Nosara, Costa Rica 2011

Rob and Anne invited me for another Nosara visit. Always a good and exhausting time, hey, let’s see if I can avoid injury this time!

Jon dropped me at the airport (Thanks, Jon!). Continental took take of getting me to Liberia airport by 7:30pm Saturday, March 26.

I brought gratuitous gifts: Encinitas surf car rack pads, surf wax, and a water spray gun for the pesky pazotes.

Yup, the whole case has upside-down labels

The previous week had double overhead waves. Lucky for us this week only had chest high waves. The high tide was about 10am so we had hopes of double sessions each day. Ocean temp was about 86-88F and pool temp reached up to 94F. Oh yes, and the air temp was just HOT!

Waves were typically fast with closeouts. Rob and I struggled to find a corner. Rob succeeded several times for 15-second rides to the beach. I found some late takeoffs, screaming to get a turn in. I did catch a nice left, walked to the front, and hung 5 while cruising in front of Rob. Yahoo!

After two days we gave up on the second sessions of the day. The on-shore wind made afternoon waves less desirable and we decided to save our strength for the cleaner morning waves.

I was feeling queasy during Thursday’s session. The combination of wave buffet (all you can eat!), hot water, and dehydration made me almost pass out when I got back to shore. Could not talk, could not walk: get me an orange juice now! The effects lingered for the rest of the trip. Lesson: more morning sugar liquids.

A stingray on Friday’s initial walkout stung Rob. Ouch! This occurred just after Rob mentioned how much he enjoys the initial walkout. Not so much anymore.

Thunderclouds were seen inland during the second day's second sessions. While floating, we talked about last year’s rain during a perfect session: the rain cooled off the air and smoothed out the wave surface. That wasn’t what happened on this day. Unlike last year, these clouds brought lightning. We made the right choice by heading for shore early (so we thought) and barely beat the very-close lighting and heavy rain.

During the second night, I got up to pull back the bed covers (running the A/C, so unlike me) when I stepped on a scorpion and did NOT get stung. The scorpion seemed groggy and listless and only started moving when I tried to sweep him into a dust scoop. Apparently, the relatively cool A/C air put him into a state of hibernation. In the middle of the bedroom floor – not good planning. Flush!

This bird really did not like his reflection and kept pecking at the mirror

This being my third Nosara trip, I am now getting recognized in town. Jeff and Carla (from Colorado) recognized me from last November. Jeff rides a shorter Infinity board and Carla has a GREAT laugh. Later, Jeff spotted Rob and me walking town and gave us a lift on his golf cart. Charles and Fiona came into town from Jersey (GB) and joined Rob, Anne, and me for dinner Friday night.

Rob performed more kitchen magic for several dinners of Fettini Alfredo and pan-cooked sea bass. Rob also baked French baguettes. You eat well at Casa De Kneeland. I did manage to treat Rob and Anne to dinner at the Guided Iguana.




Guilded Iguana Dinner


Of course, we indulged in wine, Imperials, and Bamboos. I was on holiday so why not? Imperial is a great precursor to the mid-day siesta. Great conversations and music.

My laptop computer died Tuesday. No working on vacation for me.

I finally investigated duty-free shopping when returning to the USA.  Residents can return with 3 liters of alcohol. No extra charges and excellent prices. It did seem strange that I have handed glass bottles to board a plane. NOTE: if continuing on to another flight, the bottles must go into checked luggage. So plan for the luggage room and padding.

More Nosara, Costa Rica 2011 pics

Great Big Sea @ Long Beach

I bought a Great Big Sea ticket in 2010 for their Saturday, March 19, 2011 show at the Carpenter Center show in Long beach. This ticket was a great seat, the fifth row slightly stage left. A few weeks prior to the show I spotted a front-row ticket almost center for face value on the GBS forum. Score!

I told Jon about the extra ticket and that he gets to see a great band if interested in going. He was in, so a road trip was planned.

We took off early enough to cruise up the coast from Huntington Beach to Seal Beach. This gave us a chance to explore Seal Beach, where I lived in 1998. Wow, that long ago??!? Dinner was at the bar of Walt’s Wharf, an excellent seafood place.

On to the venue. Easy to find, the Carpenter Center was dedicated by Karen and Richard Carpenter. The lobby had many of their gold records, pictures, as well as Karen’s drum set and sweater from a performance (performance pic included).

I chatted with surrounding others while waiting for the concert to begin.  Some had never seen GBS and were dragged to the concert (as was Jon). Others had been to all local concerts, as had I – we listed off all venues and dates. A group of women in front row center stage had been on the Ships and Dip 2011 tour.

The concert was great as always. Sean bantered about walking around the UCLB campus and seeing man-made snow, Alan got in an Olympic ice hockey dig. Ushers had to chase down a few concertgoers from dancing in front of the stage. Chris walked down in the audience during a song that he sat out, and Alan singled out two audience kids guitar pick gifts.

Front row seating had its benefits. Never a blocked view but had to be aware of blocking other’s views.




The first Row = Great Seats!


The speedy drive home after the concert. And another concertgoer shared pics (thanks, Crystal!). Apparently, my blackberry pics are terrible compared to a real camera picture.

Back In The Water – Part II

Jasmine called, saying she wanted to spend time with me and surf this weekend. That made me feel special.

But first, my place was still in disarray from the reconstruction. A mad few days of cleaning, replace kickboard, clean, move furniture, clean, and more cleaning. The spare bedroom was finally inhabitable come Friday.

Our plan was to kick back, catch up, and have a pint and pizza Friday night. A family with an alpha mom and 4 kids (including the husband) sat next to us, then a bunch of jarheads on the way to a triathlon. Good times.

Saturday morning we checked out Pipes, then Grandview, and then terra mush. We opted to get in the water at Grandview. OK surf.

Back to my place for a nap. Coldwater brings on that need. Jasmine had arranged to meet a NY friend, Kat, who was in town on family stuff in Del Mar for dinner. We met at Nobu’s. Kat was wound tight and definitely in need of a relief valve. We enjoyed sushi and cocktails for the evening. But the real enjoyment was the conversation. Kat and Jasmine were high school friends and their stories had us all rolling with belly laughter. Their stories made me realize I had a BORING high school life.