Another hard working week!

Well as always here in Angel Valley there is a short lull between guests. Since I have a week off I decided to do a bit of traveling. As always my first stop is San Jose. I always have fun with my friend Kurt and his entourage! Another reason I went was to help him with a private party he was hosting on Monday!

He rented out his space to a group to watch the Ms. Universe Pageant. I have to tell you it was a trip observing all these guys and girls or should I say tico´s and tica´s getting all excited over a pageant. They plan was there would be a fixed number attending, the pre-event numbers were about 65. With the entrance fee came food and beverage options.

Well as the night wore on, there ended up being about 110 in attendance. I along with a few others played bartender and food server. Pollo o Carne??? Which means chicken or beef! My spanish is still very little but I felt as though I got a crash course! Surprisingly enough with that much traffic there was no damage and very little to clean up! As it turns out he only broke even money wise but it was great advertising and I happened to meet a few people as well! There is nothing wrong with a little personal marketing.

One of the things I have observed is that Costa Ricans can party the night away some with excess alcohol consumption and still get up and do the 9 to 5 the next day! Unless they were not working the next day, I don' t see how they can function! When was all said and done, I think we went through 5, bottles of Vodka, 4.5 bottles of Rum, 4 bottles of Whisky and 3 bottles of Red Wine!

Tuesday, I took the bus to Cartago, 1 hour south of San Jose and the former capitol to connect with my friend Scott who was driving down to Puerto Viejo as well! It saved me about $7 and a 4.5 hour bus ride! From there we took what is now the back way to the Caribbean. It´s not as direct as the main route from San Jose but you get to drive though winding roads that run through the center of the southern valley and on a clear day....it´s some great views!

Our drive was uneventful, about 3.5 hours and as always the closer you get the higher the heat and humidity! We arrived at sunset and immediately hit the water! it was so nice we swam and talked for about an hour and a half until the sun was gone. It was my first ocean night swim and I always have visions of Jaws - the first person to get eaten! It seems as I survived. Being here reminds me so much of a deserted island that when I am swimming alone, I find I reenact that scene from Castaway, where Tom Hanks looses his soocker ball buddy, Wilson. Since I am without such an item I utilize a coconut. I named her Coco and she doesn´t go out to sea, but returns to the beach everytime. I think she is under the impression that this is a recurring role!

My time at the beach was just at the beach...I never left the hotel area. It was nice to be away and just do nothing and not catch some other Jungle Fever! This event was quite uneventful...just the way I like! On the way back, Scott and I had a flat! So, I did the change the tire thing - loosen lug nuts, jack up car - take the lug nuts off and try to remove the tire! For a half hour....nothing...it will not budge, I did everything to get it off...even the Lucy Ricardo move there you rant in spanish and kick it!

All I can say is...that an hour later the tow truck arrived...with one tap...he got it off...talk about lookin like fool.

With that, we made it back into San Jose and then on to San Ramon. I had guests to attend to!

More Soon,

Travlin Terry

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