More for the flora followers. . .

Again, apologies for not being able to name the flower. I'm still working on the birds first. This grows up and down the drive from the front gate to the grounds of Tree Houses and it is everywhere for the most part. Back in the States, I would guess that folks would pony up big bucks for something like this. Alas, we're not in the flower-shipping business. I just know that it smells nice, looks good and doesn't give a rash when you touch it. Another guest pic.

For the flora followers. . .

Sorry, I don't know what this flower is called, but it is pretty, eh? It grows all over the place, and off of vines, mostly. It comes out most of the year and is just a brilliant red. Hummingbirds, bees and other critters flock to it. Another picture from one of our guests.

Not your typical cattle call. . .

This is a routine scene for the twice-daily feedings of the pooches. Lucy runs the show, and the dogs all wait until they are called to come to get their vittles. We're at four dogs (from back to front: Bejuca, Sweetie, Mini-B and Si-Si) and holding. Before Lucy became enamored with the Dog Whisperer, feeding time was truly a frenzy. Now it's much more controlled, with the pooches remaining sitting/lying until Lucy gives them the official okely-dokely to come and get their chow.

In the morning, the canines get dry food. In the afternoons, they get more dry food, with a chicken-based soup (with chicken chunks, carrots, celery and other stuff) to round out their diet.

If only we ate as well. . .

The waterfall. . .

This is another photo by a guest from TripAdvisor.com. This is the waterfall that is about a 3-kilometer hike from the hotel to get to. There are three pools (this is the first) where people can go to hang out and soak and enjoy being off the beaten path.

Ready for some football!!

The opening Sunday of the NFL season, and life was good. It worked out that we just had one couple here at the hotel and were pretty much caught up with things to do. So, it was a day for vegging. At least for me. Lucy kept busy (funny, she liked football, baseball, basketball, etc., when we were dating) and went all out on the food stuffs.

She found some Kraft Mac & Cheese at one of the grocery stores (doesn't come to the shelves all that often); and we had that for a snack and she then fried some chicken (karage style) and made twice-baked potatoes. It was all topped off with some awesome cookie/brownies (mix the two batters together--very good stuff).

All in all, a great day. Nice to have a slow day as we'll be working on original and new tree houses all week, taking advantage of the slow period to do routine maintenance and get everything in order.

This is what happens. . .

when you give a little pooch a chew toy...this cute little pickles the frog was a gift from Char, Lucy's friend back in HI...Lucy thought she would take a pic of Mini B with the little cuddly frog...and the innocent pic turned into Mini B wanting to chew up the little frog...we'll see how long pickles can hold himself together....

Mini B says: Thank You Char for my new friend...

More power!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is what you do when you have some free time in Wisconsin: Head to a John Deere exhibit in Iowa. On the left is Mom and Dad Eidson and next to them are my mom's cousin and his wife.

A good time was had by all, kicking tires, spinning tall tales and spitting watermelon seeds.

My folks went to visit the "Field of Dreams" while they were there and here's an interesting tidbit: They said that the place is for sale. They didn't get the price tag (I would guess expensive) and the owners say that if no one ponies up the cash at some point, they're going to plow the field under, supposedly with the ghosts of Shoeless Joe, the rest of the BlackSox and Kevin Costner (OK, the last isn't that big of a deal).

Movie time

The other night we went to see Grownups at the theatre in Ciudad Quesada. I had read some pretty brutal reviews of the movie, and the reviews weren't entirely off. Kind of an odd cross between a movie trying for the touchy-feeliness of "Parenthood" with the guffaws of "Porky's."

Never really pulled it off, despite what I thought was a great cast.

Nonetheless, we still enjoyed it (it was in English) and really liked the popcorn, nachos and candy that we scuffed down while watching it. Maybe it was the sugar high that helped us find the movie amusing.

Bird watching. . .

In the never-ending effort to provide fresh art for the non-Simpsons' inclined out there (not to mention to weasel our way around the continuous dispute between the editorial and art department) we thought it would be nice to show folks what guests have seen through their lenses during their stays at tree houses. This photo was taken by a guest and submitted on TripAdvisor.com, a Web site where we get a lot of referrals to the hotel.

This is a typical morning bird call when we put out plantains (think big bananas, though you don't want to eat them raw) and the birds love them. The big brown bird is a Clay-Colored Robin, the national bird of Costa Rica. The little blue birds are Red-Legged Honey Creepers.

The answers you've been waiting for V

OK, if you haven't figured out this one by now, you should feel silly. This is a hummingbird, or colobri, in Spanish. We're lucky to have a bevy of the little buggers around most of the year. At times, there are only 10 or so flitting about the house and the feeders. When it's peak time, there are more than 30 shooting about.

Casa del Congo

At last, Casa del Congo is ready to roll! Well, almost. There's still some wood to be put up on the outside, but we have had our first guests in there and they have really enjoyed it thus far. Today, when a couple checked in, there was a sloth hanging out about 10 feet from their back porch, just relaxing and nibbling on some leaves.

Lucy put together a slide show of the building process, so take a look. These were taken before we all spent an entire day getting the tree house ready for its first customer.

pics from congo house

One of the top questions. . .

That Lucy and I get here at Tree Houses is: How long are you going to be here?

Honestly? We don't know. We both really enjoy it here and really like getting to meet folks from all over the U.S., Canada and the rest of the world.

And there's the wildlife. Not get all hippity-dippity on folks, but I always tell people that when we don't feel the need to walk around to see a sloth, monkey or other critter, then it's probably time to move on.

Case in point: The other night, while I was turning on the lights around the hotel for guests, I spotted a Blue Jean Frog (also known as a Strawberry Poison Dart Frog). It's very tiny, only about as bit as my thumbnail, but with its brilliant coloring, it stands out in the jungle. I followed it around into the jungle for a bit before it pulled off a big leap and disappeared.

So, when we don't give a rip and fail to be bowled over by the critters and stuff down here, then I suppose it will be time to move on.

The answers you've been waiting for IV

The animal that most of the guests at Tree Houses clamor to see: the sloth, or the perazosa. Very funky animals, who don't move fast and only come down from the trees once every seven days to take care of their bathroom business.

Not for the weak of stomach. . .

And hopefully you've already eaten your breakfast before reading this. Bejuca, our Black Lab/Rottweiler that is the grand dame of the Tree Houses has always liked to eat rocks. She'll sit in the driveway and hoover up the pebbles, despite us admonishing her against doing so.

We always figured that she was cleaning her teeth by gnawing on the stones and didn't think that she actually swallowed the things.

That theory was proven wrong the other day when Lucy was walking the pooches for their evening toillette time. Bejuca put on a fine impression of a rock spreader, basically recycling the rocks back onto the driveway that she had eaten previously.

No clue as to why she likes rocks so much. Any theories?

Told you it would have been better to have eaten breakfast first.

The answers you've been waiting for III

And here's another name for you to match with the picture/quiz. It's the Strawberry Poison Dart Frog (aka Blue Jean Frog) and frogs in Spanish are called: rana.

Not as easy as the other two, so the three of you are forgiven for not getting this one!

'It's just a number'

That was what one of our guests said to me, when I commented on the activities that her and her friend had lined up for their time here at Tree Houses.

Over seven days, the two friends--who met in junior high-- went ziplining (about 100 feet up in the air, flying from platform to platform); horseback riding to the La Fortuna Waterfall (which includes 492 steps to get down and then 812 to get back up: got that math wizards?); floating down the Penos Blanca River and riding ATV quads all over the place.

When all was said and done, there were a few bruises and cuts, but they said they wouldn't trade it for anything. They figure they're only going to be around here once, so why not go for it? No sitting around and complaining for these folks.

And their age? 62 and 63, though you would have guessed 15 years younger.

The answers you've been waiting for II

And here is the second giveaway: Anyone ever read Michael Crichton's book, "Congo"? Here is a howler monkey, called a congo or mono in Spanish.

Not as easy as toucan/tucan, but not a real stumper either, eh?

Power of the poll. . .

OK, it's time for folks to weigh in on what should be in the cooler here at the hotel. We have Pepsi, Pepsi Light (diet in the U.S. light down here); water, Gatorade, Cuba Libre (rum and coke mixed in a can) and beer. We're constantly tweaking the cerveza selection here (alright, it's just me) and have only come across a couple of stalwarts that everyone seems to like: Imperial and Bavaria Gold.

So, what do you folks think? There's a different taste to each of the beers and you're just going to have to come down to check them out as my pitiful verbiage won't do them justice.

And yes, I'm expecting in-depth comments from the connoisseur out in Maili!!

The answers you've been waiting for. . .

No, nothing that comes with a thunderbolt or feeling of instant revelation. Just the answers to the pop quiz posted earlier. However, it's not going to come all at once. We're going to drag it out and make you work for it (in response to the three of you who e-mailed whining about the answers!).

Yep, this is a toucan, spelled tucan in Spanish. Of course, you're getting the easiest first. If you're going to whine, then we're going to drag it out!