San Francisco and Monterey

Back to life and reality for us. We had a great trip to CA. Wed we flew into Monterey and rented a car. Drove about 2 hours north to San Francisco and checked into the Parc 55 Hotel. I had read mixed reviews about it after we had gotten a room on Priceline for $85.00/night and was a little concerned but it turned out to be clean and quiet. We explored Union Square that afternoon and right across the street (literally) from our hotel was a great little Italian place my friend Julie recommended to us called Puccini and Pinetti. We enjoyed dinner immensely.

About an hour after dinner, though, I wasn't enjoying my spaghetti and meatballs so much. I had a terrible bout with diarrhea and vomiting followed closely with a major allergic reaction. We're talking my skin was tomato red in color! My heart rate was 155 (what's new about that? haha) and I was itching like a mad woman. I imagined my ears blowing off the sides of my head, they felt so itchy and swollen. Images from the movie Hitch with Will Smith raced through my head. A friend asked if I drank Benedryl from a straw. hahaha Not quite. I preferred mine pushed through an IV. STAT. Needless to say we took a tour of a local ER. Thankfully, it was just a few blocks away from the hotel. Dustin jokes that from now on we just better go ahead and plan to stay near medical facilities wherever we travel. (I have to laugh to keep myself from crying at the thought!) I was in and out quickly and back in vacation mode in no time. I'll be following up with an allergist to do testing to see what in the world caused my first ever reaction like that. I am calling the health insurance company today to see what the damage will be. I don't think they'll cover our little jaunt because it's out of network.

Dining on seafood at Pier 39 in San Fran

Pier 39

Inside the USS Pampanito. I loved the submarine tour. It fascinated me. A modern marvel to be sure, that men could live in there packed so tightly so far under the sea!

Outside the USS Pampanito. We met some of the ships crew members from when it was in service below the ships decks. It was a real treat!

The following day we explored Chinatown, Pier 39, and the Embarcadero before heading back down to Monterey and meeting up with some old friends of ours. Chaplain West and his dear wife and children are stationed in Monterey. Chaplain West used to be our pastor when we were part of a small Baptist General Conference church plant in AZ. We love them dearly and enjoyed catching up with them. Since that time Chaplain West had been ordained a Minister in the Anglican Church. It's always funny to tease a good and manly ex Marine turned Army Chaplain about wearing a man robe. Good fun with friends who know how to take a good natured joke.

Our friend Christine and her daughters. Birdrock is in the background

The Wests took us on the famous 17 Mile Drive along Spanish Bay and Pebble Beach. We saw the Pebble Beach Golf course. Dustin lamented that the price a round of golf was too rich for his blood. We saw the Lone Cypress on the Rock and Birdrock there as well

Our accommodations in Monterey were at the Portola Hotel and Spa. We found a great deal which included breakfast each morning on travelzoo.com. Ours was a nicely decorated room on the corner of the hotel facing the Old Fisherman's Wharf. I will say that our room was noisy and we could hear every conversation people held below our second story windows. We enjoyed our stay but learned that we have morphed into resort snobs because we've had the pleasure of staying at the Wigwam Resort (when they have their super cheap summer promotions) so often that our standards have become pretty high. Since out hotel was just steps from the Wharf we enjoyed touring around there.

Our friends, the Wests had obligations at an Army marriage retreat so we tagged along and crashed the retreat as their guests. Before we arrived to the retreat we stopped at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. We had a lot of fun there before heading to see the Redwoods which we were amazed to learn were in a little patch right near Santa Cruz. We hiked the trails and marveled at these wonders of creations before heading to Mount Hermon to sit in on a video session during the marriage retreat which was quite humorous. (I can't remember the name of the series or the presenter)

Sunday, the last day of our trip, we enjoyed the Liturgical Anglican service on base with Chaplain West officiating. (I don't know if that's the correct term) It was a joy to fellowship with them once again. We left for the airport that day filled with joy and the blessings of sharing communion with friends we love so much. And that, my friends, was the close to one fantastic ten year anniversary trip.

Help Us Choose A Destination

Okay friends. I need you to put your thinking caps on for this one because I am seriously seeking your advice. Dustin and I are desirous of your suggestions for the destination of our tenth wedding anniversary get-away. (Can you believe TEN years this August!?) It can be anything, anywhere...... but it's got to be good.

By good I mean not snooty but also not trashy. Adventure is a possibilty but not danger (say like hubby's first suggestion of Israel. You mean during it's current conflict? Ha! I think NOT!). It can be urban or rural, outdoorsy our indoorsy. Anything fun. Oh, and romantic would be a plus (And no matter how hard he may try to sell it there will be no mixing of the celebration of our marriage vows with guns or other such weaponry. No. Matter. What.)

It would be awesome if you could give your tried and true testimony or at least one you've heard first hand from a trusted source but if you don't have that to share just tell me about your dream trip. Where would you go? What would you do?

No country is off limits (provided it's not currently engaged in an armed conflict) nor is the nearest neighbourhood B&B so long as you truly believe it would rock our world.



So, I'm counting on your help. Wow me people!

Our Trip to Costa Rica in Pictures

We're back. First, let me say we had a great time and fell in love with the people of Costa Rica. I want to tell you all about our trip but I also want to tell you some bad news. Our Dossier did not make it to ET while we were away. It seems one paper had cleared the State certification process only to go to the Fed level to find that a signature was missing ( I can't believe that! We checked every paper. I have no clue how we missed it...) as I type it is being shipped back to us. I hope to be able to travel to the doctor's office and find the woman who notarized the doc and get her signature. If we can get it by end of business today hopefully we can ship it out overnight by Wed at the latest. SO SAD!!!

Ok, now back to our trip. We flew a charter flight with 236 other folks from New Mexico and Arizona who buy from our distributor. they picked up the bill FOR EVERYTHING and for all 238 of us. It was awesome! We stayed at Paradisus Playa Conchal in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. We landed in Liberia and drove by bus about an hour to the resort by the beach. Our room was beautiful and the resort was top notch. We had a blast.

The first full day at the resort was spent at the beach enjoying the amazing views. I did manage to get a sun burn THROUGH my swim suit ( Proof of just how pale I really am!!) since it never occurred to me that such a thing would happen to me. Now I am sure to apply sun screen to my ENTIRE body before putting any clothing on when heading outdoors.

The first activity we did was the zip lines. What a hoot that is! SOOO MUCH FUN. I felt completely comfortable. We were able to see many Howler Monkeys, an Iguana and other birds. the tress were beautiful. In all we zipped down 13 lines for a tour of the canopy in the dry forest. The "dry" forest sees 60 inches of rainfall annually. It is a Sahara like Africa. Never knew that, did you?

The guides told us that on the other side of the continental divide in Costa Rica the rain forests receive 3 times that amount of rain. Can you imagine!? They said that when they had their last rainy season in October many homes were flooded and many people were or drowned. The rivers rose so high they touched the bottom of the main bridge from the airport to the resort and the bridge had to close down.

When the guide asked if I wanted to try the zip line upside down I told him "sure!" Dustin following behind me was not too pleased (he's afraid of heights a bit but put on his brave face for the zip lines and did awesome!) that I agreed to try it because, being the man he is, he couldn't look like a chicken following his wife and not trying it as well. And so, he did it. He would like to point out that I went first hands free, and he followed with a TIGHT grip on the harness. The guide told him to let go and Dustin responded with, "What do you mean LET GO? NO!" hahahaha

Costa Ricans speak Spanish. I know enough lines to be able to greet folks, ask for the bathroom and what time it is, and how to order some food. I had fun picking up some new words and practicing the bit of Spanish I actually retained from High School. In Costa Rica they are taught English and French in school for three years in high school and then for the two final years they must choose either English or French to continue on with (yes , your math is right. Their high school is from 7th grade to 11th grade). All that to say you wouldn't need to know a lick of Spanish to have a great time there. We found Costa Ricans to be well educated. To get jobs at the resorts and for the tours you need a college degree. Wow, not like in the US!!!

Dustin and I both agree that Costa Rica was friendlier by far than any of the islands in the Caribbean we visited last year and would definitely head back there for a visit again. The culture was so friendly and fun. We felt welcome wherever we went.

The day before we left we went white water rafting on the Tonorio River. Our guide was Dany and he told us that the rafting company was a family business and he was a part of the family. So, we're not sure if he was the owner or not, but he was the man in charge and took great care of us. Our boat mate from Utah was named Keith and we had a great time paddling our boat together as hard as we could while Dany steered us down the rapids. Here are a few pictures taken by the rafting company's photographer. Her did a great job and for $30 US we got over 70 photos of out rafting trip plus over 500 photos of the flora and fauna of Costa Rica. Really beautiful pictures! I consider that to be a real deal. Especially since we couldn't take any pics while we were rafting of all the amazing wildlife we saw.

Order left to right: Dany, Dustin, Keith and Jen.
You can't tell from this picture but I am actually still in the boat. Just under some water at the moment! hehe

Dustin went over a 14 foot drop together with Dany. Keith and I watched safely from the shores. After they had already been down the fall Dany told Dustin that he hadn't been down that particular rapid in 6 months because the last time he'd gone he almost drowned. You see, at the bottom of the waterfall is a wall to the left side which catches the water and pushes "swimmers" against the wall. With the resultant under current swimmers tend to be pulled down and so their vests keep them stuck near the top but the water pulls their heads down. Dany told us he always has respect for the river. Thank the Lord Dustin and Dany went over without a hitch (you can be sure I was praying hard during that whole event!) Check out the pics below:

I have SO MANY more pictures I'd love to share but that would just be too many. we had a great time and are so blessed to have the opportunity to take a trip we would otherwise never be able to afford to take. Especially at this time in our lives. Wow. What a gift!!