Duck, North Carolina - Relaxing Chaos

Practically a year ago we planned a Sadowski family trip to the beach.  The process included trying to find a kid-friendly beach, a house big enough to accommodate everyone and amenities that would keep everyone occupied should there be rainy days. We found the perfect beach house in Corolla, North Carolina.

The family quickly filled with excitement and anticipation of a whole week at the beach!  About one week prior to the trip, Mandy received a phone call while we were in Greece.  The call was from North Carolina with news that our beach house was struck by lightning and no longer available.  Within days of the trip we must now find a new place.  What are the odds of that????  There is a joke in here somewhere about why something like this only happens to the Sadowski clan. I am sure that each of them know the joke or can make up the perfect reference much quicker than I can.

Change in Attitudes home in Duck, North Carolina

The realty company helped us to quickly reserve a new home in Duck, North Carolina, just 15 minutes closer from our original destination.  After a whole 48 hours at home in Columbus we pack up the car and we are back on the road.  

Travel was easy through Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia.  North Carolina was good until the last 40 miles.  Forty miles should mean we only have about an hour before we arrive, right?  Well, not on a Saturday afternoon into the Outer Banks.  If hell were to ever be called anything else, it should be "The Last 40."  It took a grueling 4 hours and 30 minutes to get through the last 40 miles.  It was so grueling that at one point Mandy jumped out of the car and walked along side of the road to stretch and move her body. I picked her up when I finally arrived in the car.  Brutal.

We were the first to arrive to the house and it was beautiful!  Three floors of living, open concept design, wrap-around decks, a pool, a hot tub, a volleyball court, basketball hoop and bathrooms off of every bedroom.  This is the moment we KNEW it was going to be a good week.

As family members began to trickle in, the relaxing chaos began.  The week was chaotic because there were 16 people, but in a relaxing, beach vacation kind of way.  Here are some of the highlights of the week:

Dusty forgot his license and we couldn't go karaoke, but this didn't stop the fun.

Sibling karaoke in the living room on a downloaded app.  The Apple store doesn't need to see your license for that!

Megan almost died when her and Jordan got caught in a rip tide

Megan, are you ok?

Mom was taught to pee in the ocean by her kids

Four hours of family volleyball

Volleyball champions

Dusty and Megan beat Mandy and I in 2 on 2 volleyball because I had a laughing attack and then lost all capabilities to play after that

Kids had their own fridge of pop in the basement.  Parents turn a blind eye for the week

Mandy and I have the girls for the night.  Team Elsa and Anna battle in a game of memory.  Team Elsa is victorious!  (Mandy and Sadie). Sadie now calls Mandy "Team Elsa"

Megan shattering a glass bowl in the kitchen.  She was juicing and I am confident that anyone who juices doesn't have the energy to hold a bowl of that size

Blake's catch of the day

Fishing with the boys and catching 2 stingrays (skates actually) off the pier.  Blood worms are messy. Skate barbs are poisonous.

The profound study findings linking the biological dependency between sunshine and drinking beer

The joy obtained by seeing true happiness on everyone's face

No drinking before 11 am...unless it is non-beer

Dad won't get off the beach.  Megan thinks he looks like a bacon wrapped skeleton

Family time is awesome.  So is breaking away for more intimate moments with just a couple of people

Having the deep end during pool volleyball spells doom for that team

Mom spilling her daiquiri all over the picnic table because she was overcome by an uncontrollable hot flash

Jordan fighting off the waves

Dusty braiding his girls' hair...including his wife's

Naps, naps and naps.  Everyone loves naps

Saw a pod of dolphins from shore

Everyone getting knocked over by a wave at least once 

The boys asking if we can replace annual camping trips with beach house trips every year. This request is making bank accounts cringe.

Dad planning his next meal just after eating

Pruned rugrats 

Castle coming along nicely

Curling up on the couch in the evenings

Duck Donuts are the devil...but, sooooo good

Now, reflecting back on the trip, I have a feeling that this is a week the entire family will talk about for years to come.  We loved it.  If you Sadowski's are reading this, we love you.  We are also glad we don't live with the 15 of you everyday ;)

The whole Sadowski clan.  What a bunch!

Prague

Leaving Athens, we spent a long and delayed travel day getting to Prague.  Once we arrived to our hotel, we were tired and hungry and seeking something simple nearby.  

Ham, bread, cabbage and a potato dumpling-like dish.  And excellent beer! 

A hotel employee suggested a little bar around the corner, and that night's meal best represents my opinion of Prague's food and drinks.   Great beer! Not so great food.   It wasn't that the food was bad, but I can only eat so much pork knuckle, sausage dumplings and fried cheese.  We embraced the local fare again on our first full day in the city, but after that we found ourselves seeking other options.  Lucky for us, a delicious breakfast was included with our hotel each day, and one night we found some excellent Thai food.

The Czech language was close enough to Polish that Kasia could understand and speak some of it.  Luckily, almost everyone speaks English in the city so we had little to no difficulty communicating.

A great view of Prague castle, the Charles bridge and the river.

A morning walk to the center of Old Town Prague led us to a free walking tour of the city. This 4-hour tour (with a break for lunch) was an awesome way to get a quick view of the main parts of town and attractions, and helped us plan the next 2 days.  

There were carriages all over the Old Town square

It's hard to be unhappy walking around in the sunshine with all the great views.

The town's history is rich with stories of communism, war, education and religion.  We saw so many gorgeous churches, clocks, beautiful architecture, the Charles Bridge and a castle that was originally built around the year 880.   Prague both told stories and bared wounds of a tumultuous past, yet flourishes today in modern society.  The Czech Republic is now one of the most liberal European countries and although Catholocism is still the deepest religion, an overwhelming number of its people are atheist or agnostic.

Everything was beautiful and different (but very safe) at night.  Too bad most of our photos weren't so beautiful.  I love this one of Kas with her camera though.  

Prague, is by far, one of the prettiest cities we have ever seen.  It is also a highly walkable. We must have walked four to five miles a day, and stolled through four of its neighborhoods near center city.  All the while, we felt extremely safe in the city.  

Old Town is the main center of Prague and an area that seemed to be most heavily populated with tourists.  Here, an old astronomical clock becomes a gathering place every hour for town's people.  As the clock strikes on the hour,  several features on the clock move while a person plays a trumpet atop its tower.  The tower is open for visitors to enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of the town and city.  

Great view of a church from inside the Astronomical Clock tower.

Culturally we loved how the local Czech's gather on the riverbank and parks in the evening to share a beverage of choice and watch the sun set.  It is not common to see people tied to their phones or iPads.  This isn't to say that they don't use these devices altogether, however, there is a strong sense that they value and act upon a balanced social life while enjoying the outdoors and their beautiful city.

Alas it was time to go home.  As we were packing our bags and waiting for our driver to arrive, we learned of our flight cancelation and reschedule for the next morning.  Bad weather was reported in NY City and all flights were canceled.  Oh no! Our driver was to arrive in 15 minutes to take us to the airport.   After 30 minutes on the phone with the airlines, we were able to book another flight to the US out of Amsterdam.  Thankfully we were able to get back to Columbus during our regularly scheduled day because it was the following day that the Malaysian flight was shot down after leaving Amsterdam.  I couldn't imagine our level of hesitation if that news arrived prior to our flight.  Crazy.

The changing of the guard at Prague Castle.

Cruising the Greek Isles

Our hotel/transportation for the week

After Athens, we headed off to cruise the Greek islands plus one stop in mainland Turkey.   It was our first cruise experience (other than half-day cruises as a means of transportation), and it was on a yacht with 27 other passengers.   Because the boat is intimate, you end up talking with nearly everyone, including the crew, at some point.   

Here's a quick snapshot...

-- Six priests.  Yes.  Six of them traveling together.  

-- Three families with kids 12-18 years old.

-- A couple from New Zealand who had just spent 2 weeks in Turkey before the cruise.

-- Three cool people from Colorado.  It was a mom with her mid-twenties son and daughter.  

--A German guy who works in the travel industry and was taking this trip to scope it out for his clients.  He had been everywhere! 

-- A young couple.  The girl is an MIT student.  If you didn't know that, don't worry, she'd tell you in the first 2 minutes of each conversation.

-- An excellent crew! Our cruise director, Thea, was a cute, quirky, sweet and full of information.  And George, the hospitality manager, started rattling off names of Ohio cities when he learned where we live.  Apparently his son-in-law is from Cleveland. A photographer was on the cruise to get some snaps for the website and brochures.  She got herself in trouble by drinking too much wine, having only 1-way conversations (for 3 days she never shut up), and saying things like "I need to get laid."

-- And food.  Lots and lots of food, usually buffet style.  Breakfast and at least one other meal was served on the boat everyday.  

The Stops

Sunset view from Santorini

We stopped daily at different ports and islands. We stopped occasionally to simply jump off the back for a swim in the surprisingly cold Aegean Sea. We took an unexpected detour the first night because of fierce winds.  Each of the stops we made was a bit different.  

During our day in Santorini, we saw some of those iconic "postcard" views with cliffs, white buildings and blue dome roofs.  Kasia and I had time to relax and watch the sunset from a little cafe on the cliff before riding the tram/lift back down to return to the boat.  

The scooter was so much fun! 

Before we stopped at the island of Patmos, Thea asked the cruisers if anyone wanted to rent a car or scooter or ATV for the day.   I think it made some priests jealous that we were able to rent a scooter because Kasia has the "M" on her drivers license to legally drive mopeds and scooters in Greece.  We scooted around the island like pros and we were treated to unbelievable views. Yay Kasia! Late in the afternoon we scooted to the beach, we shared tzatziki and tall beer and watched some locals play volleyball.  The whole day in Patmos was one of our favorites of the trip.

Fuzzy evidence of Kasia partying like it was 1999

We made other stops to swim on a beach or off the back of the boat.  We stopped in Turkey and visited the ruins of the ancient city Ephesus. We visited Mykonos, a notorious party island for the young and beautiful.  We are neither, but we pretended anyway.  We checked out the beach scene in the day, took a fat nap, headed to town with a couple of peeps from the cruise for the 11 pm World Cup game (as the start to our night out) and ended up seeing sunrise from our boat.  We're too old for this shit most of the time, but to experience Mykonos like that the one time we'll ever be there was worth it.  

There is a lot to like about the cruise.  I like that we only unpacked once.  I like that you knew where you were going to sleep for a week, so the travel stress is gone.  I liked getting to know some other people from around the world.  

At the same time, even on the most lax boat, there's a schedule.  You can't stay longer someplace if you like it.  You need to show up for meetings about the next port.  But it's the only way we could have gotten to experience so much in just one week!  

Our German friend took this photo for us to capture the sail.  Because of unpredictable winds, the sail was usually down.

Athens is awesome

After a newborn niece and a fun weekend in PA with Kasia's family, it finally hit us... "We're headed to Europe!"   A kind friend dropped us off at the airport in Columbus, and we were off.   Three airports and nearly 24 hours later, we arrived at our hotel in Athens, Greece.   

World Cup at every bar/cafe.  You can see 3 TVs from 3 different outdoor cafés from this spot. 

We slept the best we could on the plane, but we were still beat upon arrival.  Typical advice is to stay awake and power on to adjust, but we opted for a nap so we could watch the USA in World Cup soccer at 11pm local time.   The man at our hotel suggested the Syntagma Square area near the center of Athens for food and drinks, so we headed that way around 9 pm feeling refreshed.   Some wine and some phenomenal Greek food awaited us!

We watched most of the USA game there, then another stop closer to our hotel before the extra time that led us to witness a USA loss.  We didn't see too many USA fans around Athens, but a few were all decked out in the red, white and blue.

Taking a break from the heat on our trek to see the Parthenon. 

Our first full day in Athens took us to the Acropolis, the site of so many Ancient Greek ruins, like the Parthenon.  I still can't wrap my mind around how long ago these building were first built...make our 90-year-old house seem like a baby.

We made it to the top!   There's ever-present preservation going on with these structures.

In our 2+ days here we learned the train system, walked ~5 miles around the Acropolis, city center and Gazi, and sweated off 5 lbs apiece in the July heat.  

Most meals included Greek salad, which here means tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, onions, olives, and sometimes peppers too in olive oil.   No lettuce.  No problem.  We're addicted.  The Greeks love their food and we are right there with them!

Odeon of Herodes Atticus. 

What we really noticed about Athens though, was that, in general there's a romantic and sexy feel to the city.  For instance, we had delicious dinner at a mostly gay courtyard restaurant.  Although we noticed the preference in this area, Athens doesn't seem to care about sexual orientation nor race.  We often saw public displays of affection with all types of couples.  Additionally, something about the historical buildings and architecture seem to add to this feeling of romance throughout the town.

Can one survive on Greek salad alone?   We think so! 

People leisurely drink coffee or wine and smoke cigarettes at the outside cafés (and nearly every place to eat or drink is an outdoor cafe) before they take off on their scooters or to the train.  People are affectionate, warm and seem to indulge in the little pleasures of life.

The Greek letter system makes it nearly impossible to try and learn any Greek, but the people are very friendly and helpful.  Plus everyone in Athens seems to speak a bit of English.  

For me, this is a more foreign feeling than Costa Rica -- I didn't expect my longing to speak a tiny, broken bit of the local language. I now realize I took this for granted in Costa Rica (because I know enough Spanish to at least get past the pleasantries).

Tomorrow we head to the port and a 7-day island cruise.   We can't wait!  

Photo bombed by a Greek god. 

A cafe near Monastiraki Station. 

View from our seats. 

Louisville, Nashville and Mammoth Caves

During our travels west, we did lots of hiking mountains and riding bikes along the coastline.  The more we did this, the more we became intrigued by the mysterious landscapes around us. Several signs for caverns in the area made us wonder about possibilities in visiting some caves.  When searching for some of the best caving in the US, surprisingly it pointed us to Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky.

Kentucky could easily be a weekend trip for us, so we decided to wait until we were back east. As a matter of fact, it isn't that far from Nashville, and we had not been there either (but wanted to go).  You see, this is how we make decisions about traveling.  We pick a spot that sounds interesting or exciting and then we add five more things to the trip.  When we realize that it isn't humanly possible to do all the things in the time allotted, we scale back to something reasonable.  Ok, back to Kentucky...

Louisville 

No game the day of our visit but got to see the field

Our plan was to hit Nashville first, then make our way back to Kentucky since we will be camping at Mammoth Caves National Park for a couple of days.  Might as well have city and hotel fun before being camping stinky!  As we headed south, and about the time we felt as though we couldn't stand being in the car anymore, we found ourselves near Louisville.   We parked near the Ohio River front, with the city as a back drop, and took a little walk through the park and the streets of downtown.

The city may make many think of Louisville Slugger baseball bats, but as we made our way into downtown for lunch, we found the heart of its livelihood...bourbon.  Bourbon stores and bourbon drinks were everywhere.  Since neither Mandy or I like bourbon, we stuck with something much lighter before we got back on the road towards Nashville and stayed the night in Bowling Green.

Nashville

Large guitar on the edge of Broadway St displaying some of country's greatest!

We rolled into Nashville around noon.  This was just in time to catch a walking historical/music tour of downtown Nashville to kick start our time there.  I have to say that the tour was fantastic!  It was 3 hours long, included a lot of history and exposed us to a lot of parts of town.  I am not a huge country music fan, but even I thought the tour was great.  It not only talked about country music but also the evolution of all types of music that originated in Nashville.  The tour also included the town's role in the Civil Rights Movement, key players in music industry, and neighborhoods that continue to have a major role in music.

The tour dropped us off on Broadway Street, the epicenter of daily activity and nightlife.  The strip was full of bars and restarants.  You didn't even have to go inside to hear the latest bands playing.  A simple walk down the street was like a full  country concert.  The only thing missing was a drink in our hands, and we did have to go inside for that.

Printer's Ally.  Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood are inside shooting their latest video together. 

Just about any place we stepped into had autographed photos, graffiti and decades of wear and tear that told stories of those who made it big and those who crossed paths in these same bar stools.  Nothing in the downtown area seemed to scream over-the-top "old twangy county" until we got to Opryland.  Ahhh, there it is...mile-high bouffants, diamond-studded belt buckles, cowboy boots galore, deep Paula Dean southern drawls and gold-plated everything.  

When in Rome, do as the Romans do!  So we purchased a couple of tickets to the Grand Ol' Opry.  On this particular weekend, the show was to be dedicated to those who serve or have served in the US military.  Although there were no major acts performing that day, the highlight of this variety show was the band, "wounded Warriors."  This band was made up of soldiers who were wounded in war and they definitely stole the show with their renditions of some of the most infamous US patriotic tunes.  At moments, the respect level for these soldiers were so great that you could hear a pin drop in the theatre.  Their message that day was piercing to the heart.

Another unexpected highlight for us was the Pancake Pantry, a long-established restaurant near Vanderbilt University.  It was so good that it was worth waiting 2 days in a row in the line that snaked out the door and along the sidewalk outside. 

Night at the Grand Ol' Opry

Mammoth Caves

Our humble, yet indestructible abode

Mammoth Caves National Park in Kentucky is the caving adventure we were after. We camped in the national park for a couple of days to explore its caves and take a few days to become one with nature.  In fact, we braved a fair-sized thunderstorm in our tent our first night.  We escaped the storm with only the smallest puddle of water in the corner of our tent.  We were fairly certain that we were going to be swallowed by a sink hole that night.

You can take Mandy camping but can't take her away from the latest newspaper 

Earlier that evening (before the storm), we were able to do some exploring.  We opted for a 3-hour lantern tour of the caves.  Here, we were able to hike the 3 miles of caves by lantern light only.  We learned a lot of crazy things about these caves.  For instance, did you know that Kentucky has nearly 400 miles of discovered caves underground?  The national park used to be owned by a doctor who kept tuberculosis patients underground?  A lot of these caves used to have underground rivers.  Kentucky is littered with sinkholes. Billions of years ago, Kentucky used to be the tropics of the US.  It, along with southwest US were under water.  This is what created these caves to begin with.   Is anyone else concerned about the whole state of Kentucky?  The history of these underground caves was mind-blowing. We were even able to ride a boat into one of the caves with a river inside.  It was amazing to think about living your daily life above ground while all of that activity was happening below ground.  One example of these two worlds colliding was at Kentucky's corvette museum:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/06/27/photos-corvette-museum-finds-greater-fame-in-sinkhole-theyre-going-to-keep-it/

Here, you can experience a collapsed sinkhole in the middle of the museum.  Crazy to think about a sinkhole swallowing up a piece of earth at any moment. Whoa.

View inside the caves without our lantern

A Million Other Things

In between travel adventures, we are spending time at home in Columbus, Ohio.  Being home is filled with associations and emotions that we take for granted when we do it every day.  

14 yrs old and 20lbs of love

The feeling of sleeping in your own bed, the reminder that your 14-year-old cat likes to sleep on your head, the comfort in knowing where everything is located in your home.  The responsibility of scooping cat poop and attending to litter.  The convenience that everything we need is within a 10-minute drive.  Being close to friends and family.  Overall, we find ourselves quite joyful about being home and, at times, downright giddy.  It can also be mixed with boredom and mixed emotions of feeling unproductive (like we should be working).

We get this a lot: "What are we doing with our time when we are back in Columbus?" I like to answer that by posing my own question: "Have you ever had a moment at work where you thought to yourself that there were a million other things you'd rather be doing?"

We are doing those million other things!  Whether it be rehabbing our front porch, taking golf lessons, or biking to a nearby town we never bothered to stop in before.  The point here is that there are numerous enjoyable and interesting ways to easily fill your time.  At the same time, however, it is also easy to fall back into old routines and responsibilities when you are at home. We have felt a sense that we should be doing things such as laundry, mowing the lawn, etc.  And we happily do those things.  But we often remind ourselves that we don't have to cram everything into a weekend because we have to get ready for work on Monday.  After five months, this is still a strange feeling we have to fight.

We return from our trips and hear of marriage proposals, break ups, announcements of new babies,  and bought/sold homes.  All great examples of life events that keep the world turning whether you are actively a part of them or not.  To keep up, we try and make sure to reach out to both family and friends in an effort to remain in their lives and schedules.  Below are some of the experiences we've encountered.

Recent/upcoming moments to be remembered: 

Happy birthday Meg! 

1.  Meg, your birthday was great! We were much overdue for the reconnecting that happened that day.

2. Taking Paula to a baseball game for Mother's Day.  She bruised her shin climbing over the bleacher seats, but the pulled pork and the "snagged" bag of Cracker Jacks helped her smile through the pain.  What a pleasant surprised to be joined by Meg and Steph.

Happy Mother's Day.  Go ketchup! 

3. Attending a family member's 80th birthday party where I was told, "I have to take half a Viagra a day just to stop piss'n on my shoes!"

4.  Being able to attend our nephew's baseball games.  There is nothing like the reaction of an eight-year-old who just hit a home run.  Also, the joy and pride it brings to them when important people in their lives attend.

5. Jamie, CJ, Beth, Hollis, Donna Stacie & Anna, we loved bowling for Anna's birthday!  Buckets of beer and a basketball shot competitions.

6.  Kickball and baseball in the yard with the kids.  The neighbor will never notice the dent in her siding.  I may not be the best person to field the ball.

7.  Hosting our yearly Polish Party for my family.  The kids claimed it was the "best day ever." Perfect weather, pool fun and lots and lots of food.  I think Jamie and Grace are now Polish.

Ready for a ride! 

8.  Beer on the front porch with my retired neighbor...at 2:00 in the afternoon.  Dwight has an interesting perspective of the world and is a fan of our adventure.

9.  Exploring many miles of Columbus' bike trails with my beautiful wife.

10.  Having lunch at Phat Daddy's Pizza in London, Ohio.  We never had a reason to stop in London until the bike trail ended there.  $5 lunch and we took much longer than the allotted one hour work gives you.  A woman walked out of a business building next door and said, "That is what I rather be doing" when looking at our bikes.  We thought, "that is exactly our point!"  Lunch was perfect until we sat too long and our legs felt like lead and we still had about six miles to go.

Flip off cancer fundraiser for Pelotonia

11.  Flip cup fundraiser for cancer research.  We had more time to make this a fun event for a good cause and just enjoy the moment.

12.  Volunteer at a food bank.  Why haven't we ever done more of this?

13.  I was amazed to learn that our dentist is following our blog.  A simple reminder that our year off is special and we should make the most of it.

Still upright while kayaking  

14.  Chatting for hours after spending 3 days apart from my wife.  One would think we were already sick of each other.  Apparently not.

15.  Lunches with old colleagues remind us of what we are missing...or not.

16.  Being the only 2 people on a kayak trip in the middle of the day.  I never realized that Big Darby Creek had any time without drunk teenagers.

17. The excitement of going grocery shopping on Wednesday morning when everything goes on sale at Giant Eagle.  Who cares if we were the youngest people in the store.

Porch painted in time for annual Polish party

18.  Helping your mother landscape because you want to, not because you have to.

19.  Being the youngest people in Red Lobster on a Wednesday afternoon and paying with gift cards.  Some lady was celebrating her birthday.  I am not going to guess her age but, let's just say that her entourage looked suspiciously similar to the Golden Girls.  The birthday girl seemed to be the Betty White of the group.

20.  Home projects together.  The house never looked so good and we share in the pride of doing it ourselves.  

Pacers house, Pacers pride

21.  Game one of Pacers vs Wizards game in Indianapolis randomly on a Monday night with family.  Thanks for suggesting it Dusty!  It was an awesome time.

22. The "this should be quick" 6-hour project putting together Blake's basketball hoop. 

23. Chasing Lea in the yard.  Boy is she fast! 

We still don't have enough time for these million other things but we will continue to chip away! 

Why are we doing this?

In between our trip to the Southwest USA and our next major adventure we have spent some down time at home in Columbus. We discovered that many people are perplexed with how we are filling our time.  Some ask out of curiosity  just to make small talk.  Others are skeptical and ask about finances.  Nonetheless, the volume of inquiries led to our own personal discussion on the topic.  All the sudden, we are asking ourselves (again): Are we crazy for doing this?  Is this entirely irresponsible?  Why are we getting this reaction? Why from so many people? 

What will happen if we jump off? 

What part of life did I miss while I was worrying about retirement? 

When we thought about it and looked deep into ourselves, the answer is that we still have no regrets about what we are doing.  Here we are, we have stepped off the hamster wheel of corporate America.  This is something that nearly everyone dreams of doing at some point, but usually not until retirement. Of course many simply can't do this because of very real and very practical reasons. Yet, when someone actually does it -- like us, where the situation can work while we are young and able -- there are such extreme mixed emotions towards it.  "Is one of you terminally ill?" Or "Did you win the lottery?" My personal favorite is when I was asked if I was having a mid-life crisis.

It's understandable in a way.  We're all bombarded daily with reminders.  "Work until you retire!" "Build that nest egg!" Is it large enough? Just ask any of the major banks.  I think they do the best job of inserting fear into your future with their commercials.  "Keep investing with us and we will ensure your safety net is secure." 

This decision -- our personal decision -- was many years in the making.  We planned for this and made sure that we were at peace with it prior to doing it.  There are things in this life that we want to accomplish while we are still physically capable of doing them.  We know that it's different and can be difficult to understand in our culture.  In fact, we get why people don't "get it."  

Keep asking us questions.  We love them!

 

Los Angeles and Hollywood Up Close

The last stop on our tour was Los Angeles, where we would spend a few days before flying home from LAX. I've been to Southern California many times for work, but never to the Hollywood area of the city.  I'm not a celebrity stalker -- heck, I hardly recognize anyone on those damn magazine covers when I'm buying groceries -- but something about seeing the area was appealing to us.  

We arrived in Santa Monica after several hours driving and a nice stop to walk/stretch in Santa Barbara.  Because it was sunny and 70 degrees, we hung out at the beach near Santa Monica Pier for a few hours just walking, people watching, and taking it all in before we headed to our hotel. The guy at hotel check-in talked about LA area tours, gave us some brochures,  and encouraged booking before 10 p.m. for the next day.

What was I thinking? We don't like big, organized tours. We like freedom.  We like flexibility.  We found ourselves on a freakin tour. It's not that the tour was bad.  In fact, it was cool and we saw/learned some interesting information, but a big part of the tour was a simple 5-min walk from our hotel.  We could have just done that in a more self-guided and comfortable way.    It also included much sitting on the bus as the driver navigated LA traffic and gave commentary.  The bus also stopped in Venice Beach, Rodeo Drive, and in the Hollywood Hills where many celebrities lived. 

The next day, we headed to a Chelsea Lately taping. The studio and the overall process of taping/managing the audience were fascinating to see. It was fun to see the show! I was feeling hot as we walked to the car after the show, so I started to remove my vest when Kasia startles me with "uh, Mandy, you may not wanna do that right now!"   Her alarmed tone set me to attention. It seems that sometime during the show, my dress had come untied and was below my bra. So when I went to take off that vest, I kinda flashed Kasia (and probably the guy that was walking past us).  My wardrobe malfunction on the streets of LA had us laughing until we cried.

After the show we found the best Thai food in a Thai neighborhood near Hollywood.  The scary strip mall storefront couldn't keep us from the delicious Pad Thai inside.  We were arriving back to our hotel when the MSG apparently got to Kasia's head.   She turned a bit early into the parking lot, smacking the curb with our rental car.  Damn. We drove almost 2700 miles in 21 days with this car.  Now, we're 9 miles and 1 day from returning it when the front passenger hub cap rolled across the parking lot.

Originally, Wed April   $$$$ was our return flight home, but we managed to score tickets to the American Idol performance show that same day.  Our flight home could wait one more day,.  Kasia loves American Idol.  She watches every week.  She's not obsessed, but she almost always found a way to watch/DVR Idol. As a dutiful wife, I often find myself sharing popcorn with her while we -- I, mean while SHE -- watches it. ;-)    

The show was fun!  Because it was a live show, we got to really see what happens on stage during commercial breaks.   Time to go home.

This car had under 200 total miles on it when we started.  The trip ticker (the large type) started shortly after we left LA. 

Notice any resemblance between me and the girl painted on the wall.?

Santa Monica Beach from the pier. 

From the Hollywood Hills above LA

Big Sur to Santa Monica Beach

Many people suggested Big Sur when hearing of our plans to drive down the west coast so, we definitely added it to the list of "must sees".  Driving down the coast, we anticipated a lot of ocean and mountains, but I don't think we knew just how remarkable this area of the state was going to be.  I can fill this blog post with discriptive verbiage and tell you how we felt in this area but I think its beauty is best described in the pictures we captured along the way. 

We knew there would be some fantastic views, that we would stop in one of the many parks to hike  and that we would stop along the way to grab a bite.  What we didn't anticipate was all the wildlife we would encounter...whales, dolphins, seals and zebras.  Yeah, zebras!

As we almost were to LA, we hit Santa Monica and its is three-mile long beach that draws people from all over the world.  It is just outside of LA and has plenty of activities to keep you at the beach all day long inckuding sand volleyball, bike rentals, walking paths, restaurants and hotels along the beachfront.

Santa Monica Pier view of a kiting event on Santa Monica Beach

Random beach off Hwy 1 where elephant seals occupy the beach.  These seals are much larger than Harbor seals and almost became extinct at one point.  This beach is one of the only places you can see them in the entire world.

Elephant seals: Huge, stinky and fun to watch.

The house of a wealthy couple used to sit here near Julia Pfiffer Burns State Park.  Could you imagine waking up to this view every morning?  The next picture is the view seen from its bedroom.  Remnants of this home's foundation can still be seen today.  This is the couple who named the state park in memory of their friend, Julia Pfiffer Burns

Mcway Falls drops 80 feet into the Pacific Ocean.  Well, it used to drop directly into the ocean before a historical storm changed the landscape.  It now drops into the sand first.  Technically.

A difficult view from the road but, at the top of the hill, Hearst Castle can be seen.  We also had the pleasure of seeing many of Hurst's zebras along the hill side.  As a matter of fact, it was a zebra sighting that stopped us dead in our tracts along the highway.  "Did I just see a zebra?".  We saw about a half dozen of them.  Never saw one outside the confines of a zoo.

The view around every corner was beyond breathtaking.  We must of pulled off the road 30 times to get out of the car, look around and challenge ourselves to find a bad view.  We never found one.

Santa Cruz & Monterey

Leaving San Francisco we knew that we wanted to drive Highway 1 along the coastline.  Not knowing exactly where we were going to lay our heads for the next few nights, we kind of had our minds on the Santa Cruz area.  In the console sat the list of "must sees" from the patrons of Red Jack Saloon.  First on our list was a bowling alley just outside of the San Fran area.  Our drive started too early to experience this alley. Time to move on.  

Best lobster rolls on Hwy 1

Next, we drive by a place called, "Sam's" and it is absolutely packed.  Checking to see if it is on our list, we notice someone tried remembering the name of a restaurant that was a guy's name.  This has to be it, so we stop.  Since we had just eaten sushi lunch for Mandy's birthday in San Francisco, we couldn't bring ourselves to eat there even though they claimed to have the best lobster rolls.  Instead, we ordered a beer and sat on a couple of Adirondack chairs out back.  It is sunny but still cool enough to need a light jacket.  Our view is of a small bay with a few sailboats sprinkled throughout.  Both ducks and seals frolicking in the water and after a couple of sips of our beer, I can see the smiles beginning to grow on both of our faces.  It was one of those moments where you would find yourself saying, "This is the life!".

Every turn was picturesque  

A drink was plenty knowing we still had a full day ahead of us.  As we move down the coast, we are in complete awe of the beauty created by the meeting of mountain and ocean.  So much land, so much ocean and both looking untouched by mankind.  Again, reminders of just how small we are in this world.  Without a word said, we slowly hold hands as if we knew what exactly the other was thinking.

After several stops to enjoy powerful views and take pictures, we finally make it to Santa Cruz to have dinner and decide if this cute little surf town will be the place we rest for the night or two.  The feeling here is extremely laid back and it can be seen by people playing beach volleyball, laying out on the beach or just strolling the pier.  We walk around a bit to check things out and stretch our legs.  We walked the pier and noticed an amusement park and arcade on the other side of the beach.  What a great time Santa Cruz could be for a family!   There seemed to be a little something for everyone.  Next, we make our way into the downtown area of Santa Cruz.  This is when we discovered that most shops were closed and there wasn't much to it.  All the action seemed to be left at the pier but it was starting to get late and we still haven't eaten nor found a place to stay.  Looking at the prices, activities and places in Santa Cruz, we decide to move on.

Next major stop geographically down the coast was Monterey.  Although it was 80 percent booked, we managed to find a place for the night.  Apparently, we were on the front end of a large bicycle race weekend.  At our arrival, we go check out Fisherman's Wharf to find a place for dinner but also to see if this is an area in which we would like to spend more time the next day or two.  Although we didn't eat at the Wharf that evening, the area looked promising for a couple of days of outdoor activities.

We finally made our way into town to have a birthday dinner for Mandy since she only got birthday lunch on her actual birthday. (Believe me, this is better than her demands for an entire birthday month.). This is where Mandy deemed celebration with beer and pizza!

Claiming to want to breathe in the views.  Really just resting her legs. 

The following day we drive back toward the Wharf area.  I took a small run while Mandy enjoyed a cafe beside the bike path.  Along my run, I saw several things I wanted to show Mandy so, upon my return, we rented bikes and began to explore.  Monterey consists of many beautiful homes along the bay, bike trails, parks overlooking the bay.  Along our 8-10 mile ride we learned that we were there during seal birthing time.  We were able to see several babies on the beach but some areas were completely closed to provide both privacy and protection to the seals during this time.  It was heart warming to see the babies curled up against their mothers and the mothers instinctively take to her pup.

The bike rental shop provided a map of several points of interest along the way and we nearly tried to see all of them before our legs began to tell us that they have had enough.  Along the way we saw sand dunes, seals, stunning ocean front, golf courses, a light house and many million dollar homes hugging the coastline.  We could tell why so many people who could afford to live here would want to.

Cypress tree has been on this rock longer than we have been alive. 

Day 2 included a return to the Wharf area, but this time we went to check out the neighboring area of Cannery Row.  Long ago in this area existed a canning company where sardines were canned and distributed.  After closing of the plant, it was a pretty run down area until a famous writer (John Steinbeck) mentioned the area within one of his books.  The area has since revitalized and now consists of shops, restaurants, bars, antique shops and cafés.  While in Monterey it was recommended that we also do the "17 mile drive" which was said to be beautiful.  It turns out that the drive is one through an extremely prominent neighborhood that hugs the coast and also includes the famous Pebble Beach Golf Club (where events like the US Open and the Masters have been held). Money can buy the best of views in Monterey!

Views never get old.  Unfortunately, Mandy turned another year older. 

We stopped off at moments to enjoy spectacular views before making it to the golf club.  When we rolled up to the club, it was immediately evident that we didn't belong there.  When we got close to the entrance to the greens, Mandy pulled over quickly so that I could get a picture.  As I stood at the entrance, I snapped a picture quickly as I saw someone coming toward me.  It was a caddie so I snapped another picture of him on his motorized club carrier and I begin to walk out of his way.  After a couple of steps of moving back to the car, I hear someone say, "Hey Chica, let me help you".  It was the caddie who was offering to take my picture in front of the sign.  Quickly thereafter, he looked around and told me to get onto the motorized club carrier but to not touch anything.  A couple of more pictures snapped.  I could tell that he shouldn't have been doing this.  I thanked him profusely and walked back to the car.  

What happened to carrying bags on your back? 

There, I sat in silence while I held back my tears.  Mandy wondered what the heck happened and whether or not these were tears of hurt or joy.  After a moment of composing myself, I showed her the pictures and told her how kind the caddie was to me.  I suppose that I was so touched because it was obvious that I was not the type of person that was a member of the club (by my attire that day) and this caddie went out of his way to make it a special moment for me.  I guess I just saw it as such a high display of kindness that all I could do was cry...and I don't even like golf!

Monterey was one of the most enjoyable places on this trip.  Outside of the 17-mile drive that I would never be able to afford, it's comfortable bay and areas along the bay just "felt good".  The combination of beautiful coastline, water activities, the marina and a great little downtown area made for an enjoyable stay.

City By The Bay

After Reno, we headed West to San Francisco.   En route, we stopped at a coffee shop and tried to figure out where to stay.  We ended up finding an apartment on airbnb and put in our request.  Then we waited.  Three hours later, we arrived in SF and parked and walked around the Ferry Building area.  We still had no word on our airbnb request, and the flood of Giants fans around 5pm made me sad, realizing that the opening day game in the city was TODAY.  We had planned to scalp some tickets the next day.  For the day game.   Damn.

I was trying to get over my schedule mistake when we finally heard from the owner of the apartment, who was in an airport getting ready for an overseas fight.   A quick call and a handful of texts later, we knew what to do and the place was great.  Safe neighborhood.  Big space (for the city). Reasonable parking garage and meter rates nearby.  And...on-demand tv.   This seems funny to even type, because Kasia and I aren't big tv watchers.   But after road-tripping for a couple weeks (plus road tripping at home to visit family before we headed West) a little downtime sounded awesome.   Our first evening included 2 episodes of Scandal and we loved it.

We weren't sure what we were walking into... 

The next day, after a nice walk and checking out the Golden Gate Bridge,  we headed to the super touristy Pier 39.   It's crawling with people and high prices, but it has the seals, and it was something we wanted to see. They were fun to watch.   

...but we walked out with some swag and advice. 

We had about an hour to kill before meeting our friend, Josephine, who we met in Costa Rica, and we happened to park a couple blocks from Pier 39 across from a dive bar called Red Jack Saloon.   A beer later, we had free t-shirts, free drinks and a list of "should see/do" from the bartender and every patron who was in the bar.  Even as new people came in, they were asked by our friendly bartender to participate.  What unexpected fun.   

Even with that, the highlight of our day was dinner with Josephine.  She's awesome, she was a gracious host, she took us for an awesome seafood dinner, and she bought us chocolate.  Shit! We just showed up empty handed and excited to connect with her.  She didn't seem to mind, and it reminded us of how much fun we had with her and Alex and Sara in Costa Rica.

It was such a joy to see Josephine.  We loved it! 

Shady on the outside...

Before we left San Francisco, we hit a hole-in-the-wall sushi joint near Golden Gate Park.   It was scary on the outside, but the food was fresh and delicious.   Who cares if the only drinks are water or tea?  Who cares about the strong smell of weed in the air? Was it the sushi chef? The table of burly men next to us?  I'm not sure, but those really were the only 2 options.   Judging by the numerous plates on that nearby table, I guess it was the big dudes.

...awesome food inside. 

San Francisco was fun and low key.  We did the Alcatraz tour and a couple other SF things several years ago, so it kept us from having that feeling that we must squeeze everything in.   

The Biggest Little City In The World

Part of the adventure of the trip is the freedom.   Freedom sounds fantastic, and it is overall, but some days it can mean frantic web searches from the car to look for a reasonably priced hotel asap, it can mean blindly choosing a hotel in desperation, or pushing it just a little too far driving in a day.   There's a delicate balance between planning and flexibility, and on this trip we've been on both the good and bad sides of each.  

On this day, it worked out well to have no plan.  See, we thought we'd go check out Lake Tahoe and made our way to the South Shore after a little gold panning in Coloma.   Once we arrived and asked around, we realized that our timing was off.  We aren't skiers, and it was still way too cold for any water activities.   It was Saturday evening and it kinda felt like a frat party was about to break out all over the area we were.  So, we moved on towards Reno.   After some web searches, I simply called Harrah's and although we had to pay a decent Sat night rate for the hotel, Sunday and Monday were free.  Free!  If we can avoid too much time at the tables, this could be good.  

On this day we were Aces fans.  The Aces are the AAA team of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Overall Reno was cool.  It felt like old Vegas, and you could still find ads for $5.99 prime rib specials.   The was a river walk, the feel of a college town since university of Nevada is there, and of course, casinos.   There seems to perpetually be bowling tournaments in Reno, and nearly every establishment has a sign that says "welcome Bowlers!"  The highlight if our trip was a day game for the Reno Aces AAA baseball team.  The stadium reminded me a bit of Huntington Park (though I don't think I'm simply being biased when I say The Clippers stadium is a bit better), the sun was shining and the Aces were on fire.   We scalped 2 tickets and left in the eighth inning with the Aces up 9-0.   On our last night in Reno. We found a little sports pub with awesome food for the NCAA men's basketball championship game.  Next stop: San Francisco.

Highway 49

Surprised by the interruption.  I am going to strike it rich! 

Instead of continuous driving on major highways to get to Lake Tahoe, we decided instead to take a leisurely drive through Gold Country on old highway 49.  This road drives through many historical towns that were created by the California Gold rush in 1848.  Now, many of these towns have historical museums, saloons, preserved and restored buildings, vineyards, wine tasting and little antique shops

Highway 49 is a pretty drive along the mountain range and our goal here is to stop in Coloma near Sutter's mill where gold was originally found during the gold rush in the American River.  Here, they still offer tourists the opportunity to try gold panning and you can keep anything you find.

Intense panning

We enter the very small town of Coloma and try our hand in gold panning.  This is when we discover just how manually intensive this process really is.  It entailed scooping, shaking, brushing off excess and a lot of straining to actually distinguish real gold from fools gold.

Biggest piece of Fools gold found by us

Beauty of Yosemite

Yep, these trees are enormous. 

After Sequoia National Park, we planned to drive to the South entrance of Yosemite National Park. Because it had snowed in the mountains the night before, I called the park to see what driving was possible without 4-wheel drive or tire chains.   Good thing I called, because the road we were going to take was closed and we re-routed through a town called a Mariposa, where we found the Miner's Inn Motel with a jacuzzi tub and gas-powered fireplace.   After the cold, the rain and kicking our own asses hiking, those things were awesome.  This would be our home for 2 nights as we spent a couple days in Yosemite.  

Bridal Veil Falls  

Yosemite is a 1-hour drive from the hotel, but for most of the drive, you feel like you're already in the park.  The colors, the trees, the rocks and the water on this winding drive were gorgeous.   As we finally entered the park, we came around a curve and our mouths dropped open at the sight of Bridal Veil Falls.  This waterfall was flowing and spectacular!  The Spring weather is unpredictable, but it's perfect for full waterfall effect.  

A visit to the Visitor's Center (my personal favorite place to stop at any park because I like to have the overview and it drives Kasia crazy) reveals that we are in luck....the road that was closed the day before is now open and we can drive to see the giant sequoia trees.  Ya! Kasia would say, "It was meant to be."  A long and winding drive and a short hike takes us to these enormous trees.  

The next day we returned to Yosemite to hike a waterfall trail.   It was rated as "moderate" but I think that meant "if you hike regularly, you can likely do it without crying."   We climbed and climbed and took breaks and after about 2 hours, we called it quits and turned back.   Kasia still giggles at my moment of clarity and desperation when I said "What are we doing this for?"   It still is not as funny to me as it is to her.

Grand Canyon was amazing, but there was just something about Yosemite to me.  I'm not sure I've even seen something so gorgeous. 

Amazing views everywhere

Why are we doing this to ourselves? 

Sequoia National Park

On to the next major destination of our trip, Sequioa National Park.  As we got closer, Mandy kept asking if I wanted to visit Visalia, California.  The reason for her question is that my family lived there for a couple of years, about 30 yrs ago.  Wow, has it really been that long? Yup.  At first, I didn't think that I wanted to make the trip because it was about 30 minutes out of our way.  As it turns out, we ended up staying the night in Visalia.  I didn't think I had many memories from the time we lived there until we visited some familiar places.  All the sudden, street names sounded familiar and I knew we were close to where my family lived.  My brother helped me remember the exact address so we went there the next day.  After seeing the old apartment, my elementary school and one of the lakes that we boated and learned to ski, a slew of memories came back.  It is amazing how the human brain works.  Thank you, Mandy, for encouraging to do it.  I realized that even those two years were instrumental in shaping me into who I am today.

Love, love, love hiking sticks

Ok, back to Sequioa.  We enter the park and discover that access to the park is limited due to weather and snow.  We can't get to the Sequioa trees without snow chains on our tires.  Where the hell are we going to find those and which one of us is going to put them on and take them off?  Yeah, we did't even bother.  Now we are tremendously sad that Mandy will not see these giants.  Instead, we opt for a hiking trail recommended by the park ranger.  The hike is called Marble Falls and it is supposed to be a beautiful time of year for this hike.  All we know at the beginning point is that it was roughly an eight mile round-trip hike.

As we make our way to the foot of the path we begin our 2-hour hike up the side of a mountain.  The path we are following is about two feet wide and is a constant uphill the entire way to the falls.  We dress warmly as it is quite cold in the mountains and we stop to take breaks along the way.  On each stop, we take a couple of moments to just look around.  The views are indescribable.  We are disappointed with every picture that we take because it never seems to capture the beauty, All the while, we have not yet seen another human being on this path.

Mid-hike lunch and photo op

Lunch consisted of a couple of sandwiches on a rock overlooking a valley amongst three mountains.  The air is brisk, the sun is shining and only the sounds of wind and birds are around us.  About two-thirds of the way up, we began to really feel the strain from the constant hike upwards.  Determined to actually see the falls kept us pushing forward.  Nearing the falls, it began to rain and our path was getting cold and muddy.  It was necessary for us to start really watching our footing.  Finally, we made it to the falls and then understood why it was called "Marble Falls".  The granite in which the falls washed over looked just like marble.  At this point, there was nothing left to do but relish in the beauty of the falls and celebrate our arrival to our destination.  One more mountain defeated!

Kasia wondering if her legs are going to fall off

Coming back down the mountain, we finally did run into some other people on the trail and now it was raining even harder.  What took us two hours to hike up, took one hour to hike down and the constant and steep downhill was beginning to take a toll on our knees.  I am not so sure that we would have finished this hike without the assistance of our hiking sticks.  By the last 10 minutes of our hike, we were sore, tired, wet and ready for it to be over...longing for a hot tub.

Back in our car, the look of defeat crossed both of our faces but neither of us would have done it any differently.  Experiencing the sheer beauty of the mountains and conquering this rigorous hike with a loved one simply cannot be matched.

Marble Falls

Laughlin, Nevada

I now prefer Laughlin, Navada to Vegas!  Mandy would argue that it is because I am old but, truth be told, I think she preferred it too.  After hiking and biking our asses off at the Grand Canyon, we were looking forward to a little R&R.

Beautiful Colorado River

Laughlin is lined with casinos along the Colorado River.  There is a scenic boardwalk where you can take a leisurely stroll and see water taxis, jet skiing, kayaking and boating.  My guess is that the average age of patrons visiting was older than what you would typically find in Vegas.  The place we stayed our first night was called "Colorado Belle" for goodness sakes and every room came equipped with a walk-in, handicap-accessible shower and shower caps for all the ladies who may have gotten a perm or their hair set for the week.  Ok, so it was a little bit of an older crowd, but it was quite enjoyable and lacked all forms of pretentiousness.

The view from our Colorado Belle room

This little town reminds me of what "old Vegas" used to be like.  It is walkable, laid back and there is plenty to do.  Now, just add a river and you have Laughlin, Nevada.  A fun fact shared by Mandy's mom is that Bullhead City, on the other side of the river from Laughlin, is the hottest place in the US.  Laughlin was so far the warmest weather we experienced.  

The next two days were spent by the pool of the Golden Nugget Hotel and soaking up the sun and overlooking the river from our chairs.  Well, except for the guy who was smashed at 10 one morning and tried picking us up.  I don't understand why we tend to be a magnet for weirdos.  We were saved by his sober friend who took him away.  Ahhh, back to the sun.

Golden Nugget was good to us and included a $700 win on a "Hot Shots" slot machine. 

Grand Canyon = Wow!

We rolled into the chilly south rim of the Grand Canyon around 3 pm, with just enough time to get a lay of the land, the parking, the trails, etc.   Of course we took a peak from an overlook...wow!  

Before we left home, we did a tiny bit of research and booked a 3-hour mule trip partway into the canyon.   After we arrived and Kasia caught a glimpse of the steepness and depth of the trails, we canceled it.   I can't say I blame her, and I was secretly quite happy to cross "mule riding on the edge of a cliff" from my list of activities.   

The colors changed with the sun and time of day. 

It was chilly and windy while we were there, but we came prepared with the right layers to hike as long as we wanted to.  In fact, we were lucky with weather...it snowed the day before we arrived.  At least we had sunshine!  We also had lots of water and beef jerky to comply with the numerous park signs saying to stay hydrated and eat salty snacks.

We spent the next two days hiking and biking like we were young and in good shape.  We spent the next two days feeling old and sore.   

The view of the canyon and the colors and the shadows all change with the time of day and your actual viewpoint. So hiking even 1 mile along the rim to another view can make it look totally different.  I'm including just a few of the pics here.   It was awesome.   If you have a chance to go see it, do it! 

Kasia was more comfortable facing the camera than the drop into the abyss. 

Hiking the South Rim exposed us to some amazing views. From this one you get a great look at the Colorado River below.

Elk roamed the park and didn't seem to mind people.   

Easier?

Starting our second adventure out west immediately feels very different than Costa Rica.  When we try to put our finger on what is so different, we come to the conclusion that it is accessability and convenience.  From the beginning, we have access to a car.  This within itself provides a tremendous amount of freedom.  We don't have to worry about scheduling nor figuring out transportation to our next destination.  Secondly, the US is the land of excess.  If you need anything on the road or forgotten anything, you can find it around every corner.  In Costa Rica, depending on the town, you may simply have to do without or until you get to a town that has what you are looking for, and if/when you do find it, you are overpaying for it because it is an imported product.

Lastly, it helps that everyone speaks English.  I would recommend that everyone visit a country in which you are barely familiar with the language or culture.  It is quite a humbling experience and definitely provides a new-found respect for those who have migrated to our country and what their daily life is like. Needless to say, being surrounded by your native language is just easier.  You don't have to try as hard or think about it.

Next trip, round beds and no rockin' boots

We were home from Costa Rica for what seemed like 2 minutes before we were off again.   After some deliberation and a changed flight (hooray Southwest Airlines for being awesome and keeping it free and easy to make changes), we booked flights to LA.   Thanks to Paula J, we were able to travel for a few more weeks and take advantage of someone at our house mostly full time to watch the place and love our cats.  By flying to LA, we could maximize our travel and see some sights we've always wanted to see.

It's round! It's weird. 

Packing for this 3-week trip was much harder than for 2 months in Costa Rica because of the mix of activities in our plans and the fact that late March/early April makes for unpredictable weather across the entire country.   I might need gloves.   I might need a nice outfit.   I might need my skinny jeans and tall boots.  I didn't pack those boots and skinny jeans, by the way, and I have been sad about it on a couple of occasions.  

We arrived at LAX and got our brand new rental car just in time for rush hour,   After hauling as far as Barstow, we found an old Route 66 Motel.   It had a good price, a scary bathroom with an empty beer bottle in the trash can, and a round bed.  Our standards have adjusted after staying in Costa Rica -- we're willing to settle for anything clean and reasonable -- but this place was close to the edge of acceptable.  Considering that it was merely to sleep, it did the trick.   The next morning, I woke up and started packing up to get outta town.  Destination: Grand Canyon.

Hey, what is that thing under the credit card signs?  Remodeled rooms...yikes, what did they look like before?

This motel had way more going for it outside than inside.

Saying good-bye

​March 1-2: 70ish degrees

Path to boat taxi to Monteverde

We get up early and get packed to catch a shuttle to Monteverde to finish out our time in Costa Rica.  We get into a jam-packed shuttle and drive about an hour to catch a boat.  Upon our arrival to the boating doc, we were quite surprised with what we were seeing.  We arrived in a dirt parking lot overlooking a hundred yard foot path to the water.  The foot path was also a dirt path but going down a fairly steep hill.  There is no sign of any boat crew to help carry bags nor help anyone down the hill.  As a matter of fact, I don't see a captain either.  It wasn't long before we discovered that our shuttle driver was also our boat captain.  All that was left to do was to throw our bags on our back or head and start toward the boat.

Once there wasn't another seat left on the boat, we begin a casual boat ride across a lake amongst mountains, nice sunny day and a view of Arenal Volcano behind us. Now we just sit and enjoy the ride.

Upon arriving to our destination, again, we have a short hike uphill with our bags to another shuttle.  This time, at the top of the hill, we are passed by hundreds of mountain bikers on the dirt road.  We were dropped off in the middle of a mountain bike race amongst these Costa Rican mountains.  Now, those are some "MF'n Champions" racing like that!

Kasia dominating the second longest run of the trip

We still have about an hour drive on a dirt road through the mountains to get to Monteverde.  The drive is quite slow since there are many potholes and sharp turns along our path.  When we arrive in Santa Elena, we literally hear cheers from passengers as we finally meet a paved road near town.  Dropped off at our hotel room, we discover why our hotel is named "Tree House Hotel". There is a huge tree in the middle of it.

Our mission in Monteverde is to take on its mountain top zip lining and anything else the town has to offer.  This turns out to be zip lining and a coffee, cocoa and sugarcane tour.

Completion celebration picture

Zip lining first!  We have done this before but here, the last line is approximately 1 kilometer or 3,000 feet long from mountain to mountain.  This took about one and a half minutes of zipping from one side to the other.  We were required to go tandem to create enough weight to make it to the other side.  It is often windy at this elevation and no one is guaranteed to make it all the way across.  Off we go!  We had plenty of time to look around the valleys during the ride.  It was stunning!  As you would have it, Mandy and I were the only two who made it all the way to the other side.  Thank goodness!  Otherwise you must turn yourself backwards and pull yourself to the other side.  After this long run of zip lining, we don't believe we will ever do it again.  We just don't believe that a one kilometer run can be beat.  An awesome way to finish out our Costa Rica trip!

While in the area it is also known for its coffee plantations.  We have a little time to kill before our flight back to the States so, we book one final tour.  Don Juan coffee plantation that also grows cocoa and sugar cane.  One final tour to learn about Costa Rican farming.  Here, we get to meet Don Juan himself and tour his farm in which he built most of his life.  Now, a thriving and long lasting production of coffee and cocoa throughout the country.  Learning that Panamanians are hired here for a short period of time to pick the ripest of coffee beans for $2.00 for 20lbs of beans.  Difficult manual labor but well worth it amongst average Panamanian wages.

The infamous Don Juan at his coffee plantation

Adios Costa Rica, thank you for an unforgettable journey!