Indianapolis

I got back last night from Indy after a very short trip home. Of course, it was hailing walnuts pretty much and I got a flat tire after having dinner with Dad and Julie, but, more time to talk! I met my Dad's girlfriend Julie-she is awesome! I am trying to get them to come out here for a whale/shark watching trip to the Farallones Islands in September. I can't wait for that trip!

I am still thinking about Costa Rica.....the waves...the pig....so beautiful.

I am back at work now. Back to real life. Yeehaw! But, I am surfing later, so all is good.

Hope y'all are well!

XO, K

From Costa Rica, To San Francisco, To Indianapolis

Hi everyone,

I made it back with many delays, but arrived in SF at 2 AM. I leave this afternoon for a family visit until Sunday. I can't believe I have to go back to the airport today, but I am looking forward to seeing the family!

I will upload pictures from the trip once I get my camera working. It went nutso the last 2 days of the trip, but I think I got enough to give you an idea of the place.

I loved Costa Rica and will definitely return. I got up at 6:30 and surfed this morning at Ocean Beach b/c I still wanted the fun to continue, but the cold water said "um, you had better start packing." So...I am off again, but thanks for tuning in.

XO,

K

Cloud Forests of Monte Verde

Think of any animal you can and believe me, I saw them all today...and up close! There are 12 kinds of hummingbirds....all different sizes. I got some great pictures of frogs, birds Coati's and beetles! I held a bunny. I even got to hold a tiny little kitten who kissed my ear and then promptly bit into my nose like a tortilla chip. I needed some pliers to get him off of me, but eventually he let go. My nose is, well, punctured. But, I have to say it's worth it b/c I have been wanting to hold a kitten for a long time now...even if he was a vampire.

I am SO tired that I can't type another thing. I will elaborate more on the forest and creatures tomorrow. And the family I met! It was a 5 hour drive on the lawnmower and I feel like I'm 80 years old. I can't believe tomorrow is my last real surf day here...it all went by so fast.

Sorry to hear the SF winter blues are hitting my friends, but I will try to bring a little pura vida sunshine back with me for y'all ;).

XO,

K

Playa Negra, Pedro the Pig and The Eleven Cats of Playa Avellana

Alright. This morning I took the bull by the horns, the pig by the ears, the cat by the tail! I showed up at Playa Negra (huge wave) at 6 am. I walked down to the beach and thought I was looking at Pipeline. This place is insane. It's big. But it's so beautiful.....hmmmm. My brain says 'hell no', but my insanity says that a certain surgeon I know would never surf this wave, so...I will. So, there. I can't believe I went out there...it was overhead and a half to double overhead and I am on a 7.2. That wave requires at 6 ft or lower board. Oh well! So I caught 3 monster waves and then woke up. I am STILL jumping up and down...yippee!!!!!!!! Cameron and Adrian will be proud of me.

Then, back to Playa Avellana. I got the scoop on the monster swine. The little restaurant on the beach there is owned by a Dutch couple. It's been there for 18 years. 8 years ago, he decided to get her a piglet for her birthday. Not her birthday dinner, but for a pet. I am not sure they thought ahead, as in, this cute little pig is going to grow into a huge slobbering, snorting beach monster. Pedro was raised with dogs, so of course, he thinks he is a dog too. Which is why he hangs out at the beach. And fetches and plays in the water chewing on coconuts like his doggie cohorts. I am not kidding. He fetches. He weighs at least 800 pounds. Pigs can swim! Who knew!?

Ah yes, and my favorite part-the cats. Apparently 11 cats have shown up over the years and the owner nurses them back to health and keeps them around. They have 8 dogs, 11 cats, a parrot and a pig. The cats are named by the order in which they arrived. I met quatro, dos, and ocho. Lovely felines, but different. I was eating ceviche with tortilla chips when ocho jumped up on the table and started eating my chips. A cat who eats chips! I love him. He also like cevishe, even if it has been soaked in lime juice and onions. What a doll!

And finally, I found the spot at Playa Avellana that I like best-Little Hawaii. It's funny that they call it that, maybe b/c it's a reef break, but it's super fun.

Tomorrow I am going on a bird-watching tour in Monte Verde. I hate to leave the water, but I feel that I should see some of the country.

Pura Vida,

Kelly

Playa Avellana-again

Hi Y'all.

I woke up at 7 to surf at this place I LOVE. It was even better than yesterday. Pedro was there again, and I really think he emits more of a snore, rather than a snort, which was surprising and cute. I really like him. He is as big as a shed.

I was out for 3 hours again. A few days ago, I asked the jewelery guy to make me a necklace of yellow beads, since yellow is my favorite color. I gave him half a few days ago, and then paid the balance when I saw him today. The necklace is very pretty. He calls beads 'nickels', which is curious, but nonetheless, he is an honest guy. I find the people here to be gracious and fair.

I came back and took a 3 hour nap and then surfed Marabella. I was the only one out, so it was once again, surreal. I kind of wish I could hook up with a group of people that surf, but the way I am doing it does not leave much time for social interaction.

I just watched "The Hunted" with Benincio del Torres and loved it. It's a good movie. Actually, they were filming the bridge scene in Portland when I lived there and I got stuck in the movie traffic for an hour.

I am laying low tonight, getting up at 5 to try and surf Playa Negra. Hopefully it is more friendly.

I miss everyone, especially Cathleen, but I am entertaining and wearing myself out with the surf and the heat.

Hope you all are well. If it's just good surf stories tomorrow, I will write on Monday.

Ciao Bella,

Kelly

Tamarindo, no gracias. Playa Avellana, si gracias!

I got up at 5 am today and drove to Tamarindo (1.5 hrs) on a lawn mower....or rather, that is how it feels with all the bouncing around on the dirt roads. I think I started to get motion sickness after a while. I don't know how people can stand it, especially on a bus!

Tamarindo is a typical gringo town that reminisces of Cancun or Daytona Beach, but in a creepier kind of way. I was immediately glad that I didn't lodge there b/c I would have met nothing but drunken Americans downing Tequila shots. No gracias.

So, I went back to Playa Avellana today and it was even better than yesterday! I was out for 3 hours, and the waves just got better and better. There was one older American guy in the line-up, and the rest locals. I am sort of surprised that more foreigners are not surfing right now, but it's the off season. There is nothing 'off' about it to me-the surf is great. So, maybe I got lucky. I checked out Playa Negra again, but the high tide messed it all up. I will go there tomorrow in the morning at low tide and will likely end up at Avellana again. Don't ditch a good thing, right?

I made it back here to the hotel and all the hoteliers were asking me about the surf. I think they are intrigued b/c believe or not, none of them surf. They must think I am a strange critter for coming here by myself with my board and bouncing all over the province.

I had lunch by the pool, and a HUGE iguana slithered into the pool and started swimming around. The Galapagos, right here! I watched him for a good 30 minutes. Then, a motmot (bird) gathered some twigs and dipped them in the pool to get them wet (i assume to caulk up its nest). I even saw a little bunny this morning munching grass in front of my house. I am waiting for Mr. Rogers to jump out of the bushes.

There is a poker tournament going on in an hour at the pool that I will attempt to join. The only time I have played poker was with Andy in Reno and all I know is that I kept $15 on the table for an hour or more. Not sure what that means, since he is really good at that number stuff, but maybe I will hang in there. I hope we are playing with beans b/c I am not willing to lose more money for a card game.

I am reading "Catch 22" on my down time and really enjoying it. Oh, and I am constantly trying to figure out how much things are in dollars to ensure I don't get swindled. I will bring a calculator next time, even if it's nerdy.

There was a monster swine on the beach today. I mean BIG, like 4-H Indiana State Fair style. I stopped in my tracks, thinking it had to be a big pink wild boar taking a siesta on the beach. But, no. He is local too. His name is Pedro. Pedro the pig. I don't know how much bigger he could possibly get, but somebody must be waiting to meet him on a jungle path with dinner in mind. Then again, he might be tough like an old bull and just considered a local. Local seldo!

Everyone and their grandma want to show me where the "secret" surf spots are, but good lord people, back off! I already know. There is a nice Russian lady that works here and her 15-year old daughter divulged all the 'secrets' to me. Always ask the girls. They know everything! So, I will explore some of those over the next coming days.

Ok, well I am off to lose some beans, or shells, but who knows, maybe I will come back with big bag of beans. I will make sure to dump it at the currency exchange counter in Miami and see how much of my money they return. I will throw a crab in there too. There are plenty of them here.

Hasta Manana,

K

PS: Thanks for the comments...keeps me motivated. And, I miss my SV peeps as well. Clickety-click-click!

Playa Avellana

Hola! Last night's bbq/rodeo was pretty funny. I think the people that work at the hotel get a big kick out of making fun of Americans. I can't blame them. Line-dancing was more like Salsa with clapping, but hey, they tried. The bbq was marginal.

I woke up this morning, waxed my board, and hit the dusty trail to Playa Avellana. It's about 40 minutes up the coast. Finding one's way there requires many questions to the locals since there are no signs. "Perdon, donde esta Playa Avellana?" about 20 times and I eventually found it. I tried to surf at Playa Negra first, but it was just too big. Playa Avellana was a bit smaller with longer intervals, so I made it out and caught many great waves. I took pictures also with my waterproof Olympus. That thing is is awesome.

When I finished surfing, I grabbed a beer and took a nap in a hammock under some lovely shady trees. It rains extremely hard for about an hour every afternoon. It cools things off, which is a blessing-it's about 85 deg. F-not San Francisco weather. I made my way back after giving the lady that let me use her bano a few dollars. She was so grateful it almost made me cry. People are extremely poor here. I feel kind of guilty making a playground of their environs, but it brings money to the community, so I try to focus on that.

People ride 4-wheelers EVERYWHERE here! It reminds me of my childhood neighbors who had a 4-wheeler. Paul, the youngest boy in the Canantsi family, ran over me completely on his. He felt so bad he cried. It actually didn't hurt-the tires are pretty bouncy.

Also, everyone waves at you here when you pass them on the road...whether in a car, on a bike or on a mule.....it's fun!

Tomorrow I am going to look at the wave at Playa Grande, then surf in Tamarindo. I already know Playa Grande is going to be huge, so I am going to go take some photos. There are some really good surfers down here, but not that many women are out in the water. I was actually all by myself today, which was a rare and wonderful experience.

That's it for now......

K