A little slice of nastalgia: Papa Gino's

Two weeks ago I was up in Hudson doing a little work. After a late night at the office I drove down one of the nearest roads and spotted a restaurant I haven't seen in almost 15 years...so I had to go in. My favorite used to be the pizza and the tuna sub. Well, I wasn't about to eat a whole pizza and I really didn't feel like a tuna sub. So I searched the menu for what I really wanted...a cheesburger sub....oh man those are what I was really craving. They didn't have one. Instead I grabbed the next best thing...a Philly cheese steak sub and a big coke. I took it back to the hotel and caught the end of the Boston Red Sox Game...ahh, Papa Gino's!

The goofiest things I have seen on the highway in Costa Rica

As time goes, by I have seen more and more things on the highway and I really mean the highway. The road to and from work is 3 lanes (most of the time) each way. As such, I figured I would share some of the things which you will not tend to see in the states:

1. A forklift. This one was in the right hand lane only doing about 15 km/hr. He did not appear to be concerned about the traffic jam behind him.
   
2. An ATV. I have now seen 3 ATVs bookin' it down the autopista at about 60 km/hr.
   
3. A Tree. Yes, one day I came home and a mudslide had carried an entire tree down into the road...and it was still standing upright! So I said to myself..."hmmm, yesterday there was no tree in the right hand lane...but today there is...so I guess I better get out of the right hand lane!"
4. A man hanging in mid-air. Ok, so he was actually hanging by a rope working on a billboard sign...but he was literally being held up by a few of his co-workers...now that is a trusting work environment.
5. A pole. No joke...this is pretty common in Costa Rica. Occasionally there will just be a telephone pole in the middle of the right lane. It does have some reflectors on it...but it can be a scary sight your first time driving at night.
   
6. No road. Occasionally one lane just ends with no warning at all...or there is simply a really big bottomless pothole. Some of the potholes are the width of an entire lane and literally about 1 foot deep. Hitting them a few times at 60 km/hr makes me glad I am driving a rental car!
7. People. Not so unusual in small quantities...but once a year during the countries pilgrimage to Cartago they actually take up one entire lane on the highway. That takes a little getting used to.
8. Buses. Very common right? Well here in Costa Rica they simply stop in the right hand lane anytime they want to drop off and pick up folks. Again...not a welcome sight when you are late for work and going 110 km/hr in the right hand lane!
9. Painted Hearts on the road. This one I had to ask about. Apparently when there is a fatality, they paint a heart on the road. You would be amazed at the number of them you see...I understand that most are motorcyclists/walkers.
   

I know that I am forgetting some things....if I think of them I will add them.

Our little cowboy

So back in July there is a holiday in Costa Rica celebrating the anniversary of when Guanacaste decided to join Costa Rica instead of remaining part of Nicaragua. It is quite a big deal in the country and everyone celebrates in some way or another. Kade even got into the action as you can see. His school had a dress up day where all the boys got to dress up as "cowboys". There is apparently a word in Spanish for this type of cowboy but I have no idea what it is. What I can say is this...when our maid came in the door and saw Kade dressed up...she immediately told him that he was a very cute version of whatever that Spanish word was. Then she proceeded to fix the way his bandanna was supposed to be...apparently we didn't do it right....oh well....we are learning. Anyway, Kade had a great time pretending to be whatever it was he was ;-)

FYI - I have no idea what the heck was wrong with my camera that morning...these all came out very funny....

Clearing out my June Pictures

Last night as I went back to the June archives to find the Poaz pictures, I saw a bunch of other photos which I missed somehow. So here they are in no particular order....

1st is a picture of Payton on her way to "school". Since she sees her brother going to school with his backpack every morning...she decided to get in on the action!

The next photo is of the kiddos getting ready for thier walk with Jen. As CherkyB may notice, that is the stroller we bought off them before leaving For Collins. It has big wheels which is a great thing to have in Costa Rica since only about half of the roads have sidewalks...and even then there can be 4 to 5 inch gaps between slabs.

The next two are of the kiddos saying grace before dinner. The Lutheran prayer is a little longer than the Catholic prayer so it took Kade a little longer to learn it. He is really close to being able to say the whole thing now which brings a smile to the table every time he "choses" to say it.

The next one is of the boys on their way to the pool. Kade found it smashingly fun to get dressed the same way as Dad (shades and a hat) so we just had to take a picture. Notice that he has a Spider man boogie board (fancy way of saying kick board). He loves his superheros as you can see from the last two pictures. Kade is waaay into Superman as we have covered before...and now he is dragging his sister into the mix as you can clearly see. The last picture is a little "Bob the Builder" meets "Superman" action...a good combo if you ever find yourself trying to fix a broken door when out of the blue an army of Lava Men appear...hey....you just never know!

Volcano Poaz

So waaay back at the end of June we went on a day trip to one of the closest volcanoes to San Jose...Volcan Poaz. As you can see from the pictures the day started out just as any other hiking day for the fambly...lots of smiles and excitement on the car ride up. You can actually drive pretty close to the top since it is a dormant volcano...so the kiddos were able to huff it themselves with a little help. Unfortunately, just as we got to the top...the fog started rolling in which was soon followed by rain. I at least got to see the lake in the crater for a minute but was not fast enough with the camera and lost the chance. So we headed back to the car just slightly disappointed. We stopped at the cafe for a quick bite and a cup of java to refuel. Then we got back in the car and drove over to the La Paz waterfall gardens. It was a really nice setup with the typical CR zoo fare (butterfly farm, hummingbird area, snake area, frog area and stuff like that). They also put on a pretty good lunch which was all you could eat buffet. Then it was off to go hike the waterfalls. Here they have well groomed paths and for the most part it is all downhill (a bus takes you back up to the main entrance when you are done). In the end it was a really nice hike...but my pack was way too damned heavy. I had Kade, 2 water bottles, a cooler, 2 umbrellas, the SLR and a bunch of snacks and diaper stuff....the thing must have weighed 70 pounds in the end. Anyway, we persevered and as you can see from the pictures of the return car ride...the kiddos were totally wiped out. Kade even fell asleep while he was drinking his juice...now that is a good hike!

Maybe that one was too obvious...

So the last poll results are in...and it was a landslide...and yes, I hit my first motorcycle. Here in CR the motorcycles are everywhere - kind of reminds me of Penang. I was turning left and he was trying to pass me on my left...he ran out of room. That dent is from his helmet...yikes. I actually saw him at the very last minute hit the car and flip over his handlebars. Amazingly he was fine and with the help of some other folks who stopped, we got his bike patched up. Then he was off...apparently no harm no foul. Since I am driving a rental car with full insurance I didn't care...one benefit.

Other than that things have been pretty tame the past week or so. We went for a hike last weekend but couldn't find the turn-off...so it ended up being a really long drive to eat lunch. At least the place was up on top of a mountain with awesome panoramic views...can't believe we didn't take a pic. As you can see from the pictures...Payton has started to climb. She loves to climb and I caught her in the act...standing on the chair. She also loves to go into the fridge on her own and pull out apricots. She will just go grab one and then walk around the house eating them...leaving a nice trail of apricot goo everywhere too....the ants love that.

I came home today and took the picture in the upper right hand corner. Now, people blame me for Kade showing signs of being a geek...but I have proof that Jen is ruining Payton!

Lastly, a picture of Kade caught in the act of "playing" in the pantry. For some reason he loves to line the juices up...it is quite fun apparently. Hmmm - compulsive disorder in the making? Oh yeah...Kade's school. It is going awesome. He now leaves Jen in the morning with no tears and apparently plays fine all day long. This week we officially sent him to school in big boy underwear vs. pull-ups...and he hasn't had an accident all week. He is doing really well and now looks forward to school every morning. Thank goodness! And as you can also tell, the potty training is also going very well. Very few accidents now.