An Excellent Maui

Well, we are just now finishing up three days in Maui and they really were a highlight of the trip (at least so far).  We had a great time, starting with a great visit with Katy's brother Hank and his friend Dawn -- they seem to be as happy as clams, and we don't blame them given the place they live.

We started off with one of the best dinners we've ever had at the Haliimaile General Store which, despite its name, is not a general store, but a restaurant, run by Bev Gannon.  Special highlights included Paul's Crab Pizza and Katy's Asian Pear Duck Tostada.  Yum.

Then, it was off to go whale watching in Lahina.  That was a special experience.  It more or less sent chills up and down our spines.  Lahina is an old whaling town on the west coast of the island, and today it makes a living running whale tours.  The humpbacks come here for winter to give birth before going back to Alaska for summer.  Probably the coolest thing we saw was a "competition pod" -- a group of males doing dominance things to each other to win the right to mate with a female.  The breaching is sort of showing off I guess.  And we saw one whale actually flip or roll another one as a way of showing his superiority.  It was totally awe inspiring.  Here's a video of one of the whales waving his pectroal fin at us.

The next day was just as special, in a different way.  We went with Hank to go ziplining through the rain forest canopy.  It was cold.  It was wet and rainy.  And it was scary as shit.  But in the end it was totally exhilirating and thrilling to go racing along a zip line at 30 mph through a rain storm.  It was almost like riding in a tree-lined, rain filled tunnel or something.   After that, however, we were cold and wet and just came back to our rental house to chill for the rest of the day.

And today, we finished up with a trip to the southern beaches .... where the sun was shining and the breeze was warm.  But even here the cold intruded -- the Pacific is remarkably chilly water.  Still and all, after another marvelous meal at Gannons (we both had fish tacos with a cool cilantro drizzle), we came home to pack and get ready for the next part of the trip.   Tomorrow on to Kauai.

A Fun Day on the Big Island

Today was one of those fun days that come along whenever we get to travel together that really just about as good as it gets.  We arrived in Hilo last night and it was raining cats and dogs and kept up all night long.  But then, joy of joys, the morning broke and the sun came out.  So we decided to make a day of it.

We started off at a local diner -- Ken's House of Pancakes -- that was just a hoot.  12 types of pancake; 15 types of omelet, endless coffee and plenty of local color.  We had the papaya and guava juice and the guy at the next table had loco moke (rice, meat, eggs and gravy in a bowl) -- which looked scrumptious.  Next time.

Then it was off on adventure.  We started off at Rainbow Falls, just above Hilo.  With the heavy rains last night it was running heavy and if you look close you can see the rainbows from the fall.

Then we took over Saddle Road -- a 50 mile highway that runs through the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.  Unfortunately we couldn't see either summit (clouds) but the terrain we saw was stunning.   The volcanic lava fields were  just overwhelming in their starkness -- it looked like something out of Mordor or Game of Thrones frankly.

Then it was down in to Kona, where we stopped for lunch at the Bite Me Bar and Grill.  Highly, highly recommended.  Indeed, the fresh Ahi taco we ate was tuna that had been caught that very morning and landed a couple of hours before we were served.

After lunch we took a walk on the beach in an area that happened to be a large turtle preserve.  Dozens on turtles wandered the shoreline (albeit something that slow can hardly be said to wander) and enjoyed basking in the sun, as did we.

Then it was back over the saddle to Hilo and we now await the evening reception for the class Paul will be teaching tomorrow.

Top of the Mark

Brunch in San Francisco is always good food and good views

Hilton Head

The famous lighthouse

Our New Home (to be) in Costa Rica

We've taken the plunge and decided to buy some land in Atenas, Costa Rica.  Over then next 12-18 months we'll build a house on the property.  The land is on a mountain top that has been leveled off.  In the photo it is the plot to the left, higher than its neighbor (which also got sold this week).

Our plan is to build a one-story ranch type hows with an informal great room, a large patio (partially covered) and a master bedroom.  The plateau is very high up -- to the east you can see the Irazu volcano (thankfully extinct at this point).  To the west (which the great room will face) you can see the Pacific Ocean (about 30 miles away).  In fact, views are basically 360 degrees around.

We picked Atenas area for a couple of reasons.  First, the weather is perfect.  It's low 80s every day; low 60s every night -- all year round.  The rainy season does see afternoon thunderstorms but we can deal with that.  Atenas itself is a small town of 20,000 or so including all the surrounding area.  It has a few nice restaurants and a local farmer's market on Fridays.  It lacks some of the high end stuff we tend to enjoy (good wine, for example) but Escazu is about 30 minutes away -- and that place is almost like home.  Lots of malls, good places to eat, and even an jazz club.

We aren't planning on moving here full time -- but we do hope to spend much of each winter down here.  Of course, Paul will travel back to DC for work as needed.  And we probably will also come and escape the DC summer heat a bit too ....

Anyway, here is a video of our lot that shows the whole land.  It's taken from the southern end (the right hand end in the picture above).  Total area is about 7500 square meters.

Wish us luck on Paul & Katy's next excellent adventure ....

Market Day in Atenas

Every Friday is market day in Atenas, with our

 local farmers and produce.  Here are some photos including the fishmonger and some of the  fruits and veggies available. 

Prices are amazingly low -- on the order of $2 for bags of raspberries and less than 50 cents from avacados etc.  Tonight is corvina w/ grilled veggies.  Yum

 

A Typical Day in Paradise

We've been here in Costa Rica for 11 days now, and we are starting to settle in to a routine that will likely see us through to the end of the trip.  I thought I'd share a typical day (which we also share with two furry friends, the dog and the cat owned by the gardener, Jaime, who lives on the property -- they are frequent guests). 

We wake each morning more or less with the sunrise -- around 6 AM.  First step for the day is to start the pot of excellent Costa Rican coffee and sit in a chair overlooking the valley, reading the newspaper on our Ipad/Nexus.   After a bit of that, its time for breakfast al fresco (lots of great fruit around -- strawberries and pineapple in particular) and then a walk.

The walks are quite vigorous as we live in very hilly neighborhood that is at altitude.  Probably up and down

roughly 1000 feet each day in total.  Pretty strenuous.  Then Paul typically follows up with an exercise work out before settling in to work.

Working from Costa Rica is turning out to be pretty easy.  With Skype we can stay connected by phone or video and Paul's work usually doesn't require more than internet access.  About the only think that gets lost is his ability to be physically present for some meetings -- which is a cost but more in the nature of "out of sight; out of mind" than in actually missing any critical events.

Meanwhile Katy is spending the days reading, or learning Spanish.  She plans to do some painting too -- though she hasn't started that yet.

We break for lunch and then again for cocktails as the sun sets around 545 PM.  Dinner is either out at a local Tican restaurant or cooking in.  Fridays is market day for the farmers, so tomorrow we plan a nice meal at home with whatever we get fresh in the morning.

In the evening it gets dark -- very dark.  One of the few flaws we've found is the lack of bright lighting in Costa Rica.  So we read a bit, or watch a video on the computer and then its early to bed -- usually by 10 AM -- and start it all over the next day.

Of course, we vary the routine.  This Saturday we are going to go and look at some houses -- just on speculation -- to see what's available.  Yesterday we went down to the shopping mall in Escazu.  But by and large, its a nice, quiet existence.