Costa Rica

I just returned from 3 wonderful weeks in Costa Rica. I will narrate my trip and then pictures will be at the end, not necessarily in the order they were taken. 

Just getting there was an adventure. We were supposed to fly out of Phoenix to Dallas-Ft. Worth, and transfer to our flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. But our flight out of Phoenix was late, we missed our connection in Dallas-Ft. Worth, they only fly out of Dallas-Ft. Worth to Costa Rica 3 times a week, so they rerouted us to Miami. We arrived in Miami about the time we were to arrive in San Jose. The airlines gave us a voucher for a hotel, but we only had about 4 hours before getting up to catch our new flight to San Jose. All in all, we arrived only 12 hours behind schedule. Not too bad. 

We immediately went roaming the downtown area of San Jose after arriving at our hotel. We were only about 5 blocks from the main section of downtown. Our hotel was once a private home which has now been turned into a small hotel. This area of town was once the main residential area of the rich and influential people of San Jose. But like all urban areas, the newer more affluent housing is now moved out of town. While in San Jose we saw the National Museum, many old, historical buildings including a cathedral and many sculptures. San Jose was a pretty town. In fact, I found Costa Rica to be a very clean country. There were the slums, like all places, but overall I found people kept the areas very clean and well kept. We only had 2 nights in San Jose before moving on.

Next stop was Tortuguero National Park. It is famous for its nesting grounds for the green sea turtle. On the way we passed through Braulio Carrillo National Park and saw a Dole Banana plantation. The only way to get to Tortuguero is via boat. The entire park is surrounded by water. It is a rain forest and swamp, next to the Atlantic Ocean, but some years ago, before it was a National Park, the logging companies dredged canals. We arrived an Cano Blanco to catch our 1 1/2 hour boat ride to the lodge. There are no roads at all in the area. Right outside our cabin were several Howler Monkeys to greet us. They say you can hear them holler for 2 miles and I believe that. We had several boat trips through the canals to see the local wildlife. We saw many birds, 3 types of monkeys, a sloth and caimans. There are also crocodiles, but we didn't see any. There was entertainment for us every evening and we had a pool to relax in when we weren't out in the boats. We also took a water taxi across the river to the village and walked along the Atlantic Ocean on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. After 3 nights here we took the boat back to Cano Blanco where we took a bus to Guipels, had lunch and caught our transfer ride to Arenal. 

Arenal Volcano was inactive until 1968, when without warning it erupted and destroyed 2 villages and killed over 30 people. Since then it has continued to be active with major eruptions again in the 1970s and in 1992. It is now closely watched by both scientists and tourists. We spent 5 nights at a hotel with a magnificent view of the volcano. Because we were there multiple days we got to see the volcano unclouded. Many people never get to see the top of the volcano because it is usually enveloped in clouds and steam. While in Arenal we took our first zip line tour. Sky Trek is reputed to be the most "thrilling" zip line in Costa Rica. They have 8 zip lines, the highest which is over 600 ft., and the longest almost 1/2 mile. It was raining so we didn't get to see the rain forest much because of the clouds, but it was still lots of fun. We also walked to La Fortuna, about 7 km, which is the nearest town. Another day we walked the other direction to Tabacon Resort, the most famous hot spring resort in the area (and also the most expensive). Another day we took off again on a hike and found a dirt road leading back to a new resort. Along the way we saw a toucan. Yes, the Fruit Loops cereal bird. But even our hotel had its own hot springs. There were 11 tiered hot springs, each one slightly different temp from the others. But even the swim up bar was a mineral hot spring. Our last tour of Arenal was the National Park. While hiking there we could hear the volcano erupting almost continuously. At the closest point they allow visitors, which is still almost 5 km away, you could see the lava and boulders spewing and rolling downhill.

A note about the food. The first day we arrived, we stopped at a restaurant and noticed they had daily specials they called a 'typical mean'. We found they had these everywhere we went. A Costa Rican typical mean always consisted of rice and black beans, a choice of meat (which could be beef, chicken or fish), usually some salad and fried plantains. Some places even included a drink which was always fruit juice. The country drinks lots of fruit juices, almost always fresh. 

Next we were on our way to Monteverde. This area was originally settled by Quakers in the 1940s and 1950s. Now it is booming in coffee plantations, but mostly tourism of the multiple cloud forest preserves in the area. We took a van to the boat which took us across Lake Arenal. Then another van took us to Santa Elena where we stayed. The roads in Costa Rica are primitive. Many roads you would not want to attempt without at least a high clearance vehicle, and many need 4 wheel drive. They are all bumpy, have holes and as many of the drivers tell you, "You get a free massage on this trip". We visited Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Selvatura Hanging Bridges, and the Monteverde Coffee Co-op while in the area. It also rained and we were stuck in our hotel for 2 days while it poured. We saw lots of birds and wildlife, including the elusive and endangered Quetzal bird. The Quetzal is the bird of the Aztecs and its feathers were prized by the natives for use in making ornaments. There are supposed to only be about 100 pairs left in the world. We saw 2 males and a female. Beautiful birds. I also found out what 'shade grown coffee' means. Instead of a farmer planting row upon row of coffee, some plant their coffee in amongst other plants such as plantains and fruit trees and vegetables. This is considered shade grown coffee. It is usually organically grown as well. Also you have 'sun dried coffee'. In normal coffee production the coffee bean is removed from the fruit before being dried and processed. In sun dried coffee they allow the coffee fruit to dry naturally before extracting the bean. This makes for a much more flavorful and less bitter coffee. I tried some which the coffee farm owner had grown, dried and roasted himself. It was wonderful coffee. 

Our next and last stop was to the Pacific Ocean, specifically, Flamingo Beach or Playa Flamingo. It was warm, in the 90s, and sunny. We got up and went swimming in the ocean every morning, then came back and swam in the pool before heading out for activities for the day. Here we ate fresh fish, took an ATV trip, another zip line trip and lots of sight seeing. I would recommend Costa Rica to anyone and I would definitely go back because there are so many places I did not get to see.

 

Zip lining outside of Playa Flamingo. Not as high as the previous zip lines, nor as long, but we sure did have fun.

Here is a shot of the 1/2 mile long zip line outside of Arenal.

This bird is a Montezuma and build long hanging nests. They look like large fruits hanging from the trees. They are quite common in Costa Rica.

Even in San Jose we found a Walmart Greeter. Actually there were no other employees with this tag and no name on the store, so I don't really know if it was a Walmart or not.

At the Britannia Hotel in San Jose waiting for our van to pick us up for our trip to Pachira Lodge.

Arenal Volcano from my hotel room.

A vanilla orchid. They make Costa Rican vanilla from this plant.

Two rivers merging in Braulio Carrillo National Park. See the different colors of the waters? One is coming from a volcano causing its water to be muddy.

The Toucan.

In the Atlantic Ocean at Tortuguero National Park.

Sunset on the Pacific at Playa Flamingo.

A sloth in town between our hotel and main street, Santa Elena.

Downtown San Jose.

A whole red snapper in Brasillito on the Pacific.

Picking coffee.

Macaws

This parrot like my hat way too much!

Howler monkeys outside our cabin at Tortuguero National Park, Pachira Lodge.

And I can still do the limbo. This was some of our evening entertainment at Pachira Lodge.

See the lighter colors? This is the lava from the active volcano.

Zip lining in the rain at Arenal.

This is as close as you can get to the volcano.

In the hot springs at Arenal Paraiso Hotel.

The Selvetura Hanging Bridges in Monteverde.

A fresh coconut drink.

Where we had our fresh red snapper.

On the boat in Tortuguero.

On the beach.

At the banana plantation.

ATVing along the beach.

This was our room which looked out at Arenal Volcano.

Welton, AZ

After returning from Oklahoma, I met up with my friends at Welton, AZ. Welton is a small town just east of Yuma, AZ. There were only about a dozen of us parked out on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land just a mile south of the highway, but boy, did we pack a lot of activities into this week. As you will see we went 4 wheeling 2 times, hiking, visited a ranch, and those are only the things I posted photos. We went out to eat several times in town, had several campfires and watched football over at Kurt's where we had a potluck.

The wall between the US and Mexico. This was our first 4-wheel trip.

All of our 4-wheeling was done on Barry M. Goldwater Range, managed by the marines. To access this range you need a permit, not just the vehicles, but every person. So on Monday morning we all went to the local marine base in Yuma and got our permits, 17 of us. Several more went on the own later to get their permits. Then on the day you go, you have to call in and give the names and permit numbers and the number of vehicles, where you are going and about how long you will be. Hopefully this assures they won't be bombing in the area we are going jeeping.

Getting ready to leave.

This was the ultimate goal of the day, High Tank. It is just a hole which accumulates water. But in this dry climate, it becomes invaluable for keeping the wildlife in the area alive.

Climbing out of one of the gullys we traversed this day.

After getting the permits we went back to Welton and the Dobson Ranch. It is a living museum, in that the owner lives in the house, which is also part of the museum. Her furniture, knick-knacks, and all her decorations are antiques which she and her late husband have found throughout the US. Most of the finds were dug up from trash heaps and dumps. There is also hundreds of items outside as well, plus they have a small restored town which has been completely furnished back as close as possible to how it would have looked. Plus there were tractors and old motors and old motors and old motors, which her son started up for us.

Just one row of many showing off the old tractors.

Her living room wall is lined with old bottles.

In the restored town there is a mercantile store. Many of these cans have never been opened.

Here is the road going to the ranch.

Just a beautiful sunset I caught on the way home one evening.

We hiked Muggins Mountain.

It really was steep. We estimated it was about a 5 mile hike today.

We took the scenic route home from Dobson's Museum, stopping at Baker's Tank, named for the Baker Mtn Range. As you can see I wasn't expecting to go 4-wheeling that day and took my car. But my little HHR did well and kept up with the big boys that day. Luckily we didn't have any really bad washouts to go over or deep ravines.

 Parked with the big boys today

Here we are in front of Baker's Tank. Another watering hole which stays wet most, if not all of the time

We found some old tanks on the range and found one where the turret still moved. It's amazing how much fun we have with some of the finds we make.

Our second 4-wheel trip was to the Betty Lee Mine. This was another mine we found along the way. The Betty Lee Mine was an old copper mine, whereas, this looked to be an old gold mine.

This is a rescue beacon.

 I wonder if anyone ever pushes the red button. We thought about it, just to see what would happen, but decided that probably wasn't a good idea. There was more to the sign indicating it was too far to walk out from this point, hence, the reason to call for help. We also wondered if this was for those ATVers and 4-wheelers or the illegals crossing the border.

We finally found an old copper mine, whether it was the Betty Lee or not, I'm still not sure

We found this cave of sorts near the copper mine. It would make a nice shelter and was probably home to some Indian family 300 years ago.

Yuma, AZ, then Christmas in Oklahoma

After leaving the Slabs mid December, I headed to Yuma, AZ, for a few days. I met up with some friends for a night of bbq at Famous Dave's, then on to a singles dance later.

There were 31 of us if I counted correctly. So you are only seeing a few. I believe we took up 5 booths and 3 tables pulled together, and several were seated at the bar.

There is dancing almost every night somewhere in Yuma. But at least once a month, if not more often, there is a singles dance. Most of the dances are held at various RV parks and have live bands, usually country.

And then I had a 1200 mile trip to Eufaula, OK, to have Christmas with my parents and youngest son. While I was there my dad celebrated his 85th birthday.

Mom, Dad and Sam

Mom, Dad and me.

My son's jeep. He likes the mud. But I figure you would never have guessed. He assured me that he keeps the front windshield and drivers window clean.

Following a week stay in Eufaula, I headed to Oklahoma City, stopping on the way in Choctaw, OK, to visit friends. Art, Sarah and their girls, Alyssa, Kylie and Audrey, are my extended family and I try to see them whenever I can. And BTW, it was Kylie's 6th birthday on the day I stopped by. After a few hours visit, I moved on to OKC, where I stayed with my friend, Ginger. It was New Years Eve, so we went and had dinner out, then came back and she made home made eggnog and oh, was it good. She didn't make it to midnight, but I did, barely.

Thanksgiving

I realized I never posted about my trip to South Dakota to see my new granddaughter and staying through Thanksgiving. I usually don't go north where it is cold, but this was a very special occasion. We had light snow and cold while I was there. I left Phoenix and the temps were in the high 70s, and when I got off the plane in Sioux Falls it was 29 degrees. Brrrrrr.

Prepping the turkey for frying.

Stealing pieces of crispy turkey after it was done. Yum, Yum!

The 3 older brothers of Caitlin.

Uncle Chris, with Caitlin, and Brian watching Bob cook.

Even at 10 days, she has a sweet personality.

San Diego and the Slabs

Here are a few pictures from my time in San Diego as well as 'the slabs'.

Standing on the beach behind the Hotel Del Coronado

Standing in front of the USS Midway

Looking down onto the deck of the USS Midway. I didn't count them, but I bet there were close to 2 dozen aircraft and helicopters on deck.

In front of the old lighthouse at Cabrillo National Monument

Here are some pictures from the slabs. Someone lives in this.

This is the 'shower'. Water comes from a nearby hot spring, so the water is warm. Many people really do shower here daily. I was checking the water temp and it was too cold for me.

This is one of the local clubs at the slabs. On Saturday nights they have live music and maybe even some dancing.

The name of this club is The Range

You can see various groups put up signs so you can find them

They even have a community bulletin board

And a church

This lets you know you have arrived

We played a 9 hole round of golf at Gopher Flats, the local course

They provide the clubs and balls and even the score cards

Here is the library. Very well organized as you can see. There was even a room to play cards, put together puzzles or play games.

But the most famous of all places is Salvation Mountain. You can google this place and find out more, but Leonard Knight has been building this place for over 20 years. It is his life's work to share the message of God's love. He has been filmed in "Into the Wild", and been documented on History or Discovery Channel. I understand there is even a bill in congress to make this place a national historic site. If you want more info, I suggest you google 'salvation mountain'. There is just too much to try and write about.

The paint used has all been donated. He also uses bales of hay and old tires to create this place.

New Computer and Camera

I now have a new computer and amazingly was able to recover most of my data before my old computer died completely. And yesterday I bought a new camera as well. So now I am back up to speed. In the meantime I did borrow a camera and took some pictures of where I have been. But I still don't have the software loaded to resize my photos, so it will still be a while before I get totally caught up. 

After returning from SD, I headed to San Diego. There were only about 7 of us there, but we had a good time. I went on a wonderful self-guided tour of the USS Midway. We were staying at Silver Strand State Beach in San Diego Bay and had a great bike trip to Coronado. Of course we had to walk around the Del Coronado Hotel, one of the oldest wooden hotels (built in 1885) in existence. And it is still one of the finest hotels around. We then continued our bike trip around Coronado, finally finding a great Mexican restaurant for lunch before biking back home.

From San Diego we headed towards the Slabs, or Slab City as some say, in Niland, CA, on the east side of the Salton Sea. This was my first time to the slabs, and I can say it is an experience. Until I get my pictures posted, if you want to get an idea of what it is, then check out these blogs: www.lifeontheopenroad.blogspot.com and www.roamingbarabara.blogspot.com They both have some great info and pictures about the slabs. 

I am now in Yuma, staying at one of the Escapees parks. There are quite a few WINs here, and a group of us got together for some fish and dancing at the Moose Lodge Friday evening and then headed over to Mickey B's, a local bar and dance club. I expect we will get down to Mexico while we are here too.