Potential for Doh!!

But luckily, that wasn't the case. This past weekend, it was time to varnish the first tree house (now the Toucan Tree House). This is the only one that we haven't varnished since we've been here, except for the front. It is the only tree house that does not have a wraparound porch, and it's also the highest of the original tree houses, probably about 20-plus feet off the ground. Putting a ladder up isn't feasible to varnish and scrape it, as you would have to move it all the time, and being that high up on a ladder isn't a good thing--at least as far as I'm concerned.

Miguel, the wizard, came up with some scaffolding that we put up on the back side of the tree house. Of course, that only brings us up to the bottom of the house, so we needed to tie off an aluminum ladder on top of the makeshift scaffolding. No problem for Miguel and Keneth--major clench time for me (which isn't a good thing while trying to maintain balance).

All turned out fine, as everyone lived and the outside is now varnished.

Pop quiz. . .

Pop quiz, hotshot. There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?

Enough of the movie talk (bonus points, though, for naming the movie). . . This is nothing nearly as dire or serious, just to test out your Spanish knowledge of the new tree house names.

Match the name with the picture:

Casa del la perasoza

Casa del la rana

Casa del la tucan

Casa del la congo

Casa del la colibri

The names. . .

Of the tree houses are set, and thank you all for registering your vote.

They are:

Casa del la perasoza

Casa del la rana

Casa del la tucan

Casa del la congo

Casa del la colibri

And considering my level of Spanish, the spellings may be off a bit, but Keneth is taking care of us by doing the signs. And if you don't understand the names, take a minute and look them up, and consider yourself enlightened for the day.

There are signs on 2 of the tree houses, and more are to come. . . All are set to be ready by the time the additional houses are open for business.

They fought the law. . .

And everyone: "The law won." While up in Ciudad Quesada a while back, a friend parked where they normally park, as there really seems to be no rules in most of the towns and cities in the area. Upon returning, the friend hopped into the car and was ready to pull away, when someone came running up and said that the license plates were missing.

Instead of a regular ticket tucked under the windshield wiper, the traffic enforcement folks confiscate the license plates, which means you have a good chance of picking up another violation of driving sans plates since most folks don't look to see if their plates are there.

Anyway, after 45 minutes and much searching, the proper office was located and the plates were retrieved: with a promise to pay around 125,000 colones (about $250.00). Very steep for a country where the average monthly income is $500.00 per month.

Hand-wringing and wailing ensued before the official at the office said there was nothing to be done but to pay the fine (and he reminded our friend that if they had waited until the next day, the plates would have been shipped to the major city in the area, about an hour away).

Since they didn't accept money at the office for the fine, they were told to pay online or at the bank. However, not being fluent in Spanish, they didn't notice the fine print (that took Lucy a good while to sort out) that no matter when you pay the ticket, there is a 30-percent surcharge on top of the fine. OK, you all can do the math on 30 percent of $250.00 as I'm challenged in that department, but it adds up to a hefty chunk.

Bottom line: Don't park on the street unless you're absolutely sure.

What you looking at?

Mini-B is the smallest of the pooches around here, but she definitely has the largest attitude. She will come running up and nip at our ankles (but never our guests) looking for a beef. That, however, is only in the evenings or late afternoons. In the mornings, she is a zombie, rarely crawling out of the covers of her bed until we have already gotten up and been moving for an hour or so. Despite being feisty, she still seems to have problems playing with the other pooches around Tree Houses. She's not quite sure what to do when they start 'rasslin' around and seems out of place. However, when we dangle a chew toy (or a finger) she'll go nuts trying to chase it down.

Happy anniversary!!

To Ma and Pa Eidson, who are celebrating their 47th anniversary today. They were hitched in Denver, Colo., on this day.

The folks are going to go and visit at the senior center, where my mom helps out a 104-year-old woman with her finances and runs errands for her, while my dad is going tag along "just like I have for the past 47 years."

Happy anniversary!

Name that bite!!!

It's not one of our favorite games, but it's one that we play quite often down here.

Now, before the three of you that read this regularly get freaked out: Don't worry. This only happens to Lucy and myself because we regularly tramp around the jungle and off the beaten path as part of the gig here. The guests very, very rarely have any bites that swell up and cause alarm. And when they do, it's because they have wandered off the beaten path (which we tell them not to do!).

Nonetheless, it seems that bug bites are our wrinkles down here. If we were back in the States, we would probably spend our time worrying about gray hairs and crow's feet. Luckily, all we have to deal with is the few, odd bug bites that go away after three to four days. Nothing has necrotized or fallen off, so the three of you can just relax and head down here with full confidence that we have seen and experienced pretty much everything you're going to run into down here.

Taking a look from up top. . .

Now, you can see the inside of the new tree house and what it looks like from up top. At left, you're looking into the main living area where the queen bed will be. There are going to be a lot of windows in the new tree house, so guests can relax and check out the views from inside. The deck is also larger, and there will be room for a table so folks can hang out outside and take in the critters and wildlife that wander by.



interior other pic

Sun time

No worries on melanoma with this crowd, we're guessing. Especially with the pooches with the black fur. From left, Sweetie, Mini-B, Bejuca, Si-Si and Luna. They all seem to love to soak up the sun, even when it's hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks. We can't pretend to understand it, as we're running for shade and either standing in front of a fan or under a shower. The canines, however, can't get enough.

This is the front driveway to the hotel, and at various times during the day, the pooches will all take their time in their personal tanning bed. About the only thing that can get them moving is a car, which they all seem to think is Lucy bringing them food.

Now we're cooking. . .

This is the view that we got when we returned back to Tree Houses after our time off. . . We were actually delayed in getting pictures taken and posted, so there was a bit more done by the time Lucy took these. There are now stairs and railings around the outer deck and the roof is on and the walls are pretty much all finished.

A new home!

OK, for those that remember, we were asking (OK, begging, cajoling, pleading, bribing, wheedling, blackmailing) for someone to take Luna (larger dog behind Mini-B)
after she wandered onto Tree Houses a few months ago. We are happy to report that Luna now has a new home. The construction fellows, specifically Marlon, found a home for Luna with his cousin, who has a ranch up in the foothills of Monterrey. His cousin lives by herself and was looking for a good watchdog. Luna definitely fits the bill, so she is at her new home where she is doing just fine.

Construction update. . .

This is the shell of what is now being called No. 4 a week or so before we went on vacation to visit Lucy's family. A bit more progress than earlier pictures and you can start to see the outline and what it will look like when everything is said and done.

The best of intentions. . .

Can often turn out to be the most hazardous. As we found out the other day, when Lucy went down to clean out one of the tree houses. Some guests had tromped through a pasture and picked up not-so-lovely critters that stuck to their legs and clothes. After they left for the day, Lucy went down to clean out their tree house. Thinking that she was grabbing the organic spray we use for critters, she doused the interior of the tree house.

The hitch: Lucy had a cold at the time and couldn't smell what she was spraying, which should have been a garlic-laced, organic pesticide. However, it turned out that it was diesel that Miguel and Keneth use for priming equipment around the place. Lucy was still hosing the place down when Darleen came up and immediately recognized the diesel smell.

Long story short (but not a work story) after two hours (in what should have taken 20 minutes) the tree house was put back to normal and order was restored.

The offending bottle has now been properly labeled, so no more worries.

We're back!

For the three of you that read the blog, we are back from our latest sojourn. We went to visit Lucy's family in California. We had a great time, though it was incredibly hot (temperatures in the upper 90s to low 100s) but not as much humidity that we get back here in Costa Rica.

While visiting Visalia, Calif., we took Lucy's folks to a local casino, about 45 minutes away--four times in seven days. For those that are wondering, Huey Lewis and the News will be there in about two weeks. Hopefully, they will be playing indoors, or else all the other News fans (like myself) will be withered, dehydrated and passing out.

No one hit it big, but a good time was had by all.

Reader's choice

All right, it appears that we are headed for another impasse at Jungle Journey. Before we head back to the negotiating table (and things get ugly) we are asking all three of our readers to vote on which direction the bargaining sessions should go. Your vote does count:

Who wants to see Lucy's pictures?
	Me
	Us
	him
	her
	We do
	Everyone
	All of us
	Those in the know
	The masses
	Papparazzi
View Results

Free poll from Free Website Polls

Waterfall visit

Lucy took the brood of pooches down to the waterfall a while ago for some exercise and cooling off time in the water. To the left, you can see Mini-B, Si-Si and Bejuca checking out the flow. In the right is Mini-B prancing back across the middle pool. Mini-B is
not a fan of the water, while Bejuca doesn't care and will wade right in and start splashing about with no worries or concerns at all. Mini-B and Si-Si think it's torture.

Interestingly, Si-Si is the lamest of the pooches (physically, though I argue mentally at times and get shouted down) but on this day, she bounded behind the Galloper all the way down to the pools and back. She was panting when all was said and done, but not limping all that much, which was pretty amazing, considering the vet said she was probably hit by a car and dislocated the joint on her front left leg way back in the day. The vet said that it's too late to do anything about the dislocation now, but she still romps along just fine for the most part.