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.