After a Denny's breakfast we all had a bus tour of San Jose, and were depressed seeing quite a bit of garbage on the roadsides, and a large quantity of modest shack type houses with corrugated iron roofs. Near our hotel there were a number of businesses and quite nice homes, and we drove by local parks, and saw a stadium being built by the Chinese, for the Costa Ricans.
We were amazed by all the traffic and the industrial feel of the city.
First stop was an Emerald and Jewellry factory, where we learned about the lost wax method of casting metal jewelry, a bit of Costa Rican history, and toured their jewellry showroom.
On to the National Theatre/Opera House built in 1897. Very pretty building, lovely hardwood floors, marble details, and it was fashioned after the Paris Opera house. Good acoustics, too.
Stopped at some souvenir shops and Di found a thunder stick, it's a hollow tube with a membrane on one end, and a kind of coil of wire that when you shake it sounds like thunder or a volcano erupting.
That night we had Happy Hour in the bar, free drinks on the house for an hour for all hotel guests, and then we went out to Pueblo Antiguo, a collection of old buildings from the last century from all around the country, and a pretty bandshell, too. It was also a theme park during the day with lots of rides etc, but that part had closed.
We saw a folkloric dancing display with 3 couples dancing together, very energetic and pretty, flirty types of country dances, the girls with colorful tiered gathered skirts, the men in white.
After that there were a couple of stilt people, and some large headed people, young girl, devil, ghost that are typical of Costa Rica. That part of the show seemed to drag a bit, they tried to get us to dance with them but it didn't go off that well.
Then we walked up hill to a pretty restaurant white with heavy dark beams, and had a nicely done buffet style dinner. Our guide through the Pueblo Antiguo was Rosaria, a very vivacious young lady in a cute outfit.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Tues March 9th and on
Our friends Dave and Wendy arrived on Sunday evening, and are staying in a park model here in the park, so on Tuesday we took them over to see our new trailer, and look around the park.
Lary's kildeer carved bird is nearly finished, it now has brass legs and is mounted on the manzanita burl, so we headed off to get a plastic box to put it in to protect it.
Very windy in the evening, we packed for our trip, and got Sue and Jen some very basic groceries. They arrive Wednesday AM and we'll pick them up and take them to their hotel where they will stay overnight before coming out here.
Wednesday was a bit of a challenge, we went into the airport and met Sue and Jen, took their bags to their Palm Springs hotel and left them in the lobby as their room wasn't quite ready so early in the day.
Then we went and ate lunch together and had a brief catchup with them. Jen had a rental car a big one that looked like a police car, black. Mercury Grand Marquis.
Then we returned hurriedly to the campsite, and got ready to head out to Costa Rica with the travel group here. Met at the gate and a bus collected us and we drove to Los Angeles, and stayed in the Hacienda Hotel quite near the airport. We went out to the Sizzler Restaurant across the street from our hotel, and then crashed into bed for an early get up next day.
Up at 5:30 AM, breakfast at the hotel, and off on a shuttle to Los Angeles airport. Lary and I were ahead of the group, not a good thing apparently. Sunny weather, we flew off to Phoenix on US Airways, left at 10 AM, a short flight, and there we transferred to another plane and the much longer flight to Costa Rica. Paid $25 each to check our bags. Left Phoenix at 1:02 PM.
Arrived Costa Rica early about 1830 PM, and met the tour guide Orlando Vargas, the paramedic Wilbert and the driver Fabio, and were greeted with tropical flowers for each lady in our group. Tour bus into the hotel. The flowers are really gorgeous. Had dinner in Denny's Restaurant which is right in the hotel, it's the Irazu Best Western, also has a casino and a very active bar, kind of an outdoor covered bar. Hotel is on the Panamerican Highway which goes all through Central America, so heavy traffic, good location not far from the airport, and near quite a few restaurants.
We were given coupons for a modest breakfast each day in Denny's Restaurant, and got more info on the program for the week from Shirley Graham, our main escort from Gadabout Tours. She has worked many years with Orlando and Wilbert. It is quite normal in Costa Rica to have a paramedic accompany tour groups the whole time they are on tour.
Lary's kildeer carved bird is nearly finished, it now has brass legs and is mounted on the manzanita burl, so we headed off to get a plastic box to put it in to protect it.
Very windy in the evening, we packed for our trip, and got Sue and Jen some very basic groceries. They arrive Wednesday AM and we'll pick them up and take them to their hotel where they will stay overnight before coming out here.
Wednesday was a bit of a challenge, we went into the airport and met Sue and Jen, took their bags to their Palm Springs hotel and left them in the lobby as their room wasn't quite ready so early in the day.
Then we went and ate lunch together and had a brief catchup with them. Jen had a rental car a big one that looked like a police car, black. Mercury Grand Marquis.
Then we returned hurriedly to the campsite, and got ready to head out to Costa Rica with the travel group here. Met at the gate and a bus collected us and we drove to Los Angeles, and stayed in the Hacienda Hotel quite near the airport. We went out to the Sizzler Restaurant across the street from our hotel, and then crashed into bed for an early get up next day.
Up at 5:30 AM, breakfast at the hotel, and off on a shuttle to Los Angeles airport. Lary and I were ahead of the group, not a good thing apparently. Sunny weather, we flew off to Phoenix on US Airways, left at 10 AM, a short flight, and there we transferred to another plane and the much longer flight to Costa Rica. Paid $25 each to check our bags. Left Phoenix at 1:02 PM.
Arrived Costa Rica early about 1830 PM, and met the tour guide Orlando Vargas, the paramedic Wilbert and the driver Fabio, and were greeted with tropical flowers for each lady in our group. Tour bus into the hotel. The flowers are really gorgeous. Had dinner in Denny's Restaurant which is right in the hotel, it's the Irazu Best Western, also has a casino and a very active bar, kind of an outdoor covered bar. Hotel is on the Panamerican Highway which goes all through Central America, so heavy traffic, good location not far from the airport, and near quite a few restaurants.
We were given coupons for a modest breakfast each day in Denny's Restaurant, and got more info on the program for the week from Shirley Graham, our main escort from Gadabout Tours. She has worked many years with Orlando and Wilbert. It is quite normal in Costa Rica to have a paramedic accompany tour groups the whole time they are on tour.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Monday back at Cat Spa - hooray
Thursday night Judy and Gary, and their friends Laurie and Mo came over for dinner, it was lots of fun. Lary cooked chile, delicious, Judy brought a veggie plate, and Laurie brought apple crumble pie and ice cream. Had lots of fun together, we are all in WHR at Indian Waters.
I had a flute lesson for an hour at Annie's in the afternoon. Wonderful, I enjoyed it.
Friday Lary and I went into town and went to the Follies, it was fun. We ate lunch first at Ruby's diner in downtown Palm Springs, and the performance was a matinee. It was enjoyable, 10 women and 6 men, kind of a music and dance revue. The guest performer was Rita Coolidge, a great singer.
All dancers are between 55 and 86 years of age. The costumes were terrific, lots of feathers, and beads, long legs and lovely bodies. Most of the dancers have been dancers all their lives. Huge feather costumes, they must weigh a lot. They talked a bit about themselves.
The show was 3 hours long, we were surprised at that. Historic old theater, and the show has been going for 19 years. The impresario I think renovated the building for the show, from a derelict condition.
Apparently being a historic building with a preservation order has its drawbacks in that things can't be changed substantially, or modified for modern needs. Narrow staircases, and very limited washroom facilities are 2 of the challenges.
After that we raced home, changed, and flew over to the Coachella Valley Flute Circle at Annie's house, for pot luck dinner at 6 and then the music jam. Warm enough to eat outside at tables in Annie's backyard. Flute circle was grand, flutes, rattles, the Mother drum which seems about 2 feet across, some good singing and wonderful music playing. And didgeridoos, lots of them. One of the girls has a bowl that she plays, by tapping the edges of it. It has a beautiful sound. Everyone had at least 2 turns playing, and there were some group things happening.
Later some of us stayed, and Al Hollinger did some great flute playing, and he does some very interesting voice things. Throat singing, and he talks about circular breathing, too.
Saturday we went over to the Coachella Valley Watercolor Society members show and sale, in the Palm Desert Community Center, on San Pablo. It was quite close to College of the Desert, and there were some lovely paintings there, on display, and tons of them unframed, for sale. We didn't buy anything, but we met my painting teacher, Sue Honnell.
We had lunch at Manhattan of the Desert restaurant, on Hwy 111, looked through a few consignment shops, and visited the Backstreet Art District, off Hwy 111. Some nice art there, and some weird stuff, too.
Later we headed into town again, to Palm Springs High School as the newspaper had said the Canadian Tenors were there, and the show was $20 to get in. On arrival after having a terrible time finding parking, we found out that it's a series of season Concerts, and all tickets had been sold out 4 weeks previously. There was a waiting list but we left.
Tried to see the Young Victoria movie, but it had finished for the day. Ended up going to Crazy Heart at the Mary Pickford Theatres, Jeff Bridges was a dissolute country singer, a great song writer, an alcoholic, travelling and singing in rotten scuzzy places, and his love interest was played by Maggie Gyllenhall, but she couldn't accept him as she had a 4 year old son, and Bridges as Bad Blake was a very bad influence on the boy. Great acting from both of them.
Sunday we stayed in, it had rained a lot, so we read and putzed about. Judy and Gary came over and invited us over for 3 PM, so we went over to their motorhome, and they fed us margaritas, we munched on yummy natchos, and then Judy made dinner for us 6, Mo and Laurie had arrived, and we all watched the Oscars, and had yummy crabcakes, salad, rice, and hedgehogs for dessert, with tea and coffee. Yum yum, we had such a nice time.
Monday we moved over to Cat Spa once more, and Dave and Wendy had arrived on Sunday around 3 PM, and are staying in a park model here before we all go to Costa Rica.
I went into Eisenhower for flute class today, then home. After Happy Hour at Dave and Wendy's we had hot dogs, and I did lots of laundry. If you get to the laundry room late, it's dandy, as there is rarely anyone there. Getting ready for the trip, and Sue and Jen coming down into the trailer here.
I had a flute lesson for an hour at Annie's in the afternoon. Wonderful, I enjoyed it.
Friday Lary and I went into town and went to the Follies, it was fun. We ate lunch first at Ruby's diner in downtown Palm Springs, and the performance was a matinee. It was enjoyable, 10 women and 6 men, kind of a music and dance revue. The guest performer was Rita Coolidge, a great singer.
All dancers are between 55 and 86 years of age. The costumes were terrific, lots of feathers, and beads, long legs and lovely bodies. Most of the dancers have been dancers all their lives. Huge feather costumes, they must weigh a lot. They talked a bit about themselves.
The show was 3 hours long, we were surprised at that. Historic old theater, and the show has been going for 19 years. The impresario I think renovated the building for the show, from a derelict condition.
Apparently being a historic building with a preservation order has its drawbacks in that things can't be changed substantially, or modified for modern needs. Narrow staircases, and very limited washroom facilities are 2 of the challenges.
After that we raced home, changed, and flew over to the Coachella Valley Flute Circle at Annie's house, for pot luck dinner at 6 and then the music jam. Warm enough to eat outside at tables in Annie's backyard. Flute circle was grand, flutes, rattles, the Mother drum which seems about 2 feet across, some good singing and wonderful music playing. And didgeridoos, lots of them. One of the girls has a bowl that she plays, by tapping the edges of it. It has a beautiful sound. Everyone had at least 2 turns playing, and there were some group things happening.
Later some of us stayed, and Al Hollinger did some great flute playing, and he does some very interesting voice things. Throat singing, and he talks about circular breathing, too.
Saturday we went over to the Coachella Valley Watercolor Society members show and sale, in the Palm Desert Community Center, on San Pablo. It was quite close to College of the Desert, and there were some lovely paintings there, on display, and tons of them unframed, for sale. We didn't buy anything, but we met my painting teacher, Sue Honnell.
We had lunch at Manhattan of the Desert restaurant, on Hwy 111, looked through a few consignment shops, and visited the Backstreet Art District, off Hwy 111. Some nice art there, and some weird stuff, too.
Later we headed into town again, to Palm Springs High School as the newspaper had said the Canadian Tenors were there, and the show was $20 to get in. On arrival after having a terrible time finding parking, we found out that it's a series of season Concerts, and all tickets had been sold out 4 weeks previously. There was a waiting list but we left.
Tried to see the Young Victoria movie, but it had finished for the day. Ended up going to Crazy Heart at the Mary Pickford Theatres, Jeff Bridges was a dissolute country singer, a great song writer, an alcoholic, travelling and singing in rotten scuzzy places, and his love interest was played by Maggie Gyllenhall, but she couldn't accept him as she had a 4 year old son, and Bridges as Bad Blake was a very bad influence on the boy. Great acting from both of them.
Sunday we stayed in, it had rained a lot, so we read and putzed about. Judy and Gary came over and invited us over for 3 PM, so we went over to their motorhome, and they fed us margaritas, we munched on yummy natchos, and then Judy made dinner for us 6, Mo and Laurie had arrived, and we all watched the Oscars, and had yummy crabcakes, salad, rice, and hedgehogs for dessert, with tea and coffee. Yum yum, we had such a nice time.
Monday we moved over to Cat Spa once more, and Dave and Wendy had arrived on Sunday around 3 PM, and are staying in a park model here before we all go to Costa Rica.
I went into Eisenhower for flute class today, then home. After Happy Hour at Dave and Wendy's we had hot dogs, and I did lots of laundry. If you get to the laundry room late, it's dandy, as there is rarely anyone there. Getting ready for the trip, and Sue and Jen coming down into the trailer here.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Thursday news
Gary and Judy Hare arrived here at Indian Waters, and are coming for dinner tonight.
We went for Happy Hour at a neat new restaurant called the Jackalope on Monday night after Di's flute class. It is a very interesting place, lots of outdoor seating, very pretty with ponds and a waterfall, and pretty garden outlook, and Dr and Mrs Andrews Di's old dentist boss and his wife from Nanaimo, said hi to us on their way out, what a small world indeed.
They serve appys and meals til 6 PM at very reduced prices, so that was wonderful, we ate there.
Tuesday Lary attended a Tengo internet class, new HP computers were all having same problems connecting to Tengo website, so they worked on that.
Gary and Judy arrived on Tuesday evening, so we visited a bit that night.
Wednesday Lary went over to finish up his kildeer bird, it now has long legs and is standing on a manzanita burl, and just needs small finishing touches. It is pretty well painted, he may spray on a fixer coat of clear finish next time.
Gary, Judy and I ate lunch together at the clubhouse, and I listened to a nice music group playing outside in the courtyard after lunch.
Thursday AM Lary went over to the computer course once more, and now we can once again get Tengo Internet in our trailer. Whew.
I Di head off for a flute lesson at Annie's house this afternoon, for an hour, Lary is cooking chile outside. It is breezy, but for nearly the first time this winter, we have the hatches open, and they stayed that way overnight. Still sunny, though some small amount of rain is again forecast for this weekend, likely late Friday and early Saturday.
That's it for now.
We went for Happy Hour at a neat new restaurant called the Jackalope on Monday night after Di's flute class. It is a very interesting place, lots of outdoor seating, very pretty with ponds and a waterfall, and pretty garden outlook, and Dr and Mrs Andrews Di's old dentist boss and his wife from Nanaimo, said hi to us on their way out, what a small world indeed.
They serve appys and meals til 6 PM at very reduced prices, so that was wonderful, we ate there.
Tuesday Lary attended a Tengo internet class, new HP computers were all having same problems connecting to Tengo website, so they worked on that.
Gary and Judy arrived on Tuesday evening, so we visited a bit that night.
Wednesday Lary went over to finish up his kildeer bird, it now has long legs and is standing on a manzanita burl, and just needs small finishing touches. It is pretty well painted, he may spray on a fixer coat of clear finish next time.
Gary, Judy and I ate lunch together at the clubhouse, and I listened to a nice music group playing outside in the courtyard after lunch.
Thursday AM Lary went over to the computer course once more, and now we can once again get Tengo Internet in our trailer. Whew.
I Di head off for a flute lesson at Annie's house this afternoon, for an hour, Lary is cooking chile outside. It is breezy, but for nearly the first time this winter, we have the hatches open, and they stayed that way overnight. Still sunny, though some small amount of rain is again forecast for this weekend, likely late Friday and early Saturday.
That's it for now.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Veg day in Indio at Indian Waters
Today Lary went over to the clubhouse and got us breakfast, cinnamon bun and a burrito each.
Then I went back to bed as I'm feeling a bit poorly with a cough and sinus thing.
Later we went out and hit a bead sale at a hotel in Palm Desert, the man was from Kennewick, WA and had some lovely beads though I didn't buy much. We both bought silver rings so we could leave our good jewelry here while we go to Costa Rica.
Lary made a delicious pepper stir fry for dinner, mix of yellow, green, and red peppers, then he stirred in some thawed cooked shrimp, in a sauce, and served it over rice. We were trying to watch the Olympic coverage, but KMIR TV station here has very choppy reception, you can hardly hear what is being said, and it keeps cutting out completely, not sure why it's so bad down here at the eastern end of the valley. We don't have cable TV here, either. Very frustrating.
Then we watched a Harry Potter movie, think it was the 5th one, pretty violent. Neither of us have read any of the books, so we are enjoying the movies on TV.
Can't get onto Tengo Internet here in Indian Waters at all during the day, even with the antenna, so I hit it after midnight. And it works just fine, perhaps no competition for the air waves or whatever.
Then I went back to bed as I'm feeling a bit poorly with a cough and sinus thing.
Later we went out and hit a bead sale at a hotel in Palm Desert, the man was from Kennewick, WA and had some lovely beads though I didn't buy much. We both bought silver rings so we could leave our good jewelry here while we go to Costa Rica.
Lary made a delicious pepper stir fry for dinner, mix of yellow, green, and red peppers, then he stirred in some thawed cooked shrimp, in a sauce, and served it over rice. We were trying to watch the Olympic coverage, but KMIR TV station here has very choppy reception, you can hardly hear what is being said, and it keeps cutting out completely, not sure why it's so bad down here at the eastern end of the valley. We don't have cable TV here, either. Very frustrating.
Then we watched a Harry Potter movie, think it was the 5th one, pretty violent. Neither of us have read any of the books, so we are enjoying the movies on TV.
Can't get onto Tengo Internet here in Indian Waters at all during the day, even with the antenna, so I hit it after midnight. And it works just fine, perhaps no competition for the air waves or whatever.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Stayed in the new park model at Almar Acres for 2 nights, the locals are very friendly and helpful to us newbies. The WiFi there seems to work wonderfully, thank heavens.
Attended the fiddle player/clog dancer on Weds night at Cat Spa, she was good but her music overpowered her singing, it was a bit frustrating for everybody, and she kind of lost folks a bit that way. Just goes to show you that people enjoy hearing the words of songs a lot.
Thursday I had a private lesson on the flutes at Annie's house, it was lots of fun, hard work, and I hope I managed to retain some of the info to be able to practice my new skills. My new flute from Marty of Zion Flute Festival fame is wonderful, it sounds great, but can be touchy. We are kind of getting to know each other, it and me. It's pretty intense playing one on one with Annie, and she turned on the microphone and let me doodle, that's always so nice as the sounds are just lovely that way. It's a boom mic, and it kind of hangs down into the bridge area near the top of the flute, where the noise comes out. At the bottom of the flute that's not where the noise comes out.
We also noodled about with the new F drone flute that I just got from Nash Tavewa, it is key of F, and is so very interesting. It has 2 chambers, and one chamber plays the melody, the other is a kind of background accompaniment. Annie and I played the A flutes from Stephen DeRuby, they seemed perfectly matched with each other.
BTW, the WiFi here at Indian Waters sucks, it is nearly impossible to hook up during the daytime, ergo, it's 1:20 AM, we just finished watching the Olympics and the news on TV, and the WiFi is working fine now. Likely there is hardly anyone using it.
Thursday evening we had meat loaf up at the Indian Waters clubhouse, it was good.
Friday was lovely and warm, even in the evening, but there is yet another storm blowing in, with perhaps a 1/4 inch of rain for tomorrow. Perhaps it will clear by Sunday.
Monday is flute class at Eisenhower, and Thursday is private lesson with Annie. Friday is potluck with Coachella Valley Flute Circle, the musicians jam. Wow and more wow.
I have a bad cough and am thinking of going to see a Doctor tomorrow. I may also have a sinus infection. Oh yippee.
Attended the fiddle player/clog dancer on Weds night at Cat Spa, she was good but her music overpowered her singing, it was a bit frustrating for everybody, and she kind of lost folks a bit that way. Just goes to show you that people enjoy hearing the words of songs a lot.
Thursday I had a private lesson on the flutes at Annie's house, it was lots of fun, hard work, and I hope I managed to retain some of the info to be able to practice my new skills. My new flute from Marty of Zion Flute Festival fame is wonderful, it sounds great, but can be touchy. We are kind of getting to know each other, it and me. It's pretty intense playing one on one with Annie, and she turned on the microphone and let me doodle, that's always so nice as the sounds are just lovely that way. It's a boom mic, and it kind of hangs down into the bridge area near the top of the flute, where the noise comes out. At the bottom of the flute that's not where the noise comes out.
We also noodled about with the new F drone flute that I just got from Nash Tavewa, it is key of F, and is so very interesting. It has 2 chambers, and one chamber plays the melody, the other is a kind of background accompaniment. Annie and I played the A flutes from Stephen DeRuby, they seemed perfectly matched with each other.
BTW, the WiFi here at Indian Waters sucks, it is nearly impossible to hook up during the daytime, ergo, it's 1:20 AM, we just finished watching the Olympics and the news on TV, and the WiFi is working fine now. Likely there is hardly anyone using it.
Thursday evening we had meat loaf up at the Indian Waters clubhouse, it was good.
Friday was lovely and warm, even in the evening, but there is yet another storm blowing in, with perhaps a 1/4 inch of rain for tomorrow. Perhaps it will clear by Sunday.
Monday is flute class at Eisenhower, and Thursday is private lesson with Annie. Friday is potluck with Coachella Valley Flute Circle, the musicians jam. Wow and more wow.
I have a bad cough and am thinking of going to see a Doctor tomorrow. I may also have a sinus infection. Oh yippee.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
We've Moved to Indio
Our time at Catalina Spa ran out and we have relocated to the eastern end of the Coachella Valley to Indian Waters park in Indio. It is a Western Horizons Park and is quite nice. The only problem is that we are back into the wonderful (not) world of Tengo Internet WiFi. It seems that people were using the WiFi too much, according to Tengo, so they slowed it down and limited the amount that you can use it by keeping track of the megs you use every day and if you exceed their limit they arbitrarily cut you off. Is that great service or what?
We arrived here yesterday and got set up around noon. Di went to her flute group at the Eisenhower Cancer Clinic. They had a guest flautist there to demonstrate his works and Di got a new, ceramic flute with a drone pipe attached to the main flute. It has a lovely sound but Di has to be vry careful because it is ceramic and would not survive a trip to the floor. We saw a chap who had created a carrying case for his flutes by form-cutting heavy foam rubber to fit inside a hard bodied suitcase. I'll have to look for something like that for Di's growing family of flutes.
We are going back to Cat Spa tomorrow for Lary's carving class. He will be painting his kildeer and is almost finished. We will stay for the evening entertainment, a fiddler who also clog dances at the same time. We'll spend the night in our new park model in Almar Acres before returnig to Indio Thursday afternoon.
We arrived here yesterday and got set up around noon. Di went to her flute group at the Eisenhower Cancer Clinic. They had a guest flautist there to demonstrate his works and Di got a new, ceramic flute with a drone pipe attached to the main flute. It has a lovely sound but Di has to be vry careful because it is ceramic and would not survive a trip to the floor. We saw a chap who had created a carrying case for his flutes by form-cutting heavy foam rubber to fit inside a hard bodied suitcase. I'll have to look for something like that for Di's growing family of flutes.
We are going back to Cat Spa tomorrow for Lary's carving class. He will be painting his kildeer and is almost finished. We will stay for the evening entertainment, a fiddler who also clog dances at the same time. We'll spend the night in our new park model in Almar Acres before returnig to Indio Thursday afternoon.
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