"Pura Vida": a wonderful week in Costa Rica

We spent a wonderful week in Costa Rica: March 20-27th.

The resort we stayed at was near Tamarindo Beach, so we had lots of opportunity to swim, surf and play in the waves, and we also took a few days for a spontaneous road trip: rented a car (a GIANT diesel Land Cruiser actually!) and drove through some neat little towns, and on some crazy bumpy dirt roads to the Monteverde Cloud Forest, and Lake Arenal and the Arenal Volcano (apparently the 2 biggest tourist "attractions" in Costa Rica).
It was so great to have a chance for some relaxing and down time, as well as seeing the local culture and the "adventure" of driving and exploring such a diverse country.

Costa Rica is becoming much more accessible it seems: we had a direct flight--6.5 hrs from Calgary--but with that comes the invasion of North American culture: lots of real estate development/construction, particularly in the beach areas we visited.

On the one hand, it is so sad to see this unique culture and ecosystem being taken over by vacation properties; on the other hand, I wish we could afford to buy one, so that we could visit Costa Rica all the time!!! A bit of a catch 22 I guess...

Anyway, I think a picture is worth a thousand words--here are a few from our trip...

The view from our balcony...







the extent of my surfing!

buying some traditional pottery


Sea kayaking in the estuary

Monteverde Cloud Forest

Lake Arenal

Crocodilos!


The most we saw of the Arenal Volcano

Playa Tamarindo

Surf and Turf--yum!!

Malcolm and Nadine

Here are a few recent photos of our favourite niece and nephew, on a recent visit with Grandma and Grandpa in Bobcaygeon...

Snow in the East

It seems like every time we talk to friends and family back home in Ontario lately, they have been hit with another blast of snow and cold temperatures--it has been a record-breaking year out there for winter weather! Here are some photos of my Grandpa braving the cold, and the snow that has piled up in front of his house in Richmond, Ontario (just outside of Ottawa)--brrrr!!

Providence Gala

Not the greatest quality photos (from one of the women I work with), but here are a few photos from the Providence Gala last weekend: the girls I work with, and the "OT Toy Basket" we donated to the Silent Auction...

March update...

Well by the looks of our recent posts, we've definitely been taking advantage of the winter and the mountains...We hope you aren't too sick of outdoor/winter/skiing photos yet: still a few more months of winter in store, I think!

It's strange that it's actually been a pretty dry winter here in the city--i.e. not a lot of snow--and the past few weeks have been mild and spring-like: +10-12c most days and sunny! We've had a bit of spring fever (and the kids at school certainly have too!)...but have actually been able to get out into the mountains most weekends to enjoy the mountain snow and the rest of "winter".

This weekend (Friday night) we said goodbye to friends Andrea and Bruce who are off to Dubai next week for a work contract...More Calgary friends leaving for the Middle East all the time it seems--they will be missed here! Check out their blog at: http://www.laughlintravels.blogspot.com/.

Saturday, I had a bit of a "mini-vacation" in downtown Calgary: an afternoon at the Stillwater Spa (courtesy of Mike and Mel Wrigglesworth--thanks guys!), then dinner on Stephen's Avenue (a "pedestrian mall" type of street downtown, that's actually been pretty free of pedestrians most times I've been down there!) with our pseudo-"in-laws" Brian and Kris Fuchs. Brian is the brother of our sister-in-law Janet (Joel's wife), and he and his wife Kris moved here last fall, so they are probably the closest we have to "family" living out here. We've seen them a few times since they moved (see our November posts when Joel and Janet were here with Malcolm), and Brian is now playing volleyball with Dave somewhat regularly. We enjoyed a day at Sunshine Village (Banff) with Brian and Kris and Kris's sister Caroline today--another wonderful sunny "winter" day!

We are counting down the days until our "Spring Break" trip to Costa Rica: we leave on the 20th (next Thursday) and are staying for a week. Our resort is the Barcelo Langosta just south of Tamarindo (http://www.signaturevacations.com/svec/ApplicationSentry?Comp=300&ProductId=197&langCode=1) --we are so looking forward to a few days of relaxing on the beach, maybe some surfing, and exploring this beautiful country! (Hopefully some of our upcoming posts will have photos of beach instead of snow!).

The rest of this spring looks pretty uneventful until my parents (Mom and Dad Jackson) arrive in the beginning of May for a visit, followed by their Rocky Mountaineer train trip from Calgary to Vancouver. They are currently making their way from Australia to Canada via. Hawaii after a 6 week trip "Down Under" and cruising the Hawaiian islands--we have been living vicariously through their email updates and a few phonecalls.

We are hoping to do some travelling too this summer: a possible roadtrip down the Oregon coast at some point; Dave's "trans-rockies" mountain bike race in August, followed by a visit to the East Coast for Sean and Lauren's wedding, where we hope to do some touring around Nova Scotia.

Lots of plans; lots of things to look forward to, lots to keep us busy, and to keep us from getting too caught up in the day-to-day "grind".
Send us an email any time and let us know what you're up to: bethanyjanette@hotmail.com

(Belated) photos from Dave's Catskiing Trip

Girls weekend (Providence girls)

I (Beth) spent this past weekend with some of my girls from work: Saturday night we volunteered at our annual fundraising gala, (which turned out to be more socializing than actual work!), and Sunday we hit the slopes (again!) at Nakiska for a nice relaxed day of skiing/snowboarding. It's great to work with such wonderful people, and great to be in an area that is mostly young women--it makes it so much easier to go to work in the morning when you get along so well with your colleagues! :)