We left Meadowcrest, Florida at 4:30AM and Mike drove us to the airport. I had not slept since 2 AM.
It went smoothly. I did not use a wheel chair, but we set one up to meet us in Miami. As it turned out, I did not need it, but it did provide us with early boarding and that was a help. It insured that our bags would not get checked at the last minute. I would definitely need it on the return trip which did not go smoothly.
American Airlines (because they charge $30 per checked bag,) has a lot of people trying to get two fairly large carry on bags into the plane's overhead compartment. Even if those bags are rejected when boarding, the airlines then checks them for free at this point. So, if checked luggage can go through security (no large liquids) it pays to bring the bags. As a result baggage space is limited to the first five or six boarding groups.
Still, we managed partly because we would generally board first, ahead of the rest and so could keep our bags.
My worry was that were I to have to check my bag at boarding, at the last minute, the computer and all my drugs would get checked. Who knows who might pick those up. I bring a carry on just to keep my computer and drugs close.
The answer is to buy a smaller bag that will fit under the seat in front of me and hold those items.
Anyway, we got to Miami and that was easier than I expected. It was just 37 minutes of airtime from Liberia.
I wish they would offer a nonstop to Liberia from Tampa. They used to have one.
I like the Liberian airport, but it is very basic.
We were given a special line for seniors and rushed through the first immigration check. We easily found our shuttle.
It was an hour and a half to get us to the restaurant Cafe Playa Negra, and there we had a grand meal, but a long, long wait of six hours for Dana to land, rent a car and come to get us.
I had dorado (Mahi Mahi) with passion fruit glaze and it is one of the best fish I have ever eaten.
Researching it since I came home, I found that in rare cases people did get sick from it. This is true for a number of ocean fish. On the plus side it has many health benefits.
Mahi Mahi Fish Facts, Health Benefits and Nutritional Value (healthbenefitstimes.com)
However, there is some warning for older people like me with liver disease. So, perhaps it was not my best choice.
I had iced cream and wonderful coffee.
They were patient with us and stored luggage in the office area.
This ended up being my favorite place to eat. There were Costa Rican people in and out and Spanish was talked about.
The weight staff were easy with our Spanish. At one point I could not remember any word for "crispy" french fries, but Elizabeth used her phone dictionary to bring up "crujiente." I had used "muy hecho" which is more a term for well cooked steak.
We ordered take out for everyone and the place was very accommodating. One cute young Costa Rican girl lent me her shoulder with a wonderful smile to get me up steps that were quite difficult. I knew then that I was in Costa Rica.
Afterwards, at Cory and Kate's, we visited the family while they ate their supper.
The house is amazing. Lots of space. I even had my own bedroom and bathroom. Bedrooms are air conditioned. There is a pool and we took a short swim. It was great.
Little Reid was so funny.
She got into spinning on the floor, but her shoes must have stuck, so she took them off. She would be a delight for the entire visit. For a 2 year old, she is cooperative and fairly easy.
She was a bit shy of me. She does not like beards. "Poke" she says as she refuses hugs. I did get to read her a book in which a yellow blop and a blue blop become friends and are so close that they become green blobs. Their family does not recognize them until the families make friends and experience the greening effect. They all is happy and well. It was a grand way to explore ideas of color.
Here she is with her mom and dad on the beach.
Courtney's house is all AC and that is very nice, but negotiating the stairs is not easy there.
We had a good gathering with plenty of talk about the Paul Simon special. Dana thought it too commercial. Some of us liked some of the music and were disappointed by others.
We did have a good meal at Courtney's and some great talk around the table all about finding the age that you think you are, a subjective sense of age.
The conversations this family creates are interesting and great fun.
I made two huge green salads and they were good. Courtney had one chicken, but Abigail cut it up so that it could be shared by ten people.
Back at the house I had half a cookie, and that made a grand dessert.
Kate had to leave early with Reid and get her to eat and get down to bed. We had a good talk with her. Then she went to finally finish her last bit of work, so she could really be on vacation.
There was a great view of sunset from Courtney's balcony. It is a wide view of the ocean, the braking waves.
The waves are huge and great for the surfers. For me, not so good, but great to watch.
Here is Cory.
Here is Dana
We had a grand gathering for a catered supper of interesting tastes.
Old stories emerged of the Reid family. Cory talked about being respected for his ideas by JoAnne in a way other adults did not respect him as a twenty year old.
We talked a good bit about names, how we were named, and also joke names.
They talked about having thought over the name Fern, but there was already a Leif so "Fern" was rejected. Too bad. I rather like "Fern."
Abigail told a puzzling story about a genius who upon hearing that Leif was named after Bruce, said that it made absolute sense.
Nora talked about working hard for free on farms, one that raised goats. It was not always a pleasant experience there.
She talked about staying in places swarming with tarantulas. It seems they go on marches and never give up the chosen direction, so if it is over the bed and pillow, well... so it is.
Over the course of the week Nora shared a number of job stories, all of which seemed overwhelmingly terrible.
At one point she had volunteered on a farm and caught Cholera. The landlady chewed her out in Spanish, blaming her, and suggested they might not get more people because of her.
Cory and Dana and Tara talked about searching for new and better work and seemed to think there was great opportunity in business ideas.
I don't follow the intricacies these conversations, but they are interesting.
The whole group talked about how they had slept as children, about simple beds and at one point Katie drew me in to talk about my childhood bed.
They talked a lot about Paul and also Elizabeth's father. Abigail said she had seen Paul in a dream come by boat and carry her father Bob off when he died.
Dana said that Paul had spoke to him about his regrets as a parent and assured him that he would be around to do what he could. This fits with some of Elizabeth's experiences talking to Paul in dreams.
It is a strange place for me to be. Had Paul lived, I would be a stranger to this entire family. Interesting, but ironic.
I slept my first sleep easily and got up to let the melatonin take me into a second sleep. I left the AC off last night and I liked not seeing that bright temperature light.
This was to be the pattern for the visit.
I sat outside another night, but the moon was off behind my view with only the light visible.
No birds or monkeys were making noises, just the surf, sounding like a train passing.
Nice, fresh air.
Some days I did not go to the beach. It is pretty clear that the strong waves will continue and with them I can't get fully wet. One dose of the salt water did wonders for my back skin. It would not be until the last day that I found the way to surf from my camping chair.
I'd sit and let the waves come to me. They were still 8 foot waves, but by the time they got to me, they were only a foot or so. I did get wiped out one time, but I remembered to catch my chair and even managed to stand up.
Elizabeth was a bit worried if I went out into any depth. One day I did dive under on breaking wave, got rolled around on the bottom a bit and came out very refreshed. It did not frighten me, but perhaps it should have.
One fellow there was drifted over to the part of the beach that is rocky. He could not go out again, but getting out on the rocks left him rather beat up. I did not want that.
I'll have to go more to the quiet beached in Florida. There I can get the salt effect and swim with no danger.
I swam in Kate's and Cory's little pool and in Courtney's infinity pool, overlooking the ocean.
Access is clearly the down side of this visit with stone steps everywhere and no railings anywhere, and in some places difficult steps. Getting out of Courtney's pool was a challenge.
I had brought a folding cane and used it to stabilize myself. That was a great tool.
Another very useful item was the shirts made for blocking the sun while swimming. I did not need to use sunblock on my upper body because the shirt took care of the issue. I was in intense sunlight and never had any sunburn.
The only difficulty was that I could not take off the shirt while it was wet. Neighbor Mike says I should try to take it of in the water. I'll see as I'll use it here in the pool.
I was the only one not to opt for a massage. The others think that odd. I don't really have a reason.
The week was full of massage, yoga, surfing, walking.
We walked down to the little place on the beach to eat. It was fine, but not full of locals. This is a haven for rich Americans, Canadians, Europeans. We rarely interact with local Tikas and Tikos unless they are workers.
So I was not able to practice Spanish, but that seems fine because I am in large part frustrated to not remember new vocabulary or even expressions. I studied before I left, but retained little of the new stuff. When I did speak, sentences came to me from long ago but not from recent study. This is nothing new. I hate being so old and in every way limited. I hate having this old mind. And I hate what age is doing to my memory.
I enjoyed the Robert Rimmer novel, "That Girl from Boston". It is very funny and with old values and patterns. At times it is slap stick.
I did not bring a second book, but Courtney lent me a book from her house there and I almost finished it before I left. “The Comforts of a Muddy Saturday” by Alexander McCall Smith.
One night's food was an interesting pasta medley with shrimp and carrots, a tortilla wrap with grand tastes, Salad from yesterday and a carrot cake muffin for dessert.
The best desert were these rich chocolate cookies. Yum!
On Wednesday I was rather weary most of the day and tired easily. I did not try the ocean.
I did walk solo down to the cafe on the beach and have the typical breakfast of bacon, fried cheese, gallo pinto, eggs, with a passion fruit smoothie. The smoothie did not match the smoothie at Cafe Playa Negra, but it was good. I tried for sausage twice. It was on the menu, but I always got bacon. Perhaps they did not have sausage.
Cory brought a nice loaf of bread to the house, and that was a real treat.
The ocean itself was calmer one day, and I could have more easily got into the salt water. It is complicated because Elizabeth doesn't want me going unless Cory is there to spot me, and Cory can't do that when he is the only adult there with Reid, so the windows of opportunity are rare.
Three iquana came to the pool at Kate and Cory's regularly, and I really got into them. One came up the steps almost right to me. They are great fun to watch. The big one seems huge and so funny when he bobs his head. He does it to intimidate and assert power.
One day Kate went to breakfast with us at the cafe of the woman who caters food for her. Three old Americans discussed surfing at the next table and that was interesting.
They played my favorite Kat Edmunson on the radio. Now there was a strange coincidence.
Supper was a hodge podge of all sorts of left overs. Rice dishes, gallo pinto, a tortilla, salads. I suspect we will soon go out somewhere again.
VILLA DEEVENA - Prices & Reviews (Playa Negra, Costa Rica) (tripadvisor.com)
For three nights we stayed at this upscale hotel with an upscale restaurant, but still outside overlooking the pool.
The room was fine, but not as fine as Kate and Cory's place. I slept on a cement slap with a 4 inch mattress, which seems terrible, but I liked it. Elizabeth had the queen bed.
The place had a wonderful pool and good food.
VILLA DEEVENA - Prices & Reviews (Playa Negra, Costa Rica) (tripadvisor.com)
The chef is world famous. He has cooked for 6 US President's while he lived in California. We saw a scrap book of clippings.
We ate there once with Cory and Kate for a celebratory supper and it was a grand time. Good tastes, and not as expensive as we expected.
We also had a couple breakfasts of Croque Madame (like Croque Monsieur only with an egg on top)
Dana and Tara had a romanitic dinner there one night.
Frustrating was to go to bar for a drink one evening only to encounter only Americans except for the servers. One couple was from Long Island and the woman just would not stop talking. Just what I want to do is travel to Costa Rica and sit with folks from Long Island.
The family gathering one night was all about birthing stories. It was just grand. Each of the women shared their experiences. Most had natural childbirths and many at home.
It was an amazingly intimate sharing.
There also was a Tico story of Thanksgiving last in NYC where he tripped with a pumpkin pie, and it smashed all over the hotel corridor, glass dish and all.
There too they were stuck in a lane of cars that did not seem to be moving, only to find out that they were behind a long line of parked cars.
***********************
Thursday morning Elizabeth and I went to the beach and the waves were such that I could swim and get salty above the waist. So great for my skin, especially my back.
Elizabeth still had to help me stand back up in the shallow water.
Later, we had a writer's circle at Courtney's, and it was really grand:
I
wrote a poem about my brain confusing
Aarvark with Iquana.
Here is the poem:
HOW I TALK TO MY MIND
Not Aardvark!!
“Iguana!”
Try to remember!
Think the pneumonic device:
“The Night of the Iquana.”
Even an old melting brain
Would not misremember
and say:
“The night of the Aardvark.”
or
“The night of the artichoke.”
Artichoke?
Where did that come from?
Perhaps,
That too is coming.
But today the mental melt is just
“Aardvark.”
Avoid “Aardvark”
And “Iquana”
will effortlessly flip
off the tip
of your mental
tongue.
And “Artichoke?”
aha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
“Artichoke” will just
soundlessly
slip
into
extinction.
Just try to remember,
“Night of the Iquana.”
and forget “Ardvark.”
And never bring up “Artichoke” again.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The others liked it and made me make a video tape reading it.
The quality of the writing in this circle was really above average. I was touched by many of the pieces and I learned from each.
So nice to be in central Air Conditioning to have this event.
I then went back to Kate and Cory's and had a long nap in the AC of my bedroom.
Sure felt good.
We got supper from the woman who caters to us.
Dana and Tara went off to the expensive restaurant mentioned later for a romantic dinner.
Our catered evening meal was a breaded chicken, a hummus on pita platter, very juicy pineapple, and the salad we have managed to eat each day. The chicken had a wonderful sauce on the side which also worked great on rice.
The talk was on naming children and there was a great showing of family photos on phones, even some shots of relatives from generations ago.
I had a fine first sleep and then sat outside in the dark while the sprinklers watered the grass. The moon was behind the house, but the big dipper was there to my right as always.
As a young man I was very excited to be sleeping in the upstairs room at Burden Lake and able to see the dipper from the Burden Lake house. It was a grand comfort in very difficult years.
Here the sky is wonderful. The oddest thing is that there are no airplanes. It is just sky and stars.
We had heard a good deal from howling monkeys earlier, but nothing in the dark. It is an amazing sound they make, one clearly developed to give an intimidating sound and ward off possible trouble. We never saw any, just heard them often.
********************************
DANCING NIGHT
The cutest little dance instructor, a 25 year old Argentinian girl led the group in salsa dance, but I could not follow. I got tired and a little dizzy, so I dropped out.
So, it was not my night to learn salsa.
That was disappointing.
Talking with the girl afterward I used the most Spanish I have used this trip. It was a delight.
Pizza and salad made supper.
The sun set, and it was wonderful over the waves of water.
We met Ted and Karen there, neighbors and friends of Cory and Kate. They were originally from VanCouver and talked about that a bit.
We like them and saw them often, and were happy to meet them.
One new food for me is smoothies made with fruit. I really got into passion fruit and find I can buy it here in the States. I made a smoothie with passion fruit, pineapple, bananna and some elderberries, and Key Lime juice. It was great!
*************************
My last night I was up again in the dark and sat outside in a very good breeze for quite a while.
I did not sleep as well, but did fine.
I had the strangest dream that I was visiting the old cottage at Lime Lake with Peter who was about 8. The cottage was all changed and would be virtually taken down and rebuilt, but we could see the inner two by fours. I was touched and sad and at times almost crying.
I talked to a friendly Asian woman and later to a heavy woman named Jane, but no one remembered the old days of my grandfather.
Some guys in their 40's jumped into a boat laughing the way we did in our early teens. It seemed odd.
The place was crowded
One evening we went to the stake and roller blade park and watched the kids. There were some venders and food, but we had eaten too much to grab a taste.
Music was piped in. It was very modern. I forget what that kind of music is called, where a fellow uses a synthesizer to create often bizarre waves of sound.
This morning we will pack up and go to the big hotel and also eat a very expensive and fancy supper with Cory and Katie.
Being away from electronics for 11 days with no internet connection and no phone was a great retreat. I always liked sitting for an hour or so and just seeing the Iguana.
Kate named two of the Iquanas after my poem, so one is Aarvark and the other is Artichoke.
Others had phones, including Elizabeth, but I wanted a break and not to worry I would lose anything or have it stolen.
I brought an old computer that no longer does internet, but is good for writing and has the video poker tutor.
This morning I moved the writing onto my regular computer.
So, I was content.
The difference in this trip from my earlier trips years ago, or even from the trip Elizabeth and I took to Heredia for Spanish lessons, was it was very much more isolated and rural.
It was dominated by English speakers.
The focus of the area was on physical adventures, many of them beyond my grasp but great for the young.
I liked poking solo around Costa Rica with no English speakers, seeing little cafes and meeting Costa Rican people. I did that just after I retired, and I was in much better shape to do it on the very cheap.
However, I also like family gatherings, and we had some grand ones that pleased and moved us.
I'd be interested in going back to Playa Coco and Ocotel, but I'm hearing that these places have been over developed since my visits, and perhaps I would not like them. Perhaps they would be full of Americans.
All in all it was a challenging trip, but a grand experience and memory.
Our shuttle back to Liberia was over an hour through farmland with cows and horses and fields. At one point we saw round bales of hay. I liked it. I got to sit in front and that gave me a better view because the side windows are covered with some bubble stuff that distorted the view.
I got to use some of my Spanish with the driver.
We had no trouble boarding at Liberia and bought some souvenirs and a snack for the plane.
After that the trip was very confusing and erratic.
Miami was just terrible.
I won't go through there again. I'd rather fly up to some place with a direct flight to Costa Rica, stay a few days, and then fly out again.
We did have a nice meal in the Miami airport at a Spanish place. It was very salty, but good. (I'm clearing my system of the salt all day today with my meds helping.)
I had a grand virgin bloody Mary. The place is known for them, and it was one of the best I've had with a spice on the edge of the glass I can't quite place. This did not come for a mix.
Mike picked us up at about 10PM. We were tired and disoriented. It is so fine to know we can depend on a ride back to Meadowcrest. Mike is one in a million.
While we were away, Michelle cleaned our house, trimmed our bushes, did some laundry. She is also one in a million. How do we rate these Meadowcrest neighbors. Finding ways to repay them is very difficult. We will try.
JANUARY 25, 2023 We just heard from Dana that Courtney wrote up the death of a fellow who was on the Playa Negra beach and had a heart attack. The isolation from medical help is clearly one of the down sides of being there.
Tico writes up the Playa Negro beach just a week or so after our visit. A bit scarey when he is intimidated. He is in great shape and will body surf;\.
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