Hola from Houston! Ah, the joys of international travel! I’m currently stuck in Houston for two days after a long trek back from Thailand. The 19 hours of flying from Bangkok to New York wasn’t so bad actually, but the nine hours on the plane to get from New York to Houston was pure pain! Besides the crying kids behind me on the plane, we were several hours late leaving New York, got diverted to Lafayette, Louisiana for hours, and then we were kept waiting on the tarmac in Houston for a long while before finally being allowed to deplane. [View Full Entry]

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I remember when I first moved to Costa Rica, it seemed as though every week brought a different problem: washing machine breaking down, leaks in the roof, telephone line going down, and so much more! I seemed to have re-lived my early days in Costa Rica over the past few weeks, with violent thunderstorms causing all kinds of problems with electrical equipment. In less than 10 days storms have blown my satellite television box, fried a lamp, zapped my portable phone and killed two of the outlets on a supposedly “top of line” surge supressor. And to top it all [View Full Entry]

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Wow! We had quite the thunderstorms here in San Ramon last week. Last Wednesday we had a storm that was the most violent I’ve seen since living here. I was sitting out on the patio with some “Boomers” tour guests just watching the light show in the valley as the rain poured down. Then (and it seemed like it came out of nowhere), this massive lightning bolt hits very near to the house—in fact I think it hit the telephone pole next to the house—and sparks are flying out from the pole! Of course, we lost electricity right away. In [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a busy June already and doesn’t get any slower for the remainder of the month! This month I’ve already had friends Seth, Susan and their kids visit. Then there’s another “Boomers” tour, then my cousin and his wife visit, then yet another Boomers tour. Phew! Luckily, July will be more relaxed (with a two-week trip to Thailand—more about that in a future blog), and August is fairly relaxed as well. That is how it is here! One month it is crazy-busy and the next month it is calm and peaceful. I seem to need more of the latter, [View Full Entry]

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Yes, I’m mad a mud at the moment. It happens every rainy season. I shouldn’t be mad, however, because I’m the one who lives off of a dirt road. I miss a paved driveway but my driveway is way too long for paving and I honestly don’t think blacktop or even concrete would look so great coming up to my house. I’ve thought about gravel—another option for sure—but I worry about the gravel just being washed away or mixing with the mud. Yes, I’m a bit obsessed with mud as I’m a bit of a “clean freak” but there’s not [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a very busy two weeks here at Angel Valley Farm B&B, up in the mountains above San Ramon! Between guests at the B&B and just wrapping up our May “Boomers in Costa Rica” relocation/retirement tour of the Central Valley, it’s enough to keep anyone out of trouble! Working this time of year, particularly outdoors, can be a challenge though. If you want to view properties, for example, you need to get out there early in the morning to catch views of the mountains and/or the ocean (at least from the San Ramon area), not to mention walking in [View Full Entry]

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I wasn’t sure what to call my latest blog entry largely because I wasn’t sure I’d have one or two discreet topics to fill this entire blog entry. However, I have a few crazy things to report on this week. Losing my brakes…going downhill! I have to admit I do love my 1991 Iszusu Trooper. I don’t quite know why though. It’s old, it’s body is scraped and scarred. The back and front bumpers are pushed in a bit and the interior looks like—well—it is 16 years old. Even in the relatively short time period that I have owned it, just [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so February is definitely my busiest time of the year. Back in the states, when I was working full time, except perhaps for Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas weeks, along with the summer holidays—Independence Day and Labor Day—I always seemed to be busy, steadily busy. Most months looked fairly similar. Here in Costa Rica, however, it’s crazy-busy from November to March and then things just drop off as fast as they seemed to get busy. I understand it though. Who wants to be in Indianapolis, Minneapolis or any other “apolis” during this time! Just when [View Full Entry]

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The past few weeks have been good ones in Costa Rica. The year didn’t start off all that well as numerous issues came up—but things are looking up, as is the weather. Speaking of weather, the past few days have been bright and warm, which one would expect this time of year and coincidentally, as it has gotten warmer here in the wilds of San Ramon, it has gotten colder in many parts of the USA! I’m definitely enjoying living in the tropics right now! Good people! We’ve had a fun group of people at the B&B during January with a [View Full Entry]

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It’s been a few weeks since my last blog update. There are a number of reasons for this. First, it’s just a darn busy time of the year with many guests at the B&B. Obviously, many people want to escape the weather in much of the U.S. so Costa Rica is a natural target. Second, I’m still trying to catch up from being away for 3.5 weeks in December. Even though being away actually gave me some time to get work done without anything else interfering there are just some things you have to do while in Costa Rica. Third, almost [View Full Entry]

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