Thursday Nov 12

Roger, Jeanie, Charlie & I took COHO, Roger & Jeanie's boat to Marsh Harbour yesterday.
Jeanie & I went to Ladies Lunch at Wally's. I was surprised to see I think it was 21 Ladies for lunch. The count has been low because there are not a lot of people here yet but we sure had a crowd yesterday. It was nice to see everyone.
I went to run today. First time in a couple of months. I ran 30 minutes and felt good. I had visions of having to lay down on my fat rolls and roll back but I felt good all the way. I will never learn that I cannot eat the same when I am running and when I am not running. It is so much harder to run carrying all those extra pounds.
It has turned a little chilly so I baked this evening - bread, biscuits and cookies.
Gosh now I will have to run even more.
We are all going to Hibiscus for lunch tomorrow. I will run in the morning.
I am addicted to my farm on Facebook. I am spending(wasting) too much time with it.
I have not finished my Christmas tablecloth yet.
All for now

Sunday Nov 8

Roger & Jeanie came in yesterday. I invited them to have dinner with us last night. I tried to talk Paul into going out to get lobsters but he would not. I usually think of my self as a pretty decent cook. I made a roast, mashed potatoes,( Wink I am getting in practice for your arrival) gravy, cauliflower, salad and Artisan Bread -- so far so good. Then I mad a simple batch of brownies ( Jonathan I was thinking of you). After their normal cooking time they were still very runny -- no problem let them cook a little longer --5 minutes -- still very runny, check to be sure gas is still on --normal, check temperature -normal. So another 10 minutes--remember they are very runny. 10 minutes still runny -- then on comes the old light bulb(is my light bulb getting too old?) I forgot to put the eggs in. I have this nice batch of pecan brownies. I beat 2 eggs and stirred them into the batter 15 minutes later I had an "experiment". Duly warned Roger, Jeanie, Paul and I dug in-to my surprise they were fine.
I have been working on another tablecloth -- that makes number 8, everybody needs 8 tablecloths right? This is a Christmas one. I am almost done with the tablecloth and now need to make the matching napkins. With Roger & Jeanie now occupying their house I have to sew on the boat -not nearly as convenient.
I have heard from a lot of people who are waiting in West Palm for a crossing window. I don't see any very soon. I am glad we came when we did.
Time to watch the NASCAR race - at this point I just want the season to be over and hope for a MUCH better next year.
All for now.

Nov 3 Pappy's Land

I can't believe it has been so long -- guess I will try to bring everything up to date.
Last post we were still in Georgia. We finally got out of Brunswick GA on Monday Oct 19. Doug & Leslie,Happy Clamz, met us in Brunswick and after a fun evening with them, Wayne & Leslie, Easy Duet, Teresa & Jerry, Shalala at Longhorn steak House we we ready to leave Brunswick.
We had to wait until Monday because the fuel place was not open on the weekend and by waiting the cost of fuel went up 30 cents. Off to a good start!
We did get underway. We anchored at King George River in Florida.
Tuesday we said so long for now to Doug & Leslie. They are going home to Gainesville for a few weeks then coming to join us in The Bahamas.
We anchored at Fort Mantanzas, a favorite of ours. This is the first place we had water clear enough for Paul to dive on the props for an inspection before we head across the Gulf Stream. Lots of current by clear water.
This is a nice place to hear the ocean and enjoy the stars.
Next day we stopped in Daytona to pick up some decorations for the commodores ball in February.
We anchored near Titusville.
We passed Melbourne Beach and gave Paul & Connie a call. They came out on the balcony to wave as we went by.
It was so great to be traveling again. I never get tired of watching the dolphins and still get a thrill watching them in our bow wake. We saw a few Manatees and a couple of Bald Eagles, lots of Osprey and several groups of White Ibis.
Not a lot of boat traffic--guess we are a little early.
We anchored by Hutchinson Island.
The trip from there on down to West Palm still keeps me in awe with all the beautiful obviously EXPENSIVE homes. Where does all the money come from? Sure passed us by.
We decided to go into North Palm Beach Marina for one night which turned into 2 nights.
Our friend Susan was very generous with her car for us to run all of our last minute errands.
Paul has been using my old Dell laptop for our satellite weather. We saw that Best Buy had a great deal on a new Toshiba with the new Windows 7 so he got one to replace my old Dell that took forever to boot up. We took a look at TVs while we were there and decided to Finally replace our at least 15 year old TV. We did get a flat screen but cannot get a digital because it will not work with our expensive KVH satellite receiver. But at least I have a great new TV, 26in, to watch my NASCAR races.
We had dinner at Susan's both nights.
We watched all the weather reports and decided to leave Sunday morning.
Our crossing was not our best but not our worst by far. We had some rollers from the north that had us bobbing around like a cork every so often but I could still go downstairs whenever I wanted. We also had a Verizon signal for the first 2 hours so I played on the Internet until I lost the signal.
Once we got on the Bahama Bank it was flat calm and a beautiful trip. My satellite phone that only works every blue moon always seems to give me a signal long enough to call back to the states to say we have arrived safe & sound. We probably should have stopped at Mangrove but Paul wanted to push on to Great Sale. He was pretty tired when we got there well after dark. But it was so beautiful with the stars so bright -- same stars as in the US but out in the middle of nowhere with no lights and no pollutions there are millions of brilliant stars. Paul & I both are still impressed with the beautiful water.
After a peaceful night at Great sale we headed on to Spanish Cay. We have cleared customs there the last 3 years and Paul wanted to clear there again. They are now charging $50 if you just pull in and clear customs but nothing if you spend the night in the marina and pay the marina fees so we decided to spend the night-- it was OK but then we had to pay $20 for electric also. They would not let us run our generator. We were going to go swimming in the pool but the mosquitoes were too bad.
The next day I went shelling on the beach while Paul cleared customs then we left.
I had checked my email at Spanish. I had one from Bob & Judy Williams. They sent there SPOT tracking numbers so I was able to track their trip the previous day from Ft Lauderdale to Great Sale. By the time we finally got away from Spanish they were close behind us and did pass us near Green Turtle Cay.
We came on to Tahiti Beach to anchor. It was as beautiful as I remembered. We sat on the bow and enjoyed a beautiful evening -- the only boat in the anchorage.
Low tide was a little after 9AM so Paul put the dinghy down and I went shelling on Tahiti Beach. Those of you who have visited us here know that is a favorite place for me. The shelling was not all that great but I enjoyed every minute.
We headed on into Marsh Harbour and in the Conch Inn Marina.
Susan had arrived( by airplane) at noon with her new dog Charlie. We had dinner with Susan & Charlie.
Paul washed the boat then we left about noon. The tide was still low when we got to Man O War so we anchored in front of Pappy's Land and went swimming. The water was FANTASTIC!! This one of the many reason we wanted to come early. The water temperature was 81 and the air much warmer and humid so it felt great.
When the tide came in we upped anchor and headed "home" to Pappy's Land. We are so appreciative of Roger & Jeanie letting us tie up at their dock because we love it here. It is like coming home. Annie at the Sail Shop saw us coming and came out to give us a big wave.
Charlie Corkum arrived on Saturday. He had traveled all day so we invited him for dinner. Paul has gone over to his house several times to help him get settled.
Bob & Judy Williams,who went to Boat Harbour, called Sat to invite us to join them at Nippers on Sunday at the pig roast. We took our dinghy so we could come home in time to watch the end of the NASCAR race on our new TV. In hind sight we should have stayed at Nippers -- not a very good race.
Monday was a gorgeous day. Susan suggested I come to Marsh Harbour to go to Stitch & Bitch. The water was flat calm and we just flew across the Sea of Abaco in the dinghy. I really enjoyed the trip.
Mid afternoon the clouds looked a little dark. I talked to Paul at 3 and planned to meet him at friends house on Eastern Shore at 4. By the time Susan & I got ready to leave for Eastern Shore it had started to rain. By the time we got to Eastern Shore it was really raining and the wind was blowing. We waited at Nancy & Rusty's dock for 15 or 20 minutes then headed out. It was pretty rough and we could not go fast. Paul had rain coats for both of us but we both got soaked to the bone. Also it had not started to rain when Paul left so he did not close the boat up. SOOO I spent today drying everything -- I do mean everything.
I did get my sewing machine out and started some sewing. I made a cover for Paul's new computer and got a complete set of napkins cut out and ready to sew. They match a table cloth I made in the spring.
I think that about catches us up and my typing is getting really bad.

Provisioning

Don't know when I will get back to the Costa Rica trip.
I made a quick trip to Ohio, WV and PA. Had short visits with Janet & Ken, my 95 year young Mother who looks better every time I see her, and I had dinner with Kris & John. Spent the night with my brother Roger in Wheeling then back to Columbus for dinner with Janet's in laws to help celebrate their anniversary.
Now I am trying to finish up provisioning.
We bought a freezer and put it in the aft cockpit so I can take more frozen foods this year, translate- more work for me.I think I am done for Brunswick. I will pick up a few last minute things in West Palm.
Now the hard part, finding places to put everything.
We are planning to leave here on Monday. We are planning to stop in Daytona to see friends and pick up some decorations for the Commodores Ball.
We should be in West Palm next week end. We are not missing any crossing windows right now. The first bad cold front came through this week end, we are freezing here in Brunswick -- suppose to get to 48 tonight, any how the cold front has kicked the Gulf stream up to 8-10 footers -- NO WAY are even looking to cross in those. Me, the eternal optimist, I am looking at 2 feet or less the next week.
I will keep you posted.

It is good to see Paul Murgo looking so good.



Paul & Connie Murgo stopped by to say hi on their way from Rhode Island to Melbourne. They put The Rose on the hard for the winter in Rhode Island.
Paul promised they will come to visit us in the Bahamas this year.

Saturday Oct 10

I had hoped to get back to finish my update on our trip to Costa Rica but don't know when I will get to it.
I am going to post one picture on my picture page.
We went to dinner this evening with Dave & Barb Bluto & Fred & Judy. We went to Cilantro's, a Mexican restaurant. They had a Mariachi Band. We had a lot of fun -- guess we were practicing for the Commodores Ball which will be a Fiesta theme.
I went to the Brunswick Stew Festival today. I missed the 5k run this morning but got there in time to see the end of the finishers -- of which I would have been one had I run.
I had some Brunswick stew and I like it but I really liked the funnel cake -- guess that is why I would have been one of the last finishers in the run.
Our new freezer came today.
One week until we leave for the Bahamas-- weather is holding so far keep your fingers crossed

part 2 our trip to Costa Rica

Iam getting tired again so I will try part 3 tomorrow night
I could not figure out how to rotate this picture so turn your head sideways.
Paul was trying to figure out how he could bring this "anchor" home.




This is one of the several pretty little islands we passed on our ferry trip





Paul & Susan on the ferry ride from Puntarenas across the Gulfo de Nicoya to the Peninsula De Nicoya




These are pictures of the Tambor Tropical resort







I found another beautiful pool at Tropical Tambor



Paul found "his place" a hammock on the beach at Tambor.
Tambor was probably the prettiest beach we saw.


Paul & Me at the Bare Bones Inn in Tampor -- looked like a Biker bar without the bikers.



Biscuit was there to greet us all the time. He went to the beach with me. sat by the pool while I swam and sat at our feet during dinner.


Our first stop after we left our condo was at Junaquillal where Susan owns property.
We stayed at Iguanazul Beach Resort. This was the view of the walk down to the beach where I spent many but not enough hours.I did got go far in the water because I was by myself --except for Biscuit. He went with me everyday.




The pool at Iguanazul




Paul coming out of our room at Iguanazul



We were just head out of the town of Junquillal just as this guy was brining his herd into town.



We saw many animals along the road.








After we left Tamarindo we drove along the coast line. Susan looked a a couple of condos. We started looking for a place to stay. We drove up a dirt road and all of a sudden here was Hotel complex. Just our of curiosity we stopped to see it. When we inquired about the rates we could not believe our luck $65 for 3 people - this included a full cooked to order breakfast. As it turned out we were the only people in the complex.We enjoyed a wonderful dinner-- very inexpensive including the most wonderful --what I called a fancy rice pudding. I fell in love with the chef and wanted to bring him home with me. I had a hard time getting out of this pool. The next morning Susan & I each had a Bamboo massage WOW. $40 for an hour and 15 minutes and it included aroma and music therapy.
We also stayed for lunch. I had the most fantastic lobster and rice dish.
I wanted to spend the rest of our week there but we had to move on.




We found this bus -- Paul never forgets his "roots". The name on the side of the bus was Isla de Gulligan










We stopped several times just to enjoy the view



Paul hanging on a fence post.









We were driving down the road and saw one then 2 then more and more, probably a least a dozen of these Pizotes. I got out to take a picture and they come running to the car to beg. I got back in the car in a hurry. Susan got out and took more pictures -- our last pictures -- the camera was full.

Oct 6 --Happy Birthday Paul Murgo

We had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica. Everything went pretty smooth the whole trip although I was a little disappointed at the beginning when we got to West Palm Beach and I discovered I did not have my camera- found out later I had left it in Jerry's car at the airport in Jacksonville where we picked up the rental car. I used Susan's the first week but it ran out of memory the start of the second week. I would have had way too many pictures to post if I had my camera. I will post some of what I do have at the end of this post.
The flight on Spirit airlines was fine seemed like any other airline to me so our $8 tickets were great.
The rental car pick up center was not right at the airport so we took the shuttle to the rental agency -- Our first lesson "driving in Costa Rica" I went to a lot of trouble so I would be added on as a driver at no additional charge -- total waste of time. First off ALL the cars are standard transmission - I don't do standard transmissions -- thank goodness - I was VERY content to let Paul do ALL the driving.
We have been on the boat and away from BIG city driving long enough that heavy traffic is a little bit of a challenge for me BUT big city traffic cannot even begin to compare to traffic in Costa Rica.I have been in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles all rolled into one -- no comparison. Our one and only trip into San Jose we took a taxi THANK GOODNESS! It was raining and traffic was-- ah I guess you could call it wall to wall-- sometimes 2 lanes sometimes 3 and I thinks sometimes maybe 4 BUT whatever there was ALWAYS another NON lane added by a motorcycle or scooter --didn't matter what side on out left or right. There are NO street signs. We told the taxi driver where we wanted to go and showed him on the Google earth map I had printed off before we left home -- don't think he understood enough to laugh at me. He spoke NO English.The map LOOKED like International Highway went through the center of town and the E Calles were east and the west Calles were west and the North AVs were north and the South Avs were south --- could not be farther from the truth. I have no idea where we were. Thank goodness the ARCR ( Association of Residents of Costa Rica)Office we were headed to was on the edge of town -- the edge we enter in -- I would have called it east BUT now I would not call it anything.
AT one point in this wall to wall traffic, after we had been around the same few blocks a couple of time, the taxi driver actually BACKED UP a full city block --remember wall to wall traffic and rain - I just hid my head- I think I prayed also.
We finally got to the ARCR office to get some tourist information.
I had made reservations in a Clarion Hotel in Downtown San Jose -- the other side of San Jose -- that we quickly cancelled and got a room back out by the rental car office-near the airport.EVENTFUL First Day.
Day 2 All Paul years driving a standard transmissions and all kinds of conditions did help him with the driving -- I think. The first few days he was a little how should I say it "timid"? He did not pass on the curves on a 2 lane road with no berm and a solid double yellow line -- which seems to mean nothing in CR. By the second week he was driving like a true Costa Rican and somehow we made it home alive.
Surprisingly we saw only one head on collision -- on a 2 lane road with no berm and traffic was backed up over 2 hours when we got there and we were were about 2 miles from the wreck.We did meet the Brauma Bull pictured above coming down the road -- but it was on one of the many dirt roads we were on.
I remember now I am suppose to post the pictures then write -- so I will write this one and post the pictures on separate blog.
Back to day 2
We did have a nice drive to Jaco where we checked into the condo we were staying for a week.
Costa Rica is a beautiful country and the views driving (Paul driving) through the mountains were spectacular so lush and green and so many beautiful flowers everywhere.
Our condo was great and had a great swimming pool that I took full advantage of.
Almost everyday I saw beautiful birds by the pool. There were some teal ones that I really loved. There was a pair at the pool everyday.
We used Jaco as a base and took day trips.
One day we did a monkey tour. We went in a small boat into an Estuary. I loved the white faced monkeys. When the guide stopped the boat 2 of them climbed on the boat. The guide gave me chunks of bananas which the monkeys ate from my hand. One little one licked my hand - so gentle and so cute.
We saw other wild life and learned about several different kinds of Mangroves. We saw a number of termite nest.
One day Paul & I went to a butterfly farm. It was not the best butterfly farm but we did get to see a few butterflies but also we saw a number of different frogs- the green and black and the black and yellow poisonous ones that Paul remembered seeing in movies.They also had TOO many snakes. I could have done without seeing the snakes They actually had more different kinds of snakes than kinds of butterflies. They should have called it the snake farm.
We took a car ferry ride to a peninsula. The ferry held over a hundred cars, buses etc. We loved being on the water and it was a beautiful trip. We passed several what might be called islands -- Large rock areas most with small beaches.
We had lunch at Tropical Tambor right on the Pacific ocean. I found a large hamburger bean on the beautiful beach -- probably the prettiest beach we saw. I enjoyed the beach but also the beautiful swimming pool while Paul enjoyed a nice hammock right on the beach.
After our week in Haco we set out on an "adventure" as Susan called it.
We went to Junquillal where Susan owns property. She has a beautiful view -- high up on a hill(I think it was called a hill) over looking the ocean.
The hotel where we stayed had another nice pool and right on the ocean. I went shelling several times and found some really nice shells-- that much to my dismay (putting it mildly) the CR customs would not let me bring back to the states.
WOW I am getting tired so that is all for tonight. I will do part 2 tomorrow night.