glass collection because they all include witches or other morbid images. Interesting to visit, but felt a little uncomfortable as a Christian.
We left Salem at 5PM to go to the apartment we had rented in Lyn, a 10 minute drive from Salem, which took half an hour due to rush hour. We didn't know too much about our place except it was close to Boston and were pleasantly surprised to see that it was a block from a long beach with views of downtown Boston. the apartment itself was about a quarter of a large, white, old mansion. It looked great on the outside and we were excited. Inside it was a little different. It was very old and rustic, and we had to climb long noisy stairs to the third floor. Everything was old and dated, but we got used to it and the views of the ocean were great. After settling in we walked along the beach to a local park where they had a free concert going. The neighbour looked a little like the places along the Oregon Coast, except that the houses were older and more posh looking. We walked a few blocks to find a nice restaurant overhanging the ocean. We went in and found that we were a little under classed for this crowd. We decided to eat in the bar area instead of the fancy, linened dining room. We would have been the most underdressed by far. Our waiter was nice but you got the feeling he thought we might not fit in too well either. We ordered from the menu and he pointed out that the things we ordered were actually appetisers, even though that was not stated. My lobster ravioli was about five squares. I suggested to him that I would stick to the appie and perhaps order dessert if I was still hungry. Leah had a lobster bisque that she did not finish, so I loaded up on that. When the waiter came and asked about dessert, I said I didn't need any and he looked knowingly like, "I see, you really can't afford it." Our appies still cost over $20 per plate. And, not once did our water glasses get refilled. Maybe we will eat in a different neighbourhood next time.

July 7 - We walked to the local train station, about 15 minutes away, and commuted into Boston. It took 20 minutes. We had bought hop-on-hop-off bus tickets and spent the day visiting different locations throughout the city. For the first 90 minutes we were very happy that it was overcast but very peasant for walking. Then, the first rain drop fell, followed by over seven hours of continuous rain. Boston was where the American war of independence began, and our knowledge of the events surrounding the start of the rebellion against the British was enhanced. The rain did not stop us from our touring, but there were no drinks or coffees on outside terraces. We did have a drink at a bar recreated to look like the bar in "Cheers". We went to Fenway Park, hoping to see the inside of the famous ballpark, but it was closed due to it being set up for a concert, (Florida Georgia Line) tonight. There was another concert the next day, so no chance of getting inside. Despite the weather it was a good day. We took the train back home and were back by 9:30PM. While waiting for the train, we were approached by some young women who asked if we would like to attend the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill concert at the adjoining TD Place arena, home of the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics. They had bought tickets, but ended up winning two free tickets at a bar during the day. We had to pass since they only had two tickets and we were with the three of us.

July 8 - Today was finally a warm, sunny day. The train we took to Boston yesterday was replaced by a bus starting today and every weekend until sometime in September. That doubled the trip to Boston. We began with a harbour tour, which was part of our hop-on-hop-off bus ticket yesterday. We had a nice 45 minute jaunt around the harbour. Then we walked and we walked and we walked, over 43,000 steps in two days. We visited some of the sights we missed yesterday, or purposely drove by knowing we would be back today. We rehydrated at Cheers. It was a good day, but by 4PM we were done. We had to make one last stop, to Mike's Bakery, supposedly the best bakery in Boston. The bakery was wall to wall people with a line spilling out down the sidewalk. The bakery serves mostly health food like Boston cream donuts, a large assortment of cannoli, and icing and whipped cream tarts, etc. We finally got to the front of the line and ordered a few pastries each. I was wearing my Canada 150 t-shirt. The owner came to the till to ring up an order and saw me. He asked if I was Canadian. I said yes and he handed me a $20 Canadian bill.  It didn't cover our $24 US bill but a good chink of it. As of this writing they have not been tried yet. As we headed to the train station for our bus, the skies opened up. Within a few minutes the streets were rivers of water. We ducked for cover for a short while but still got soaked. By the time the bus left, it had stopped, although we had the odd drizzle the rest of the night. Bahstan was very good, but after two days, I felt we seen what we wanted to. We also enjoyed some good clam chowdah!

July 9 - Finally, there is no rain in the forecast for today.  We left Lynn, Mass. at 9AM after hiking that heavy suitcase down those flights of stairs. This time, instead of traveling to Boston, we traveled under Boston and headed south to Cape Cod. The route was no so scenic. A lot of trees, mostly deciduous, lined both sides of freeway and there was little in the way of views. We crossed the bridge onto the Cape Cod island and not much changed. The road ran down the middle of the island and no matter where we went, there was little in the way of scenery, except the "Cape Cod" houses. Also, being Sunday, most things were closed, and we needed coffee. What was worrying was when we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and the staff were not sure where there might be a beach with access. A customer helped them out and we stopped there for a coffee and the cannoli. There was a $20 charge for parking but when I explained that this was just a coffee pit stop, the attendant let us in for free. The beach was nice and the water was not as cold as I thought.
After leaving Cape Cod, we headed for Providence, Rhode Island. We went for a little stroll near downtown and checked out a flea market set up along the river. It was fairly quiet.
This next part is difficult to write. I had many emotions but few I should share as we crossed into Connecticut and headed for New Haven. Like the rest of the day, the scenery was limited to trees along both sides of the road. From shortly after we entered the state until we reached Orange, a suburb of New Haven, we were in traffic jams. At one point we drove 25 km. inching along at between 10 and 25 mph. The speed limit was 65 mph. Other than an accident on the other side of the median in the opposite direction, there was nothing to require any slowdown. We had a few spurts of going 60 mph for a few minutes followed by more backups. I am a reasonable person, and would never judge people on the basis for isolated incidents, but I would like to make an exception with Connecticut. I hate this state and never want to come back. Even Joanie settled down and tried to behave so as not to get on my other nerve. I think I behaved rather well. As I was telling Leah, "I think I am, look at that stupid idiot, handling this very calmly."  My sentiment might have seemed wrong to some, until later tonight. Joanie had been grumbling that we drove right past a Christmas store on Cape Cod. When we drove for dinner we passed a mall down the street that said Christmas Tree stores. She was all excited and looked for them online later. Even though they call themselves Christmas Tree stores, they take down their Christmas ornaments, etc. after Christmas and replace them with summer items. Joanie now sees where I am coming from!

July 10 - We inched our way out of Connecticut today on what was to be a five hour drive to Alexandra, Virginia, a suburb of Washington. We left at 9:45 to allow rush hour to die down. In no time at all we were in a traffic jam.  It was amazing how traffic could grind down to a few mph, then suddenly speed up to 65, and back down again for no apparent reason. The state remained on my most hated list. But, there was competition. (It got to a high of 32C today, but it was difficult to tell with the cold wind on my arms.) As we left Connecticut for New York state, the traffic in the other direction entering looked like a trucker's parking lot. Things improved immediately in New York, until we got near the George Washington bridge into The Bronx, things changed. A lane was closed and there was construction going on. We creeped for a long time before crossing. Then we headed for the New Jersey Turnpike. This is a long, tolled highway where semis are separated from cars, with three truck lanes and three regular lanes, separated by a divider, going in each direction. We motored along excellently until there was a sudden slow down.  Two trucks going in the other direction, on the other side of the median, and past the three oncoming car lanes, had gotten in an accident. People literally came to an almost complete stop to check out the accident before returning to the 65 mph speed. This cause a backup for no reason. Meanwhile, the oncoming truck lanes were backed up for many, many  miles. Having negotiated our way through New York and New Jersey, we assumed the rest would be a piece of cake. The GPS basically said to stay on Interstate 95 for over 200 km. Leah took over driving to give me a break. Things went smoothly until the turnpike ended and we entered Delaware. We paid our $13.85 toll at a booth and carried on, smoothly. Then we crossed into Delaware and the Delaware bridge, a tolled bridge, costing $4. The truck and car lane broke up into about ten booth lanes. For some reason the process was slow and the lanes backed up. On the other side, ten lanes had to converge into three lanes, and a very short distance away, the highway forked and there was a turnoff. Cars that came from the far left lanes had to cut through the stream of cars coming out of the middle and right lanes. It was chaos. Cars and semis everywhere, all forcing their way into the three lanes, while others crossed diagonally or were blocked by vehicles refusing to yield to anyone. Only an absolute moron could create such a traffic nightmare. Soon after we finally got through the mess, we again had to go through toll booths and pay $4 to proceed. When we got near Baltimore, there was another toll of $1.18, followed later by a toll of $4 to go through the tunnel under the city. All in all we were charged over $27 in tolls to drive from Newark, NJ to Washington. The worst though was the delays caused by the toll booths. If we never drive in Connecticut, Delaware or Maryland again, and I never will, I will be relieved. I felt sorry for Leah, as this was a very stressful drive. On a positive note, at one of the toll booths, we were told we did not have to pay because the car in front of us paid for us. Of course, all the delays, a few from construction but mostly from toll booths and questionable driving in heavy traffic, caused us to arrive in the Washington DC area during the afternoon rush hour. We crawled along at 5 mph around most of Washington before finally reaching our destination. Our five hour trip took 8 hours!
Today was also our 41 anniversary. To celebrate, we were going to go out for a nice dinner. However, the hotel in Alexandra was not near the restaurant area, so the anniversary dinner consisted of $4 appies and $4 wine at Holiday Inn. The debate will now rage on for some time. I may have to concede that Delaware should be ranked the most hated state in the Union. Leah certainly thought so. Maryland placed third. We may not have seem all of Baltimore, but what we saw before ducking underground was ugly. Very industrial. We are looking forward to two days of not driving before we blow this popsicle stand for what we hope are quieter lands to the west.

July 11 - Thoughts of rainy, dreary weather was behind us now. We had a sunny, hot day, with temperatures climbing to about 36 Degrees. We bought a fare card and took the train to the Washington Mall, the big grassy area by the White House. We checked out what the Smithsonian had to offer, to plan for the next day, and then walked to the State capitol building. We did visit the Congress Library, noted for its elaborate and artistic ceilings, walked past the Supreme Court, and visited the National Postal Museum. Then we had lunch in the Union Station at a restaurant recommended to us called the Shake Shack. It was a simple place, very busy, and I must say, I was a little sad when my shake cup was empty. We walked to see the Washington Monument, which was closed until 2019 for renovations, and the White House. These days you can not get very close. By now we were very, very hot and dehydrated and needed beer badly. Surprisingly, there were no restaurants or bars anywhere near the Mall. I had to ask a security police guarding the entrance to the roadway to the White House if there was anywhere we could go for a beer. He knew of a few places and gave directions. It was still a 5 block walk to get there. We downed our beer and water in record time. By then it was getting later and a little cooler outside. We checked out the WWII memorial, allowing our feet to dangle in the pool and recover, but being careful not to wade, which of course would be highly illegal. Then we walked along the reflecting pool to the Lincoln Memorial, which was overcrowded with large groups of school groups. By now it was dinner time, and our plan was to stay around here until dark to see the monuments lit up. The problem, as mentioned earlier, was that there were no restaurants in the area, and we did not have the energy to do a long walk to the restaurant district of Foggy Bottoms. (Yes, that is the actual name.)  We did find one of the refreshment huts on the mall that did have some packaged sandwiches, so it was a tuna sandwich and water for dinner. Was this our anniversary dinner? We took some pictures, OK, a lot of pictures as the monuments lit up before heading home. My transit card would not work to open the turnstile. After trying to use the emergency phone at the vacated station manager booth and waiting to see if the manager would return, I had to walk through the emergency gate, which was unlocked. Now I join Leah as a felon. The New York state police are no doubt profiling her after she snuck an apple from Canada into the state, and now I am a transit buster in DC. If only this had happened in Delaware, I would be OK never returning there. For the record, we walked over 30,000 steps.

July 12 - Today was a 20,000+ step day. We took the train to Arlington Cemetery for what was to be a short pit stop. It ended up being over 2 hours, as the place is massive and seeing certain things like JFK's grave or the monument for the Lockerbie, Scotland terrorist plane bombing victims required lots of walking, up and I had bison meatloaf and Joanie had braised bison. Leah looked like she had half a chicken on the bone. It was an amazing dinner. I think bison tastes even better than beef.
Out two days of exploring Washington were everything we hoped for. We could not see it all but I think we saw what we wanted. The heat took its toll but I still prefer that to scurrying around with umbrellas. I never drank so much water and more than one or two beer to cool down. I saw more than the usual amount of drivers texting while driving around town and a lot of honking, often with little provocation.
  

Go East Old Man Part 1

It's June 21 and the car is packed, our dog Stewie has been brought away and we have said goodbye to our good friends. We are ready. Everyone should travel across their country once in their life. We have driven from Ottawa to the Atlantic, and now we complete the journey, from the west coast to Ottawa. After a lousy autumn, and long, snowy winter, and a dreary, wet spring, the forecast promises sunny skies and warm temperatures for the next week at least. So this is the time we choose to head to the cool, rainy prairies to start our trip.

June 22 - That stupid alarm rang way too soon! We were up at 5:50AM and drove out of the garage at 6:45. It was a clear, sunny day and traffic was great. There were a lot of construction zone because there is work under way to widen the highway between Kamloops and Banff. We drove until about 20 minutes past Revelstoke. Joanie wanted to stop for lunch in Revelstoke, (we packed our own), but I vetoed this to find a nice lookout in the mountains. We settled for a pullout with no view whatsoever, because her diabetes was acting up and her voice was getting a little tense. Not long after we were under way again we passed a few nice lookouts.  As we approached Revelstoke it clouded over but the temperature was still about 18 to 20.  The CDs we made for the trip did not work in our player, but so we enjoyed the beautiful mountain views without music, which was OK too.  We arrived in Canmore about 4:45 local time, so the trip took us 9 hours. After walking to Safeway to pick up lunch for the next day, we went to Boston Pizza and low and behold, the first CFL game of the year was on TV.  Good timing. We got news in the evening that Stewie was settling in nicely and made a new best friend in Bob.

June 23 - Today Joanie grumbled about the stupid alarm clock due to the noisy A/C which kept her awake. We had the buffet breakfast at the Ramada Inn and hit the road by 8:45. The mountain tops were covered with fresh snow and it had rained in town. The sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds most of the day and the temperature soared to 20 degrees at times. However, as we neared the Saskatchewan border, the wind picked up. It may have been 20 degrees but that wind would make a penguin shiver. It felt like winter when I gassed up in Swift Current. This was only my second fill up and I was pleased about that. Gas prices dropped to 90.9 in Calgary and averaged about 92 cents everywhere else. Wildlife was a little disappointing in Banff, due to the high fences along the highway. We did see two herd of mountain sheep near Golden yesterday, and another herd on the rocks a few kilometres out of Canmore. There was a nice ram with beautiful curled horns. The rest of the day I did see several flocks of white pelicans, several pronghorn antelopes, and many gophers.

We said goodbye to the mountains and hello to the rolling foothills to Calgary. It is incredible that the TransCanada Highway becomes just another slow avenue through Calgary. It took about 45 minutes to get through the city. After that it was a breeze. We continued to see rolling hills with some flat expanses. We were actually quite surprised with the prairies. We expected to see long straight, flat stretches of highway and flat wheat and canola fields that spread to the horizon. We heard so often about how straight and boring the prairies were. Instead we found it quite nice. Mostly the land was much like the rolling hills near Calgary, and there were large expanses of pasture land, large ponds and sagebrush. The highway had enough dips and curves to keep it interesting, although cruise control worked very well here. Out intent was to stay in Swift Current but some last minute research, which was confirmed when we got there, was that there is nothing of interest in Swift Current except a casino. We decided to carry on to Moose Jaw, another 168 km. away. We arrived by 5:30. After dinner and watching a football game, which went into overtime, we still did get out before sunset to see what used to be the world's largest moose, until those nasty Norse people built a larger one. We also drove through downtown which took a minute. Joanie really looked for the classic grain elevator and the little old cottage or barn in the middle of a field. There were none, and every little cute dwelling was on the wrong side of the highway, confirming Joanie's belief that the day was conspiring against her right from the opening alarm. One attraction in Moose Jaw is to see the underground tunnels that gangster Al Capone used when he was bootlegging booze from Moose Jaw to the U.S.  We would need to wait for opening until 10AM tomorrow to do this, so we decided a better alternative was to drive south 12 km. to where an original grain elevator still stands. We will see tomorrow. This of course changes my itinerary and expected layover spots, but everyone knows how flexible I am!

June 24 - This is being written following a viewing of the BC Lions opening game loss, so my outlook may be less than positive. Much like how the Lions ended the day, we began the day with the power being out. This made our free continental breakfast less than appealing, and we ended up at McDonalds. The morning went well and we had success! We drove 12 km. south where we found an old grain elevator which was still standing. Joanie got her photo shot. On the way we came across several white pelicans posing by a stream. We returned by taking a small, dirt farm road. We found a variety of birds sitting on fences, some of which I did not have good photos of, like the bobolink and meadowlarks. So, a good start. The only other wildlife of the day were the many gophers, a brown thrasher outside our window and a coyote running along a train track. The weather started sunny and clear and became overcast, with many nasty storm clouds threatening but only giving us some sprinkles. However, that prairie wind is something else. The temperature gauge may read 15 degrees, but it felt like winter outside.
We spent some time in Regina, visiting Mosaic Stadium, home of the Riders, downtown, and a park with a view of downtown and the legislative building. The outskirts of Regina were slow because of road construction, but for the most part, driving was great. Since BC, with the exception of going through major cities, Highway 1 was a divided highway with two lanes in each way, and you could travel at any speed. There were long stretches with only a vehicle or two in sight. Through Saskatchewan we continued to see rolling hills. Once we got through Regina and throughout Manitoba, at least until Portage La Prairie, the landscape became more what we expected, flat with many kilometres where the road went straight into the horizon. Manitoba did seem moister, with a lot of pools, reeds and trees. At first the trees looked almost stunted and the leaves looked like new foliage, while they became more mature and darker green towards Portage.
Portage, named for the spot where early canoers would portage to get from the Assinoboine River to the Red River, had a nice island with walking trails in town, but for the most part it seemed depressed. Not my choice as a place to move to.

June 25 - Today we actually got our free breakfast at the Super 8. It was very disappointing. The waffles were pre-made and had to be toasted. I passed on that for a bagel. It had garlic in it. Not my favourite flavour in the morning. Joanie stuck with toast and jam, a better choice. Coffee was what the Dutch call canal water. It was sunny and warming up when we left Portage La Prairie but we could see black clouds and rain on the horizon. We were soon in Winnipeg. Highway 1 goes right through town and downtown. We took a detour to visit Investors Group Stadium, home of the Blue Bombers, which is located on a university campus. We drove around downtown and parked. We walked a few blocks to Portage and Main just as it began to drizzle. By now it was cool and Joanie found a MEC store because we did not pack enough warm clothes. We were soon done with Winnipeg and realized that perhaps we are spoiled in Vancouver. The area just wasn't appealing and plans to have lunch downtown were abandoned. Instead we headed out and found a McDonalds on the outskirts.
The temperature gauge in our car went crazy today as it hopped between about 18 degrees when the sun was out to a low of 10 degrees through the many downpours we passed through between Winnipeg and Dryden, Ontario. We also passed through probably 50 km. of construction zone as they were repaving the highway in Manitoba. Unfortunately, the divided 4 lane highway ended just before the Ontario border and in Ontario there were many kilometres between passing lanes. However, we found the traffic, including the many semis, traveled at a very good speed and passing really was not necessary.
The flat fields ended soon after Winnipeg and were replaced with short hills and forests that lined both sides of the highway. Into Ontario rocky outcrops of the Canadian Shield dotted the landscape along with many small and medium sized lakes. We had been warned that the driving would become very boring in Ontario, but so far we would disagree. The landscape was quite beautiful and the downpours kept you on your toes.
Gas prices have certainly fluctuated by province in a surprising way. Alberta's average price per litre was about 92 cents. Saskatchewan had similar prices, with some areas as low as 90 cents. In Manitoba we found prices as low as 88.4 cents in lots of places. In eastern Ontario the prices soared up to 109.
We chose Dryden as our stop because of out late start from Winnipeg. It's main feature was two pulp mills and a little suspension bridge across a river across from the mills. We were soon done with sightseeing. We hurried to go out for dinner because we assumed we were now on EDT and it was getting late. During dinner we learned that the time zone change is somewhere between Dryden and Thunder Bay, so it was still an hour earlier. That gave me an extra hour to think about our dinner. The family restaurant offered a prime rib special which Joanie ordered, the last one left. I ordered the $12 monte cristo.  Joanie was warned that they only can do the steak medium or well done. Apparently the steak was quite good but did not look like anything special. When the bill came we discovered that the special was $26! Good, but not that good. We wanted to pick up some groceries for lunch, so looked up groceries on the GPS. We were directed to an IGA store. We arrived at an empty lot. I guess people in Dryden don't cook.

June 26 - Well, winter continues. We had a relaxing morning, sleeping in until 8:15, and as usual we left with sunny skies and promises of a better day. We discovered Dryden people really do buy groceries since there was a large grocery store a few blocks away that my GPS didn't know about. Before noon the storm clouds descended once again. Some of the cloud bursts were so intense, that we could hardly see the road in front of us. And it was cold! To add to the excitement, I did not want to fill up in Dryden since we still had over a quarter tank of gas. What they do not tell you is that there is very little between Dryden and Thunder Bay, and some communities on the map were nothing more than a motel. No gas station. There were signs for a small place called Upsala and the fact that there were signs counting down the mileage every 20 km. made me think there must be gas in them thar hills. I was confident we had enough gas to get there, but as we were within 20 km., the needle hit the last mark before empty. If there was no gas station, we might be stuck somewhere 50 km. or so out of Thunder Bay. Of course, I did not share this with Joanie, who was blissfully napping. There was a gas station in Upsala! Even though the price was $1.32 per litre, well over the average price in Ontario, I put aside my Dutch instinct to refuse to pay that much.
We went to another Super 8 motel in Thunder Bay because online reviews were better than some of the other cheap motels. Mistake. It was grungy. The night table looked like it had not been dusted in weeks, and I decided not to use the coffee maker because it looked gross inside. Maybe it was due to hard water, but I was turned off. We should have clued in when several guests who checked in all had a case of beer under their arms.  We decided to minimize our time in our room and drove to a waterfront park for a walk and a view of Lake Superior. After a short little circuit we got caught in another downpour and decided to wait it out in the car. Soon the sun was back and we went for a nice walk. Then we visited a lookout. Seriously, how much of a lookout can you get in a relatively flat city. We did a longer walk by Boulevard Lake, a local park, before going for dinner at Boston Pizza, which seemed relatively safe. The forecast for the rest of our drive as well as in Ottawa up to July 1 was much of the same crappy, cold weather.  Grrrr.

June 27 - Things were looking up today. We both survived our night in Thunder Bay and the old couple with braided ponytails down to their waists did not attack us at breakfast. In fact, for the first time ever I was in such a deep sleep that I missed the alarm going off several times, and Joanie getting up and changing. She had to shake me awake. Drugged maybe? We left again with sunny skies and warming temperatures which suggested a cool, early spring day, but by lunch time the dark clouds rolled in again and the temperature plummeted to 10 degrees. However, today it did not rain and the sun returned, even though it was still only 12 degrees with a chilly wind. It did hit 20 at one point, briefly, while we were driving.
The drive today took us over the top portion of Lake Superior and down the eastern side. It was a pretty drive in spots, with winding roads, scenic views of the lake from time to time and interesting rock formations. Much could also be described as similar to driving up to 100 Mile House, except with more greener and the odd lake. We were prepared for a monotonous drive based on feedback we received, but much like the prairies, it was much better than expected. The real monotony was the innumerable construction projects we passed through. For a while we seldom drove more than 5 to 10 km. between construction zones. It improved after lunch and I even drove about 80 km. without seeing one vehicle in our lane. It seemed everyone was escaping the cold and heading to B.C.
We arrived at our motel, Parkway Motel, a very nice, neat motel just outside of town, at about 3:30. We were very happy with the accommodations. Wawa seems to have an obsession with Canada geese. They have a giant goose at the info centre, overlooking the highway. We ran into people at a info centre where we ate our packed lunch who had just come from Wawa. They said the giant goose statute was being replaced with a new one. They saw the old one being taken down with a crane yesterday, and the new one was to be installed today, and covered up for a big unveiling on Canada Day. This was a big deal in town. We arrived in time to see the goose being welded onto it's platform. It was not as picturesque with what looked like a man sticking out of its butt. Later we saw that it was covered with a tarp. We got the lowdown on the things to see in town, and visited two beautiful waterfalls, a Lake Superior lookout and a sandy beach where AY Jackson, one of the Group of Seven painters, did many paintings. We also walked in the bush to see a cemetery where some of the pioneers were buried. Seems they were not revered judging by the fact that the site was just a open area in the woods with only two old grave stones sitting on a slab of wood. Not sure why this justified a tourist site. We did see two cranes along the road which was cool. We drove into town to check out the many eating establishments and settled on Tim Horton's, the only real choice. We then went to the waterfront to do the heritage walk and see the coloured doors (?) as suggested by the info centre staff. It was not much more than a short walk along the shore of Wawa Lake and the back yards of houses. Some locals Joanie talked to said the houses referred to in the brochure were taken down at least two years ago. Someone needs to let the info people know. Visit the cemetery instead. However, all in all it was a good day.      

June 28 - 26! That's how high the temperature was by the time we reached Sudbury today. Even the gathering clouds at noon soon dispersed. My decision to wear shorts for the first time on this trip was vindicated, although with the wind, it still felt cooler than that. We left Wawa and drove through Lake Superior Provincial Park. It was beautiful and did remind us a little of Banff without the mountain backdrop. We even saw a bear. And Joanie spotted it! The drive to Sault Ste Marie was quite nice and relaxing. After the 'Soo', things changed a little. The road became more like B.C., where vehicles back up on the single lane road and there is a jockeying to get ahead of the slow traffic. Not as relaxing. We drove along the top of Lake Huron, so saw little views of the northern bays, but mostly we saw mixed coniferous and deciduous forests, which would have been OK, but so many of the deciduous trees looked dead, giving the landscape a dreary look. As we approached Sudbury, the ground became quite rocky, with mounds of rock scattered on the landscape. My expectations of Sudbury were not very high, and expectations were met. It was a drab, desolate looking city and I have never seen city streets in worse condition. A smart car would disappear in some of the pot holes! The highlight of the city was the giant nickel. The smoke stacks of the refineries were the highest I have ever seen. We stayed at the Radisson downtown which was quite nice. We thought of grabbing dinner in the food court of the mall next door but after walking around the neighbourhood and in the mall, we decided we wanted to eat out, like out of the neighbourhood. We even saw a drug deal go down right in front of us when we were in the car at a light. We found a nice Irish pub a few km. away and had a nice meal.

June 29 - Our stay at the Radisson was good, although many of the TV channels did not work. We woke up to rain. The whole day in fact was like driving in pouring rain at dusk because it was so dark. Any plans we had to find a nice view point to eat the bagels we bought at Timmy's for lunch were shattered. Instead we got gas near Petewawa  and made our bagels in the car, in the parking lot beside the restaurant. It was a dreary day and it was difficult to comment on the landscape which was often shrouded in water spray or clouds. It did not appear too exciting though. We arrived in Ottawa to crawling traffic just past where the Senators play hockey, but then it cleared surprisingly well. We arrived at Joanie's brother's house at about 3:30. The forecast for the next few days including July 1 is for rain showers and thunder storms. At least my winter clothes can get a washing now while my summer clothes stay clean.

June 30 - Today was the start of family reunion time. Joanie's sister from Alberta arrived before dinner and Leah was to arrive the next day. The day started with pouring rain but did taper off later. We decided to visit the Diefenbunker, an elaborate underground bunker, four floors deep, that was designed to house and protect the most senior, and important people in the country, excluding their families in the event of a nuclear attack.  Prime Minister Diefenbaker had this built in secret at the height of the cold war with the Soviet Union to ensure that leaders were protected to restore law and order and the functioning of society after a nuclear strike. It was based on the possibility of a direct hit on Ottawa. Very interesting. The rest of the day was spent with family.

July 1 -  Canada Day 150 began with us getting up at 6:30 to pick Leah up from the airport in the driving rain. There was much discussion about the activities for the day due to the weather. Plan A was to go downtown and visit at least one museum if the rain continued. We parked at Joanie's brother's work, which was about a 15 minute from the Parliament Buildings. When we got there the rain eased up and we decided to check out the myriad of activities around Parliament Hill. It was quite peaceful where we parked but there were lots of people in downtown. After getting some freebies, (you could even get a red turban made for you, which we passed on), we tried to walk to the Parliament Buildings. The road was blocked off and the sidewalks were wall to wall people. We could not get further than the Rideau Canal because of barricades. We saw lots of snipes on building tops and a police presence everywhere. Prince Charles and Camille were to arrive for opening ceremonies, so we had to wait 30 minutes. We did get a glimpse of them when they came by. We then tried to make out way back to the park where we started, against an ever growing flow of humanity heading for the Hill. It took us twenty minutes to walk about one block. We enjoyed Beavertails for lunch and tried to get a glimpse of Bono, who was to perform one song at the stage in the park. The best I could do was to see him on a screen from some distance as we made our way in that direction. Our niece's son, who was learning the bass guitar, was playing with a band at Petrie Island, a park close to an hour away. We decided we should show our support by going to listen, so we headed there for the afternoon. There were many musicians taking turns performing as part of the music school, and so he only performed one song while we were there. Then we went for dinner at his parents' house. At about 7:00 we saw some dark clouds in the east, in five minutes later there was a torrential downpour. The forecast was for it to clear by 10, so we went to downtown anyway to see the fireworks. There was lots of thunder and lighting on the way, but when we arrived at the parking lot by Joanie's brother's work, it stopped. By 11 when the fireworks started, it was clear. The fireworks were great. Getting out of the parking lot later was also great, as in great chaos. It to quite a while to get out. Cars were lined bumper to bumper to get out, and you had to inch your way out of the parking spot and force your way into the line. It was not for the faint of heart. We still got home by 12:30, which was not too bad. The next few days will be filled with family reunion activities in Ottawa.

Quetzal Part Cinquo

Sunday, March 19
As if there have not been enough issues here, today marked the third straight day that our primary water supply, well water, was shut down and replaced by undrinkable river water. That meant boiling water for coffee, etc. We were already drinking only bottled water. Now the pool also seemed to be on some flushing system where the water was being replaced and our nice warm pool was turning cold; okay maybe not cold but very cool. I got a wild few shots away but no good photo. These creatures are nicknamed "honey bears" and are furry animals with a long, furry tail. It was exciting and unexpected to see these nocturnal animals. Later, Opie our opossum also dropped by.
We have heard very little from Dave West, the owner of the unit, despite an email some time ago stating that he may need to give us some compensation for all the plumbing problems we had in the other unit. Since then we have had more issues.  The issues were very annoying, mostly because very little effort was made to rectify them on a timely basis. We were still without AC and I sleep alone in the living room under a fan. Despite this, we will miss this place very much.
On a positive note, Randy looked up info on the resplendent quetzal and learned that we are in breeding season, and guides in Monteverde where they live often go out to locate nesting sites so they can show the people they guide. Our chances of seeing one may be decent. However, I also thought I would have a good chance to see a tapir in Corcovado and did not, so I will not hold my breath.

Monday, March 20
This was the last day in Dominical and none of us relished leaving, despite some issues with the facilities. Sid climbed higher in the tree, perhaps trying to wean himself off of us. A few toucans visited, and before sunset a troop of howler monkeys came by. After breakfast we were off to Quepos to spend our day at the beach. Manuel Antonio was closed, so it seemed a quiet time to go. We parked on the street and immediately a young fellow with a reflective vest came up to ask for parking   fees. This is common and while sometimes it is easier to pay than to argue, the street was public and these guys have no legal right to charge for parking. We ignored him and he left us once we were on the beach. He did return when we left at the end of the day to tell us there was a fee for all parking in Quepos and we should pay next time. We had a wonderful time on the beach, renting 5 chairs, two umbrellas and a canopy to keep shaded. The water was so warm and wonderful that all of us were sad to have to leave. Jo managed to talk Leah into parasailing, something she talked about since our first visit to this beach. They went up for 20 minutes and were thrilled! Today we also went into our pool and performed our now complete synchronised swimming routine. A winner for sure! Following Lauren's Jesus Christ lizard head bob and monkey jump, I completed it with a dolphin spin, a sloth climbing a tree move and the always popular quick head jerk to the left. Very dramatic.  We also went to Dominical for our final dinner, at Tortilla Flats, everyone's choice as favourite restaurant. Randy liked the cordon blue so much he negotiated to get a second piece of chicken for an extra price. He and I had smoothies while the rest  had a basil margarita. Maybe some had two margaritas. The
smoothies came in a nice large wine glass like glass and were soon gone. We decided to order a second one, since we had to wait for some lushes to finish. The second smoothie came in a large glass, probably close to double the size of the first. It was a struggle, but we did it! We went home and Jo, Randy and Lauren went into the pool for a final night swim while I tried to start packing. We had a power outage. This occurs almost daily, but usually for a minute or so. This one lasted some time, and then the power would come on for 20 seconds and go off again. So much for packing. The swimmers enjoyed the night sky, now much more vibrant without lights. Shortly before turning in for the night, I heard rustling in the dry leaves. With a flashlight I spotted a regular opossum below me.  Another new creature we saw here in Dominical. Amazing. I hope Monteverde does not disappoint.

Tuesday, March 21
We were on the move today, but not before a visit from a toucan and howler monkeys. Sid was back in his old spot and I spotted momma as well. We drove to Monteverde Cloud Forest, expecting a long
drive up the mountains on a rough gravel road. We were pleasantly surprised that the route we took was paved most of the way, and the gravel stretch to our house was only 14 km. This place we managed to get at the last minute after our previous booking cancelled with only a few weeks to go. The owners were strong environmentalists and also run a demonstration centre for improving the Costa Rican environment. We stopped by the centre and got a tour. We heard how we should never buy or eat Costa Rican pineapples or bananas because the corporations divert and destroy rivers and the chemicals used are banned in most countries and virtually every worker will get fatally ill at some point. The house itself was at the bottom of a rocky driveway that dropped off dramatically, so that as you turned in, you felt you were going over an edge into the abyss. The house itself was very rustic and of course very "green". A sign in the kitchen said that tarantulas were not dangerous and to not kill any we found. If we had a problem with them, we could call someone to remove it. That put a few people on edge. The floors were cool, rock in cement. Our bedroom had sliding garage doors that made a racket, but we did have a soaker tub. Interior doors were wood frame with burlap covering. The top of the windows had mesh openings so that no matter how windy it got outside, you could not shut it out. Very rustic. But we were in Monteverde, where many tripadvisor reviews of accommodations raved about the abundance of wildlife around. Everything here promoted organic. We bought organic eggs from the neighbouring farmer, who also provided us with the first night's meal, chicken, rice beans, potatoes, salad, a flan dessert and tamarindo juice. We were told that all organic material should be thrown outside for the animals to eat. We felt uncomfortable throwing out the amount of excess rice we had to get rid of. Coffee had to be made the traditional Costa Rican way, grinding beans and putting them in a sock, one cup's worth at a time, dripping water through it, cleaning out the cup and repeating this for the second cup. Not real quick, or tasty.
We drove into town, Santa Elena, which was about 8 minutes away over mostly very rough gravel. It was a sunny day and warm, about 21 degrees, which after 5 weeks of 33+ weather felt cool. There was a wind blowing in gusts and despite the blue skies, there was mist in the air. Clouds of mist would sweep by from time to time. We had a drink and explored a little. By the time we finished our drink, the mist had was now a full out rain. We returned to our casa where it was still sunny and dry.

Wednesday, March 22
Mission accomplished!!! This morning we went to  nature reserve just past the town of Monteverde, about 15 minutes away, and met up with the guide we had hired through Veronica, the owner of our house. We had only one other couple, from France, with us. We saw a few things, including an emerald toucanet which I had hoped to see, and then came to a large almond tree with several groups around it. This was the favourite tree of the resplendent quetzal, and there were at least 4 of them there. It was humid and misty, and my camera lens kept fogging up, making for fuzzy, unfocused pictures. Very frustrating. We spent a long time there. It was really difficult to spot the birds, which sat inside the tree and blended in. Randy was standing beside a fellow with a huge lens, a guide who was just there on his own. He offered to take a photo with Randy's iPhone through the lens, and he had such a fantastic picture, we almost thought it was unreal. But, I got my bird! Following the tour, we drove a few minutes away to Stella's Bakery for coffee and food. They had a great breakfast. Jo and Leah were going to share the only cinnamon bun they had left, but the woman was busy and ended up burning it when she heated it up. The amazing thing about this place was that there was a garden in the back with a few platforms with fruit on them. There were continuous traffic of exotic birds feeding including, several gorgeous motmots, an emerald toucanet, a number of clay-coloured robins, and a few ground birds. Best show in town! After what became lunch, we returned to the park to go to the quetzal tree alone. We had it to ourselves and spent a long time there. It paid off. The birds posed for some great photos. My camera still had issues though. We returned to our house for our last home-cooked meal, bami, a noodle dish. I should note that there was a distinct absence of noise outside, both in the morning and before sunset. No birds, no other wildlife besides a few beetles scurrying across our floor. This was a little letdown after we were so spoilt in Dominical. But, we saw the quetzal!

Thursday, March 23
I was waking up early, round 6AM everyday. Here I was being woken by people using the one bathroom, which was attached to our bedroom with the loud sliding door covered in burlap. There was no point going outside since there was not wildlife around. We had a relatively leisure morning before heading out to Monteverde to check out the government run nature reserve. This place was much busier than the reserve we visited yesterday. It was windy as usual and the mist was thick. Inside the rain forest everything was wet and drippy, feeling like we were walking in a rain shower. Surpisingly, despite all the moisture, we were not soaked to the bone. This looked much more like our westcoast rain forest, with moss covering the trees. However, the trees were gigantic, making a gorgeous canopy. I was very grateful we had done the walk yesterday and seen what we did because, while this hike produced many flora opportunities for Jo, we saw nothing but a few little birds, which were dark specks inside the forest. We hiked for hours. We returned to the start where there was a restaurant. We had coffee, and then visited a hummingbird garden. There were beautiful hummers everywhere around feeders. Then an olinga, a cute little critter that looked almost like the kinkajou, came out of a tree and climbed into a feeder to drink. Very cute! At this point we were killing time a little, because we had a night walk scheduled for 5:15, but did not want to drive on the rough road back to our house beforehand. We stopped in town for a drink and appie. The night walk was interesting. We spotted a number of birds that were sleeping in the trees. In one area we got a light show, with lighting bugs showing flares of white light, and other bugs that gave off a continuous yellow light from two points on their head. We found a tarantula that was the size f my hand. We did not see any snakes though, which I had hoped for. Before dark there was a morpho butterfly that landed on a leaf and stayed there. This was a big deal because it was the first time we had actually seen one land. They always fluttered by so that it was impossible to take pictures. After the walk we went to a nearby Italian restaurant our guide recommended. It was the most upscale restaurant we had seen on our trip. The food was excellent and even better, the kids paid for it as a thank you for the trip. We came home after 9:30. Our last day in Monteverde. While Casa Insparacion had a rustic charm, I would not miss it.

Friday, March 24

This morning we left Casa Inspiracion, but not without one last impression. Leah got her backpack to begin packing only to find a spider web on her zipper. The guilty spider was in it, and was very large by our standards, but not the dreaded tarantula. The drive to San Jose was largely uneventful, if that can ever be said for driving in Costa Rica. There seem to be two types of drivers in this country, those that drive old Toyotas and putter at 40 km. per hour regardless of the speed limit, and those that sit on your tail and pass on corners. While we saw lots of police in our travels, they seem to be concerned with vehicle safety issues on trucks, and rarely seem to enforce traffic violations. We have seen them be passed on double yellow lines without any reaction. Our hotel, The Hampton Inn, was across the street from the airport, and right beside the car rental return offices, so very convenient. We spent a while at the pool, which was icy by my standards and what we have become accustomed to. I did not go in. In the evening we drove around Alajuela, on the outskirts of San Jose. Most areas seem quite sketchy, but perhaps that is because they look like poor neighbourhoods by our standards. Traffic was horrible. Randy said his butt was sore from clenching it while driving. At one intersection, cars seem to come from all directions including vehicles behind us coming along side even though there was no lane there. He had to just be aggressive and hope for the best. It was a little scary. We ended up going to a mall to find a restaurant, and discovered that the busyness was due to the Costa Rica vs Mexico soccer game that was happening that night, and had the place in a frenzy. The game was played in Mexico but there were people hocking jerseys, flags, etc. The mall outdoor food court was filling up with fans all dressed in their soccer jerseys. I got in the act and bought a jersey as well. We went to a taco bar and then joined the crowd as game time approached. It was fun being a part of this, even though Costa Rica lost 2-0.  We saw the second half of the game in the casino next to our hotel. Ticos were wearing their jerseys everywhere you went.

Saturday, March 25

This was our last day together and we wanted to enjoy it. We decided to drive to La Fortuna, a town on the edge of the Arenal Volcano, the most iconic image of Costa Rica, a large conic mountain. Besides the local driving habits of ticos, another challenge to driving was the lack of signage and the fact that often streets are not named. I googled the best route to go, and it did not take long to find we had no idea where we were. The instructions were to follow Route 7, but the road passed through a town, changing directions several times. We had to guess the route based on the heaviest flow of traffic. We came to a fork in the road which our instructions did not mention. We chose a direction and drove for a very long time without ever seeing a sign letting us know what road we were on or whether it actually went to La Fortuna. I checked with some locals at a bus stop and they assured us we were on the right track. The road snaked through the mountains going up and down valleys. At one point we got stuck behind two large trucks and spent the next hour crawling along at 40 km. or less per hour. Suddenly we hit an area where there was fog so thick we could only see about two car lengths. Even though the entire trip was 2.5 hours, it seemed much longer. Unfortunately most of Arenal was covered in cloud. There was a beautiful hot springs in the area that both we and Leah had been to on previous trips, but it was quite expensive and Randy and Lauren were concerned for their budget. Then Leah stepped out of the car onto the sidewalk and her flip flop slipped. Her foot scraped the corner of the sidewalk, slashing the bottom of her big toe. There was a lot of blood. Randy sprung into action with his first aid training and fortunately there was a store nearby where we could get some supplies. This decided our dilemma about whether to go to the hot springs, since you could not go in with open wounds.  We ate in La Fortuna and later had some gelato, hoping the cloud would lift. It did a little, but then the rain came. Our last day was not developing as we had hoped. The drive back was similar to our earlier drive, complete with being stuck behind slow vehicles and blinding fog. In the evening we found a Mexican restaurant recommended to us and rated highly by tripadvisor. It seemed like a seedy area but actually most people we met were very friendly. The restaurant was a little hole-in-the-wall but was wonderful.

Sunday, March 26

We got up at 5:45 AM to see the kids off. They caught the shuttle bus and we went back to bed for a few hours. After our complimentary breakfast, we drove to Poas Volcano park, a nearby volcano about an hour’s drive away. While we very quickly found the google map instructions useless, there were enough Poas signs so that we had no trouble finding it. We drove very high up the mountainside and 2 km. from the park entrance, we hit a line up. We sat in line for over 45 minutes. There was a policeman holding up traffic and letting in the odd car. We are not sure if this was to control the number of people in the park or because of the weather conditions. We were sitting in very nice sunny weather, temp. had dropped from 31 degrees to 20 degrees as we ascended. Being Sunday, locals like going for outings and this explained the long line up. Finally we were allowed to proceed. We got to the booth and were told the cost to get in was $30, but it was very windy at the crater and it was completely filled with cloud. We would be taking a chance at not seeing anything. Despite the long wait, we decided to turn around and head back. We drove around a little near our hotel finding the right roads and gas stations. We went to McDonalds for lunch and then returned the rental vehicle. We spent the last few hours of the afternoon at the pool. It was hot in the sun but then wind picked up and dark clouds moved in for a while. I just wanted to take in the warm weather, dark clouds or not, knowing it could be a while before we see warm weather again. With the kids gone now, it felt that the vacation was over and we were just waiting for the time to pass. We went to the chicken restaurant, similar to Swiss Chalet and then back to our room for some TV time. I think we were ready to come home, if only the weather there wasn't so crumby.

Monday, March 27
We got up at 5AM and took the 5:30 shuttle to the airport. Check-in went smoothly and the travel from San Jose to Toronto and then Vancouver went very smoothly. Leah picked us up at the airport at 7:45PM in our vehicle, since she had a flat tire this morning and we were home by 8:30. Meann and Andrea, her mom, were still there, cleaning up. They thought we would get back the next day.

Quetzel Part Quatro

Monday, March 6
Today we decided to go to a private nature reserve, Hacienda Baru, about 5 minutes drive down the highway. For $8 you could walk its 7 km. of trails and visit its butterfly and orchid gardens. It was a nice walk that produced several bird species, capuchin monkeys that seemed to be having a territorial dispute, with several racing down the dirt road after another one, and a sloth overhead that was actually moving around. We broke up the two main trails by stopping at the restaurant for cold smoothies. By the late morning it was getting hot and BIL felt we needed to reward ourselves for the walk by having another smoothie. The butterfly garden was a netted off garden with holes in it, and there were a handful of butterflies, the same ones that were flying around outside. Since they never seem to land, there were not even any photo ops. The orchid garden was being converted into an obstacle course and there were three or four orchids, not all of different variety. We were home by noon and spent the afternoon in our pool. Our baby sloth was still in the tree beside our deck. The countdown had begun, as G and BIL wind down their last week with us and our kids anticipate coming her on Sunday. It was a little frustrating that we have asked Jou, twice, and wrote to the owner, Dave, about getting us a driver for the airport runs, and no one was responding. Today we also had a brief shower at around 3PM and the forecast for the next week or more is includes rain or thunder showers every day. We can't complain however, after reading the daily complaints about snow in Vancouver.

Tuesday, March 7
This morning we drove into Dominical to look into getting a driver to pick up our kids on Sunday and drive G and BIL to the airport. We found one who would do it for $225 total. Not bad considering it is almost a 4 hour trip each way. We wanted to go for a swim at Dominical but the red flags were still out. We ended up driving to Quepos, 30 minutes away, and renting some chairs and umbrellas on the beach there. The beach was beautiful and there were lots of people there. However the beach was large enough that is was not crowded. We stayed there all day, playing in the surf. Despite putting sun block on, we all were a little toasty by dinner. The weather forecast was for afternoon showers but despite some darker clouds in the distance, we had only sun and temperatures of 33 degrees. After a dip in our own pool, showers, and of course happy hour, we went to Uvit for pizza. BIL nearly drove the car in the ditch on our way down our steep, potholed and gravel driveway and lanes. It was dark and when you come to the end of our row, you make a sharp right turn down the hill. At night it was like turning into the abyss, since you can not see anything until you straighten out and the headlights catch the road ahead. BIL slightly missed the turn and we had to stop him. Then we spun out a little trying to get traction again. All was OK but I think there was now a new pothole to negotiate. Our baby sloth, nicknamed Sid, still slept in the tree beside the deck, although we did hear him leave about 10PM, I guess to go find something to eat. Our opossum dropped by for a visit.

Wednesday, March 8
Despite the gloomy weather forecasts of rain and thunder, it was another hot, clear day with no sign of anything threatening. The excitement of the day was after breakfast finding Sid, our baby sloth, climbing up his tree. The action was riveting as he slowly and deliberately move each arm and leg and slowly pulled his way up. If you have ever seem Zootopia, Sid moved just like the sloth at the MVB. Things kind of slowed down after that. We went to the store for a few groceries and hung out at the pool because we were a little tender from our day at the beach yesterday. In honour of International Women's Day, I cooked my famous macaroni. On schedule in the evening, our opossum returned and said hi. I believe he must live in the dried fron roof of our talapa.

Thursday, March 9
After a leisurely breakfast, we packed our towels and water and headed for the beach. We ended up in Playa Hermosa, about 10 minutes down the highway. There was an inconspicuous dirt road off the highway that went under some trees to the beach. Because this beach was not mentioned in our travel book, we were surprised to see a life guard station, someone with a stand selling cool drinks, some booths with local wares and probably 15 cars, all nicely parked under the trees up to the edge of the sand. A great spot. We spent the morning playing in the surf, before heading home to eat and relax. In the evening we went to Tortilla Flats, a restaurant by the beach in Dominical. Later that evening our opossum popped in again to say high, poking down from the rafters.

Friday, March 10
Our daily routine was now in place. Get up early, around 7AM. See if Sid the sloth was still there. Grab the camera and sit outside enjoying the morning and the cacophony of bird sounds, always scanning the sky and trees for large birds. Have coffee. Eat breakfast about 9AM. Slowly get ready to go. Leave about 10AM for the beach. Return around 12:30PM, have lunch and laze away the afternoon, sorting photos on the laptop, doing crosswords, and wallowing in the pool until happy hour at about 4:30. Friday was no exception. We headed of to a beach Dave showed us on our last trip here, Hidden Beach. You turn off the highway about 10 km. from town onto an unmarked gravel road. It goes about a km. towards the water, then turns and runs under coconut palms on a sandy road, where you can park under the trees right by the beach. The beach runs for miles and is lined with the palm trees. Often there are few if any people around. On this day, we were the first ones there, but two other vehicles showed up soon afterwards. Like most beaches, there were good waves rolling in. We would play in the surf, diving through or under waves, always cautious of the double or triple waves that would smack you after you got up from the first wave and thought you were OK. We were always careful about signs of undertows and rip tides. Wildlife wise, we saw several herons and egrets along the dirt roads, and a tree with parakeets. At the pool things were quiet until happy hour. Just before sunset a whole troupe of 10 or more monkeys made their way up from below, jumping from tree to tree and coming within a few feet of our deck. We were a little concerned about Sid, since some monkey bounced within  few feet of him, but Sid stoically curled up and remained sleeping. The monkeys stayed for some time. They disturbed a pair of toucans out of a tree near us. Things settled down and sister G stated she wanted to see aracaris yet before they leave on Sunday. She turned to go in the house when I turned around, and there on a tree nearby were two aracaris. Amazing! That night, the opossum,who I now named Opie, came by and peacefully fed on the palm blossoms a few feet away from us.

Saturday, March 11
One of the first thing we do in the morning is check if Sid is there, since we were concerned that he would leave before the kids get here. At first I could not find him. Then I spotted him on a nearby palm shoot. He was moving so I got out the video camera. As I was filming, I noticed a darker blob below him. Soon it became apparent that this was a larger sloth, probably Sid's mom, who was pushing him to a spot in the tree. She then moved on across several trees before ascending and settling into another tree. Needless to say, in addition to my little video, Jo, BIL and G took perhaps a hundred photos of the event. We were excited for this new development. With one day left before G and BIL leave for Palm Springs and our kids come, Jo and I went to the grocery store in Uvita to stock up and G and BIL began packing up and preparing for their move. We spent the afternoon by the pool. Sunset brought a flurry of activity with toucans and aracaris paying a visit. G got very mad when their camera stopped working unexplainably. Poor BIL is always at fault. For dinner G and BIL treated us at a newer restaurant, el Fuego, a bar and grill. It had modern décor with beautiful wooden beams and other features. There were many beach bum type people there who seemed to know each other well. Dogs lay on the floor. The menu was rather limited and heavy on seafood. I went with the sliders and Jo had some skewers and onion rings, which looked rather weird.

Sunday, March 12
Transition day. This morning Sid was found up in a different leafy tree, but by mid morning we could not find him or his mom. G was up at 5:30, anxious to get some aracari photos and other shots. When I got up at 6:45, she had seen nothing. Within 10 minutes a toucan showed up and posed for us, hanging around for close to an hour. Later, two aracaris arrived and then another, and eventually G got the photos she wanted. We had arranged for house cleaning and spent the morning outside waiting for them to finish. The kids were to be picked up at the airport when the arrived at about 8AM, and driven into Dominical, where they would send us a message to pick them up. G and BIL would use this same driver to go to their hotel in San Jose for their flight the next morning. Apparently the driver was a little wild and crazy, speeding past everyone. The trip which could take up to 4 hours was done in 3. G and BIL reported later that their ride to San Jose was hair-raising, with this guy struggling to stay awake, he had been on the road for almost 11 hours, crossing the centre line, etc. They were grateful to still be alive by the time they reached their destination. Jo and I were both ecstatic to have our daughters and son-in-law here with us. We spent the afternoon in the pool and later found first one and then the other sloth up in two different trees. Bird sightings were uneventful, but Opie did come to visit that night, freaking out the kids who were not warned about him. We also went in the pool for the first time at night. The kids, despite a lack of sleep from their overnight travels, managed to stay up until about 10:30. A good day.

Monday, March 13
We visited Dominical after breakfast, but the waves were quite high and few people were on the beach. There were no chairs and umbrellas for rent. We decided to just look around the booths and get a fruit smoothie before heading to Playa Hermosa. We had fun there playing in the surf. We had a late lunch and then headed for our own pool. Nothing spectacular to report otherwise except Sid hanging out nearby again and two toucans and an aracari made an appearance at dusk. At night some went for a swim and then we played cards. We did book a crocodile river cruise with our previous guide, Victor for the next day. He wanted to meet up at 6:30AM, but I suggested 7:30 would be better, with the 2 hr. drive we had to do to get there.

Tuesday, March 14
We were on the road at 5:30 for Tarcoles and our river tour. Randy drove. Along the way a duck committed suicide. He rose up in front of us and smacked into the driver's side mirror, closing it. He was soon a dead duck. We met up with Victor and had a private boat trip on the river, seeing many of the same things we had seen on our previous trip. Randy I think was a little disappointed. We saw a few crocodiles along the banks and a few swimming. He had expected we would be going into a crocodile "pit", with huge monsters all around us. After the tour, we drove to Jaco for some souvenir shopping. It was extremely hot. We went back to the same restaurant we went to on our previous trip so the women could have extreme margaritas with Corona beer bottles inserted. I had my usual mango smoothie. Randy had a pina colada and a quesadilla which did not sit well with him. By the time we got home at about 3PM, the early morning and food was having an effect and people were a little quiet. Happy hour was another quiet affair. Unlike the previous weeks, there was little wildlife activity. No toucans, no aracari, no monkeys, just Sid and his mom hanging out. For dinner we went to Tortilla Flats in Dominical. The food was great. It was now becoming a tradition to go in the pool after dinner until coffee time at 8:30. We played a game, but Randy bowed out early to go to bed.
Our facility woes continued. There were bees or small wasps hanging out at one corner of the pool, drinking the overflow. I hold Dave about it several days ago and he said he would get Jou on it. In Costa Rican fashion, nothing had been done about it. We were ok with that though. However, the hand held shower head in the bathroom we had used, and was now being used by Randy and Lauren, broke. The shower head fell off, hitting the floor and the seal around the outside was broken now too. The drain in the other shower was not working well, causing a pool at the bottom of the shower. The worst however was the AC on the main floor. Jo had decided that she wanted her kids to fully enjoy the place and had arranged that they got the bedrooms and she and I slept on the blow up mattress we placed in the living room. The AC was not blowing very cold air yesterday, and today stopped completely. We had slept poorly the previous night, and now it was stiflingly warm upstairs. Since I can best handle the heat, and there was a ceiling fan above the bed, I volunteered to sleep upstairs alone while Jo slept downstairs with Leah. It was becoming a little uncomfortable having to keep bringing up issues with Dave, as it felt like we were complainers, but issues kept coming up.

Wednesday, March 15
Despite the lack of AC, I was able to sleep ok last night, but was awake by 6:30. After breakfast, we went to the grocery store. Dave had dropped by at 8AM and invited us to join him and other guests of his at the hidden or "secret" beach after 11 AM. We ate a quick lunch and headed to the beach. Several families were there, including the Kelowna couple we had met when the power went out a few weeks ago, and a couple from Ontario that we met at this beach with Dave three years ago. At first it was very awkward. Everyone was sitting in little beach chairs under several umbrellas but there was no room for us. I introduced myself to a few of them but for  the most part we felt out of it. We went in the water and when we returned, Jo took an unused chair and soon was chatting with several people. I then joined four other guys for a game of beach bocci. We went for another swim and when we returned, one family had left and another was getting ready to leave. That opened up some space and soon we were under the umbrella and enjoying conversation. We had a long chat with Dave and also met the people who occupied the house next door.  Dave had invited us previously for smoked salmon directly from his trip to Alaska, but we never saw any. We were home close to 4PM, enough time for a dip. An aracari settled above the pool for a short while, until I got my camera. While Lauren went in the shower, a troop of monkeys came along, jumping from tree to tree and climbing up to a popular tree near our deck. She was called, and hurried out with shampoo still in her hair. A toucan also came by, and the large sloth, presumably Sid's mom, was hanging in the tree. At one point, we could get a photo shot of a toucan, sloth and monkey all together. Sid meantime stayed rolled up in a ball in the palm tree beside our deck. There was activity everywhere! Jo and I were so glad that the kids could experience this, as it had been quiet the last few days. Randy was in charge of dinner and made spaghetti, but he tried to put a shot of cinnamon in the sauce, unknowing that the jar was fully open instead of in sprinkle mode, and we had a bit of extra spice in our dinner. It was still good. He and Lauren drove into town for ice cream afterwards and I scored a mango smoothie! It was a hot, humid night, but everyone preferred to stay inside rather than endure the no-see-ums that nipped at our ankles and arms on the deck. We also had a few large bugs visit, as is their custom, and Randy was a little freaked out by the large praying mantis, large green grasshopper, and leaf bug that attacked him. Kind of reminded me of a friend I know. He refused to go outside.
When Dave came by to invite us to the beach, I mentioned to him that our upstairs AC was not working, and according to what I read online, when the buttons are flashing, it generally requires a professional to fix it. Dave said he would inform Jou to look at it. Like the unusable tap in the bathroom, and the wasps by the pool, it is doubtful this will be dealt with before we leave next week, meaning many hot nights and Jo sleeping downstairs with our daughter. Since our arrival in Dominical, we have not had one day where everything worked as it should in our place. And yet, it is hard not to love this place with its amazing view, beautiful pool, awesome setting in the tree and the abundance of wildlife nearby, not to mention our own baby sloth.

Thursday, March 16
Manuel Antonio day. That meant another early morning, leaving at 6:30AM. It was busy when we got to the park, and we had a little wait to get our tickets and enter the park. We were very spoiled by all the things we have seen right from our balcony, so seeing sloths high up in the trees was not as exciting as it used to be. We did also see a few vampire bats, a cool parrot and along one stretch of our walk we ran into a troop of howler monkeys, followed a few feet further by a troop of white-faced capuchin monkeys and not more than 20 feet further up the path, a troop of squirrel monkeys, the cutest of the bunch. It was a pleasant walk and we ended at the protected beach where we settled in to cool of in the warm water. It was nice to be in ocean water that did not hit you with waves several times per minute. We were soon overrun by a large group of young people with chaperons. The young girls, most appeared to be no more than 12 or so, pranced around in their little bikinis, posing for each other for photos, including having one of the young boys take pictures of them posing for sexy bum shots, with a few of the chaperone ladies joining in. Quite disturbing really. On a more entertaining note, there were many raccoons, a coati, and later both capuchin and squirrel monkeys that hung around the beach, trying to steal people's food. A pair of raccoons and a coati harassed the people next to us, finally making off with a whole loaf of bread. The man had a tug-of-war with the raccoon, but the bag ripped and the animals scurried off with the contents. They had no fear. You could shoo them or threaten them and they just stood there waiting for their opportunity. One man even hit a raccoon on it's side, but it just hissed at him. Someone had to be on guard at all times with a stick.
 By now it was only 10:30 and we had to resist the urge to eat the sandwiches we brought, since there were no food outlets in the park and it would be a long haul until we would eat again. After our swim we did a looped hike around the peninsula. We did not see much besides stairs and it was getting very hot. Jo had water oozing out from her everywhere. We returned to the other end of the beach to eat lunch and sit in the water until we left. The plan was to stop for a cold smoothie before we left the town of Quepos and we went into a restaurant by the beach. There was only one waitress and a very large group of people had come in just before us. After waiting 15 minutes without a hint that we could expect service or anything resembling drinks any time soon, we left for another corner diner across the street. We were going to have drinks and a dessert to keep up going until dinner. Things looked up where we were served right away, and within 10 minutes, Jo had her Imperial beer. Then she and Leah got their banana splits, which looked quite good. They were finished and the rest of us had nothing yet. Then drinks came around. Leah got her pina colada, Lauren her pineapple smoothie, I got my mango smoothie and after a few minute delay, the woman gave Randy his smoothie. It was sitting on a tray because she seemed confused that it was part of our order. The three of us had ordered sundaes, but they just did not come. The woman came around with a second smoothie for Randy, seemingly unaware that he had already got his, and had his empty glass cleaned away. He returned it to her. After some time Jo went to the woman and asked about our sundaes. We were not completely sure if she understood. (She did review our order with us at the beginning, so we knew she had it written down.) Finally we got our sundae, pre-made sundaes in a plastic cup, like dixie cups! They could have been served within a few minutes. Worse yet, they were gross! You could tell that the ice cream had thawed and refrozen several times. There was a thin layer of clear goo where the liquid had separated and frozen. As Leah pointed out, their banana split was made from scratch. The only difference with a sundae was a lack of banana. We should have ordered a banana spit without bananas. Very disappointing. We kept saying that one day we might laugh about this, but Lauren was not so sure as she was so looking forward to her dessert. Needless to say, there was no tipping here. At least the nacho dinner she made was great. On a sad note, Randy is extremely sensitive to the sun, burning at the mere glance it seemed. Despite slathering on the 50 block, he burned his hand of all things from bobbing in the water.
Pressure was mounting on me. We took turns making dinner. A synchronized dance routine was being developed. Each night in the pool, the person who made dinner that night had to come up with a few steps to add to the routine. Only those who participated practice in doing the developing routine, so while I have watched them go through their steps, I did not practice, and Sunday night I must complete the routine. We were going with a theme of things we saw in Costa Rica, like frigatebirds diving down and dipping their beaks into the water to drink and monkeys jumping from tree to tree. I think my steps might involve the slow and deliberate movement of a three-toed sloth.

Friday, March 17
This was designated a relaxing day where we could sleep in and eat breakfast whenever. Unfortunately, when sleeping in a living room without curtains and with loud birds outside, I was still awake by 6:45, despite my best efforts to go back to sleep I put some bacon in the oven. Apparently there was a prescribed cooking time not a "cook until you are ready to take them out". Leah was soon also up and with an aracari in one tree, and two peccaries, a new species in my animal quest, rustling around on the ground, we did manage to salvage the bacon, but just barely, and only if you wanted it crisp. After breakfast the women wanted to go to Dominical to shop and Randy was busy watching March Madness while reading on his computer. I drove them with the idea that I would have about 90 minutes to myself to update blogs, work on my photo identification, etc. However, my laptop was acting up in "waking up", and I spent most of this time working on that problem. Not much got done. Randy did go to pick everyone up. We then spent the afternoon in our pool until about 4PM, when all but Randy drove down the hill to go to our beach across the highway and explore before sunset. In the evening we went to the Roco Verde restaurant we had gone to several time. The same old band was there and despite it being St. Patrick's Day, which they acknowledged, the song selection did not change at all.

Saturday, March 18
It was a hot, sticky evening, which made sleep difficult without our AC. We were in Uvit by 7AM for our snorkel excursion to Cano Island with Bahia Aventuras. It was a wonderful day. During the 90 minute boat ride to the snorkel location, we had a school of flying fish accompany us for a short ways, we saw several spotted dolphins, and over 10 sea turtles. The snorkeling was good by Costa Rican standards. It will never rival places like Hawaii where the water is crystal clear. We spent quite a long time in the water at the first location, and even swan over a few white-tipped sharks that were resting on the bottom. There were also some stingrays and a very large school of fish that moved in unison in front of us. We followed a guide who led us for quite a long trip. Several times he took Lauren's camera and dove down to take close-ups of eels and other fish. After a time of rest we did a more relaxing snorkel where we basically let ourselves drift by the current as we watched the fish below. It was a great trip. Of course, there were some  sunburn issues and blisters from the flippers afterwards.