On the Trail

White Christmas was nice. It has now been a week since the departure of our now classified trip and inevitable(?) return to Canada. It has been rilly intense. Family, snow, cold (it's the wind that sux), friends, parties, food, no plans, etc and now I am startiong ont he campaign to find a career. I am looking forward to it, maybe old Haldane may help yet. I am making a list of contacts, people I have known and people I have heard of... everyone rilly. is it worth the stress? Nope. I'll get a job, it's the house that I want to get sooner than later. That requires the income. I tell you though, starting again is a very exciting thing to do. think about it. trying to get something new, meet new people, impress new people, new friends, a new route to work, seeing new homes and stopping at new lights. I am excited to do it. I did not think it was going to happen so quickly though. I was focussed on March. So now instead of thinking about what could have been with that path, I now wonder what March in The Peg will be, three months into our New Life. Just got to hang in there, we're almost somewhere.

Still here !

Well, we are. But not for long. It's coming up fast that we are headed home. A home. Wow.

But the last few days here have been fantastic. Every day we have raced out to the beach, and every night we have sat watching the stars. It's been completly perfect if you ask me. This is a great way to 'end' our trip.

Today for sure it has really hit me. I turned to Chris and said " are we really leaving THIS to go back to Canada" ? I know we are, and I still feel like it's a great decision, but REALLY??

Well, today at the beach the boys were floating around catching some sun. Kicking the ball around on the sand. We all got a bit more colour. Chris found a few star-fish and some flounders. We went on a little boat trip with a couple who live here 3 months of the year. They are from Edmonton.

I don't have many exciting things to write. This last week has been pure relaxation and 'vacation' style lazyness. But I have started to make my famous 'LISTS'. Argh. Lists. I love to hate them. I love to love them. I need them. Lists.

Blah, blah, blahh. I love you all. We miss you all. We will see you in 4 sleeps. (Winnipeg at least, Edmonton's a few more).


Ciao

Having Fun again....

Tuesday night was a great night. It turns out there is a meteor shower here for the next week, and we're here right in the middle of it. We went out around 8pm and sat on the beach. It was so dark and so quiet. All we heard was the waves breaking on the shore. Perfect. We saw a few shooting stars, meteors, etc. It made me so happy to be sitting out there with just the millions upon millions of stars. I remember doing that during the summer with my dad. "Confirmed" Yes, there were a few. The stars seemed to go on all the way to the horizon, it was so beautiful.

Wednesday was the first day in a long while where we were all feeling good AND it wasn't raining. So what did we do, Raced to the beach and jumped into the Ocean. We had a blast, got a bit more colour and had a fantastic family day. I think we spent the majority of the day on the beach and in the sea. We wanted to hit 'de tatched' restaurant for Lobster, but they are closed on Wednesdays. We're going tomorrow. For now, we're eating some pasta and sauce, and are about to head off to the beach yet again to check out the stars. Can't wait.

So many things to do..... and it's raining.

So, we have only 9 days left in Paradise before the cold cold snow hit's our tanned faces. The four of us feel like we're stuck. Stuck with so many things to do, and really not doing anything.... O.K. that's not entirely true. The last few days have been hectic. We've felt a little couped up in the house with the frequent but short rain storms, but have used the time to look for a new house in the Peg. There are some fantastic places that we are looking forward to seeing soon. We're thinking about shopping (ok, that may just be me), but there is a lot to buy.... Besides the house, we'll need furniture and clothes, a nice big t.v. Lots of clothes because we didn't keep much, besides what we brought, and even that has been widdled down to the bare minimum. I'm not too sure how our new bathing suits and shorts will help keep us warm....we'll need mittens, boots, jackets, and more. Socks too. Humm. I hope my VISA's ready.....

I'm not sure what we will do in the next few days. The ocean is a little ruff right now for swimming, and we really want to get in there before it's too late. At time's we've even wondered why we waited to fly out on the 19th... Things happen for a reason. Sometimes you don't know the reason until later, but there's always a reason.

So many things to do. Relax in the sun. Get a bit more of a tan. Pack. Shop. Look for a house. Find a realtor. Get jobs. See family. And more I'm sure. We really can't wait to get to Canada. This has been a fantastic experience, and we're ready for the next one. But now, we just need to find something to do until we leave......

What's new now...

Well, our blog has been a bit quiet the last few days. The reason is mostly that we are all still sick, well the boys are better but Chris and I still have a bit to go. It's sad really, now that we have decided to come back to Canada we're stuck in the house not getting the chance to explore and enjoy our last 11 days. Wow, 11 days. There are still many things to do here, but I'm not sure what we will end up doing. Sitting on the beach sounds like a nice way to relax (and spruce up our tan for the cold white winter). There is a ton of great snorkelling to do here, but the boys just can't do it yet. The Belize Zoo is suppose to be fantastic, but that just sounds silly to do here....... We're thinking of doing a tour or two. Not sure. It really is hard to get up and go when you're not 100%, but that's just what we have to do. Not just because of our short time left, but because the boys are not sick and they have the energy of 10 kids (it seems) we just have to get them out to do things. I need to get some more fantastic pictures. This could be our last HUGE 'vacation' in a long time. We need to live it up.

I hate being sick. It's almost a week now since it's hit us, so it should be over soon. The only good thing I can think of about being sick is that we've all lost some weight, and can now eat 3 or 4 helpings of Christmas dinner with little or no effect! Gotta look of the bright side Right?

See you all soon, We can't wait. We've missed you all too too much.

Beware the Baobabs

I suppose we did it to ourselves. We planned it and we did it... as is becoming our cliche, it's not a big deal because it was always a 'part of the plan when certain conditions were met'. And they ended up being met yesterday in pure concrete conversation with my wife and kids. It's a good thing we did it when we did because it seems returning to Canada was on the mind more than we thought. 'Children Beware the Baobabs!' (on a side, if anyone has not read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Expury, i recommend you do it, if my opinion has any weight. Minou introduced that book to me in 1997 (?) in a rough time and it has turned into a very important part of my life and now my family's) If you do not take care of them when they are young they will grow too big to manage properly. What I mean by that is if Tamara and I hadn't finally discussed our desires then us and/or the boys cold have ended up in a place that would have been more difficult to respond from. We could have become resentful to each other for example, or maybe become poisoned to travel forever, or worse!!! Right now, I still have gypsy in me, but you know wanting to stay in one place is something I want to embrace.

How did this come to a point then? Well, as Tamara mentioned, she had been considering this for a while now but it never was acute enough to rilly talk about. That's female nature. As it was guy nature to all of a sudden drop the bomb one fine morning after a good morning. I woke up early tortured in my mind by the 'what the heck did I do to my family?' So because I had the option I left the house and went for a swim in the ocean. I spent about a half hour floating and swimming back and forth thinking about leaving, staying, returning, seeing someplace else, etc, but I had to always end up at the same place, it doesn't make sense anymore to my family. That was our turning point since we began this quest. The boys wanted Canada, Tamara wanted a home again and all that goes with it, and I didn't have the feeling this was going to work anymore, and obviously, I'm not a tyrant. There was the fact that we did not spend as much time as we should have in locations and we travelled too much. That turned off the boys for sure. They HATED moving around so much, and to be honest, looking at everything and wondering what was expendable, was getting tiring. I knew it was getting bad when I considered the boys as well. Ok, ok, kidding, but you guys with kids know what I'm talking about. We could have (should have?) stayed longer in Montezuma, and Monteverde but decided against it. Why? I am sure that one day in the future Tamara and I will be sitting in our comfortable Winnipeg home and we'll talk about this trip.

What else was there then? Well, I still wanted to go to Mexico, because you never know! But, since the return was almost 100% inevitable, the Ukrainian practical side came out and I realised it was just a big expense for minimal return and that money would be better served buying appliances for a new home than on a warm trip. So after deciding this in my head, where would we go?

Yeah, rilly., where? Finishing the plan in BC was tough because prices are ridiculous for just a lot in Nelson area. Edmonton is still there and we will visit, but i guess we did give it a try already didn't we? 2.5 years and it wasn't exactly as we wanted. East sounds good and has potential, but of all places Winnipeg sounded better. Old friends (hopefully I am welcomed back with the family even though in my youth I have not been the greatest advocate of The Peg- I would like to stress that was in my youth when I was drunk for about 8 years), there was familiarity for me, homes are still affordable, there is sales tax (but not for the boys, yay!), it is a new place to try out, and among many other reasons, the boys' only Gido is there. So now we begin the chapter in our lives in Winnipeg.

I hope I enjoy my last few days in Belize, but being who I am, once I have a plan set, other things fall on the wayside. Right now i think, why didn't we just book tix for tomorrow since we are doing it anyways? Oh well. For whatever reason, it's probably a good idea to enjoy ourselves for the next 11 days, hopefully not being sick anymore, because reality may be that the ocean is not in our future. Who knows. I am looking forward to this move. I have not lived there since I took off to live in Calgary with Tim in the Fall of 2001. I still remember packing Poops' truck, I still remember partying at Oktopberfest the night before (well barely, in all honesty, I remember almost winning a trip to Munich? nah, probably was too loaded), I still remember what a great life I had begun in The Peg only to drop it and try to build it up again in Calgary. I was well on my way with a good job, meeting people, having fun, but I had to try Calgary. I am not worried. Winnipeg was looking good, I had a future in Calgary. Unfortunately, Calgary did not reciprocate with a decent playing field for that future. It was my favourite city though. Edmonton was a done deal! I even had a pension! So I am confident that The Peg will be kind to us as well.

We'll rent a home, buy, or stay at Mom and Dad's for the time being. I'll find a job. Tamara will start up Partylite again. Callym can go to Cadochok or playschool, Oscar will keep growing, and we'll go from there. I am upbeat for the move. I will enjoy living in The Peg again. I will look forward to The Bombers going on their cup run again in 2008, and being part of the stadium. So many different events. I am looking forward to living life again in Canada! Earth can't be wrong, right?

A white Christmas.....

Ok, so here it is.............................






We will be home for Christmas.




We are booking today or tomorrow.



We'll see the Lukie side for December Christmas, and the Scharabun side for Ukrainian Christmas.


We haven't failed in our attempt to find a new life, but it has stopped making sense to us.


All four of us.



What were we thinking..... A GREEN CHRISTMAS????????????


This has been a blast. A life changing experience. So life changing that....






wait for it....








wait for it.....









we're going to try Winnipeg as our new home in the new year............







We love you all, and we can't wait to see you all very very soon! Sooner than most all of us were thinking,

but as the song says....

I'll be home for Christmas, you can plan on me, please have snow ............

Getting use to the different currency

Not a big blog, or anything really important. Just a little diddy I guess...

In Costa Rica we paid for everything with Colones. We could get around 520000 colones for 100 US dollars. At first it was difficult to figure out what it was costing us, but after a while I figured out a good way to do it. I would move the decimal over by 3 spots and double it. So, when I found a Lacosta sweater for 19000 colones, I knew it was only 40$. (why did I not buy this!!)

Here in Belize we buy things in Belize Dollars. The exchange rate is 2 Belize dollars for every 1 US$. I'm still getting use to dividing by two instead of doubling it. Our dinner 2 nights ago cost 75$ and at first I doubled it for Costa Rica, Chris then reminded me to divide. So our dinner was only just over 35$ and not 150$!

See, math is good!

It's only time.

The peninsula is glorious. We walk in barefeet to the beach, and that is no further than the distance everyone would like to have from one end to the other of their homes.

So Callym and I might be stars! An Italian dude was here yesterday taking pics of retired people in Placencia for an article and he said he was inspired by us playing together. So we said sure go ahead take some shots, we are after all semi-retired. Thinking on that is nice too.

We have now spent nearly 8 weeks of our growing lives together 24/7. How many families do that? Well, at this moment I feel that doing all this is worth the time we spend together. A little trade-off, family time with little kids and we have no address. Travelling around together seems like the best idea right now in Life. So we'll keep on. Tamara already wrote about our plans, and I am excited for them, and can't wait, but right now I am going to walk to the grocery store for some supper. That is if I can take my butt off my patio chair... islandlife... makes me want to head to Dominica after Mexico. I wonder what will happen.

A call out for PartyLite

This is a purely selfish blog.....

If anyone out there in PartyLite Land can hear me.... please send us some Candy Cane Candles. Chris and I miss them so so much. It's bad enough that there is no snow here, but Candy Cane Candles too! Ahh. We miss PartyLite so much......

SeaSpray Hotel
c/o Tamara Lukie
Placencia Belize

Island Life

Well we are really enjoying the Island Life here in Belize. Although today is very hot with no clouds in sight and no breeze to be found, we're still hanging in there! The boys are all napping right now, another perk of Island and Vacation Life I guess... We're all a little sick today, but I think it was the food last night. Funny, it tasted sooo good last night..... Conch is what the boys and I tried. It's a little like squid or octopus, chewy, good (at least last night!)

Yesterday we walked along the sidewalk and looked in all the different stores. There are a lot here. We bought a few gifts for family, and bought our selves new xmas decorations for our sickly looking fake 3 foot tree. 3 decorations is not enough even for this tree, so the boys and I made some more out of the sea-shells we had left over. We put on the lights that we bought in Costa Rica, it's looking better, but it really needs some more....


We're still playing the Christmas music everyday (Michael Buble, Kenny Rogers, The Chipmunks, Sarah McLachlan etc... If you have a favorite, please let us know as we need some more), but it's still hard to get into it without the snow. I've heard how cold it is in both Winnipeg and Edmonton, so I hope we get over it soon. Frost bite or a sun burn? Hmmm, tough question.

Oh yes, on our walk yesterday we found the 3 biggest sea shells to date. The boys and I found 3 Conch shells near the shore. It was so cool. Callym wanted to bring them back, and I'm sure we could have. Everyone here seems to collect them and put them everywhere. But we didn't. I'm sure we'll find more.....

We're thinking of renting a car for either a few days or a week. We want to do some major exploring here, and looking at lots and homes too. I think we're a little sick of taxi's and stuff. This will give us some extra freedom to stop and go when we please. We subscribe to a publication called International Living, and this months cover story is called "Belize, Buy before the Europeans" ! It's interesting, and has a few extra sites for us to look for homes and such. Prices here are still low, but rising (faster in some areas then others) but we could expect 15000 for a decent plot up to 250000 for a home and lot near the beach. We'll be looking, and let you know.....

It's been a few weeks since we've been attacked by no-see-ums and other biting bugs. But there back! And I had almost gotten rid of all the scars from before. Ahh! That is one thing that will be hard to get use to here in the tropics. We're still taking our Malaria pills, but I'm seriously considering quitting them. They taste so horrible, and the risk here (as in Costa Rica) is pretty low, of course if you do get it, it is even more horrible than the taste. I'm still thinking tho.

We have hired a cleaning lady to come in twice a week. When we booked into the SeaSpray I was under the impression that we were part of the hotel, but we aren't. They rent out 2 homes on the side for monthly rentals because it's a better price for the holidayers. So, we're mostly on our own. Grocery shopping, sweeping, laundry, and everything else. It's kind of nice, and then again, doing everything yourself after 8 weeks of being taken care of is hard. Just things you forget need to be done.... Well, Verna comes here every Monday and Thursday just to help out. Washing the floors, doing our towels and sheets, garbages, and anything else us silly tourists have forgotten. She is very nice so far, and I can't wait until she comes back!

Skype is still being a pain for us, but we're still trying. Can't wait to see you all again on the computer and hear your voices.

Good-Bye Costa Rica, Hello Belize

A rough start to the day, our flight was at 6 30 in the morning, and we needed to be at the airport early. Getting up at 3am is hard, especially if you don't get to sleep until around midnight (that was Chris). The boys really did well, but I think it had to do with the fact that I made them go to sleep about 7pm. We had 3 different planes to get to Belize. One to El Salvador, another to Belize City, and then a small 8 person plane to Placencia. One thing I didn't know was that I booked us into business class. A nice treat! We ended up having a small snack like meal on every trip, and had nice big chairs to snuggle in. The longest flight we had was 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The view from each plane was fantastic, I really wanted to sleep, but how can you in 50 minutes? I wanted to take picutres, but I just didn't.

The boys had the best time on the tiny airplane, and I think I did too.

So, we are here, and we are in love again. This is so so very very different from Costa Rica. It feels like Island Life. There are a mix of people here, and most speak with a caribbean accent. All English. We are staying in an apartment along the longest narrowest sidewalk in the world. There are restaurants, stores, hotels and more all along here. One thing that Callym and I love is that there is sand and palm trees everywhere!

We were given a few pointers for our stay. One, Watch out for Scorpions. They aren't poisonous, but hurt a lot, and like to hide in shoes and clothes, and anywhere else dark. We haven't found any yet, but there were about 10 creepy millapedes around our floors last night before bed......

Today we have spent the entire day at the beach. The boys have tried using their goggles, and Chris found 2 star-fish and a jelly fish!

Pictures aren't working on this site again, and Skype is going in and out of service. Here are some pix, and if skype starts up again, we'll call..... (sorry we missed you last night Baba and Chocha Halia!)

Who's really in charge of this family ???

Trick question....

I'd like to think that the answer to this questions is undoubtedly Chris and I, but deep down I think most parents will agree with me that somehow, someway, the kids always have a pull in the decisions made. When the four of us are in the middle of something grand down here in Central America, and you ask the boys if they are having fun, they will tell you with a smile from ear to ear YES. They are doing so many new and amazing things here, everyday is truly something new. Today as we were walking around town on our last day in Costa Rica I asked Callym if he was excited to see Belize and if he wanted to come back here soon. He said he wanted to see Belize, but if we could please go back to Canada after that, he misses Baba, Gido, Baba, Twinkle and .......... the snow. SNOW? What I said, I thought we were happy to leave the cold snow behind? No, Callym said, I want to make a snowman and throw snowballs at Dad. Oh, I say. So where would we move, someone else is living in our house now.....

Edmonton or Winnipeg was his answer. And this is when Oscar chimmed in. I want to play in the snow........

I'm so confused. I miss the snow too, but the cold..... NO THANKS. We've only been here 7 weeks (Yes I know last time I made that seem like a long time), but really, only 7 weeks. I wonder if they can get over this. Will Belize change their minds about living somewhere exotic? Will Chris and I put 'our foot down' and say we're living here get use to it? Sometimes it both scares me and makes me wonder who really is in charge of this family............

Doka Estates Coffee Tour Pictures

Pictures

Dreaming of a Green Christmas?

We have recently downloaded some Christmas music and enjoy listening to it in our little apartment. So strange to be sitting here in over 28 degrees, with no hint of a single falling snowflake. How are we going to do it this year? It's exotic to be here, but very very strange at the same time. I've never noticed that EVERY single xmas song talks about snow in one way or another..... The homes and stores here are all decked out in lights, and santa's and mangers. We also bought a small strand of twinkle lights that we plan to put up in Belize. Chris is determined to get us a tree too! Not sure if it will be a real looking xmas tree or a palm.... But something, and we'll have to decorate it somehow. Maybe pop-corn strands and paper links.... We've even seen some of those huge snowglobes with santa standing in the snow. Snow. Hmm. I really really don't miss the cold, but it will sure be different without the snow. Does anyone want to send us some, just a small little snow ball would do. Nothing big.... We'll try to send out some of our sun! Well, I'm sure the lack of snow will be easier to deal with than the lack of close family. (tear in my eye), We will miss you all so much. Please expect our skype calls not only Christmas day, but on it's eve as well...............

Doka Estates Coffee Tour

Doka Estates was a fantastic tour. Our ride was here a half an hour early (who says Costa Rican's are always late?) and the hour drive up the mountain was beautiful. I was a little worried that Oscar and Callym would find this tour dull and boring, after all it was a walking tour all about coffee.... They always seem to surprise us though. The moment we arrived a wonderful lady named Cindy introduced herself and we were on our way. We came at a great time, the four of us were the only ones on the tour, we felt special.

Cindy first brought us to the samples and tasting area, espresso, french roast, pea-berry, house blend (french and mixed), breakfast blend (french, pea-berry and mixed), and decaffeinated. Seeing as we were on a coffee tour, and we wanted the boys to have fun, we let them try some coffee (decaf, don't worry!). They loved it, and I was starting to think that this tour would be ok for them. I have to put in here as well, Cindy loved our kids. From the time we arrived, to the last second she was with us, she was playing with the boys, teasing them, tickling them, asking them questions, and more. She has 3 kids of her own, and you could tell she loved kids. Everyone also commented on Callym's hair. It's gotten so light here in the sun, and people just come up to him and touch it, it's pretty cute.

So, we're off now walking through Doka estates. This place is 450 acres big, and the oldest plantation in Costa Rica. It was started by a German man. There are over 1500 pickers in the harvesting season, and they average about 20 baskets a day (1$ per basket). All of the pickers are Nicaraguan, they come with there families, and all but the youngest children help with the picking. Doka Estates gives the pickers little homes to stay in for free that way all the money they make can be saved for their families.

We saw how the coffee plants start out, and how big they get when they are 6 months, 1 and 3 years. You can't plant them into the earth until they are 3 years old, and the plants will only produce for around 20 years. Here they prune them every 3 years so that the beans stay fresh and healthy. Cindy showed us the green and yellow and red beans. You only pick the red beans, and she asked the boys if they wanted to try to fill a basket with red ripe coffee beans. In a flash they were searching the bushes for anything red. Is this red, what about this one? The were grabbing handfuls of red beans and throwing them in the bucket. How much fun can you have picking beans? We may just have an idea of how to stay in Costa Rica and make money..... pick coffee beans....

Inside the ripe red beans the actual bean is covered in a gel like substance, this is the sugar. Doka estates takes this and uses it to make it's coffee liquor. Did you know that the coffee bean is actually a fruit?

Cindy then took us to the fermenting, sorting drying and packaging areas. Station 1 is where the pickers bring in their baskets for the day and they are weigh, then they are dumped into water and the sorting begins. All the 1st class beans sink to the bottom, and the 3rd class beans float. Here is a sad little fact. Costa Rica exports 100% of their first class coffee crop. Wanna know who gets to drink the best coffee beans made in C.R? Well, 75% goes straight to Starbucks!!! 20% goes to Germany, and 5% (the 3rd class coffee) stay here in Costa Rica for the people. Sad, but Cindy says that here people can't afford 5$ for a bag of coffee. The first class is sold for around 5$ a bag, and the 3rd class is sold for 1$ a bag. Kinda makes you wonder why Starbucks charges over 10 for their coffee?!?

After the beans are sorted they are run through a machine that takes the outer layer of skin off (or the shell). This shell is saved for later. You will see that Doka doesn't waste anything here. This machine also extracts the sugar for using later in liquor's. From there they are put out to ferment. So far all of these processes are done either by hand (the picking) or by water (the machines and sorting are all powered by the streams near by. This is how they did it over a 100 years ago, and it is the way it is still done. Fermenting takes around 20 hours, and is done without chemicals. From there the beans are put out in the sun to dry. Actually, the first class are put out to dry naturally in the sun, the 3rd class is put in a heavy machine and dried that way. This machine isn't powered by water, but heated using the husk and tree clipping of the coffee plant. See, no waste.

The drying process is really cool. Just huge areas of cement covered in beans. The workers need to come every 15 minutes to rake the beans in order to have a complete and even dry. This is where the boys had even more fun. Cindy handed them both a rake and let them go at it.

Cindy took us to the storage area where, after they are dried, the coffee beans are put in burlap sacks. They are stored with the protective husks still on for protection, and stay here for 3 months. Kind of like letting them age, like wine. After 3 months, the husks are taken off, brought to the drying machine for burning, and the beans are either packaged for export roasted or not. (starbucks roasts their own, so for them it's not done here).

Cindy also showed us where they use the shells of the beans. They have there own compost area where they use worms (imported from California - seems the worms in C.R. are lazy). She said that California worms compost the dirt 3 times faster than the worms here. No waste.

Cindy loved our kids so much that she brought us by the children's area here at Doka. They have sort of a day care here for all the young kids to stay safe and fed while their parents, grandparents, and older siblings are out picking beans. The kids had a little fun playing with the other kids, and then we left for lunch. A great lunch, and then we hit the gift shop. Hmm, what did we buy. Well, 4 bags of coffee, some chocolate covered beans, a really cool grinder, some liquors, and coffee soap. Yumm.

The boys were smiling ear to ear the entire day, and both Chris and I were pleasantly surprised. How could 2 little boys have so much fun with coffee. Not sure, but they said it was one of their favorite parts of Costa Rica.

Lucky Lukies Strike Again....

I thought I would check in on a couple we met through the internet back in September. They are a family of 4 moving to Belize for a different life. We were hoping to all meet up and let our kids play, etc. Well, to our surprise this is what I found when got to their blog . Such a sad story, only 4 days in Belize and now what?


One more thing, please don't worry about us going to Belize, these things can happen anywhere in the world, (and we actually had the Jeep broken into twice in Edmonton), but as the title says, we are LUCKY LUKIES!!!!!

Slowly catching up to today....

To get from La Fortuna back to Heredia we decided to re-hire a fantastic driver named Arnold. He was the driver that took us from Heredia to Puntarenas, and he is amazing. He told us where we were driving through, interesting things along the way and drove so nicely over the enormous bumps.
So, Arnold picked us up right on time at noon on Monday from Los Lagos and we were on our way. The drive was beautiful (but we have come to almost expect that here). We drove straight up to a rain forest, different from a cloud forest. Here is rains all the time, there are clouds but in a cloud forest it doesn't always rain. Here it was unbelievable. The quiet and freshness in the air was magical, I was sure there were fairies hiding somewhere around us. I wish I could tell you what the view was from the top, but we were so engulfed in a cloud that you could only see about 10 feet in front of you. I should mention, on our way up the land was covered in greenhousees. Here is where they grow fabulous flowers and plants for export to N. America and Europe. On our way down the land was taken over by coffee plantations. Oh yes, and a cigar factory, we actually passed by a plant where you could come in a roll your own (I thought of you Ron!).

So, we passed through San Ramon, a gorgeous city that we decided we must see more of. Who knows, we may be back here after Belize.....

So, we are now in Heredia. Being homesick a bit still can you guess what the first thing is that we did????


McDonalds

Ugh.

We felt that afterwards! But it was nice, the boys got their happy meals and a toy, and we felt a little better (after a walk). Afterwards we unpacked, and just chilled. Here we have 2 seperate bedrooms, a kitchen, a living room with a tv, a washroom (but no sink?) and a cute little balcony. It feels like a home, something that we have really been craving. It's nice to be in a seperate room than the boys, and last night we watched a movie while the boys were in the next room sleeping. It's been 7 weeks since we've been able to do that!

Today we headed off the the mall, we were looking for the market, but that didn't pan out. The mall was cute, but 90% shoe stores. (ironically Chris needs new shoes, but we didn't find any for him!)

The most exciting thing that happened today was that we made ourselfs dinner for the first time in 7 weeks. It was so cool. I went to the veggie guy across the street and bought 3 large fresh carrots, an onion, 3 banana's and a huge tomato all for 40 cents. Then I went next door to the butcher and bought 2 handfuls of ground beef for 2.40$. Spaghetti was 60 cents, sauce was 75 cents and the cheese was about 1 dollar. It was so yummy, and the boys actually finished their dinner, quite a feat since they haven't done that for a while.

So, we are here. We are happy again, and we feel like we're home somehow. This is where we started our trip, and if you remember, we didn't like it then, but it feels so good to be back. It also feels like our trip here is over, maybe because we've done a complete circle. Not sure.

We're going to go on a coffee tour on Thursday, and we're off to Belize early Saturday morning. Till then, we love you all.

The Lukies......

La Fortuna

Well, we have spent 3 days and nights here in La Fortuna. It's a wonderful place, but not somewhere where we would consider trying to look for a home. I'm not really sure why, it just doesn't feel right. If we needed to choose today I think we would go straight back to Monteverde and Santa Elena, that was by far our favourite place as a family so far.

Anyways, here in La Fortuna, the main attraction is the Arenal Volcano. Everywhere has a spa to pamper you, they use products made with mud from near the volcano, etc. There are many many zip lines and canopy tours, and of course the Gondola up to the look-out tower for the spurts of Lava. This is what we did a few days ago. It was fantastic. You could see Lake Arenal from one side of the platform, and the Volcano from the other. A year ago the Volcano changed it's Lava flow direction, and it now faces directly towards the look-out platform. Lucky us, But Unlucky us, the best time to see the Lava (obviously) is late at night. Being the slow season (we seem to always catch up with both the slow season and the rain.... humm), there were no night tours yet. But we did get to see the 'white' lava during the day, and it was absolutly incredible. We stayed at the top for as long as we could to take in this beautiful site. I hope you like the pictures.

Once we were done, we headed back to the hotel. We spent some time in the actual city of La Fortuna, looking around at the shops and tried a few of the restaurants. I wish I could tell you something really really exciting, but this place just didn't do it for us.

I've tried to get the photo's on here, but it's not working. You can find them here.

New Picutres

selvatoura pictures

To The Volcano

Last night we went out for a nice stroll, we were on the look out for some cool gifts for family back home. After walking and looking for an hour or two it was time for dinner. We were half way to this cute little Indian Restaurant when we noticed that Oscar had fallen asleep on Chris' shoulder. We thought he would wake up, but he didn't, and so Chris left for the hotel, and Callym and I stayed for dinner. We've found it a little harder to be hungry here at times, the altitude, heat, humidity, and so on can really mess with you! Anyways, we had a lot of packing to do, our ride was picking us up at 7:50 the next day and we were off to the Arenal Volcano! Oscar ended up getting around 12 or 13 hours of sleep, and the next beautiful and refreshing morning we were ready to go. There are two different ways to get to La Fortuna, one way is to drive the entire way - a 4 and a half hour drive and only the last 25 minutes is paved. That is a big deal! The second way, and the way we opted for was to take a taxi to Lake Arenal, take a boat across, and take another taxi to our hotel. Taking this route would actually cut off an hour and a half! So, early in the morning, and completely refreshed we were off. The drive was a bumpy one to the lake, but the boys did fantastic. We were nearly to the lake when we all heard a loud "Klu- Klunk" It sounded like something large had fallen off the van. Chris said it was something to do with the Trannie. Our driver called the other van that was taking people to the lake, and it seems as though their van had broken down as well. Too Funny! So we were waiting for another van to come and get us. We were only 5 minutes away at this point. As we were waiting the other van drove by us and smiled, they knew how we felt. So, when we finally got another car, it was 5 minutes to the lake, and we were off on the boat. The boat ride was beautiful. Lake Arenal is huge and calm. The boat ride took 30 minutes, and there was another taxi waiting to take us to the Hotel. The road here was paved and was too amazing! 25 minutes later we were at Los Lagos. Our new home for the next 3 days.

Los Lagos is a resort and spa. Something very common here due to the Volcano. Everyone is offering massages, and treatments with Lava or mud from the volcano. We are off the see it in the next few days. A real Volcano! Too cool. I hope we see some great spurts of Red Hot Lava coming from it!

Lukies Off.....

Poor Little Brave and Clumsy Oscar!

A story told by Oscar...... (not really, it's Tamara)

Three days ago I was playing with my best friend brother around an empty jacuzzi. I jumped in not knowing that 5 feet was a long way for a kids like me. I fell. It hurt. I was crying and crying. My daddy came and found me lying there and took me back to the hotel. My foot hurt alot and it was really swollen, so mom put some ice on it. When daddy looked at it again, he thought it may be broken, so he called the insurance and got a doctor's visit covered for me. We went to reception, and to make a long story short..... Daddy and I went to the clinic, and then the hospital. We got an x-ray done, and were back within 5 hours! It turns out it's not broken or fractured, but it still really really hurts, and is still swollen. But the good thing is that mom and dad get to carry me everywhere now.

Yestaurday I started feeling a bit better and started taking some small steps by myself. We went for dinner while dad was watching the grey cup (Riders Suck, Bombers should have taken the cup), when a big huge wasp/bee thing was flying around our table. I tried to shooo it away a few times, but it wouldn't leave. Then it went into my hair, and when I put my hand there to get it away..... IT BIT ME! I cried again. My hand was hurting so much, and now it was getting swollen. I had to get more ice and medicine. (I like medicine!)

You may think that my story is done.......

But.......

This morning before we left for our trip to Heredia, I wanted to try kicking the football around. Mom said not to, but I really wanted to try my foot out. So I went outside and kicked. It was a great kick, I got lots of air, and it went all the way to the parking lot. So I limped over to get my ball. The ground was still wet from the rain last night, and so when I came back to the patio ( tiled patio), I slipped. My good foot slipped first, and then my bad foot came right out from under me. I tried to break my fall, but I didn't want to let go of my football........ so, my chin and face broke my fall. It's ok, I'm ok. Nothing is broken, I just bit almost all the way through my lip. It was bleeding, and I was crying again.

To quote Oscar correcty, In my arms crying all he could say was....

"mom, not again! Please not again!"

Little crazy man. We're keeping our eye on him now!

By the way, He is fine, just has a fat lip, and a cute little limp when we do let him walk. Just glad he wasn't allergic to the bite!

The TRUTH about Travelling with little kids........

Oh how do I start this blog? Does the title say it all? Does it give you a small hint as to what I am going to write....

Before I start, I want you all to know that the four of us are a strong family. We love each other to death, and will sacrifice and bend over backwards to do whatever it takes to make the others happy. Spending each and every day together is a treat that we wouldn't trade for the world. We are lucky lucky Lukies, and we know it. But.....

There have been trying, TRYING times. There are times when the kids actually wake up whinning, and it seems to continue for the entire day. These are the times when we want to run. Run far away!!! They are good kids, but at times seem very spoiled and unruly. They miss their friends and family. They want their Baba and Gido and Baba. They want their chocha's and Twinkle. They even miss our old Jeep. They want a back-yard to play in, not a small cramped hotel room with no privacy. They want some stability. There was a routine back home, although slight at times, when the kids knew what to do, what to expect. This is something that here they don't have. Dinner is never known, we know we will eat - but when, and where is nearly always up in the air. Sometimes they are having a siesta until 5 pm, and sometimes they are done at 2 pm. Are we changing hotels today, are we driving to a new town, are we looking for a home, or just spending the day at the beach. We miss the little things like : Kraft dinner? Bed time on time! Familiar faces..... Things here are different. In every way, the people, the culture, the food, the customs, the air and the surroundings. Although they are adjusting well, it's still different, and we all need to get use to it.

This is a strange and life changing adventure we are on. We're on our 7th week, but it sure feels longer. When we decided to 'leave' and try something new, it wasn't because we thought Canada was a bad place, we just needed to see what else was out there. I'm not saying we're moving back, but we haven't found our perfect paradise yet either.... It's hard. Leaving your family and friends. Leaving your home and not having a stable place to call your own. Not really having anything to call your own, besides what you have been able to keep in your suitcase. The kids are feeling home-sick, and I'll admit that I am too. What we're doing isn't normal, it's a great adventure, but far from normal. And sometimes normal isn't always right - but sometimes having something normal is good too.
We are in our 7th week now, and that is over 1172 hours where the four of us have been together. TOGETHER for over ONE-THOUSAND-ONE-HUNDRED-AND-SEVENTY-TWO! There have been no breaks. Maybe one or two where we just leave the room, have a beer or a smoke. But basically no break. This (I believe) is more of a problem then having no routine.

Belize is coming up quickly now, but I'm not sure if we should go there as a vacation, or to find a new life. It's a lot of stress this 'finding a new life'. You need to think about a million things all the while keeping your kids happy, fed, safe and not too spoiled. You need to make sure the area is good, there are good schools, kids to play with, things to do, and friends to be made. Friends, yes, that's a hard one, and family here means just the four of us. Here in Costa Rica we have met many many expats, and they all say the same thing. Whether they have lived here for 6 months or 10 years, they are all still expats, gringos, outsiders. Do we want to feel that way? Do want to just have other expats as our only true friends? Belize may be different. But who knows.

I'm a little tired of travelling (as you may be able to tell). And the kids are too. They tell us their having fun, and I believe they are, but they are still home-sick.

Change is good and change is hard. You need willing participants and a wonderful husband who shares your dreams and helps you see the rainbows after the storms. There are rough times, and times of pure bliss. We haven't forgotten where we came from, and we're not scared to come back. But we're not ready yet. There is still a wonderful world to explore and amazing adventures to be had. I think that in order to have a wonderful and fulfilling life you always need to re-evaluate where you are and what you want. It's an ever changing world, and the only way to know what you want is to go out there and look. Sometimes you realize what you had was what you truly want, and sometimes you find something better. We'll keep looking, but know that we miss you too.

Still loving it here!

Today was another day for adventure. We decided to take another forest walk, but this time we hired a guide. We headed off to the "Santuario Ecologico", one of the many wild life reserves here. Our guide was fantastic, took his time and explained many of the plants, tree's and more that we passed. If I had a pen and paper on our walk I would be able to tell you about them all, but alas my memory is not so good. I do remember the leaf cutter ants. We saw them all in a line, marching with their huge leafs. They actually make there own trails in the forests! The queen lives between 15 and 20 years, and continuously makes more workers and soldiers. The soldiers ants watch out for predators, and the indigenous people use the soldiers to stitch up cuts (kind of like going to the doctor and getting stitches, but they use the soldier ants. There bite is so strong and powerful, once they latch on, they cut off the bodies, and they will stay latched on!) Also we saw their home (ant hill), it's HUGE, and they have little tunnels going from their trails, into the ant hill.... very tricky! The walk totaled around 2 hours, and it was great. But I think the best part was finding a two toed sloth and it's baby. These animals are nocturnal, so it was really cool to see it during the day. We stopped and stared at it for more than 20 minutes, just crawling up the tree with it's little baby, having a snack. Sloths eat leafs, about 50 different types of leaf - so they aren't too picky. It was crazy incredible. There were times when it would just stop, and they would both turn around and look at us. Very cool. Our guide told us that the mother is pregnant for around 11 months, and stay's with it's baby for about 2 years, after that the mother gives up her territory to her child and finds a new one for herself. Self-less mothers all around the world!!!

Hello Santa Elena and Monteverde!

We woke up this beautiful morning to the fresh air of the mountains and the view to the Ocean was stunning. After a nice breakfast Chris thought it would be a great idea to go to the cloud forest and look around. Instead of waiting 45 minutes for the free shuttle we took a taxi the 25 minute drive further up the mountain.

The cloud forest here is approximately 1600 feet in elevation and is shrouded in mist for 9 months out of the year. This mountainous forest straddles the continental divide. Stevlatura offers canopy zip lines, sky walks, butterfly museum, hummingbird gardens, and an insect and reptile home. Today wasn't too sunny so the reception advised us not to bother with the butterflies, and the kids being so young and small we didn't attempt the zip-lines. But we did do all the rest. We started with the suspension bridges. There were 8 suspension bridges (totaling just over 770 meters) all along the 2.5 kilometer hike through the cloud forest. It was so interesting, the leaves of the trees arrange themselves to capture the sunlight without shading the others so that you can't see the forest floor from the bridges. I'm not sure how high we walked up, but we did quite a hike. I felt a little cheated not having a guide for the sky walk - I'm sure that we walked by many incredible things that were naked to the tourist eye, but it was fantastic none the less. We saw amazing, one of a kind breathtaking views, birds all over the place, and flowers through out the walk. We didn't see any monkey's, spiders, snakes, frogs or birds that we could recognize - but that doesn't mean they weren't there! I think the walk took us around 2 hours. We took our time, and had a lot of fun. Callym actually walked the entire way and said it was his favorite part of the day. The fresh air was so invigorating and made you just feel like you were a part of something special. It was hard once we came to the last bridge and knew it was almost over, I wanted to keep walking.... but there was more to see, and we were getting hungry.

We stopped into the restaurant there and ordered some delicious pizza a few fanta's and a coke. After lunch we headed off to the the humming bird gardens. It was very similar to the one we went to at Laz Paz Waterfalls, but it was smaller, and somehow had many more birds. We actually got very very close to the hummingbirds without scaring them off. The only drawback here was the enormous amount of wasps, they like the sugar water too. After that we waited for our guide to take us to the insect and reptile museums. The reptiles were both interesting, educational and disgusting! They had many different species both venomous and non. We learned how to tell the difference between the two as well, Quick Lesson: If you see a snake with small scales on it's head, and eyes like a cat (meaning that they have the vertical black colored slit in the center of it's eye, walk back slowly and once you are more than 2 meters away..... RUN). If the snake you come across has large scales on the top of it's head and it's eye's are more like a humans (meaning for one, there is no similarity to a cat's eye, and it has more of a round dark color in the center of it's eye), you should be ok, it is not venomous. One snake they have in a large cage is the 'bushmaster'. This is a snake that even the most experienced snake-man (or woman) will fear. This snake is not only extremely venomous (it can kill you with one bite, and if you do not die quickly, you will most likely need that limb to be amputated), but it is also very aggressive, and will seek you out to attack! Wonderful, but on a happier note, most of the venomous snakes are also nocturnal, so if you go out at night just make a lot of noise, or stay in well lit areas. BUSHMASTER..........

On to less scary reptiles. We finished that tour off with some toads, frogs, and lizards. We saw the Jesus Christ Lizard (it's actual name), named because it can run on water. The famous Iguana (the largest lizard in C.R., and apparently eaten by many people here - they taste like chicken!), The poisonous dart frogs (Callym's favorite is the blue jeans frog) - These are called Poisonous dart frogs because the indigenous people use to catch these frogs and lay there darts on the backs of the frogs to coat it with it's poison, this in turn would kill any animal that they shot with there darts. There are very poisonous to the touch (you need to wear gloves if you want to touch them), and they get there poison by eating ants. We also saw a toad, the same one that Callym saw hopping across the roadway in the dark in Brasilito. This toad secretes a white poison out his neck glands, when you come in contact with this it is more like a hallucinatory drug, some people, we are told, lick these frogs to 'see things'. (remember the lady kissing the toad and seeing a prince, this is the toad!).

Ok, so enough of that, we headed off to the insects. If you ask me, we should have stopped there, but we went on. Richard Witter is the collector of over a million insects from all around the world. He has many museums filled with creepy crawlers (we saw none that we still alive, so that made it a little better). None the less, all the spiders, scorpions, killer bees, cockroaches, beetles and other flying things made you feel at times that they were crawling all over you. I won't get into the details too much, but basically the bigger the insect, the less likely it is to be dangerous. Most tarantulas do not have poison, there hair will irritate you and their bite will hurt, but that's about the extent. Same for the scorpions, the large ones hurt when they bite you, but the one the size of an adult index finger (small eh?) can kill a human with their poison. We saw many extinct and near to extinct butterflies, bed bugs that can make you very sick, shiny beetles that looked like solid gold, walking sticks, and more. Needless to say, I was glad once we got out.

We made the 3 pm shuttle back into town and stayed for a nice snack. We walked around a little, and decided to check out the night tour for the frogs. Many of the really cool frogs are nocturnal, so this was a great chance to see them. We've seen many frogs before, actually we've seen them all, but being nocturnal we never got to really see them. Example, the red eyed tree frog just looks like a green blog on a leaf when it's sleeping, but when awake you see all of it's bright blue, orange and green colors, not to mention it's red eyes! This tour was really cool, and the boys loved it, and once we were leaving one of my demented dreams came true...... Right there, by the entrance doors and somewhat hiding beside the huge bag of coffee was a tarantula. A real one in the 'wild'!!! Granted, this one was only about the size of 2 loonies put together, but there it was. And I felt happy that I finally had the chance to see one up close. After all of this we headed back to the hotel to change and do a bit of relaxing. Santa Elena is an extremely beautiful place. It makes you feel alive with it's views and it's air. I wish we had more time here.

Good-Bye Brasilito....

Our last night in Brasilito was great. We actually met a Swedish family of 4 (their kids were young like ours), doing a 6 month stint of traveling. They arrived in Costa Rica, and were going to go to Nicaragua, Panama, and Fiji. A great thing to do! During our talks they mentioned loving Thailand and it made me think again how much I would love to go there for a while (long while) and explore that part of the world. Maybe that will be next? Who knows. They have a blog going as-well, but it's in Swedish, I think we will keep in touch with them. We had a nice dinner, and headed off to bed. Our driver was to pick us up around 10 am the next morning and we weren't yet packed. No problem tho, we were getting to be pro's at packing. Monteverde and Santa Elena here we come!!

It felt like a treat to be heading off to the mountains again. Being Canadian, it feels more like home than the sea. Ah, the fresh air, jungle and more. We couldn't wait. Actually, Oscar and I were almost craving it. I think the heat was getting to both of us, me going 'crazy', and poor Oscar would sweat just sitting under a fan! So 10 am rolls around and we're ready and waiting. 10:30 comes and goes. 11 am. During this time the fumigators have come around and are spraying for Dengue mosquitos. Chris yells to the boys to get into the hotel room and close all the windows. It's not really poison that they use, but exhaust fumes. Same difference eh? So as we're hiding from the fumes, Chris is calling to see what's up with our driver. It seems our driver didn't get in until midnight the night before and didn't check his messages, so he didn't know he had to drive us. Not a problem, he would be there in 20 minutes. As we were waiting again, Kwan (the chef at the restaurant), came by to talk with the boys, he really liked the kids, and wanted to buy them some ice-cream before we left. Everyone was so nice to our kids, and took a great liking to them on the first day.
Anyways, our driver came, and we were off. We wanted the boys to sleep during the trip, for one because it's quieter and easier to travel that way, and two so they wouldn't be car sick (once was enough). So they slept. The drive was great. Scenic and calming. At one point we even had a paved road with a center line (the first time I remember!). But then, just as the boys woke up the road took a turn. Bumps, potholes twice the size of our van, and mud everywhere. Up to this point we were making great time, but now I was worried, we only had 34 km to go, how long would this take? Well, the answer is 65 minutes!!! Once we got even closer to the hotel there was one hill we started sliding down, and so we had to turn around and go another way. But we made it and it was better than beautiful. It was heaven.

Now I hate sounding like a broken record, but....... I love this place. I've said it before I know, but I do. It's so different. It's the mountains, and the jungle all put together. We even have a view of the Ocean from our hotel room. (be wary of buying ocean view properties, this could be it, 4 hours away from the sea ha ha !!) I really can't wait to explore this place, and we're all a little sad already that we only have 3 nights here, a week would have been much nicer. But then again we are at Arenal Volcano after this, so it should be great too. The one thing I am regretting now is that I got rid of all but one long sleeve shirt and all of my sweaters in Nosara. Long sleeve shirts I though, who needs them here? Opps, I may be doing a little shopping. At least I saved 2 pairs of socks, and 2 pairs of long pants (and the kids are alright, we have sweaters, pants, socks and raincoats for them, don't worry mom's!)
Alright, enough for now, The hotel is amazing, the restaurant for once since Heredia has fair priced food, and it looks like we're going to have a great time doing some exploring. Talk with you all soon. All our love, The Lukies!

Just a quick note....

our blog is still the same, I have just changed it from " Our Dream " to "This train is bound for glory" . Very significant. If you were at our wedding, or have heard of Sublime, this was our wedding song, and both Chris and I love the words. It has come to mean a lot to the two of us. When we are going through trying times, one or the other of us will always say ..... This train is bound for glory...... and it somehow makes us feel so much better.
Anyways, rambling here..... I hope you all keep enjoying the blogs, and keep emailing us too! We love to hear how it's going there! Love you all,
The Lukies!

p.s I'm catching up right now due to the lack of internet, so there will be a few new blogs up today.

Funny Story or Just Sad ???

When we left Canada I brought along 2 pairs of brown flip-flops. They were the same size and style. 1.97$ each at Superstore. A good deal I thought, even if they break, fall apart, or I lose them it would be fine. Well, as it turns out they didn't last as long as I hoped. 2 weeks ago both my left flip-flops broke. Not completely, but enough for them to be a hassle walking through the mud and rain. Anyways, I kept the best of the 2 pairs and contiuned on.

3 days ago I was crossing a river (this time it was an actual river), and lost both my flip-flops. Nuts, now I really had to buy some new ones. There is a small souviner shop next to the hotel we are at and so I went in to buy a cheap pair.

#1 they were not cheap. $$10.

At this time I would like to point out that Humor is very different all around the world. It takes a certain type of person to 'get' Monty Python, as well, there are perverts who think they are funny, and of course the jokes that just make you groan. On that note, I will now show you a picture of my brand new ten dollar flip-flops. I don't get the 'joke', but I'll just leave it with you, maybe someone out there will get it............





The quote on the shoe's says.... " My son loving you"
and there is a 9 1/2 on his shirt ??????

Things I've learned on our trip thus far...

You need to have a plan or you'll go crazy!

Too much planning will drive you nuts.

Finding a balance between the 2 is very hard.

The worst part about moving around is the unpredictable showers and matresses.

Packing, unpacking and repacking every 4 to 10 days lets you evaluate how many pairs of knickers and hotwheels you REALLY need!

Eating out 3 times a day for 5 weeks has it's drawbacks... you just can't beat a home cooked meal. (miss you mom, mom and baba!!!!!!)

Laundry service is better than fantastic! I may not be able to live without it now.

You can never get sick of finding new seashells or rocks on the beach.

The fresh smell of the Ocean and Jungle is better than a cup of coffee in the morning (Yes I said that!).

Sometimes finding things to do in a new place is harder than you think.

There are rude people all around the world. (there are nice people everywhere too though).

Still In Brasilito....

Well, as the title says, we're still here in Beautiful Brasilito. We've done a bit of exploring and really love this area. There are many different little villages all along the Ocean here and all are perfect in there own little way. Brasilito is more of a restaurant place, there is a school here, a daycare, a few hotels, 3 grocery stores (all within a 2 minute walk!), a car rental place, a few stalls with souvieners, and half a dozen homes. It's cute. Playa Flamingo, Portero,and Conchal, are all basically within walking distance to eachother, it's easiest to walk to each little town on the beach (and much prettier). Flamingo is more of a place for expats - full of condo's and gated communities, restaurants and the like. Portero is split into two sections; Surf-side Portero is full of condo's, homes and a few restaurants and is mostly inhabited by Canadians, the town of Portero is more traditional homes with locals. Playa Conchal has no homes, but has the greatest beach around here. There is an all-inclusive across the sandy road, and there is a grassy area where many people come to sell there stuff (seashell necklaces, coconut things, sarongs, and more). I will have picuters up of the beach soon, it's beautiful - and the water is amazing! Clear like the caribbean. I'm not kidding, so clear, you can see the fish swim by you, see your feet at the bottom, and more. There is also a trillion shells everywhere. The sand is as soft as flour (to quote my husband, but I've never walked through flour, so I don't know....) Anyways, take a look at the pictures below (I should have them up later). And take care!

A map of where we have been so far.

View Larger Map

Hotel Las Tortugas

Ironically the hotel we stayed at for the turtles was Hotel Las Tortuga. A fine place, but nothing very special. Remember going to camp? You get dropped off by your parents (for us it was our driver), and you go to your cabin (for us it was the hotel), put your bags down and run to pick your bunkbed? Yup, the rest was what we did! Our room was a fair size, if you took out the four sets of bunkbeds! It would have been a little nicer with two queen size beds instead.... but I think we had the 'group' room or something. We were lucky to get in, the Turtle season was just underway and the hotel was booked. Other than the 8 beds (4 bunkbeds), there was a small closet for some clothes (but that was ok, we had beds to lay everything out on), a small desk and chair and an awful washroom. The shower curtain was Martha Stewart - but don't tell her, she would probably die! Our 2 towels (yes only two) we thin, mismatched and had bleach stains. The light in the washroom pointed to a corner at the ceiling where there was nothing to look at but a spider web, and there was no toilet paper holder. Other than that, the windows had no screens so we had to keep them closed, and the matresses were just thin pieces of worn out foam. But........ the pool was good, and the restaurant had fine food. Expensive for Costa Rica, but fine. The first day we walked into the restaurant we noticed a sign "Fresh Tuna Caught Today"! - Great we thought, until we noticed the sign up the entire time we were there? Hummm

Wish I had more nice things to say..... Oh wait, they did have free internet and Chris had a chance to listen to the Bomber game (they won!!), so there you go, something nice.

Playa Grande and the Leatherback Turtles.

So, 7 days ago, ( I think that's right) we left Nosara (a little sadly, but left none the less) and came to Playa Grande. We are still heading north. So if you're following on the map we've gone from Montezuma, Samara, Nosara, Playa Grande. At the moment we are about half way up the pacific coast of Costa Rica.

Playa Grande. Well here there isn't much. The area is now a national park and they aren't allowed to build close to the water anymore. A turn off for tourists who like to be beach front. I did find us a beach front hotel, the only one left, and the only one allowed. It's right in the middle of the park, and the owners actually had a hand in starting and setting up the park (a reason I think they are still there). The park was set up to help protect the Leatherback turtles that come to nest here every year. There are of course more animals that they protect, but when you consider how poorly the turtles are doing, it's a good thing they are trying something.

About 15 years ago the Leatherback's came to Playa Grande beach in the thousands. I mean literally 100000's. I was told stories that back then (which really isn't that long ago) the owner would go out a night with people staying at the hotel and they would wait for turtles. They would sit under the millions of shiny stars, and wait for them to nest while he told them stories and facts about the Leatherbacks. At this time, there was no park, and there were no strict regulations as there are now. But then again, many things are different.

Now, in this time, a time of worry for many about our Earth and her inhabitants, it is different. If you want to see the giant leatherback turtles coming up to nest you need to make an appointemnt with the park rangers. You go and pay 7$ each (children are free), give them your passport number and they will tell you when to come back for your 'tour'. The Leatherbacks arrive at high tide and usually in the dark - it's safer that way. High tide for us that week was around 2:30 am. The week before it was near 6pm, so we missed out on that. The first night we made reservations we actually slept through Chris' alarm, but the following night we made it. We got to the rangers station and waited for everyone to arrive. We all paid, and then they brought us all into a small room to tell us the rules and show us a little slide show.

No touching the Turtles.
No going near the Turtles head.
Stay in a single file line.
Stay together.
No flash lights.
No camera's.

They then cut the film short because the turtles had arrived. How did they know? Well, there is a group here called the Earth Watchers.They are an organization that watches the turtles and the beach and help to protect the Leatherbacks. They accept donations and you can probably find them on the internet as they are always looking for volunteers. I believe they charge 200$ per day or 2000$ per week to volunteer. They have a 'hatchery' on the beach,




and this is where they take the turtle eggs to keep them safe and then deliver them to the ocean afterwards. There is a lot of controversy about this group. One story I heard was that they will actually stand behind the turtles as they are laying the eggs and catch them in there zip-lock bags. We didn't see any of that, but they do stand much like soliders on the beach looking for anyone out of line. I also heard that at night you can see them walking around the beach with big plastic tubs filled with water and little turtle hatchlings, this is when they let them go and be free in the ocean, a fine thing, but they don't protect or watch any of the actual ocean. There is a lot of the Ocean that is still part of the park, and one complaint (of many) is that they do nothing about the fishing boats and nets that catch many of the hatchlings that get caught after they are let go. It seems sad to go to all the trouble of helping them be born, but nothing afterwards......

So, anyways, we are walking to the beach now. It's close to 1am and it's dark. The stars are out in full force. But there seems to be a strange feeling in the air. I'm not sure what it is yet. We are walking still and cross a path that I could have sworn was a quad track. I was wrong. This massive trail led from the water and past the high tide marks. That was from a turtle. As I looked towards where it ended I saw one of the Earth Watchers there with there red light's keeping a close eye on what was going on. We kept walking. Past another trail leading up the beach, and then we stoped. The group ahead of us were there taking there first look, we had to wait now (yes, and Oscar had to pee! - great timing!) So after around 20 minutes it was our turn. We watched as the first group left the turtle single file and then made our way up. Very quietly and in line we made a half circle around the back end of the turtle.

Wow, This Leatherback must have been at least 2 meters long. I am not kidding you! We stood there looking at this gigantic creature using her larger back flippers (is that what they are called?) to dig a hole for her eggs. We watched this in amazement for about 10 minutes. Just digging slowly and flicking the sand away. The hole was nearly 3 feet deep I would say, and I think she had more to go. So, single file we left the Leatherback alone and let the next group in for a look. We stood about 25 meters away and waited for the next 'showing'. By now I had figured out what that feeling was from before. It was the feeling of invasion. Don't get me wrong, this was a very cool and unforgetable thing we were witnessing, but an invasion none the less. I felt almost like a peeping tom looking into someone's bedroom late at night. But on we waited. Our chance came soon to witness the laying of the eggs. I should mention now that the boys were very tired, but very interested aswell with what was going on in front of their little eyes. They would comment on how large the turtle was, how deep the hole was, how many eggs she was laying and so forth. As late as it was, they did enjoy themselves.

So, after a glimpse into the Leatherback life on Playa Grande we made our way back to the hotel. We got back around 3:30 am and got right back to sleep (Oscar did think it was breakfast and wanted some pancakes, but we got him to sleep very soon). It was a great experience, although a little strange at the same time.

One more note about the Leatherbacks, it was said to me that 15 and even 10 years ago the number of Leatherbacks coming to nest was still in the 100000's, but this past year it was down to less that 250. A huge drop, actually an extreamly scary drop. Why is that? The lights of Tamarindo very very close by are distracting the turtles and confusing them, so that has made the number drop. Some also say that Earth Watch is doing more harm than good (ex. about 10 years ago in Mexico they tried a similar way of saving the Leatherbacks there, but what they didn't know was that the temperature of the water determines the sex of the Turtle, this caused only males to be born for many many years, and there are now no Leatherbacks that come to Mexico), and although they know this now, what don't they know?

Love, the Lukies............

Nosara

So, we aren't in Nosara anymore, but let me try to catch you all up slowly. My head is still a little fuzzy from the panic attacks that I am suffering, but I have an appointment tomorrow morning with a naturopath who should help!!!

Nosara was a beautiful place, and the Harmony was Heavon on Earth. When I booked us into the Harmony Hotel, I really had no idea what we were in for. But as soon as our driver dropped us off it was evident that we were about to be spoiled! Within only moments I was already feeling calm and relaxed. The interior was fresh and warm, clean and inviting. We were greeted at the reception by friendly and very helpful staff who explained to us how the Harmony Hotel works. The steps that they take every day to help the environment (recycling, reusing grey water, etc), also to help the local animals (both Monkeys and Turtles), local children, and using local and organic foods. This was actually the first time on our trip so far that I had seen anything to do with Recycling! (although I'm sure it's not the only place in Costa Rica). During our introductions, we were brought delicious welcome drinks, and shown to our room ( I forgot to ask what the drink was, and am a little sad I don't know). Down the little pathways and past the quaint pool, the lush greenery and exotic plants, and we were there. The Harmony Hotel is a one story hotel and has both traditional hotel rooms and separate little villas. All beautifully decorated in traditional bare wood, and wood painted white. Our room was number 15, a large one bed villa slightly away from the main reception, pool and restaurant, which was nice since we had the boys. There was a small sitting desk where we could use our lap-top free of charge, a large king size bed with crisp white sheets and pillows, a cute sofa that we turned into a bed for the boys, and a coffee table. There were Britt chocolate covered coffee beans (white and dark chocolate) and Macadamian nuts for treats near the coffee and coffee machine, and the fridge had a few beers and water bottles (which they hope you reuse, the water here is tested periodically and is safe to drink). The closet held around a dozen shirts, but there wasn't much room to keep suitcases, nor was there a dresser of sorts. The washroom was large with a huge open tiled shower, separate toilet and sinks, and a beautiful tiled tub with slide out windows to the garden outside. The Harmony Hotel also offers some wonderfully exotic shampoos and rinses. Mint and Black Pepper Shampoo, Jasmine and Grandiflorum Conditioner, and Costa Rican Coffee and Lemon Body wash. Yum! The walk to the beach is about 2 minutes, down a cute little path the same as most of the others on the property. You pass the surf boards for rent, cross a small path, and continue on. You can't miss it. The beach is beautiful, nice soft sand, sea shells, and of course killer waves. The Harmony Hotel has a guard on duty for most of the day at the beach, all guests are welcome to leave their belongings with him for safe keeping. During our 3 night stay we ate at the restaurant for 3 wonderful break-fasts (pancakes, fresh fruit, smoothies, french toast, omelets), 3 amazing lunches (pasta, fish, sandwiches, salads) and 3 delicious dinners (the green coconut curry fish with stir-fry veggies and jasmine rice was my favorite)! Because they use local and organic foods, if something is not in season, they will not have it. So if you order the Roti with Mango Chutney sauce in November, you will not receive the sauce, Mango's are not in season, a lesson we learned.

We had a great time there for our 3 nights. We went to the beach every day and watched the sunsets every night. Played in the pool a lot and ate amazing food. We even took the 5 minute walk into 'town'. There they had a few more restaurants and hotels, 2 real estate offices and a few artisan shops. After our 3 days we headed 10 minutes north (still staying in Nosara) and stayed at the Guilded Iguana. This was a much more laid back place. The rooms were definatly not as nice and the walk to the beach was double the time of the Harmony, but there were a lot of travellors here and we got to meet some great people. Most of the people here were surfers, either in a group or with families. Most were from the states that we met. Jonathan was travelling on his own, a treat for his birthday. He was an acupunturist from California who liked to travel on his own and see new places. He's been to Nosara before, but Pete and the group his was with were here for the surf and adventure. There were also a few kids running around that the boys got a chance to play with. At one point they were all in our room watching Finding Nemo (a movie we rented at the internet cafe, we also had a chance to exchange our book that we had finished reading last week. Chris and I watched fracture, not a bad flick).

Also, I have to mention. Twice when Callym and I were wadding in the Ocean, only about mid calf deep, what did we see? Rays! They weren't too big, maybe the size of a small pizza, but there they were, swimming around and floating by our toes. A very cool thing in deed.

At the Guilded Iguana we had a great time. Good people, great food, and lots more sand and surf. The day we were leaving was sad, but our trip was only a 2 and a half hour ride. The boys did great, and the roads weren't too bad either.

Wheels

Travelling is tough. It is beautiful here, don't misread me. I love it. The ocean, the smells, the other travellers, not many gypsies yet, it has all been another world and like we pictured it would be. What i want is to spend some time in one place though. 3 days before travelling again, even one week, we learned is not enough. I am looking forward to a month in Belize. There we can make supper, hang with people that are not gone in a couple days. Have a set home for a bit. I would like that. Give us a chance to actually evaluate our new life. I think that we need it right now. Experiencing this is brand new and we never knew how it would challenge us. Now we do. So one week in Playa Brasilito, then a couple stops the next week, before heading to Heredia for the final week of November. Cloud forests, volcanoes, and maybe turtles tonight. silly me set the alarm for 11:35am and not pm so we missed last night's viewing of one turtle I overheard. Is that worth it? maybe i'll find out tonight. I think that I will surf a little after the game. Go Blue. That is one of the freedoms of this chosen temporary lifestyle. So weird how things work out.

Rain

It's raining here again. No big surprise. Today it has rained 5 times, and all times they were heavy down-pours but for only an hour or so each time. It's late now and the rain tonight has a magical sound on the roof, it's calming and relaxing and soothing. At times the rain has been a welcome relief from the strong rays of the sun, cooling us off even for just a few minutes, like jumping in the pool on a hot day. The sight of a wonderful sun shower will make anyone smile, and rainbows are a thing unto their own. But at other times it's been a bit of a nuisance. Getting caught with the camera or lap-top but no protective case, or having to walk a few miles back to shelter through mid calf deep puddles in flimsy flip-flops, even having to re-route our trip due to closed roads. All in all, I must admit, it's much better than the cold. That is one thing we haven't had here, and I don't expect it either. So the rain, like buying a new home with a cat already living there. What are you going to do but feed it, accept it, and learn how to dance in it.

Nosara, Costa Rica

Well we are here. We are in Nosara. It may seem a little early, but I think I love it here. It may be that Samara was just not for us, or it may be the fact that we are in the most beautiful and relaxing hotel ever. But anyways, we love it.

OK, let me start at the begining. We woke up today very excited for a new place. The boys were looking forward to seeing some turtles, and Chris and I were earger for a change. I was a little nervous for the drive (seeing that the road was closed last week due to rain, and had just recently re-opened), I just didn't want anyone to be sick or uncomfortable. After a nice breakfast, we finished packing and waited for our driver. 10 am they came and picked us up in a nice big tour van. Plenty of room for our things. I was getting pretty anxious by now, so my sweet sweet husband too over with the boys and let me stare out the window and take deep breaths. I wish I could tell you more about the wonderful scenery, but I was really just concentrating on breathing. Only 55 minutes into the trip and............................ we were here! I couldn't believe how well the boys were for the drive. Not once did I hear, 'my tummy hurts' or ' I don't feel well". Maybe our luck is changing!

So into Nosara. We came straight to ourhotel and it was complete and utter BLISS. It seemed as though everyone who worked here came and introduced themselves and hoped we had a nice stay. We recieved welcome drinks, given a free WiFi code, shown around the amazing grounds (Pool, Beach, Restaurant, Healing Centre, Bar, Games Room, etc). We were brought to not only our room, but a little bungalow seperated from most of the rooms. A nice touch when you have 2 active boys. This room was amazing, by far the nicest, and most calming room I have EVER been too. We unpacked a little, and headed off to the pool. When it started raining we took the short 4 minute walk to the beach. At the reception we were told to shuffle our feet when going into the Ocean because they are blessed here to have many sting rays! So exciting. After a nice lunch we just hung out as a family. Did some catching up with the emails, and the boys had a really fun bubble bath in the huge tiled tub. After a little more relaxing, we decided to head into 'town' to grab some fun munchies for the ESKIMO game! (we really wanted to be here last night for the Bombers game, but it didn't work out).

Walking into 'town' was such a pleasant experience. Again, there are no sidewalks here, it's all dirt roads with just enough room to squish into the tree's when cars go by. The cars always slow down when passing people, and especially when there are pot holes as big as a 4X4 Dogde filled with recent rain water. Our 10 minute walk was filled with the passing of 1 and 2 story beach homes just minutes from the beach, quaint hotels that cater to yoga and surfers. Small little internet shops, movie rentals, book exchange, real estate signs, surf rentals, holistic healers and all spread out in a beautfiul setting. Nothing here was crowded, everyone had their own space, with lush trees and wild exotic flowers. People walked by and said Hola or Hello to everyone they saw. The feeling here was of calm and peace. The people seemed to have a strong energy of laid-backness that just went out to everyone and everything. At the supermarket we picked up some pop, beer, chips and juice, and on the way back Chris and I make the quick decision that 3 or 4 days, even 7 days would probably not be enough to enjoy this piece of paradise. We had passed by many little homes and rooms for rent, so we will have to look into this. We would also like to check out more real estate listings. Very nice.

We came back only to realise that the Eskimo game had already started, and was not televised on the internet. Sad, but I listened for a while until we needed to have some dinner. I'm not sure what Chris had, but my green coconut curry fish was so so so so so good, I can't explain it! They don't serve pop here, but the fresh fruit drinks are very fresh, and the water here is filtered and very safe to drink. The people working here are so calm that you can't help but feel calmer yourself. Something that I think I definatly need. I just hope it rubs off on the boys a little. (Wishful thinking???)

Anyways, now it's time for bed. The boys have been read 4 books, and are now cuddled in together. We're all happy, and mostly healthy! And it's good to be in a place that makes you feel so good. I have a great feeling about this place, if not to live in for a bit, at least to stay for a while.


Until then....

The sad Monkey.

We saw our first monkey here in Samara last night. We were just getting dropped off at our hotel by taxi from dinner and there it was, in the middle of the drive-way, just sitting there. Our driver honked, but it wouldn't move. He stopped and got out, and it didn't even run away. He thought that maybe it had fallen out of the tree and gotten hurt. He went over to the care-takers home and got a rake. He used it to try and get the monkey to hang out to the end. He wanted to at least get it off the road. The monkey had a hard time just holding on to the rake, and the driver told us that he probubly wouldn't make it through the night. He was the cutest, and saddest little thing in the whole world. Chris and Oscar went this morning to see if it in fact was still there, but it wasn't. Is this a good thing? Did it get away and is feeling better? We all hope so.

Off to the Hospital?

I always thought that I was a decently chilled out person. Sure I worried, but not like most, and not for reason's I couldn't change. So what happens when a pretty chill person comes to a very chill place on earth? Anxiety Attacks.?.?.?. Huh, I've never had one before, but that is what the doctor at the hospital said it probubly was. A little embarassing in the end, but very scary during the episode. Why did this happen..... Is it because I'm 30 now, and things are slowly starting to fall apart? Chris says no to that. Maybe it's because things here (although chill) are still very unknown, and really, it is a lot of work to plan so many things, and make sure your family is happy, and healthy, and entertained..... After so many years of Psychology you'd think that I would see this coming, or at least remember enough from my classes (8 years ago) to help myself out..... Well anyways, I'm trying to chill out more now. I've been told (by the doctor, not Chris) to go and get some Valium or Xanax if I want, but I think with a little work and some practice I should be ok. Humm, A chill pill..... Interesting thought tho? What Irony!

Off to the Doctors?

Callym has had a sore throat since our Dolphin trip a few days ago, Chris and I thought it may be sore because he was sea sick, but after a few days of not feeling better we decided to get it checked out. It turns out he has a mild but contagious infection in this throat and mouth. We've been given some antibiotics for him that he needs to take 3 times a day for only 5 days. Chris, Oscar and I are alright, so no need to worry there. Chris said the doctor was very very nice (she worked out of the local pharmacy, so we didn't need to drive anywhere), and she didn't charge us for the visit, which was very unexpected. Anyways, Callym is in great spirits and only occasionally complains that his throat hurts. Great for such a little kid! Our kids are fantastic, they are brave, well behaved, and continuously tell us how much fun they are having. The Lukie's here may not travel so well, but when we do travel, we have a ton of fun.

Miss you all like crazy! The Lukies.....

Finally November???

Well, time sure move slowly when you're relaxing and trying to chill out in the sun. I'm not sure why it seems we've been here so much longer than we really have, maybe because we've stayed in four different towns in 2 and a half weeks, maybe because we've been so relaxed, or maybe because we've done so many things (usually we only get to do these kinds of things as a family on the weekends, and here we can do them any day anytime). At any rate, here we are in November at last! 4 more weeks in Costa Rica, and what are our plans?

We are going to stay in Nosara / Ostional ( Harmony Hotel ) for some time, maybe 4 nights, I'm not sure. It's just up the road from Samara (about 45 minutes drive), and it's one of 2 or 3 main nesting sites for the Ridley Turtles. We are lucky enough to be there during a prime time. They say one of the best months is November, either early in the morning or late at night. They move with the changing tide, and also with the moon cycles. We are coming into a new moon cycle, so we should get lucky. At times, they say, you can see 2 or 3 hundred climbing ashore to lay over 100 eggs each in the sand. Some turtles have been over 1500 kilo's and more than 2 meters long! I hope to have lots and lots of fantastic picture's for you all.

So, after Nosara / Ostional, we want to head north again to Playa Del Coco. I've heard it's another cute little town with fabulous beaches. Samara just wasn't a place we could see ourselves staying long term, but maybe Playa Del Coco will inspire us. After a week or so there, we were thinking of checking our Monteverde and Santa Elena. There they have another amazing cloud forest and waterfalls. A canopy tour or zip line is so intriguing, but the boys are much too small for this. We picked this area because I found a Gondola tour there and am hoping it's both safe and fun for the boys. They enjoyed the gondola in Banff so much, I think this will be fun as well. Just near Monteverde and Santa Elena is La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano. I would really like for us to stay there and see the action of this active Volcano. There is suppose to be a very nice hotel with great views of the lava flow, I think that would be super fantastic.
From this time, we should be (you never know) near to the end of November, and will be heading back to the Apart-Hotel Roma in Heredia. A few days there to get sick of the city and begin craving the sea, and we'll be flying off to Belize.

Anyways, these are our plans now, maybe check back in a few weeks to see how on track we still are? You never know where we'll end up, and sometimes neither do we!

Money Money Money!!!

Not sure how many of you had the chance to read the post of Chris trying to call the bank. It's here if your haven't yet.... Well, we've learned a very costly lesson! DO NOT USE CREDIT CARD PAY PHONES FOR ANY REASON! I won't horrify you with the actual cost's involved, but whatever your thinking triple it (or just calculate about 10$ US a minute).
A word of advice from someone who has paid the price... use Skype It's a free download, and you can call skype to skype for free. Also, the charges for long-distance is very very reasonable (around 2 cents per minute). The only thing you need is internet connection. Now please, We do not get commissions for skype, but everyone we know that has it, loves it.
If you do travel, just get it. It will save you hassle's and money.

Dolphin Day.

We have learned how to live 'spur of the moment' very well while on this journey. We leave a town with almost no notice, and decide where to go within hours or at most a day ahead, dinner and lunch are decided when we are hungry or as we pass a restaurant. So last night after dinner, I decided to book a Dolphin tour for the 4 of us. It made the boys very excited, and kind of helped them get to sleep faster. The best time of day to see any 'action' is early, so I booked an 8 am pick up hoping that wasn't too late. By 9 am we were finally off (this was the first time we've experienced Tico time, most everything else has been early for us regarding timing). The waves were fair, and the boys were enjoying the bumps, 'Hot Wheels, Beat That' they sang. Maybe 1 km out, things changed. I won't go into detail, but siffiacate to say, us 4 Lukie's do not travel well. The boys finally settled down a bit, but when they get sick I find myself getting very anxious, I hate it so much! Anyways, by the time we were far far out to sea, the boys were sleeping. And then their they were. DOLPHINS! 20, 30 probably more. Oscar opened his eyes and started yelling and jumping and smiling. But my poor little Callym just didn't want to get up. He wouldn't open his eyes, and just cuddled in more. It's hard to take pictures in a moving boat while you are holding on to a sleeping child, but we did our best.





We also saw a few turtles floating around. Very cool.



Oscar had so much fun, and it mostly made up for the fact that Callym missed the entire thing. The tour guide and the other couple (from Holland and on their Honey-Moon ) thought it would be fine to start back. I felt badly, we came to see Dolphins, but as the boys were still not too well we headed back. Almost to the shore, and Callym finally stirs...... ' Mom, where are the Dolphins'? Oh dear, I was just hoping that the pictures turned out so that he could at least see them that way. I've promised the boys ice-cream for lunch after what they went through, and I think we're going to hunt down some Gravol, just in case for any other moving around we end up doing.