Our Vacation to Connecticut

August 4 - August 13
Important Note: When you click on the pictures and websites, please right click to open in a new window.

WOW!!! What a time and our host and hostess were the best!!!

Ed and Johanna Lane have a home near us in Hacienda Atenas. Since meeting them, we have grown to be quite close friends. Ed is retired from the NYFD and Johanna is a retired Attorney. One very important thing to note is that they have been married 49 years!! That's correct - 49 years!! Now that is saying a lot for a couple being able to get along well. Ed and Jo invited us to their home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and to spend some time on their boat "Maine Idea." Stef has always wanted to visit that part of the US, and her birthday was coming up, so we eagerly accepted the invitation.

We arrived at the New Jersey Airport late at night on the 4th. It's a 2 hour drive from their home to the airport. They were waiting for us at the International Terminal, but for some reason, the pilot took us to another terminal. Thank God they found us!! We got back to the house late, chatted for a bit, and got to bed around 1:00 AM. Really needed to get rested up because they had a real comprehensive schedule for us during the rest of our stay.

The next day we were in the recovery mode from the trip. That night, Ed & Johanna hosted a dinner with friends and family who we knew from visiting their home in Costa Rica. Everyone had a great time and the food was wonderful.

The following day, Captain Ed and Admiral Johanna were ready to board ship and head out to sea. The deckhands (us) were excited and ready to join them. The "Maine Idea" is a great boat. It is a one of a kind designed and built by Joel White. It's a 1982 50' wooden trawler, that they keep in immaculate condition. This boat is Ed's baby. Check it out  - We got to the boat about mid-morning and headed out to Block Island, which was about a 4 1/2 hour run from the home base.

Block Island - This is a pretty cool place, and we spent a couple of days there. We checked out the town there, did (Stef, Ed & Johanna) did some clam digging while I looked for lost money and jewels. One night we went to what seemed to be a big party at the marina docks where we drank some realllly good mudslides. For more pictures of Block Island click here - More more information go to this website Block Island

Martha's Vinyard - We headed out the next day early to sail to Martha's Vinyard where we stayed another couple of days on the boat. I've always heard about this very famous place, but had never been there.
Well, we were in for a real treat. The island is everything we had heard about, and more. On the first night, Johanna's brother Anthony brought us over Maine lobster for dinner, which was fantastic. Anthony has a home on the island, and he lent us one of his vehicles to explore the sites here. The next day, we toured several small towns here and did a little shopping. That night, we went over to his house for dinner where his wife and Johanna made a fantastic dinner to celebrate Stef's birthday. Good conversation with great friends. For more pictures - Click here - To see the website Click here - The next day we headed out for:

Newport, RI - It was about a 4 hour trip where Ed decided that I should pilot the boat for awhile. Now, I am a very experienced lake and river boater, but this is entirely a different game. I have never piloted a boat like this especially in seas where the swells were pretty significant - They were to me that is. Ed finally relieved me of that duty and took over the controls, which allowed me to breathe a little easier.

We arrived at the marina in the early afternoon and got the boat moored. God, there were some pretty big yachts there. In fact, the largest privately owned sailboat was docked there, and it is impressive. - We got a water taxi, and headed into the dock to go check out the town.Newport is a neat town with that old Northeast flavor where you wonder what it was like living there 150 years ago. We strolled around for awhile then stopped into a place for a bite to eat. That night, we ate on the boat and just relaxed. Click here to see pictures of Newport and many of the neat boats. To see information on Newport - Click here to go to the website.

The Trip Back to Old Saybrook - We only stayed one night at Newport and headed back home the next morning. It was an interesting trip and very relaxing. Of course, Ed didn't trust me to pilot the boat much this time. Check out these pictures to see some of the neat scenery we were fortunate enough to observe. There were some huge mansions along the shoreline and many other neat things to see.

We got back to the house late afternoon. Everyone was tired so we had a quiet dinner at the house. The next day, we spent time looking around Old Saybrook and doing some shopping. That night they put on a BBQ for us, again with friends and family. Stef and I also had to get packed for the flight home the next day. Don't forget, it's a 2 hr drive to the airport. The next day we were headed back home to Costa Rica.

Ed & Jo were a huge part in providing one of the best vacations we have ever had. And, I know that they made sure that Stef definitely had the best birthday of her life. You can't ask for better people.

Animal Relationships

This is Abby just after a bath. She was a stray we found here on our lot when we were building the house. Abby is very street savy and will stand up to, or knows how to avoid any creature in the area. She now has a new buddy to play with, and his name is:

Sunny  - who is a young Yellow Lab that Amanda adopted several months ago from the shelter. Sunny is big and strong, but very gentle - he is also Amanda's new best friend.

The two dogs love to play together, and will do so for hours. They also like to chase cats up tree. Both dogs are obsessed with this sport - However 

This is "MOM" - we call her that because she had a litter in January, of which 3 for sure of the cats are still around. Then, she just had another litter about 6 weeks ago. We don't know where she had the last litter, nor how many survived. But, she did bring one of them to us because she was asking for help with the kitten. We found it a new home. Now, Mom is also a stray that we had during construction. The workers always reminded us to buy food for the cats, which we did. The workers left, but Mom & her 3-4 children did not. The cats that the dogs like to tree are Mom's kids, but Mom does not take any crap from either dog, and has let them know quite brutally. I keep telling the dogs not to mess with Mom, and I think that they are starting to understand.

Guess Who is Back in Town?

Yep, it's Charlie. Several weeks ago our dear friend Charlie Hughes came back to visit. Remember, Charlie is the one who said I was crazy for moving to Costa Rica? I will never let him live that one down! :-)

This time, he brought his friends Ricky and Barbara Dixon. These are two very wonderful people that we quickly became friends with. This is not based on Charlie's recommendation, but how we found them to be.

Ricky is one of Charlie's partners in the housing community they are building, so they had to check it out (tax deduction for the trip?) Beside that, Charlie took them around Atenas to show them our neighborhood, and I think that they really liked it. In addition, they had contributed some things to the local orphanage last Christmas and wanted to visit there. Stef took them there and I think it was a very rewarding visit for them and the kids. One of the things I noticed was that Ricky was really enjoying the peace and serinity of Costa Rica. Never can tell what his thoughts for the future are.

As usual, we ate out often and had a great time. Ricky and Barbara, you guys are welcome anytime.

To see all the pictures - click here
Barbara took a lot of good pictures
Some of them are of the investment project they own
Others are adventure/fun pic's

Our Crew

Our humble abode is a high maintenance thing, so we have a need for many people to keep it up because I am so very lazy. We have people to clean the house, take care of the plants and lawn, and a handy man when required. The people that we hired are all fantastic and care about our needs. Below, is a little bit about them and what they do:

Julio - This is our handy man and he is a real trip. He spent many years in the Northeast US working hard to save money and send it home to his wife. The only problem was that she gave all the money away to her family. $64,000 in fact. Needless to say, Julio came back & found this out - he divorced her! Julio is a Godsend - if something goes wrong and you need it fixed, he will be there anytime day or night. However, he charges more than the others because he always needs a helper. For the two of them, we are forced to pay 3,500 colones per hour (highway robbery) - that equates to about $6 USD per hour. But, I will forgive him for that.

Anna Cecila - (on the left) This girl is fantastic! She comes every day to mop and clean the patio/Rancho areas. We never thought that would be necessary, but believe me it is - Anna Cecila also takes care of our pool. During her recent family tradegy (which I will discuss later) she held the entire family together while taking care of all the needs - this was a major job!!! And, this girl is only in her mid 20's. - She is a real sweetheart, and we love her and her family mucho.

Liz - Pronounced Leez - Another great gal who Stef absolutely adores - Don't even think about hiring her away from Stef! She comes to clean our house and guest house 3 days a week for 4 hours each. The average weekly cost is about $30 a week, and she does a great job! We found her when she did the final construction clean-up on our house before we moved in. Liz has also become to be a friend to Stef, and she will do anything Stef needs.

Noel - Is a 19 year old whom I have become to like a lot. So far, I've had him work every day since he started. Noel is dependable and does a great job of doing everything related to the grounds. Right now, he is in training to take care of the yard the way I would like to do it myself - Please remember, I am getting very lazy :-)

Netty - Is a very experienced gardener who is here every Wednesday to take care of the specific gardening details - He is also Noel's uncle. He also does work for everyone else in the neighborhood, so we can't get him every day.

There are a couple of other guys that I'd rather tell you about in a separate post because they are very, very special to us. - Stay tuned...