Bajos Del Toro , Costa Rico

 Uneventful flights to Costa Rica  Sharon met our plane in Miami.  Landed San Jose early.  Just a short wait until our car rental picked us up.  We shopped for some groceries before heading out of the city  fun to see the grocery differences  got a ripe pineapple for $0.83 US….

We drove about 2 hours north….just a few wrong turns!! Beautiful countryside   

Some sugar cane fields  

Just beautiful

Up into the clouds!

Finally found our AirBnB after a few missed turns.   Amazing sounds!

We walked to a local restaurant….fabulous local trout!!!  Long day!

Miami

 And we’re off!!  Boarded flight to Miami at 5:20am. Sharon is in the air now from Tampa and will meet us at the gate to continue one the same flight to San Jose Costa Rica at noon if all goes well.

Pittsboro, NC

Out for another pleasant trail walk, this time at the White Pines Preserve.  Cool old abandoned barn.

Daffodils sprouting already!!

Nice views from the hilltops.

 

I try to get photos that show the steepness of the trail but don't think I really know how to do that as the photos always look flat.

Down the hill at water level.  The water is actually fairly clear this time of year.  During the summer it's murky like it is in Oriental.

Nice 3.6 mile walk....fairly warm - the jackets came off 1/2 way around.

Pittsboro, NC

 We went for a nice long walk around the runway.  The sky looks stormy but it was really very nice for a January day!  Our neighbor was landing as we were walking.

 

It's unusually dry so there was a bit of dust.....we stopped by their hangar after they had landed for a little chat.

Back at the ranch, my sis would be proud of a yummy tofu curry I whipped up for supper.  I dredge the tofu in cornstarch before frying in sesame oil.  Gives it a real firm feel. 

Pittsboro, NC

 I know, I've gotten behind on my posts...

Duane and I spent a day at the airport since one of the office computers was "misbehaving".  It was terribly old and just needed to be replaced.  Unfortunately, it's not just something that can be plugged in and working right away.  It's networked to a server where we keep all the company records.  Duane is a hero for getting it all up and running but it did take about 8 hours to accomplish!  Fingers crossed it will work for several years without too much help from us!!

With the weather turning much nicer, there was a lot of activity at the airport while we're at the front desk working on the computer system....turbine aircraft from two different companies visiting the city.

And there was a crew of 5 fellows flying these two aircraft to do aerial mapping.

Here is a view of their path for 3+ hours (the green line is their flight path.  HBI is Asheboro Airport)

 

They let me peek inside at the camera - the pilot says that the camera is "gimbled" to allow for minor changes and keep the camera level.  And it costs about $1.2 million dollars!!!  The camera takes thousands of photos and each snap of the camera uses over 1GB of data.

I climbed under the plane and got this shot of the camera lens.  I asked the pilot why they don't use satellite images and he said that they are no where near as accurate.

And we went for another 3+ mile walk....much nicer weather with temps in the 50's.
 

There were even a few boats out on the lake enjoying the weather.

Just a lovely day!

Pittsboro, NC

 We braved the frigid temps to go out to eat....always fun to catch up with old friends.

Pittsboro, NC

 Since the temps were above freezing, we decided to bundle up and take another afternoon hike.  The gloves really made it comfortable.

 A little hard to see but the edges of Jordan Lake are crusty with ice.

And a little leftover snow.

We only walked 3.6 miles but it was a good workout!

At the State Park entrance we had noticed this payphone....on the way out we stopped just to see if it was actually working.  I don't think I've seen an actual payphone in the US in 10 years......I took some coins with me over to the phone.  Yes, it had a dialtone.  FYI it costs 50 cents to make a local call....I was going to call Duane's cellphone just for kicks but it wouldn't accept my coins.  I expect the 911 feature was still active since there was a dialtone.

Pittsboro, NC

Our oldest is turning 36!  Wow, hard to believe we've got a son that old!!  We met him at Daniels Italian restaurant in Apex.  It's an old favorite of ours from back in the 1990's when it was "out in the boonies".  Amazing that a local restaurant could survive that long in such a now-bustling crossroads.  Fun evening.

Pittsboro, NC

I spent most of the day at the Airport....it took several hours for the snow to melt.  Surprisingly busy day.  Helicopter flew in for a pilot check-ride, fueled a Beechjet for a trip to Key West and lots of folks in-and-out.  Glad to go home and get a nap though, after a very sleepless uncomfortable night in the terminal building!  

Asheboro, NC

 Last night was the regularly scheduled quarterly Asheboro Airport Authority meeting at 7pm.  There were flurries flying when the meeting started and 19 °F.....by the time I locked up the terminal building at 9:30....this is what the car looked like.  I let the car warm up and brushed the fluffy snow off the windows with a towel (I don't have an ice scraper in the car....haven't needed one in 8ish years....)

But a little 2 mile foray on the roads left me a bit scared.  I called Duane and we decided that I could just overnight back at the terminal building.  

We have a small pilot's lounge so this was home for the night.  Didn't really get much sleep but better than being stuck in a ditch some where.

 The view this morning.  Still cold, waiting for the sun to do some melting!

Pittsboro, NC

We went for a long hike at Jordan Lake....need to be moving a bit to prepare for our Costa Rica trip where we'll do some hiking to see some waterfalls and such....

Well over 5 miles and my Fitbit says we had an elevation change of 4462 ft.  So a bit on the hilly side!

 

Beautiful day - temps in the high 40's was "tolerable".

Not a lot of boater activity.

Nicely kept trails.

We saw 2 other couples the entire time we were there.

Sad to say our neighbor Barney passed away yesterday after a long illness.  A good life, well lived but we'll miss you!

 

Pittsboro, NC

 We made a quick day trip to the boat to take some measurements on Sojourn.  All was as we had left it.

 

But we were shocked that the water was almost clear!

Since we've never been here in the winter, we didn't know that the murky, tannic water apparently clears in cold weather.

Otherwise just bearing the cold weather and looking forward to spring!

Pittsboro, NC

 Not a lot going on....doing a bit of organizing to get ready for our upcoming trip to Costa Rica....

The birds have finally found the bird seed that I've been leaving out.  Fun to watch.  That's about it!  Cold here!  Enjoying watching our cruising buddies exploits from afar.