Greetings from the cold, but, beautiful Pacific Northwest!
We are home sweet home in Hood River! We arrived late Wednesday evening from Costa Rica. Needless to say, we were hoping for a bit warmer weather to ease our way back into the Northern Hemisphere. However, we got a really warm welcome from Peter's sister and her family! It was fantastic to be hanging out in familiar places surrounded by familiar faces. We had a nice lunch with Peter's grandma, Lilian, as well. As we drove home on Friday mid-day, we were so happy to be making the drive. It was gorgeous. Lots of snow on the hills along the Gorge, some sun peeking out, and misty clouds hanging low along the dark river. It says a lot when you are astounded by the beauty of your home after traveling to many breathtaking sites around the globe. We are really lucky to live in such a special place. I think we had a more emotional homecoming this time because we really wanted to return and it has been at the forefront of our thoughts lately. Relief, comfort, peace and joy abounded as we returned to beautiful Hood River. The dogs were excited to see us - Hazel was doing here usual happy whining performance when we arrived and Daisy's tail was having an otherworldly experience as it seemed to wag independent of her body! Equally, our intrepid, brave, good natured and spunky house/dog sitter, Katie, retains a smile on her face and she hasn't lost an inch of her hopeful outlook about the four-legged race. In fact, our "special" pooches have inspired her to get her own puppy and she is checking out a litter of puppies as we speak! We were so lucky to have Katie watching over things while we were gone - she is a real stand-up lady!
So, you may wonder why we left the heavenly environs of Costa Rica beaches for life in the still chilly PNW. Well, we were just ready to be home. While traveling this year has been an incredible experience, it began to lose it's luster after a bit and we longed to be in our own space again. There was not a whisper of regret or disappointment when we boarded the plane in San Jose - until we had to wait on the runway for 2 hours on a plane with no A/C! We were ready to be home. What a great way to finish our trip - happy, healthy and ready for home.
So, we are home. We had a fantastic trip that we will always hold dear. We are working on uploading photos from the last leg of the trip on Shutterfly and we will send the link along to you when it's done.
Thanks for reading and thanks for all your support over our months of fun.
We are home and we LOVE visitors - come for a visit!!! We are sure spring is just around the corner!
xo,
Kerry & Peter
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Mal Pais
Hi All,
We have successfully completed our offical Spanish Language Courses. We finished on Friday with little fanfare. We had a good time at our school in Flamingo and managed to squeeze in a few days of surfing at Tamarindo Beach. We made a lot of good friends and the school was excellently run and professional. Thinking back to when we began learning spanish in January, it is hard to believe it is over! I feel really happy to have learned Spanish and I can honestly say that I can communicate pretty easily. What a great gift. Peter had a really successful time and by the end of our schooling, he had studied 12 verb tenses and he is still trying to decide if that much knowledge is power or not! We had an okay time with our host family. It certainly wasn't all warm and fuzzy but the family was nice and accomdating. The fine balance between sane and crazy tourism is not a reality here in Costa Rica - real estate, "foreigners" and development are going off a bit here, and our host mother certainly let us know how she feels about it.
We arrived in Mal Pais on the Nicoya Peninsula - just south of where we were in Flamingo on the western coast of Costa Rica - yesterday afternoon. But, it took about 4.5 hours to get here on sometimes rough roads. I wasn't quite having Baja travels flashbacks, i.e. the road to San Carlos, but it was truly bumpy at times. If you look at a map, Flamingo is just north of Mal Pais on the coast. As the crow flies, it seems pretty straightforward, but, there is no direct, coastal route. So, it was a long day in the car. However, once we set foot in the ocean, it was all worth the trip. The beach here isn't as white and clear as others we've seen, but, it is mellow and long and always seems to have a coolish breeze. We are staying at a surf camp right near the beach and it is nice. We spent most of the day lazing around the pool in the shade reading books after we went for a drenching run and Peter had a surf. The waves are a bit too much for me in the morning, but, I can see myself getting out there tomorrow afternoon when the waves are more mellow and the tide is low.
So, we were close to changing our flight to come home a bit early. We are having fun but both of us are a bit travel-weary and Costa Rica is not as cheaply priced as our previous destinations. However, it turns out paper tickets are almost impossible to change, so, oh poor us, we are planning to stay through to the 9th. We haven't really figured out what we're going to do after our ten scheduled days here are up. We may stay longer here or we may head out to see the volcanoes and rainforest. As always, I will keep you posted on our travels. The postings have been slim lately because I've not had a ton to report, but, I will do my best to keep it up.
Hope all is well and Happy St. Patrick's Day. Raise a Guiness for us since all we can get is Imperial and Bohemia - not that we are deprived at all!!
Love,
kerry and peter
We have successfully completed our offical Spanish Language Courses. We finished on Friday with little fanfare. We had a good time at our school in Flamingo and managed to squeeze in a few days of surfing at Tamarindo Beach. We made a lot of good friends and the school was excellently run and professional. Thinking back to when we began learning spanish in January, it is hard to believe it is over! I feel really happy to have learned Spanish and I can honestly say that I can communicate pretty easily. What a great gift. Peter had a really successful time and by the end of our schooling, he had studied 12 verb tenses and he is still trying to decide if that much knowledge is power or not! We had an okay time with our host family. It certainly wasn't all warm and fuzzy but the family was nice and accomdating. The fine balance between sane and crazy tourism is not a reality here in Costa Rica - real estate, "foreigners" and development are going off a bit here, and our host mother certainly let us know how she feels about it.
We arrived in Mal Pais on the Nicoya Peninsula - just south of where we were in Flamingo on the western coast of Costa Rica - yesterday afternoon. But, it took about 4.5 hours to get here on sometimes rough roads. I wasn't quite having Baja travels flashbacks, i.e. the road to San Carlos, but it was truly bumpy at times. If you look at a map, Flamingo is just north of Mal Pais on the coast. As the crow flies, it seems pretty straightforward, but, there is no direct, coastal route. So, it was a long day in the car. However, once we set foot in the ocean, it was all worth the trip. The beach here isn't as white and clear as others we've seen, but, it is mellow and long and always seems to have a coolish breeze. We are staying at a surf camp right near the beach and it is nice. We spent most of the day lazing around the pool in the shade reading books after we went for a drenching run and Peter had a surf. The waves are a bit too much for me in the morning, but, I can see myself getting out there tomorrow afternoon when the waves are more mellow and the tide is low.
So, we were close to changing our flight to come home a bit early. We are having fun but both of us are a bit travel-weary and Costa Rica is not as cheaply priced as our previous destinations. However, it turns out paper tickets are almost impossible to change, so, oh poor us, we are planning to stay through to the 9th. We haven't really figured out what we're going to do after our ten scheduled days here are up. We may stay longer here or we may head out to see the volcanoes and rainforest. As always, I will keep you posted on our travels. The postings have been slim lately because I've not had a ton to report, but, I will do my best to keep it up.
Hope all is well and Happy St. Patrick's Day. Raise a Guiness for us since all we can get is Imperial and Bohemia - not that we are deprived at all!!
Love,
kerry and peter
Friday, March 7, 2008
Pura Vida
Hi All,
We've successfully completed our first week of language school here in Flamingo Beach, Costa Rica. As you can tell from the name, we are having a balanced experience here - beach and surf and study! We had a highly eventful trip here from Peru and almost weren't able to leave if it weren't for some bending of the rules! More on that another time, maybe...
But, we got here safely and we are having a blast. The weather is a bit hot, but nothing a bit of beach breezes don't remedy quickly. We are really enjoying the school and we've been hanging with a cool crew of students. It's been a lot of fun. Last night, we went on a sunset cruise that invloved a bit of snorkeling which was a good time. We are staying with a family in a nearby town and we are getting along well with them. In our little town this weekend, there is a rodeo. It began last night and will continue through the weekend. Peter is in heaven! It is reminding him of good times he had when he was working here and watching the rodeo festivities. We are heading to La Cruz this weekend which was the little town Peter worked in when he lived here years ago. It should be a fun trip down memory lane.
We are both still adding to and cementing our Spanish language knowledge every day. Can't complain a bit. I am sure that the posts here will be less frequent because the internet service here is spotty and expensive. So, sorry for the quick blurbs, but, that will have to do for now!
Hope you are all doing well. We miss you tons!
xo,
K & P
We've successfully completed our first week of language school here in Flamingo Beach, Costa Rica. As you can tell from the name, we are having a balanced experience here - beach and surf and study! We had a highly eventful trip here from Peru and almost weren't able to leave if it weren't for some bending of the rules! More on that another time, maybe...
But, we got here safely and we are having a blast. The weather is a bit hot, but nothing a bit of beach breezes don't remedy quickly. We are really enjoying the school and we've been hanging with a cool crew of students. It's been a lot of fun. Last night, we went on a sunset cruise that invloved a bit of snorkeling which was a good time. We are staying with a family in a nearby town and we are getting along well with them. In our little town this weekend, there is a rodeo. It began last night and will continue through the weekend. Peter is in heaven! It is reminding him of good times he had when he was working here and watching the rodeo festivities. We are heading to La Cruz this weekend which was the little town Peter worked in when he lived here years ago. It should be a fun trip down memory lane.
We are both still adding to and cementing our Spanish language knowledge every day. Can't complain a bit. I am sure that the posts here will be less frequent because the internet service here is spotty and expensive. So, sorry for the quick blurbs, but, that will have to do for now!
Hope you are all doing well. We miss you tons!
xo,
K & P
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
