Costa Rica Vacation!

I can't wait for February because that is when my vacation in Costa Rica is (Feb.11/2010 - Feb18/2010). This will be my second trip to Costa Rica. The last trip went very well. I met my girlfriend Elcy and had an awesome time. Costa Rica has something for everyone, there are zip lines through the jungle, ATV tours and many parks full of monkeys, sloths and birds of all kinds including toucans and parrots. The nightlife is more fun than anywhere I have been in the past and the restaurants were outstanding.

This time around I am not yet sure where I will be staying. I have only booked my tickets, Vancouver to San Jose round trip $1200. Last trip I stayed in Hurrandura, a small town a few minutes north of Jaco. We rented a house that a BBQ and pool. I feel that I can't go back to staying in a hotel ever again. The privacy and freedom of the house made the vacation a lot better. We were loud and came and went at all hours of the day and night and even hosted a pool party, and we did not disturb anyone. This time I am leaving it up to Elcy to find a place, this makes me very nervous. I told her that my first choice is a house with a BBQ and pool just like last time, but we will see what she comes up with.

There is so much to do to get ready to go. I need some new clothes and miscellaneous travel stuff. I also need to go to the bank and get my money sorted out. The last time I ordered Costa Rican currency (colon) and then did not have to mess around cashing travelers checks or changing money. That worked well but in Jaco US dollars are accepted everywhere so this time I will bring US dollars. Spending US dollars is also a lot easier because you don't have to do any math in your head.

My next thing to do is to make a things to do list, so that is what I am up to now.

Forest Fires and Fishing In The Okanagan

Today I feel fat, but its no big deal because its Sunday and its summer in the sunny Okanagan Vally. Well not so sunny today. There are forest fires burning in the mountains near where I live filling the sky with smoke. The wind blows most of the smoke away from the city but you can smell it and the sky is hazy. The forest fires have affected some people allot because of evacuations and road closures, but not me I don't think about it much.

Yesterday my brother and I took our nephew fishing in Echo Lake near Lumby B.C.. We got skunked but it was fun anyhow. We saw allot of wild life - dear, ducks, loons, a snake, a heron, squirrels and the most amazing siting was thousands of baby frogs on the shore of the lake. The frogs were the size of nickels and the sand looked alive with the swarm of little frogs jumping around.



The rubbish industry is normally slow in august and this year it has been slow all summer but I will worry about all that on Monday. For now its been a great weekend and I think I am going to make myself a Mojito, get a little fatter and take a nap.