HOME SAFE and HAPPY to be back in ARIZONA!

Dennis is writing this blog so look out.  Like a box of chocolates, you NEVER know what your going to get!

We arrived home SAFELY on the late afternoon of Wednesday, December 7th.  We're happy to be home in lovely, sunny, dry, clear blue sky, warm Southern Arizona! 


It's taken us a few days to regroup, reorganize and replenish our bodies and minds.  As of Sunday, we're back into our personal and work routines.  We're eating well, exercising and feeling great!

Funny and unusual for us, we had an old friend (Dru May) visit us on the night before we departed for Costa Rica and our special friend (kitty sitter Kristy Kuhn) stayed with us on the night we returned home from Costa Rica.  We've NEVER had guests pre and post trip.  Somehow, it was COOL to have guests.

           Dru (my oldest buddy) surprised us with a visit on the night BEFORE we departed... GREAT!

                    Dennis, Diana and Kristy around our tiny Christmas tree... it was FUN being together!       

As you already know from reading our blog posts, we HAD a challenging trip but we DID make the most of it.  As Diana says… we really didn’t get to fully experience Costa Rica (especially the wildlife, birds, etc.) so a return trip will happen SOMETIME in the future.  We made new friends in Dominical (on the South Pacific coast) so we’ve got a great studio unit that we can rent for an extended period of time. 

                     Costa Rica... WOW!  A small country with SO MUCH to see and experience!


We've decided to NOT return to Costa Rica in April - May 2017.  There are other countries calling our name... a potential visit to Columbia, Panama, Belize, Mexico or ???


We THANK YOU for taking some time out of your day to follow our travel adventures.  It's SO MUCH FUN to know that our family, friends and clients are sharing our travel experiences!


We wish you (and your families) a WONDERFUL, HEALTHY, JOYOUS and SPECIAL Christmas and New Year holiday!


We feel VERY blessed to have the opportunity to travel around the world.  Just know we love each and everyone of you,


Dennis & Diana

Monday, Dec 5th & Tuesday, Dec 6th to last AirBnb & San Jose Aeropuerto

Are you sick of hearing us talk about the rain yet?  Well, we certainly are tired of it ourselves.  So what a joy waking up to a little sunshine on  Monday ... it actually made me feel like doing a little work for one of my clients, which always makes me feel more normal.

And just to explain a little further, especially for Deb Carnsew, when we do extended trips like this, it is not our intention to make it purely a vacation.  It is an experiment in creating an alternate lifestyle while still keeping all of our balls in the air.  It just isn't feasible to travel and enjoy extended stays without staying connected and organized.  It's just who we are and we have no intention of giving up The Efficiency Experts.

Living room view to the rear deck from our cool AirBnb home

Modern and unique design of this AirBnb rental

We left this AirBnb right at 10:00 am and what a surprise... the rain started again.  But it was still a beautiful drive out of valley and then back onto "The Mountain of Death" road.

We neared the top of the valley in the misty cloud forest... this horse was curious why we stopped. 

It took us four hours to get down and through the mountains to Alejuela, a town north of San Jose (capital city) and the airport. Of course, it should NOT have taken us that long, but the Lady in the GPS was having fun with us again.  We ended up on some back roads that gave us the REAL Tico view of life here.  It was actually a blessing because the mountains south of San Jose are teeming with dense and varied vegetation.  And the sun came back out!  It truly was breathtaking.  We wanted to take pictures but it was quite the challenge just figuring out how to understand the Lady in the GPS.  Dennis has really evolved in this regard; it's much easier for  him to be lost and OK with it. That is, until the Lady in the GPS tells us to turn down ANOTHER crazy dirt road, and then he's DONE.  

Coming into San Jose again was a big shock after the beauty we have lived in.  Talk about traffic and crazy drivers!  Of course it had started raining again and we had a little difficulty finding our next AirBnb. In fact, the Lady in the GPS didn't have a CLUE, so we resorted to Google maps.  At one point we turned into the WRONG driveway and found a GORGEOUS home across the street who didn't even know about our AirBnB.  A hidden secret.  

CLICK HERE to check out our current AirBnB  

Our hosts, Danny and Patricia, are lovely and friendly people.  Danny is from Texas, and Patricia is a local Costa Rican "Tico".  We were looking forward to enjoying the 365 view of the the area, but gee whiz ... look  what happened.  We were completely socked in!

So once again, making the most of the situation, we decided to enjoy your FIRST Bed Picnic and TV of the trip.  But the cable TV didn't work.  Murphy's Law!  But there's always a solution so we streamlined Netflix on my tablet and found "Wildlife of South America".  It's a fascinating show and we'll keep watching it once we get home.

We woke up around midnight and we were ABOVE the clouds.  Just gorgeous views of San Jose in the valley.  And when we got up at 5:00 am... another WOW!

Break of day view at 5:00 am down the valley toward San Jose

Really... our LAST partial day in Costa Rica and the sun comes out  Please... this must be a joke on us!  Clear blue skies, only a few clouds, gentle breezes and warm temps.  Let's tell you a few more stories before we finish our last day in this beautiful country.

Diana NEEDS SUN... she's soaking up the sun on our last day in Costa Rica 

Our gracious "Tico" host Patricia (in the back of the pic) prepared a yummy home cooked breakfast.  

What an amazing view while eating our breakfast!  

ALL local ingredients (eggs from their own chickens, toast, jam, fresh veggies, watermelon juice, bananas and pineapple)

   

  We returned the 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4 SUV rental in perfect condition.

Yeah... no damage or extra charges and Dennis ALL BY HIMSELF drove 1006 KM in 14 days (which is 625 miles).  However, those are TEDIOUS miles in Costa Rica.

After breakfast, we safely drove down the mountain navigating the crazy local roads.

We're writing this post from the San Jose airport on Tuesday afternoon... preparing for a long (3 flight segments) routing home due to multiple airlines.  We have to do an overnight stay in San Francisco and will hopefully get to our hotel in San Bruno around 12:30 am on Wednesday early AM..  Our final flight should get us home on Wednesday afternoon (fingers crossed) around 3PM.  Don't feel too sorry for us... we're flying 1st class on Avianca and United airlines. We plan to enjoy each minute of the 1+ day trip home to Arizona.  More news when we're safely in the USA!

Sat, Dec 3rd & Sun, Dec 4th in San Gerardo de Dota

The drive up the mountain (11,000-12,000 feet) from Dominical is quite challenging, like the  majority of roads in Costa Rica.  This road is called the "mountain of death" due to high number of casualties.  This road adds the excitement of being so high that we drove through rain AND clouds.  After passing lots of trucks, with me not looking and repeating “we  are protected”, we finally came to a recommended stop for lunch with a FANTASTIC view ~ the Ricar2. 

Stunning view overlooking the San Isidro valley from our lunch restaurant

Diana enjoyed a pollo (chicken) sandwich with fries 

Dennis ate a typical "Tico" lunch plate with carne verde, rice, black beans, potatoes, veggies & salad

From our lunch stop outside of San Isidro, our GPS said it was only 90 minutes to our destination, but it took longer due to driving up the twisty road in more clouds and truck traffic.  Plus, of course, we missed the turn-off because the Lady in the GPS was WRONG AGAIN!

The drive down into the San Gerardo de Dota valley is steep, bumpy, and beautiful.  This valley was discovered in the 50’s and it has not been commercialized like Monteverde, the very well-known Cloud Forest area up by the Arenal Volcano.  Thank you, Beth Ann, for steering us away from that area as we prefer the more off-the-beaten-path kind of nature destinations.

Cloud forest... it's different from the rain forest and jungle

      Workers cut a tree apart that fell across the road.  The tree crashed down on this car.  YIKES!

We were very pleased when we reached our next AirBnB home.

CLICK HERE to see the AirBnB listing

The water features around this home are truly amazing.

       We crossed a covered bridge and finally found the AirBnb home (on the left side of the pic).  


There is a loud and gorgeous natural waterfall off of the main living area, and a large fountain of water off of the master bedroom and loft area.  Both are loud and impossible to ignore.  It always sounds like it's raining, even when it's not.  

                 View from living room and kitchen to the rear deck.  Stream flows under the house.

              View from master bedroom overlooking the front deck, pond and water fountain

LOOK through the master bedroom window providing a view of the stream running under the house

For dinner Dennis prepared fresh pescado (fish) with Costa Rican beans and rice.  Quite traditional!  

Many thanks to Dave and Debbie, our hosts in Dominical for arranging our guided Quetzal tour with Carlos.  He arrived at 5:30 am and THANK YOU GOD, it was not raining.  He lives towards the top of the valley, so we followed him up the road and watched for Quetzals.  In what felt like 30 seconds, he pulled over and pointed up the mountain.  WHAT do YOU see 'cause I don't see nothing.  Well .... here's what he captured on my Samsung smartphone through his spotting scope...

This is a female Resplendent Quetzal sitting in an wild avocado tree

This is the male Quetzal (view from behind) - just look at those long feathers down his back!

Carlos is the perfect example of a person who turned his bird watching passion into a guide business

While waiting for the male Quetzal to turn around, we found this gorgeous bird eating wild peaches

And then Carlos found another male Quetzal higher up in the trees but facing us.  WOW what a site!

                                                How does he spot these beautiful creatures?


We are so grateful that Dave and Debbie arranged for our tour with Carlos as we would have NEVER SEEN ANYTHING.  And with the limited animal viewings we have had on this trip, this was a highlight.

We spent the day walking and talking and then taking our own personal time on the two water decks. It was special reflective time for both of us.  There is MUCH to discuss as we work our way home.

In the last 24+ hours, I (Diana) have been feeling a little discomfort in my chest and lungs.  No, I don't think I'm having heart issues, and if I was, this would be the end of the road for me as NO ONE can get down here quickly.   I actually think I have a little mold / mildew / algae issue in my lungs as we have been in A LOT of moisture on this trip.  I'm not concerned, but I am ready to get back to my dry desert.

We leave in the morning and head north of San Jose to another AirBnB, by the airport, for one night. If all goes well, we'll do a couple of posts before arriving home on Wednesday afternoon.

Saturday, Dec. 3rd and saying goodbye to Dominical

Hola Compadres,

God really smiled on us today because as we packed up to leave Dominical, it became cloudy again. It made it so much easier to leave our lovely studio apartment that we enjoyed for  4 nights.

Our studio apartment was located above Dave & Debbie's REMAX real estate office  

There's a cute little pool on the main level that we get to use anytime

Upper level studio has a HUGE veranda with several seating areas to enjoy 

View of the studio sofa / desk area with kitchen behind Diana

King bedroom area (pardon our stuff... we're packing to move today) 

Diana prepping a smoothie in the compact but ample kitchen 

OK... I think anyone following our blog posts know that we have REALLY enjoyed Dominical and the southern Pacific Ocean area of Costa Rica.  SO... should I tell you now that we're planning to return to Dominical, Costa Rica for ONE month in mid April to mid May 2017?  The owners of the studio provided us with a great rate to return.  We've had lots of fun with Dave (70) and Debbie (63). The contract isn't signed yet but our friends, family and clients know we're just crazy enough to do this!  Stay tuned...  

Adios Amigos,
Dennis & Diana

Friday, Dec 2, 2016 and STAYING in Dominical!

And we are so glad we did ... this was THE BEST WEATHER DAY we've had the entire trip!

It's SO nice to just WALK to the beach from our studio unit

And after last night's yummy dinner and dancing at a local air restaurant, we are slowly falling  in love with the area.

So we decided to just check out rentals to see what the prices are around here.  There is a wide range of prices and locations.  Check  this one out!

Rental shopping got us hungry, we went back to Tortilla Flats, down on Dominical Beach, and split a hot veggie sandwich.  It was so nice to eat plain old veggies again!

You JUST have to have "Costa Rican Michelada" (sea salt rim, ice, fresh lime juice & beer)

And with just a little shopping after lunch, I finally found what I want to hang over my "new" desk. I've only been looking for 6 months!

We also discovered this cool place called Restaurante Charter.  It houses an old 727 jet, right alongside the restaurant and swimming pool!  It felt very "Lost" to me!

We also tried to find a local waterfall which is supposedly about a mile away.  But using the directions of "turn left at the bus stop, find the bridge and go over it, park in the open space, and hike through the jungle", didn't bring us success.  We  could hear the waterfall, but never could  figure out where to park and how to get there.  Oh well ....  maybe next time.

But out favorite part of being here are the dramatic sunsets.  We have been blessed with wonderful sunsets the last 2 days ...

And as the sun was setting, we offered up our veranda for a cocktail party including our hosts, a couple from Seattle, and local property owners.  Dave and Debbie made several batches of yummy fruit and basil margaritas.  A lively political discussion ensued, including the viewpoint of a couple from London.  It became obvious to me again that we are ALL in this together, no matter where in the world one lives, and we need solutions, not arguments.

A GOOD evening cocktail party needs candles, blender & plenty of glasses  

It's Saturday, December 3rd and we're departing for our next AirBnb unit located in a high mountain (11,000 - 12,000 ft) national park area.  From everything we've read, the road from the Pacific coast to the mountains promises to be challenging!  Fingers crossed for a safe journey.  More news later... 

Thursday, Dec 1st, still in Dominical

Yes ~ here we go again with another rainy and dark day.  BUT IT IS WARM.  Sure beats the FREEZE that's happening back home in Sahuarita, Arizona.

We had breakfast on the veranda again ~ simply enjoying the view...

And look what I spotted without even using my binoculars!  It is such a thrill for me to see such beautiful creatures in the wild.  Can you find and identify the bird in the center tree (last tall tree behind the short palm trees in the middle of the pic)? 

I'm sure most of you figured this out on your own... it's a Chesnut-Mandibled Toucan

So once again not allowing the weather to stop us, we headed north about 45 minutes to Quepos and Manuel Antonio.  On the way we tried to stopped at our host's "Secret Beach" which they go to every Wednesday (well, they certainly didn't go yesterday).  We couldn't quite make it to the ocean due to the mud and standing water at the end of the road.  We weren't going to risk driving into that.

    Mud and a small pond forming at the end of the road blocking our access to the beach.  Oh well!

We had TORRENTIAL rain during the rest of the drive and were happy to safely arrive at the nation's most popular national park; Manuel Antonio.  Thanks to advice from friends and research before arriving, we knew not to park where men in official looking shirts were directing us to park. So we just kept driving right up to the gate of the park and FOUND IT CLOSED because water from the river was overflowing the bridge that provides access into the park.  

                                                      Oh PLEASE... can we just get a break???

So what else are we to do but stop in a local cantina for a beer?  Thank God a monkey was hanging around so we actually got to see one.

Highly aggressive White Face Capuchin monkey that steals food and anything you leave unattended

We worked our way home again, through another downpour and stopped at Por Que No, a small hotel and restaurant neighboring our AirBnB, to split a sandwich.  It was quite the show sitting ocean-side while Mother Nature enthralled us with thunder and lightening over the ocean.  

You'd think we'd be pretty discouraged by now, but even in the darkest storm, it is still warm and beautiful enough to keep us interested.  As I was relaxing on the veranda, I continued watching for birds, and found this vulture ~

We're doing some research today and looking at short-term rentals, and just staying open to possibilities.  

Because when the sun DOES come out, even if just for a few moments, 

it is SPECTACULAR. 

Sending Love and wishing all a HAPPY DECEMBER from Costa Rica ~

                                                                 Dennis & Diana