I had to spend a few days in San Jose this week doing some business but also to have a short getaway. It’s always fun to spend a few days here even in this city; there’s a bit of an adrenalin rush with all the buildings, stores, restaurants and people. By most accounts, San Jose is not much of a city to look at. Except for a handful of buildings such as the National Theatre, there isn’t much architecture to enjoy so one must therefore focus on the people and their culture. One of my favorite places to hang out is [View Full Entry]

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The last two weeks have been very busy with numerous guests and many, many loads of laundry, along with stripping down rooms, making up rooms, moving different beds into different rooms to accommodate various guests and other minute details not worth getting into. April was a very good month for the B&B which is great as it is also the month of the year when the “high season” ends (either around April 15 or April 30—I’m not really sure). We’re definitely a bit tired at this point. April has also been a fun month. We were also able to find some [View Full Entry]

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When we arrived in Costa Rica over 10 months ago it was already the rainy season. In fact, it was raining on the day we arrived. It was a particularly bad season—at least in my view—due to the impact of the many hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico last year. Hopefully, it won’t be as bad this year. The last few months have been glorious here. Almost zero rain, warm temperatures (but not too hot) and light breezes. One certainly cannot beat the dry season weather in the San Ramon area. But all must come to an end as the various [View Full Entry]

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I never thought in my entire life I’d be making t-shirts. Well, not the t-shirts themselves as Hanes does do a pretty good job of it, rather, I’ve been making promotional t-shirts for the B&B. Yes, I actually did something that takes some physical dexterity! I have wanted to make or buy some promotional items for the B&B for some time now and I’m finally getting around to it. Who wouldn’t want to have an “Angel Valley Farm Bed & Breakfast” exclusive t-shirt (precision made in Malaysia!) to wear while you take out the garbage, cut the grass or even bett [View Full Entry]

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Please note: The B&B has a new phone number: (506) 456-4084! And, the pictures in this blog entry are from Beth’s recent trip to Sarapiqui. I promised I’d put them up. There’s been quite a wind blowing through here the past few days. I am not sure if it is just part of a low pressure system that will clear out soon and bring back the happily sunny days of the dry season, or if it will linger and in fact signal the transition to the “green” (rainy) season. Since this is my first transition from the dry season to rainy [View Full Entry]

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A friend of mine likes to call the local gossip at Angel Valley/Rancho Lobo, “grist for the mill” so when I write my “tell-all” book many years from now I will have quite a few interesting stories about my new home and community (actually, I suspect that many years from now I will no longer have the energy to write a book as I’m expending all of my energy in the present day!). One of the things you learn is that no matter where you live, even in idyllic Costa Rica, there’s always good dirt to be dug up or simply [View Full Entry]

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Hello all! I am in NYC at the moment and will be in the U.S for the next 30 days or so. Well, did I pick a good time to come to Manhattan? I arrived just 24 hours prior to the chance of a BLIZZARD hitting the northeast, and it surely did hit! The snow started Saturday afternoon around 4pm and as of right now, 3:30pm on Sunday it is still snowing—in fact it is snowing rather heavily right now!! Here’s a snippet of local report from the Associated Press: Near-record snow descends on New York metro region By Karen Matthews [View Full Entry]

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Today is Election Day in Costa Rica. This election is particularly important as its citizens select a new president to replace the outgoing president, Abel Pacheo. By many accounts, Pacheo was not terribly successful. Not a professional politician (he was previously a radio announcer among other entertainment-related professions), he did what he could but it seems the country slid backwards a bit during his term. Many in the electorate claim the transportation system, particularly the roads, are in major disrepair, poverty is up, environmental issues are becoming much more serious, and the [View Full Entry]

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In my last blog entry I wrote about my half day+ trip to pay my $66 property tax for 2006. If that wasn’t exciting enough, this past week I went to take my car to be inspected near the airport in Alajuela. This must be done annually, along with paying the “Marchamo,” or car tax. So, my emissions sticker expired last July and my Marchamo was due in December. Yes, I have been very remiss in my duties (apparently I am not alone in this as over 200,000 Costa Ricans, in a country with about 1,000,000 cars, are in the same [View Full Entry]

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A few days at the Gran Hotel…. I spent four days in San Jose on a working vacation (meaning work during the day and have fun in the evenings) this past week. The weather was picture perfect and I was able to score a great rate at the Gran Hotel Costa Rica. The Gran Hotel is well situated: right next to the Teatro Nacional (National Theatre) and directly in front of the main pedestrian artery, Avenida Central, which is great for shopping and people watching. While the Gran Hotel, now 75 years old, is not as grand as some of the [View Full Entry]

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