Vamoosin' time. . .

Yep, it's that time again. We're off to visit Lucy's family in California and will be gone for a week plus. Have had a great visit with my folks and they've been a huge help in getting out and about and doing some of the shopping while we've been here at the hotel. The cool thing is that they've been able to see pretty much what one of the new tree houses is going to look like. Now they can come back later this year or next year and see the finished product.

No e-mail access while we're gone, but we'll start blogging when we get back on August 6 or so.

Hi everybody!

It was time for the annual checkups and physicals the other day, so Lucy and I got up early and made the drive down to San Jose for our doctor appointments. We got there by 8 a.m. so Lucy could have some stuff done in time for her appointment and we just hung out and wandered around the complex waiting for our respective appointments.

Everything turned out fine, we're in good health. Lucy's doctor was interested in the fact that we work at a Tree Houses Hotel, as was mine. In fact, they seemed more interested in that after they checked us out and pronounced us fit and healthy.

We do have medical insurance down here, but there is a $2,500 deductible per person. (Total cost about $1,800 per year for the two of us.) But we did not use that for this visit. Between the two of us, the total came out to about $215 for the complete exams. For a once-a-year visit, that's not a bad outlay of the moolah.

My doctor, Dr. Gomez, went to medical school in Costa Rica and had training at Northeastern, Mount Sinai and Harvard. Lucy didn't gander at her doc's credentials, but she is Korean and speaks English, Spanish and Korean very well (though we're taking her at her word for her Korean-language skills).

So, no need to head back down to San Jose for another year to get checked out. We could have done it here locally, but the chance to head into the city for the day to hang out was too hard to resist.

Framing the sides. . .

Once the flooring was done, then it was just a quick day or two to get the framing for the actual house finished. Interestingly, they finished the framing first and carried everything up the ladder. Now they are working on the stairs. Think they are going to do the stairs first on the other tree house and then do the framing, as that would make everything a lot easier to carry stuff up and down. Lucy and I have both climbed the ladder to get up and down to check things out. Getting up for me is no problem. Just finding the top run while going down is not much fun, and I caught a fair amount of grief for going down granny style. Before we went up and down, the fellows tied off the ladder for us. Before that, the ladder wasn't tied down at all, and they just scooted up and down with no problems.

Finished floors. . .

Things are starting to come together pretty quickly, and once the wood was delivered, Palomino, Norman and Marlon didn't waste any time in finishing up the floors on the two tree houses. On the right, you can see where it was just halfway done while we were waiting for more wood. On the left is the finished floor. It's tongue and groove wood, and they go through it really quickly to put it down. It's only about 2 or 3 inches wide, so there's a lot of wood that needs to go down.

Breaking the law. . .

Ma and Pa Eidson are down for another visit and have taken to the roads to explore the area around Tree Houses.

They have not been tossed into the hoosegow -- yet -- but have been flaunting the law a few times while out on the road. The reason for them being pulled over? Seat belts.

My folks are driving our Chevy Tracker and it's a tight little car with not a lot of wiggle room. Dad, in particular, doesn't like the cut of the seatbelt while he's driving. However, he's been warned twice and the fuzz will get to know his face if he is stopped once again.

The cost of living here in Costa Rica is relatively cheap compared to the States. However, new laws were recently passed where seatbelt and other traffic violations were greatly increased. A seatbelt infraction is now around $250 or more. Considering that the average wage is $400 per month, that's a lot of moolah for not strapping into the seatbelt.

So, if/when you head down this way and decide to drive, just remember to buckle up.

Who really walks who?

Here are the girls coming back from a recent walk. This is the start of the trail that heads back to the waterfall and river. Si-Si (left), Mini-B (center) and Bejuca were all taking turns nipping at each other and going after each other. Both like to gang up on Si-Si and she just rolls over and sticks her legs up in the air when Mini-B and Bejuca run up to her and try to assert their dominance. A lot of the time, Si-Si is like a canine chew-toy, as all of the other dogs will gang up on her and pull her in different directions.

You ever want to wear. . .

Something that only the folks in various stores can wear? You're probably never going to get to work at Jiffy Lube or at the Home Depot, but the shirts are nice, right?

Well, since we've been building the two new tree houses, we've been doing more business than usual with the local ferreteria (hardware store). Veniccio, the owner, came to Tree Houses to talk about giving us a break on the prices since we were going to be buying a lot of stuff. After the hard negotiations were finished, I told Veniccio that I had a question for him that would make or break the deal: I wanted one of the shirts that he and his staff wear at the store.

He gave me a goofy look, then realized that I am a goofy guy, and said sure, no problems, I'd have a shirt in a month when he gets the next batch in. It is primarily white, with electric orange sleeves and various construction patches on the side. He says that I have to come work in the store a couple of times a week since I'll be wearing the shirt, but I'm pretty sure after he realizes the shallowness of my hardware expertise, I'll be off the hook on that front.

I've said it before. . .

And I suppose I'll keep on saying it until I get it right. Went for another haircut the other day and despite my earlier efforts at hair-styling Spanish, I fared a bit better.

At the barbershop I favor in Ciudad Quesada, they let me read while whacking the locks, and that suits me just fine. However, once again I forgot to make it clear that I wanted just a bit off the top, not to cut it close to the scalp. It's still a little higher and tighter than I normally get it, but it worked out fine.

It's hotter than Hades down here at times and the humidity is pretty high, so any excess hair amplifies the effect, and I don't have to go get it cut again for a while.

Still, I'm going to make a point to bone up on the Spanish before I head back. Notice on TV that a lot of the studs spike their hair in the middle.

Aside from the fact that Lucy has forbade a haircut like that for me, I doubt if the fellows at the shop in Quesada ($5.00 for a cut) would know what to do if I could make myself understood for that kind of hair style.

Every once in a while. . .

Something funky happens that we haven't encountered before. Recently, we had the first no-show of our tenure here. I waited up until around 11 p.m. and the folks never showed up. We have an intercom at the gate of the hotel and we can hear it from the bedroom, but no one came late and woke us up.

We also had a trio of folks that had flown in from Florida, gotten bad directions from a waitress, and ended up driving around for three to four hours before they made their way here. If they had followed the directions that we had sent, then they would have been here in 15 minutes from where they stopped to eat and ask directions. Instead, they went the wrong way and got to see a lot of the other countryside.

The first morning they were here, they had to be up early for rafting. That was an adventure watching them roll out of the tree house, try to get organized and on the road in time. They made it for their trip on time, but forgot their voucher, so we had to go through the process again with the company. They had a great time and came back and were headed for the beach the next morning. Breakfast here at the hotel is from 8 to 9 a.m. A little before 9, I went to their tree house to give a knock, but no one responded. Figured we'd let them sleep. Around 10:30, the son wandered down and asked what time it was. Around noon, they were all packed up and ready to go, still looking groggy for the five-hour drive to the beach. After they left and we cleaned the room, we understood why it was a little tough to get them up and moving in the morning: one bottle of wine (empty) and close to 30 cans of beer (empty).

Family time. . .

The blogging pace may slow down a bit, as Ma and Pa Eidson are here at Tree Houses for the next few weeks. Then we're off for a week our own darn selves.

This will be the second trip down to Tree Houses for the folks, and we're definitely looking forward to having them down here.

The way things are shaping up, 2010 and 2011 could be a banner year for friends visiting, as we've got some coming down in Setpember, October and possibly in January.

The more the merrier, so if you're reading and thinking of heading down this way, don't hesitate, just come on down!

Needed: Someone who hasn't read Tom Sawyer

The other day, there was a not-so-fun job to do here at the hotel. Time to clean and paint the front fence. Half of it was done earlier with the power washer. Very quick, very clean. However, we don't have enough hose here at Tree Houses to take care of the whole job. Hence, it was time to scrub the thing by hand.

Here in the rain forest, moss, gunk and other various things grow quickly on things, and the fence is no exception. Keneth, who started, and I helped him in the middle part (it's still a ways away from being finished) hauled a trash can full of water up to the fence, and then mixed in bleach and soap to scrub the fence clean. It was about 95 degrees out and the humidity was about the same, and it wasn't the most pleasant of jobs. We were using regular brushes, steel brushes and sponges to clean the fence. It still took a long time and there's still plenty to go. Once it's finished, then it will be time to paint. There are plenty of neighbor kids that are watching, so hopefully we can tell them how fun it is and then they can take over the process.

Bodega living

This is the bodega, where we keep a lot of the extra lumber and tools that we don't keep up by the house.

It has been converted (hence the plastic tarp and covering you see) to a lumber storage facility, complete with sleeping
quarters for the construction folks.

They're sleeping up on lumber that they put across the steel beams that run from one end of the bodega to the other.

They stay here Monday through Saturday (taking off at night sometimes to head to the market or bar) and are back to work around 6 every morning. They take off Saturday afternoon
to go see their families and return on Monday mornings.

There is a toilet and shower there, and they brought along their own cooking materials, etc., and even a radio and television that they have been following the World Cup on.

This will be the place they live for the next couple of months while
finishing up the construction.

Happy Fourth of July!

Hope everyone back home in the States has a great holiday! A lot of times down here, an American holiday will sneak up on us without us even realizing it. The Fourth, Memorial and Labor days, Thanksgiving, etc. Christmas and Valentine's, no problems, we have the advertising to remind us.

Not sure what we'll do, if we do anything at all. We'll just see how the day goes.

Stop the madness

Yes, we are in the rainy season at the moment. It can come pouring down, particularly in the afternoons. When you're out and about and get caught, nothing you can do, just suck it up and know that you'll get dry in a little while. We do have umbrellas and slickers for when we know we're heading out in the wet stuff.

And now, so does Mini-B, in two different colors. I was hoping for more of a super-hero theme, but this is what Lucy came up with.

When Mini-B is all kitted out in her rain gear, she kind of sulks around and pouts. She does that when it rains, so not sure if the clothes are related to that or not.

Tow, tow, tow. . .

your guest's minivan from going over the edge. . . Merrily, merrily, merrily, let's just call Miguel . . .

That was the case last week when six folks rented out two of our tree houses. They rented a minivan and all drove up together. The driveway to No. 2 goes down a hill and there is a good-sized space to turn around. However, after offloading the luggage, they got a bit too close to the edge and got the van stuck.

Then they decided to come up and ask for help. After much rocking and pushing and piling rocks under the rear tires, it was obvious that nothing was going to be accomplished. And it was 5:45 p.m., and nearly dark. I abandoned trying to get the van out of its quagmire (6 more inches and it was headed down an embankment) and did the only sensible thing: I called Miguel.

Miguel was at the hotel in 5 minutes and fortunately for everyone, I had called just as he was heading out of town for the weekend. Twenty feet of rope and 10 minutes later, with the help of the mighty Hyundai Galloper, the van was back from the brink and everything was just fine.

The guests opted to park the van near the house where we live, rather than risk getting it stuck someplace else.