Mike and Shirley have bought a house and property in Costa Rica which they hope to move to permanently in the future. We drove down to LI, stayed to visit a couple of days, then Bob drove us to Shirley's son's house in Port Jefferson and he drove us to JFK airport. It's an amazingly easy 5.5 hour direct flight to San Jose. Shirley's sister met us at the airport, we picked up a rental car and started the 2 hour drive to Shirley's parent's home. It's night time, some rain and not a pleasant drive, but we arrive safely and spend the night there. The next day with 2 cars packed to the MAX, Mike, Shirley, sister, Shirley's mom and dad, Billy and I head to the small town of Los Angeles near the tourist center of La Fortuna. It is a beautiful drive over mountains and through the countryside.
We arrive at Mike and Shirley's house, a big 2 story on quite a few acres of land with a stream and a resident sloth on the property. The house needs some renovation and the property needs some more cleanup (a lot has been done already). Over the next 10 days we do some help around the house, but also do some sight-seeing. We visited La Fortuna, the small tourist town about 10 miles away, took a river excursion on the Rio Caño Negro up near the border of Nicaragua, went on a rainy tour over the Hanging Bridges, walked around the Arenal Volcano, marveled at the botanical gardens, and enjoyed our time around the house sipping tea on the covered patio, watching the birds and lizards, trying to speak a little Spanish, and being with Mike and Shirley and Shirley's family. Shirley's parents come from BIG families of many siblings so there are too many cousins to even count! Shirley brought back cuttings from the botanical garden run by a relative and we literally just stuck them in the ground...and they grow! Many of the plants that we consider in-door plants grow prolifically here.
We arrive at Mike and Shirley's house, a big 2 story on quite a few acres of land with a stream and a resident sloth on the property. The house needs some renovation and the property needs some more cleanup (a lot has been done already). Over the next 10 days we do some help around the house, but also do some sight-seeing. We visited La Fortuna, the small tourist town about 10 miles away, took a river excursion on the Rio Caño Negro up near the border of Nicaragua, went on a rainy tour over the Hanging Bridges, walked around the Arenal Volcano, marveled at the botanical gardens, and enjoyed our time around the house sipping tea on the covered patio, watching the birds and lizards, trying to speak a little Spanish, and being with Mike and Shirley and Shirley's family. Shirley's parents come from BIG families of many siblings so there are too many cousins to even count! Shirley brought back cuttings from the botanical garden run by a relative and we literally just stuck them in the ground...and they grow! Many of the plants that we consider in-door plants grow prolifically here.
