Playing Catch Up

Our two months in the States is over and here we are back in beautiful Costa Rica. It is absolutely wonderful to be here again! But I do face a challenge in trying to summarize for you all the joys and sorrows, adventures and misadventures we had in our travels.

Our first two weeks were spent with my mom in San Angelo in West Texas, where some of the all-time best barbeque can be found. And find it we did, rather often. Our favorite place was Bodacious Barbeque where the chopped brisket and baked beans are a standout.

Chili Relleno at Henry's

But we also wanted some Tex-Mex, chock-full of the spices and chilies that we miss in Costa Rican food. Armenta's, Los Panchito's and Henry's all fit the bill; we enjoyed enchiladas, tacos, chili rellenos and nachos to our heart's content.

One of the main attractions for us in San Angelo is Sealy Flats Blues Bar and Diner, where live music is on stage most every night. Lucky for us, my old friend world-class blues diva Candye Kane was playing there just a week into our stay. With help from her outstanding band, featuring that killer lead guitarist Laura Chavez, Candye brings the house down every time she steps on stage decked out in one of her sparkly, spangled costumes. We made it to the club for two of the three nights she performed and loved every minute.

Candye and Yours Truly

But it was soon time to head for Portland where much less happy duties awaited us. With Layne's sister Annie in the last stages of cancer and suffering as well from Alzheimer's, we knew that her time with us was limited, and indeed, she passed away only days after our arrival. Then the sad task of planning her memorial service fell to us and a few other loving relatives, culminating in a beautiful and remarkably celebratory event honoring her life of love and devotion to family and friends.

Fun in the cold!

Our work in preparing and conducting the memorial service meant canceling our trip to California to see my son Damian and grandson Kai, a missed contact that we deeply regretted. But we did manage to drive to Central Oregon for an overnight visit with Penny and Joel, very dear friends from our horseback-riding days in California. Although the weather was a bit chilly for Layne and me, accustomed as we are to the tropics, Penny served up delicious food as always, and Joel entertained us with his wry humor. It was as if we had been together only the day before.

Upon our return to Portland, we found time for a few walks enjoying the beautiful fall colors and watching a family of muskrats gamboling along Fanno Creek trails.

But soon it was time for us to return to Texas where we planned to spend most of our two-month stay helping my mom with some of the projects around her house and getting the upstairs in shape for our eventual residency there next spring. Now that my mom is a woman "of a certain age," Layne and I feel that we need to be with her to make her life a little easier. She's a very independent person and we respect that, but we also know that some things have become difficult or painful for her so we plan to step in to ease the load a little. Besides, it's free rent!

Even in the last days of our trip, we managed to squeeze in a very brief, but utterly wonderful visit to rugged and scenic Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas. Our good friends Sally and Leonard, expats we met here in Costa Rica a few years ago, last spring decided to return to the U.S. They bought a luxurious big RV and are now serving as volunteer hosts at national parks around the nation, feeding their unquenchable taste for adventure. It was our good fortune that they had just begun a gig at Big Bend and when they invited us to visit, my mother urged us to go. She had visited Big Bend some years ago and she assured us it was not to be missed, especially with well-trained hosts to guide us. And by Texas standards, it was not all that far away: only a four to five hour drive!

So we rented a car and drove across the boring West Texas landscape to Big Bend, which turned out to be a stunning park of amazing geologic formations and extravagant desert vistas. Our first afternoon there, with Sally doing volunteer work in the Visitor's Center, Leonard drove us for miles around the huge park, all the way down to the Texas-Mexico border of the Rio Grande and Santa Elena Canyon, a truly astounding panorama of vertical cliffs running along the shallow meandering river channel. 

Our guide Leonard points out the geology

 Solitary hiker at Santa Elena Canyon: Mexico on the left, Texas on the right

The next morning all four of us made the drive up to Chisos Basin, a magical valley at 5400' elevation held in the embrace of huge rock formations and monstrous volcanic peaks such as Casa Grande, which towers over the Basin at 7300 feet. As we enjoyed the breakfast buffet and the view through the "Window" to the desert far below, we had the good luck to see a mother black bear and her two cubs scrambling down the side of a nearby hill. Unfortunately, the battery on my camera was dead and Sally's shots on her phone didn't quite work but what a thrill it was to see these animals in their own habitat and to enjoy spectacular Big Bend National Park.

Soon it was back to San Angelo and last preparations for our return to Costa Rica and the happy reunion with our adorable puppy Winston. No longer the little insecure fellow we left in the excellent care of our friends Chris and Sue, now he's all grown up and well deserves his nickname: The Moose!

Check out Layne's novel "Moral Turpitude," Kindle edition now available for only $4.99 at Amazon.com. Five star reviews! High adventure with corporate intrigue, danger and romance; from the exotic jungles of Borneo and Costa Rica to the erotic jungles of San Francisco. A great read! Pick up your copy here -http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HI25M1K/

Last Fling in Chicago ... On to Costa Rica!

We have made the rounds here in Chicago, seeing old friends, meeting new ones and enjoying that famous Chicago deep-dish pizza. With our suitcases loaded for bear after cutting down to three bags, leaving one large duffle bag, golf bags and much extraneous clothing, toiletries and other “stuff” in Portland.

         Our early morning flight to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport via Salt Lake City was pleasant enough. Thank goodness for a couple of Atkins Protein Bars; Delta offers very little in the way of snacks. After arriving at the Quality Inn near the airport, we enjoyed a delicious late lunch at the Bella Sera restaurant inside the hotel. I would have enjoyed my grilled chicken panini more if we weren’t trying to stay lo-carb. As it was, I scraped off the yummy pesto dressing and left most of the bread behind. Volumes could be written about trying to stay lo-carb on the road.

         Saturday offered an introduction to the subway and bus system here in Chicago, adding a layer to our growing knowledge of public transit around the world. After a hotel shuttle ride to the airport, we wandered through several doorways then down an elevator to a lower floor where we encountered a maze of ticket machines. Despite our ignorance, we were able to help a foreign visitor with the mysteries of a credit card machine: insert the card and remove it quickly for the reader to work. Voila! In the process, we learned how to buy a ticket ourselves and at least one of the riders waiting behind us thanked us for the impromptu educational experience.

Then it was down an escalator to a still-lower level where four tracks held waiting Blue Line subways. Off we went on a ride that seemed much like the Bay Area’s BART trains, bumping and rumbling alongside dark walls, yellowish lights flashing by in rhythm, then emerging into sunlight and city views. A few stops later we got off at Jefferson Park to catch the #92 bus. With seemingly perfect timing, we soon saw our bus pull in through one of the portals and we stepped onboard. Like a Costa Rican local, this one stopped at almost every corner. Finally, we arrived at our meeting place to hook up with an old friend, Jill C., my roommate in graduate school and former longtime girlfriend of Layne’s, a dear friend to us both. Jill drove us to her beautiful apartment in the Gold Coast, that famously upscale area of Chicago overlooking Lake Michigan. There we enjoyed a glass of wine and a couple of hours of delightful reminiscing and updating each other on our life paths.

After much laughter and many hugs, we headed out for dinner. Jill’s good friend Terri lives in Highland Park and the 45-minute drive north took us through tree-lined streets with glimpses of ornate mansions set back from the street. At Terri’s lovely home, surrounded by large trees and only steps from the lake, we were greeted by a loud chorus of cicadas screeching their hallelujahs to the world. There we met three of her friends: feisty Elizabeth, originally from Poland, and Bill and his partner Arturo, who is from Puerto Rico and still has family there. Over bottles of Chianti, we discussed the pros and cons of Costa Rica vs. Puerto Rico for retirement, which Bill and Arturo are considering. While Costa Rica has a complex residency process (as we have discovered!), as a United States territory, Puerto Rico requires no paperwork for U.S. citizens to live there. And while Layne and I will still be liable for U.S. income taxes, Puerto Rico residents are not subject to the Internal Revenue Service, only federal payroll taxes such as Social Security and Medicare plus Puerto Rico income taxes. But then, Puerto Rico has much more poverty than Costa Rica and lies within the Atlantic hurricane paths, while Costa Rica is spared those devastating storms and has a literate and large middle class. After all the debate, Layne and I remained content with our decision.

         Finally, the group headed out to a “Jewish Mexican” restaurant they had all been wanting to visit. And for good reason! La Casa de Isaac served some of the best Mexican food we’ve enjoyed all summer. The salsa was perfectly picante, the guacamole was as good as my own and the enchiladas Layne and I shared were spectacular. Plus, our waiter Bernardo was attentive but patient with our raucous laughter, fueled by outrageously good margaritas. Fortunately, we were seated outdoors in the warm evening air so our good times didn’t disturb other customers. An aspiring photographer, Bernardo pointed out his excellent photographs on display inside the restaurant and we were impressed with the gorgeous colors and composition.

         The rest of the crew returned to Terri’s house but Jill, Layne and I had other plans for the evening. My good friend, Candye Kane, blues diva extraordinaire, just happened to be performing in Chicago that night. (Photo credit: Alan Mercer) For months, I had been following Candye’s worldwide tour schedule via Facebook, wishing our paths would cross. Then I saw her post that she was in Edmonton Friday night and would be at Fitzgerald’s in Chicago on Saturday. What an opportunity! I quickly emailed her that we were in town and she responded with a generous offer to put us on the guest list.

         With the sometimes-confusing help of Ilsa, as we call our German-voiced GPS, Jill drove us across town with a persistent foggy windshield blurring her view, despite Layne’s best efforts to locate the defroster button. We could have been in the cockpit of a 747 with the complex array of red-lighted icons on the Audi dashboard. But eventually we landed at the nightclub and were whisked inside just after Candye’s set had begun.

         What a great time we had! Candye is an eye-popping brunette beauty with charisma oozing out of every pore. Plus-size and proud of it, she is a survivor of pancreatic cancer and in between belting out the blues, she urged her audience to enjoy and appreciate every moment of life, to love our bodies including the parts we like the least and to cherish our friends and family. She is such an inspiration, not to mention a world-class talent, having been nominated for four National Blues Foundation Awards for the BB King Entertainer of the Year award, Best Contemporary Blues CD for Superhero, and Best Contemporary Blues Female of 2010, to name only a few of her many honors. Adding so much to the band’s excellence was Laura Chavez, the lead guitarist, whose soulful interludes were much appreciated by the crowd, which showered her with applause after each solo.

         At the end of Candye’s set and a short visit with her stage-side, we left to make our way back across town. Gosh, Chicago is HUGE! Eventually, between Ilsa’s directions and Jill’s knowledge of the city, we made our way to a Blue Line station where Jill dropped us off for our trip back to the hotel. Like I say, Chicago is big and with a lengthy wait at the airport shuttle stop, it was almost 3:00 a.m. when we finally dropped groggily into bed. Ah, but what a night!

         And now… on to Costa Rica! Hasta la vista, amigos!