Costa Rica: Jaco & Playa Hermosa

 

We traveled across Costa Rica from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans and spent our second week in Costa Rica in Playa Hermosa, just south of the touristy city of Jaco. The place we stayed was very different than the old banana plantation house. This place was amazing - it was on top of a mountain with a view of the jungle and the ocean, had two pools, and (most importantly to me) AC!

We spent most of our time here on this huge covered porch watching the birds. Occasionally a troupe of monkeys would also come through, which was super fun to see.

The jungle and ocean view from the deck is something I'll miss waking up to. Not a bad place for breakfast.

There were 14 of us together here, so the kids got some good cousin-time. 

Costa Rica is also known for their crocodiles. During the rainy season these crocs will venture out into the ocean in search of food, so surfers have to be aware of rivers feeding the ocean.

This photo is taken from "Crocodile Bridge" that overlooks the Tarcoles River. We threw some chicken down to the crocs and it was a bit scary looking down watching the zeal that they had for it with just a small railing between us and these beasts.

I've surfed (mostly unsuccessfully) at a number of beaches around San Diego and in Hawaii, but Jaco had the best beginner waves I've ever tried. The water is shallow so it makes it easy getting out to the waves without expending all your energy. Each of the boys all had some success getting up and going for a ride.

Costa Rica: Puerto Viejo & Manzanillo

We spent the first week in Costa Rica on the Caribbean coast staying near the town of Puerto Viejo. We stayed at an old banana plantation house right on the Cahuita National Park. Touring the park we got to see monkeys, snakes, and sloths in the wild. Every morning we were awakened by howler monkeys, which probably sounds a little cooler than it actually is. They're really loud and start to howl around 4am!

We also visited several beaches in the area - in the town of Cahuita, Playa Negra in Puerto Viejo, and our favorite in Manzanillo. Manzanillo had the best waves for boogie boarding, so this was for sure one of our favorite things to do.

We also visited the Jaguar Rescue Center, an animal rescue center that rehabilitates injured animals and re-introduces them into the wild. There we got to learn about and see up close sloths, frogs, tucans, snakes, deer, maccaws, monkeys, and hogs. 

Home Gym Addition

 In a couple of weeks I'll hit my year mark of being exclusively work-from-home. I absolutely see how lucky I am to be able to have that ability while so many others have struggled to keep employment and been so impacted. One of the bigger adjustments for me has just been trying to keep some level of physical activity now that my commute is literally 20 feet to the home office. At the beginning of last summer it felt like I needed a project. 

We had this outdoor storage space on the other side of our basement wall. It's under part of our dining room and the mudroom so it was already protected from the elements. It looked to me like a perfect place to close in and add a few square feet to our basement, and especially with the pandemic raging, I had a perfect space to build a home gym. 

Before and after. These photos were both taken in January almost exactly a year apart. This may have been my most fun project. It was kind of a culmination of all these years of improvements. I had to plan the space, pour concrete, put in new load-bearing support posts, put in a new exterior door, in addition to all the standard electrical, lighting, drywall, and finishing work. We also fancied it up using legit rubber gym flooring, the mirrored wall, a bench/locker, and the extra trim/moldings. 

 

It turned out great, and we're putting it to good use. Beau brings his buddies over to lift and I can get some better exercise than the 100 or so steps per day I was taking at the beginning of the pandemic. 

I wouldn't have guessed it beforehand, but it's been the girls who use this room the most. They love spending time in here with the TRX band "swing".