The rainy season ...

is not only rainy, but it is humid as well. nothing gets completely dry. I can only attest to the period since November 11, and the rumor is that we will shift gears soon, perhaps by the weekend when the Nov. 23 First Annual Rancho Amigos Motocross Club will apply their everyday transportation to the jungle paths in an attempt to imitate an extreme sport.

The national beer company has provided a beer tent. Imagine! Socialized beer! I will let you know if beer has to be held in the left hand.

At 12:40 PM, on November 11,...

...Spirit Air will connect me to the beautiful Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) to the west(?) of metropolitan San Jose, Costa Rica, for the winter dry season. Since I was unwilling to pay extra for an assigned seat I will not have had a chance to watch the Russian Navy exercise with the Venezuelan Navy in the Caribbean. Also, by limiting my round-trip fare to $403 I will only have one stuffed duffle bag and my backpack to carry down to the bus stop. According to my daily weather reports the temperature will be reaching 76 degrees F (-32/2=22C).

I want to visit the 7th Ave book store, the national map place, and the Tracopa bus station before they close. I haven't yet decided between the familiar and cheap spartan backpacker Gallileo Hostel and something closer and more expensive ($40+) downtown.

The one thing that I can count on is that it will be an adventure. Perhaps it will rain in the afternoon. I want to buy my bus ticket for about 6:00 AM if the schedule hasn't changed. This will get me over the mountain of death (Cerro del Muerte) before the afternoon clouds rise to obscure the grande vistas. For me, the trip is a seven-and-a-half-hour tour of a dozen or more ecological zones.

My youngest son has recommended that this blog is the best place to post my weekly journals. In the past, I have published a photo-laden attachment to an e-mail to a list of about 50 friends and relatives. You can be added to the list by sending your e-dress to
costajournal07@yahoo.com
or if you agree with my son...comment, here,
gracias, pura vida

Continuing Education

I'm trying to become less "technologically challenged" and perhaps will even reach the point of becoming proficient. Click the triangle to see a short slideshow. Clicking on the lower left corner will take you to see lots of other slideshows.

My objectives are to "embed" some slide shows for you to visit that don't force you to look at them if you are busy.



I also trying to learn how to download full-sized books that I can read at my leisure. Hopefully, this post won't become too complicated.

Over on the right are easy links to important documents that I refer to so much that you may enjoy not having to look them up. I didn't include the Bible, but you probably already have one. If you really want the "whole truth" about how 25% of the other folks in the world think, I also recommend the Koran(Queran?). Create your own spin!

We're back!

Having run out of time and money at the same time, the house has now been closed up with shutters and doors. We have returned to Hastings and a full schedule of birthday celebrations and visits with grandchildren. After six months of building the new house with a fantastic crew of six neighbors who spoke no English I have gained a vocabulary of construction terminology, a tenuous grasp of metric measurements, and an appreciation of techniques used where labor is not expensive.