HERE SHE IS!!!!

Well, it's done, I finally have my new used camper. It was quite a day! My friend, Alpha and I decided to go look at some campers. I had no intention of buying one here in St. Augustine, Florida, but I wanted to see what was out there. She's a real beauty, 27 feet long, 1998 model. As you can see she looks really good from the outside. She has one slide out and the kitchen is to the rear, which I really like. It opens up the entire area as soon as you walk into the room.




The living room is just as you step into the camper and there's a hide-a-bed sofa along with a rocking chair just to the left of the door as you enter. Just to the right of where the TV is you step up into the bedroom, which I did not include a picture of. But it's got a queen ? size bed with storage on both sides of the bed and a closet as you step up into the room.




Here's my dining area. The table lets down into another area for sleeping. I wasn't too sure about bench seating because the table usually is to close for comfort, but this one fit great!!! As you can see from the pictures, there are plenty of windows to let in light.









My kitchen area has some cabinets, obviously there is never going to be enough storage but I will make do with what is available. I can't wait to start unpacking and being in my new home.




Can you see how clean everything looks. The previous owners had new carpet and linoleum put down so it has a real clean feel to it.






Here's my kitchen, the refrigerator is the area with the black border. The previous owners even had a separate counter made, not pictured, with matching counter top. All I have to do is stand it up and put a couple of pegs in and I have extra counter space. It will go just to the left of the dining area.












So here is another picture of my new home. Her name is Sunnybrook and I understand this is a really good line of 5th wheels.

Now here's a couple of stories about me deciding to purchase this particular model. As Alpha and I were being shown different used 5th wheels, Monty, are salesman showed us several and I had decided I didn't really like any of the ones he had taken us to. Just as we were getting ready to go back to the office, Monty says "you know, I've got one more that just came into the lot, we haven't even had it checked over yet, but it's very clean, 1998 model, 27 feet long, let me show it to you." Right away I thought, geez, 1998 is old and it's probably going to look bad and smell bad also, but OK let's see it. I was amazed at the exterior, very clean as you can see, well taken care of. What really sold me on this one, is the previous owners were so meticulous about record keeping (anal would be the correct word), they had an expandable file folder with separate files inside. They had information on every aspect of this trailer, everything they had added, all the electrical equipment, even any work repair orders were included along with the cost bill. Anything I want to know about this camper is spelled out for me. None of the other campers had even a booklet to look at.

Then when we went into the office and Monty is writing up the sales contract, the figure he presented me with totalled the number 10, which for all you numerologists is a number of new beginnings. Then the financial officer came in to give me the final price, which was $800.00 less than what Monty had figured and that number totalled 24, my birth number which is 24/6. And if that's not enough proof for you I'm on the right track, guess what the financial officer's name was, yep, you guessed it, Angel-a, Angela. God sent me an angel to affirm for me this was supposed to be my camper. I am thrilled beyond words. It's perfect in so many ways and the people who owned it before me took really good care of it, they lived in it for 6 years and only sold it so they could upgrade.

So, never under-estimate the power of co-creating, visualization and prayer!!! My truck and my camper of proof of all three. See you on the road, again!!!!!

P.S., the name Sunnybrook adds up to 10 also!!!

FINAL PARTY!!!!

Our final get together took place at a really fabulous restaurant called Citron. Coley and I wanted to do something special for Freckles 56th birthday, so we took both Mike and Freckles to dinner and invited our friends, Rosemary and Dave.

Here they are, the happy couple, Rosemary and Dave. Interestingly enough, Rosemary is also a twin, identical, and was the first to arrive 7 minutes before her twin. Exactly the same time difference as Coley and I, with Coley being first. Rosemary's twin is married to Dave's brother, how's that for a close family connection.

Here's Coley and Freckles and Mike and Freckles. The dessert was a decadent chocolate mousse with vanilla ice cream on the side. Talk about "to die for"!!! In addition to the desserts, Coley and I had a rigatoni with chicken in a wonderful olive pesto type sauce. Mike, Freckles and Rosemary had the pork tenderloin with a glaze on top and beet greens sauteed. Dave had a crusted tuna on top of sauteed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. The food was to the last drop delicious.

Now, here's a couple of fun shots I took with my Fx camera. Can you tell who this is? Pretty funny!!! We laughed our behinds off last night after I took this picture.

And here's the birthday girl, also a very funny picture!!!!
This particular feature is a symmetry camera.

So, my last post while in Costa Rica. This has been one amazing 5months, with lots of laughter, some tears, and really awesome moments to savor. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I had in being able to come here and to stay for five months, but I am now ready to come home and begin the next adventure!!! Hope some of you will come and play with me on my journey!!!!!

PARTY TIME!!!

There was a hot time in the old town last night! Since this was my last weekend, Coley and I held a pot-luck and invited some friends to join us. It was without a doubt one of the most fun times I've had in Costa Rica. To the left is Rosemary and Dave in the foreground, Joe in the dark tee, Marcel in the blue trunks.





To the left is Sandra in the pink and her husband Joe to her left. In the foreground is Freckles with something of interest in her drink. In addition to the people in these pictures, not pictured are Eddie, Peter, Cerj, Mike, Terry, Lily, Danielle, Ricardo, Coley and I. The food was absolutely marvelous as well, with candied plantains, 7-layer dip, potato salad, bread chips with pate' and cheese, and also a vegetable spread on them, plenty of chips, baked beans, and pintos with potatos. Mike did the grilling and we had hamburgers and hotdogs.


The best part of the afternoon, was the water volleyball games we played. As you can see by the pictures, we played girls vs. boys. The guys won both games, but we really gave them a run for their money. On the girls team, that's me getting ready to serve, Coley is on my left and Peter is next to her. Sandra is in front of me, Freckles in front of Coley and Rosemary in front of Peter. On the sidelines is Danielle who was the ball retriever and helped keep the score. Notice our wonderful net!!! We had a definite advantage in that our end is the most shallow.


The guys had to contend with the deep end, which is about 5.5 inches deep. In the front row, far left is Joe, and next to him was Mike, Dave behind Mike, Eddie in the middle and Marcel far left, back row. Marcel is only about 5 ft 4 inches, so he really had to work harder to keep afloat.
One of the greatest moments was a ball that Freckles hit off Sandra's head to Coley who put it over the net and scored one for our team. I'm surprised you didn't hear us screaming and laughing all the way back to the States.


So this was a farewell party for me, but also for Marcel and Danielle who will be heading back to Quebec on Monday. They've been living downstairs from Coley and I since the middle of January. Sandra and Joe have been here for a week from Olympia, Washington and will be headed back on Tuesday, then I leave on Friday. I told all of them if I'd known how much fun it was to play in the pool with them, I would have had a pool party much sooner. You can bet when I come back next winter, we'll have more opportunities to play water games together.

This may be my last entry for several days. Until I get my computer out of storage, I won't have much access to do my blog, but never fear, I shall return. I hope you've enjoyed seeing the pictures and reading about some of the adventures we've had. I send each of you love!!!!!

Going to The Beach

This will probably be my last trip to any of the outlying beaches. My time is coming to a close for this season, so Mike and Freckles wanted to take me to a beach I had not been to, so we drove to Tamarindo to take Negra to the vet. However, even after setting up the appointment, the vet was not in the office, so Negra got to spend the day at the beach without her partner in crime, Paco.

Here's Coley and Freckles on the beach at Flamingo. It's really one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica.





Here's Mike and Negra getting ready for the next wave. Negra has had surgery on her left rear paw, but she did great in the water, which she loves, not to mention how much she loves being with Mike. Negra is a rescue pit bull, but she's a real sweetheart and one of my pet-sitting babies.















No trip is complete without a stop at one of the local sodas (family owned restaurants). This one is quite a lovely one, on the beach, and the tables are solid wood with the thatched roofs. Unfortunately word has it this particular restaurant is going to be closed down since it's not far enough back from the ocean. There's not alot of sodas with this very cool ambience, so it will be a loss for all of us.

The good news is I've found the perfect camping area. I couldn't wait to get a picture of it. As you can see, it's not advertised in a big way, so we almost missed the sign.

Here's the campground. As you can see there's a little shack, I guess if it rains you'll have someplace to go. There's even a toilet available, you can just see the top of it in the background.

Who needs alot of frills? Hell, who needs any frills? I didn't check on the price, but I'll bet it fits into my budget. Anyone want to join me?

By this time next week I will be in Memphis, Tennessee, reconnecting with friends and revisiting old haunts. Even though I'll be happy to be back on American soil, it will be really hard to leave here and leave my twin. I'm going to miss her alot. But, back here again next winter!!!!

See some of you next week and others, I hope real soon!!!!

VOLCANOS AND POTTERY

The story continues. . .

While we were talking to Paul, one of the lodgers at the Blue Dolphin, where we were staying, gave us the name of a tour guide, Ramon Parra with No Rush Tours. It so happens, this is the same name Coley got from a friend in Coco, so as fate would have it, we called him. Here he is as we arrive at the Masaya Volcano Museum. Nicaragua has 25 volcanoes, 7 of which are active.





Here is the hole with steam and the smell of sulphur rising out of the ground. As the story is told, the local tribes used to offer up virgins and children to appease the Gods and to hopefully keep the volcano from erupting. Sometime in the 1800's Father Francisco erected a cross high up on the hill to appease the Gods and to stop the practice of sacrificing people.

This is a replica of the original cross. In order to get up to the top, one has to climb approximately 170 steps to the top.

Here's Coley, having no trouble at all making it to the top. Gleefully she waves at me as I huff and puff my way up. At first I thought I could only make it to the first level and already I was out of breath. I sent Mike and Freckles ahead and told them I would take my time.

















YAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I made it, my tongue hanging out, but I made it. The active part of the volcano is to my right and to the left is a huge crater. Sort of reminded me of the Grand Canyon.

We left Masaya Volcano and drove to a place called Catarina and a lake called Crater Lake, made by one of the active volcanoes in the area. Here's Coley sitting with the lake in the background. You can see by the way her hair is blowing, it's very windy up there. After climbing 170 steps, the wind nearly knocked me over. I thought about Jenny at both of these locations and how challenging it would have been for her.

Then we drove into the village where Ramon took us to the local potter, Valentin Lopez. Mr. Lopez began to tell us the story of how his ancestors started the practice of collecting the clay for the pots. Once it was brought back, the clay was danced on top of which is what Valentin's nephew is showing us. Then a portion of clay is taken to the wheel where by foot, the wheel is turned and the clay is worked into the shape being created.

As you can see, the nephew is really good. This whole pot took about 5 minutes to create. Then once the clay is dried, they use a seed pod to polish the clay after which the designs are drawn onto the pot. Again, the seed pod is used to shine the clay and after that the color is painted on, and once more a shine is added. I've never seen anything like it, and I've made pottery before at the wheel. We didn't go through any of those processes. After all this is done, the pot is taken to the kiln where it is fired for up to 6 hours. Mr. Lopez has been doing pottery for 35 years, but he is the 6th generation of potters in his famil. His store had hundreds of pieces, with some amazing prices. Of course I bought a beautiful red, white and black designed piece, but I won't be bringing it back to the States with me. It was bought specifically to stay in Costa Rica.

We left Catarina and headed back to Grenada. Coley and I took alot of pictures of buildings and churches, but I wanted to put this cross in. It's called the 20th Century Cross. It is just beside a large cathedral and was builty to commemorate the turn of the 20th century. Nicaragua is 80% Catholic, and there are many churches, some in ruins, and many crosses to be seen. This was one of my favorites, due to its' size.

So, there you have it, our tour of Granada, Nicaragua. We had such a good time and headed back to the guest house to enjoy the pool, drinks and games. We all wanted to stay longer, but unfortunately duty called us back.

Hasta luego!!!!!

BACK FROM NICARAGUA!!!

Just in case you don't believe we were actually in Nicaragua, well, the proof is in the picture. Here we are looking fresh and ready to go. Behind us is Nicaragua, in front of us is Costa Rica. Going through the border is quite the experience. We were herded into a little room, with no air-conditioning, only fans, and thank goodness we were the only ones standing in line. We filled out the form, placed $12.00 in the passport along with the form and handed it all to the border agent. Once our passports were stamped we walked outside to pass through "the hole in the fence" where we placed a dollar bill inside our passport. As we handed the passport to the border guard, another one surreptiously slid the dollar bill out and the other one checked our stamp and ushered us through. I'm still wondering whose pocket those dollars end up in, supposedly the dollar is a "voluntary" contribution.

We got into a taxi and headed for Granada, about 2 hours from the border. The driver spoke no English, but fortunately Mike speaks some Spanish, so we made it to our guest house, The Blue Dolphin. Here's Coley standing in front of the house.

This is the pool area, notice the blue dolphins in the pool. At the back of the pool under the canopy was a large table with chairs where we played games and had our breakfast the last morning we were there. We were outside of Granada, about 7 minutes by taxi, so it was very quiet and relaxing being there. There were about 8 rooms to let and the owners stayed on the premises. Breakfast was included in the price, and we spent about $25.00 per person per night.

As you can see we are relaxing in the rockers just inside from the pool area. Mike, Freckles and I were pooped after the drive from the border, not to mention needing to cool off. I've already got my swimming suit on and will be in the pool in short order.

Here's some of the local taxi's. We did not ride in any of these, but they are seen everywhere in Granada.

These are the carriages which take the tourists around the central part of Granada. You can see a little of the color of buildings, very brightly colored, very reminiscent of South Beach, Florida, and also of the French Quarter, New Orleans, with quite a bit of iron fencing and window bars.

Tomorrow, the rest of the story! I'll show you some of the pictures from the tour we took on Thursday, what a fantastic day we had!!!

Until then, vaya con Dios!!!!