Soaking Up Alajuela

We are feeling comfortable here in Alajuela. This is more of a Tico town and the prices are reasonable.

Staying at Charly's Place, we are meeting new friends from Costa Rica, the US, Canada, & Italy. And Charly himself is quite the entertainer.

Everyone we meet teaches us something new about Costa Rica, and the process of becoming a resident in this warm and lovely place.

There's a Catholic church near the main plaza.

The sun sets n the West here.

The pavilion in the park is a break dance venue tonight.

Yup that would break most of  us.

Cheerleader training? Really?

Man!  You got mad skills!

You can throw her, but don't drop her.

Elbow pads on. Now hop, hop, hop ...

A paved composition.

An urban building composition. Sorry about the contrast  problems - still learning my new camera.

The Deceased national hero had a hedgehog haircut. Now he has a museum.

Meet Charly our host.

must ... ring ... bell

In Search of the Electric Oxcart

Rambling around the Central Valley again. This time NW to the towns of Grecia and Sarchi.

Grecia is a regional center for agriculture. It is clean, and a definite residential possibility.

Sarchi is known for woodwork, furniture and crafts. 200 shops strung out along the road for several miles offer everything from deluxe wood furniture to painted trinkets. Who buys this stuff?

The elaborate painted decoration of oxcarts has become the national trademark of Costa Rica, similar to Kahlo's lillies in Mexico.

There's a Catholic cathedral near the main plaza in Grecia. Duh.

More importantly, there is time to sit on the bench and talk.

Music in the park, courtesy of Ecuadorian musicians.

Excellent salad.  Safe to eat salad greens and drink the water in Costa Rica!

Candied figs and espresso. it don't git no better than that.

What's my next move?

Friendly locals.

Sarchi has a Catholic church near the main plaza. Double duh.

Witness the giant electric oxcart in its natural habitat.

Saw a few carts hauling coffee. Not this one.

Beautiful piece of art on this bench! Oh, and it's nicely painted too.

The paint job - up close 

To Poas - or not to Poas

Volcan Poas is active, and it's only about 20 miles from Alajuela where we are staying. 

It was an easy decision to go up to almost 9,000 feet and experience wilderness.

The main caldera is smokin' hot.

Fields of ash.

Plenty of time to think up here.

My head's bigger than the caldera lake.

It is so acidic down there.

This feels incredible!!

Nice form dude.

This couple is open to new experiences. (abierto means open)

Chillin' at Bostos Lake, which has been chillin' for centuries.

Just a little bryophyte.

A tangle of color.

Sombrilla de Pobre (Poor man's umbrella) is 3 feet across.

My new camera has macro! Stay tuned.

Escallonia flowers.

First Impressions

We're not in Sultan anymore, for sure.




And we're finding that Costa Rica is certainly different from Ecuador or Colombia!













When listing out the qualities that we're looking for in a country, we forgot something.


We neglected to realize how nice it would be to live somewhere where lots of the people are happy.


Yes, happy, joyful, playful, sometimes giggling people. Adults. Odd but fascinating.










My first impression is that I'd like to stick around here long enough for that happy thing to infect both of us.


That'd be worth the price of admission.












But first we have to decompress from months of stressing over getting here.



We're just plain strung out on stress - and pretty tired overall.






More first impressions: Tap water is safe to drink in Alajuela.

 A lot broader range of consumer goods are available here than in South American places we've recently visited.

The food is good - both good tasting and reportedly safe. The people know much more about food safety.

I haven't seen a street dog yet.

 There are no street addresses and NONE of the streets are labeled with names - anywhere (try to wrap your head around that one). Guess we'll have to ask the (also friendly) cops.

The marketplace reminds me a lot of Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles as it takes up one full city block, is indoors, and has permanent stalls - plus it just feels a lot like Grand Central Market.

Tomorrow we're taking a bus out of town, heading up either to the Poas Volcano or part way up the volcano to a coffee growing and processing plantation.

 If we opt to go to the coffee plantation, we'll have to hitch hike part of the way.

 That's a funny thought: a couple of old farts like us hitch hiking. We'll decide tomorrow.

San Diego Stopover

A Friend and 2 Brothers:


Jeff's son, Gus, came along with us for our grand Saturday and Sunday San Diego farm tour.

We just couldn't leave the country until Gus met a few key people. First stop was the Blue Heron Farm B&B which Andrea owns and operates.

Andrea's a bit of a serendipitous acquaintance. My brother Tim knows her and speaks of her quite fondly.
While on Jeff's side she's Gus's grandfather's sister - that he hasn't seen since he was a small child.

Andrea is such a warm, welcoming woman, glad to show us her whole operation and to tell us her own reasons for loving Costa Rica (birds!). She actually sighted a Green Towhee on her place! If you're a birder you know how very rare that would be.

Have you ever tasted the fruit from a Japanese raisin tree? We did. Thanks you so much Andrea!

Strawberries ripening for next week. Black plastic mulch system controls weeds, prevents rot, reduces water usage.

A Jackson Pollack-esque shoe.

Sunday started with a lovely breakfast at Connelly Farms where Neil, Ann, Ryan and his young family practice farming without toxic chemicals and have an open farm stand every Saturday. The artichokes, goats, turkeys, and blood oranges made us feel right at home.

On Sunday afternoon we strolled around Connelly Gardens, only a half mile down the road. Tim shared his farming philosophies, showed us the field crops, and explained how his hydroponic houses work.

I'm so proud of my brothers!!

I'd SO much love to live near them. We'll see . . . Maybe someday they'll visit us in Costa Rica - or Panama - or wherever the heck we end up.

Thank you San Diego for all the warm and welcoming family and friends!

And now I'll say farewell to you. And you. And you.
We truly do love you all.

We've said our goodbyes to everyone.
We're finally departing to lands unknown.
Hold on tight. The next chapter has already begun.