http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Costa Rica , Alajuela , San Ramon en-us Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:55:11 BST Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:55:11 BST As someone who has spent most of his life in cities and college towns it remains an unexpected turn to own an organic coffee and fruit farm. These are THE crops of Costa Rica and before tourism and foreign investment became such a powerful part of the economy coffee and bananas ruled.My farm in El Empalme has an amazing ocean view and the sunset in the Pacific is an inspiring experience. El Empa http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-267713.html Yes I realize it's been a very long time since I've updated this blog but today I realized a new benefit to keeping it updated more frequently. This morning as I went to greet a Canadian family who showed interested in one of our communities she surprised me with a jar of REAL maple syrup. Pleasantly surprised I asked her How did you know I loved maple syrup. She responded I read your blo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-258065.html Itrsquos hard to live in Costa Rica and not get to the beach frequently. Even if those of us living the Central Valley complain about the heat and humidity too many tourists and higher prices it is still fun to get to the beach. This is definitely a benefit of living heremdashbeing only about one hour from the coast and 1.5 hours from a nice white sand beach. I wish I could go more often http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-252132.html In Costa Rica there is only one sport hellip soccerfutbol. So watching the NFL is an exotic mysterious thing for Ticos. For me and a very small group of friends it is a pleasure when it is time for the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl. Herersquos an idea of what itrsquos likehellipLast Saturday after a hard day of working I went home to watch the Patriots and Jaguars game but things don http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-238438.html Since I moved to Costa Rica and have been keeping up this blog I have been writing a ldquoyearend reviewrdquo which is essentially my take on the preceding 12 months. With the holidays here and everything going on I thought Irsquod get it done nowmdashwell now meant I started it several weeks ago but I finally finished it today. So here goes and itrsquos bound to be longwindedL http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-230114.html While therersquos something charming about a white Christmas itrsquos way overrated. I barely escaped a week of snow and ice storms in Upstate NY to return to the mild weather and festive Latino scene here in San Ramon. Our partners Pablo and Mary welcomed us back as family and our neighbors and friends shout their greetings as we walk the streets of San Ramon. After 6 years here I feel acc http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-228909.html I donrsquot consider myself a funny person but when I met my first and best friend here in San Ramon Pablo Hidalgo hellip making him laugh was a joyful part of our time together. Now many years later our friendship has deepened and the laughs are a regular part of our day. Here in San Ramon making people smile and laugh is held in higher regard than showing how smart or knowledgeable you a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-219001.html This blog entry includes some recent pictures I took of San Ramonmdashall fairly randommdashbut they give you a flavor for this terrific town.Itrsquos been windy today And chilly Irsquom sure it is still in the 50s but it seems like it is freezing out for someone now used to semitropical and tropical temperatures. The winds are supposedly a signal that the season is changing. I do t http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-218250.html If you can look over all the entries we just were able to upload a lot more photos when we get back we are going to do a big upload to one ofthe photo sites but this gives youan idea of what we are seeing two more days to go.love to everyonelara http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-214299.html Today Wed we went horseback riding on the presidentrsquos farm rolling bright green hills with amazing vistas with views that went on for miles. The terrain got muddy and mucky at points but these horses were true troopers and gave us a great trip. We were really proud of Adam who had never ridden a horse before and didnrsquot fall off once Poor Elena got some bites from horse fliesfleas http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-214292.html WOW I had no idea people were still reading our travel blog. I was looking at the stats from our website and found several people had come from here. A quick check of the stats on this site shows people are indeed reading my posts even though I haven't posted here since July. It just goes to show you people are interested in Costa Rica. Thankyou to those who find and read my site. We haven't don http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-212392.html It has been quite some time since I went horseback riding perhaps as long as six months. A number of factors have contributed to this fact. First one of my horses died of old age and the remaining one I donated to a friendrsquos collection of other horses and animals since my surviving horse seemed very lonely. Second Irsquove been working much more than I should. This needs to change http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-208922.html October 5 Im sitting in the internet cafe adjacent the land developers office who I just made a deal with to purchase 3 ocean view lots about 40 minutes from the airport. One of the lots is actually for Jurgen but if he doesnt pay me for it within a year Ill keep it. Too bad the internet cafe in Atenas where Im staying isnt as nice as this one. Anyway heres a website t http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-208586.html October 4It's Thursday morning in Atenas. I'm sitting at an internet cafe lined with 7 slow computers and 5 young school girls dressed in their standard light blue uniforms. I don't know why they aren't in school right now. Anyway I trekked through the jungle the last two days but not on a guided rain forest tour. I'm looking at possible real estate investments. The first place was down a rocky http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-208290.html Hola Como estas I hope this finds you doing well All is good here in Costa Rica. It is hard to believe that well over a year has past since I first arrived. I have learned a lot seen a lot but have not explored as much as I would have liked In addition I got my first critical reviewhellipnow I use that term loosely. After going off on me they were kind enough to followup with an apology http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-200942.html The International Baptist Church hosted a Family Camp. The camp was held at La Montana Christian camp facility. httpwww.lamontana.org We had driven past this facility on our way to La Fortuna back in March. We noticed La Montana because we had stopped for brunch at a soda located across the street from the camp. This facility was designed to reach out to the youth of Costa Rica. The groun http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-200273.html It has been quite some time since Irsquove updated my blog. Itrsquos been well over a month actually which is unusual for me. Since my last entry travelblog.org crashed and lost a lot of peoplersquos blog entries. Luckily for me I type all of my entries in MS Word and save them in multiple places just in case my blog becomes famous after Irsquom long gone. In fact if you look at m http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-197136.html Hola from Angel ValleySorry to have been out of touch. Genetics are a pain sometimes and it seems I have inherited procrastination from my parents and it is a toss up from which one. But in the end...it's all goodFor the better part of 2 months the end of June to the middle of August we had guests almost everyday with the exception of one or two. This is good however the one thing I would rec http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-193173.html Hola from Houston Ah the joys of international travel Irsquom currently stuck in Houston for two days after a long trek back from Thailand. The 19 hours of flying from Bangkok to New York wasnrsquot 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-183513.html 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 relived 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 blo http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-174507.html Wow We had quite the thunderstorms here in San Ramon last week. Last Wednesday we had a storm that was the most violent Irsquove seen since living here. I was sitting out on the patio with some ldquoBoomersrdquo 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-170861.html Hey EveryoneWinter has finally arrived here in Costa Rica and I couldn't be happier. The weather is still 70 to 80 degrees everyday here in San Ramon as we are living in a higher altitude. And yes the rain has arrived. Normally if it were a rainy day I might feel a lil lousy might feel stuck playing bored games yes I spelled it that way on purpose. However during the rainy season there http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-167787.html Itrsquos been a busy June already and doesnrsquot get any slower for the remainder of the month This month Irsquove already had friends Seth Susan and their kids visit. Then therersquos another ldquoBoomersrdquo tour then my cousin and his wife visit then yet another Boomers tour. Phew Luckily July will be more relaxed with a twoweek trip to Thailandmdashmore about that in a http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-167773.html Yes Irsquom mad a mud at the moment. It happens every rainy season. I shouldnrsquot be mad however because Irsquom 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 donrsquot think blacktop or even concrete would look so great coming up to my house. Irsquove thought about gravelmdashanother option for suremdash http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-165412.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-164066.html Itrsquos been a very busy two weeks here at Angel Valley Farm BB up in the mountains above San Ramon Between guests at the BB and just wrapping up our May ldquoBoomers in Costa Ricardquo relocationretirement tour of the Central Valley itrsquos enough to keep anyone out of trouble Working this time of year particularly outdoors can be a challenge though. If you want to view proper http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-164025.html Hi all Sorry I've been out of touch 2 out of my 2 fans have chastised me for running late on my next entry so here goes For this entry I thought I would share with you some of the flowers that are thrive on the Caribbean side Haven't got names yet...but I will work on that The end of March Marzo was busy. We had a group of 10 women rent the house for 2 weeks. This meant that Andrew and http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-161077.html Hey Everyone I realize it's been a while since I've written anything but believe me it's because I've been as busy as ever. Only a couple months away from my one year anniversary of the move to Costa Rica life has never been better. I finally started taking Salsa lessons 3 private classes for a whopping 12 bucks a class It has been one of the more rewarding experiences thus far. I believe http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-158586.html Perspectivehellip Perspective is something Irsquom not sure I ever had At my age that is kind of hard to admit. But with that my time here in Costa Rica has opened my eyes to many things. Some of which I would have preferred to remain closed. When out of Americahellipyou learn a lot about America more specifically the mentality of Americans. I recently had the opportunity to meet so http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-143513.html A day in Los Angeles SurnbspCentral America Caribbean raquonbspCosta Rica raquonbspSan Ramon By TravlinTerryMarch 28th 2007 Hi all This brief is more about photos than text. A neighbor was trying to back down a steep narrow driveway and well as they say 3 pictures are worth 3000 words Fortunately all are okay...just a few scrapes and bruises I fondly call the pictures...bew http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Alajuela/San-Ramon/blog-142825.html