Hendersonville, Pittsboro, NC

 Another trip to the mountains complete. Mom had next to last chemo treatment. Feeling pretty good considering!

Driving back to Pittsboro the smoke from wildfires mostly cleared. 

Pittsboro/Hendersonville, NC

 We have been busy with house chores and such. Nothing terribly photogenic until Sharon and Buddy came to visit. Sorry, I snapped candid photos but they were not the best!

We took a walk and visited with Pat and Diane.  

Then Dick and Lindy stopped by for a visit as well!  They are on the end of a 10 day visit from Florida. 

Then we were off to the mountains for another chemo treatment for my mom  she’s doing well but the treatments are getting a little more difficult for her.  But they’re over soon so everyone is happy for it to be over!

Pittsboro, NC

 Leaving the boat…we did a good amount of raking leaves/pine needles from the winter.  Looking a bit more cared-for. 

Back to Pittsboro for a very busy week with various activities. 

Oriental, NC

All the old batteries on their way out.  They will be re-purposed at the house.
 

Another beautiful sunrise! 

Oriental, NC

 After all the chilly, windy weather....finally a calm start to the day!

Looking forward to 75 degrees and sunshine!

Oriental, NC

We used the main halyard to lift two of these 100 pound lithium batteries on board.  Duane is going to replace our 600Ah batteries with these 920Ah ones.  They will take up a bit more room but will give us quite a bit more "juice". 

We lit a little campfire - very gusty winds so we kept it small....the remants of the horrible US mainland weather pass us overnight.

Oriental, NC

 We put the dinghy in the water to run it for the first time this winter. We were pleasantly surprised when it cranked right away. We assumed the battery would be low but all was well.  

We took it for a nice little ride in the bumpy river. The winds are high right now with a cold front approaching. 

Back to the boat.

By the way, the other boat is sold and will be picked up in the next few weeks. 

Oriental, NC

 The view from the boat this morning.....it's supposed to be 75 degrees and sunny this afternoon.  Looking forward to the warm-up!

Oriental, NC

 Finally back to the boat!!!  All seems well so far.  Amazingly clean and exactly like we left it.  A good little topside scrub will have it looking great.  I'm shocked - no mold anywhere.  Just some dust/dirt on the deck and cockpit enclosures.

We did notice some changes on the drive down from Pittsboro.  Lots of US70 has been transformed to the new I42.  And Jerry/Donna had told us that the lot next to theirs had been sold and partially cleared.  Really cool - looks like someone is ready to start on a house in the near future.
 

Mills River,NC

 I had a good visit with my mom. She’s doing great!

Responding well to her treatments. 

Looking wonderful!

Mills River, NC

 The view from my mom's house....dreary chilly day.  Can't wait for more signs of spring!

Mills River, NC

 We’re off to the mountains for a few days. I’m going to accompany my mom to her 8th chemo treatment. All the daughters and daughter-in-laws are taking turns helping out. 

A view of snow capped mountains approaching Asheville. Chilly here!!

And just an odd photo that I thought was neat  I apparently placed my phone down on my leg in the car… this is a very up close view of my blue jeans!!

Pittsboro,NC

 Another “we’re still alive and kicking “ post. I seem to be tugged back into the business just by proximity I suppose. 

While we were in Costa Rica, one of the local pilots had a mishap. His engine failed and he did not get his gear extended in time to make a nice landing.

Today, they moved his airplane down the ramp to have some repairs done I assume. A little spooky looking!

Pittsboro, NC

I don't want anyone to think we've gotten lost!!  Just normal days, not a lot to photograph.  

I am enjoying the daffies!  I have my book club coming over tonight for our monthly meeting so I'm getting ready for that.

One interesting thing happening around the house is that the power company is putting in power lines for a couple of new neighbors.  Will be fun to see the progress after the power is up and running.  This is at the corner of our driveway.

We're just tickled that they haven't disrupted either power or our fiber internet.....knock wood!!

Pittsboro, NC

 We arrived home just in time for a little snowstorm!  The sad little daffodils will have to endure the hard freeze over the next three days.  There is a warm up into the 70’s next week but no fun until then!!

Miami!

 The trip is winding down!  No rush to depart from the lodging…no plans today other than the 3+ hour drive back to the capital city, San Jose for our departure back to NC.

We stopped along the way for one last casada meal. Nice and fresh and consistently priced between $6 and $8 USD. 

No real spectacular scenery along the way but there were some good views of the mountains from the car. 

The city streets are crowded and hilly. 

We rented our last Airbnb just a Mike from the airport for a 6AM departure.  Sweet little house but it was really locked down tight!  Every window and door had thick iron bars. (All the neighbors did also).  Even the rental car was locked up.

We all set our alarms for 3:45AM and were out the door by 4AM.  So far the travels have been as expected.  Just an hour delay.  Not looking forward to arrival RDU tonight.  Forecast 45 degrees F and snow tomorrow!!!

Quepos, Costa Rica

 Time for our last National Park tour. This time to the very popular Manual Antonio NP. We had read that parking is crazy there so opted to take a local bus. Just 380 colones or something like 75 cents USD for the 35 minute ride. Waited at the bus station for about 10 minutes. 

The bus eventually filled with local workers along the steep curvy road. 

Heavy overcast skies but nicely kept the temps reasonable. 

Public beach outside the park. 

Last night we had gone online and got our tickets ( the only way to enter). By this morning they were completely sold out. They limit entry and you get a 1 hour slot to arrive. 

Lots of normal floura.  

And lots of weird vines. 

Little waterfall we walked a mile round trip to see. A little underwhelming, haha. 

Strange very sharp spikes on a palm tree I’d never seen before. I guess the tree wants no climbers!  I walked off the path to test them. Really hard and sharp!

We did see lots of fauna in this park. Really hard to get good photos as they were often far away or hidden in the dense growth.  I believe this is an agouti. 

This is a photo from the web for reference. They’re  related to the guinea pig.

Cool palm trees with dangling fruit  

I believe this is a coati like we’d seen in the side of the road in La Fortuna. 

And we saw several white faced monkeys. They did not appear to be too frightened of us but they also weren’t begging for food. The park searched backpacks as there is a strict no food policy. 

Really cool colorful land crab. 

More monkeys. 

And a couple of small whitetail deer that were not afraid of us. 

Very nice trails, not muddy like several we’ve been on.  This is the most visited park in CR so I guess gets lots of attention. 

A cool double termite mound. This one has what appears to be a tunnel connecting the two pods. 

Another agouti nibbling on a nut. 

And more white faced monkeys. 

We also saw a sloth and a howler monkey up very high in the canopy. My photos were not detailed enough to bother showing. 

Walking back along the pretty coastline. 

A few more animal encounters.

And after 4.5 miles of trails, we easily caught the bus back to Quepos. This time it was eventually standing room only as it appeared many workers shift had ended at 3pm and they were heading home. 

We were in for the night and we’ll have to pack up to start our journey back to San Jose for our flight home the next day.