STL DPB ON THE ROAD - ENDLESS SUMMER

Even a city kid like me doesn't get tired of this place. At this time of year, while it's quite cold back home, the weather report here is the same day after day: clear, warm but not awful, dry and a refreshing ocean breeze. From May through November it may rain some most days but hardly all day, every day. My spikey New Yorker brain waves enjoy the laid back pace and pura vida attitude.                

WE MADE IT

Same place, different place. Back in Tamarindo for the Nth time but in an apartment new to us. Not walking distance to the beach by old folks' standards but what a view. A sliver of Playa Tamarindo in the foreground, the mouth of the Tamarindo estuary and the wide arc of Playa Grande beyond. This'll do just fine.          

CITY DAILY PHOTO JUNE THEME DAY - WHEN I CAN TRAVEL AGAIN

The Crowe family will not be wasting any time breaking out of the confinement doldrums. This is Playa Tamarindo, on the northwest coast of Costa Rica. Our trip planned for January was canceled, of course, but we will be heading back in early July. Then a road trip to Kansas in August and a few places in central Europe in September, if they let us in. Travel is the best education, teaching us that our habits at home are not the only way to live.                      

FISH IN TRAINING

Ellie is in heaven. Our little Midwesterner loves water and has learned how to snorkel. It's hard to get her out of the pool unless it's to go to the beach.

Lots of activities starting today. We're going to the town farmers market this morning. Tonight we are doing something special. At this season, certain species of sea turtles waddle onto beaches at night, dig holes in the sand with their flippers and lay their eggs. You can only go with a naturalist. Red flashlights are required because the turtles can't see that wavelength and they remain undisturbed.    

STL DPB On The Road - If 6 Was 9

Now if 6 turned out to be 9
I don't mind, I don't mind . . .
Dig, 'cos I got my own world to live through
And I ain't gonna copy you.

Jimi Hendrix, 1967

A memory of being young on my sixty-ninth birthday. The first two lines are profound if you think about it a bit. I've had a privileged life that lately has seen some, uh, physical wear and tear. Walking on sand with a cane is not advised. (Maybe there are snowshoe-like canes?)

Went into town to look for a place for a drink with sunset views. Bingo. Way better compared to the condo, which has nothing interesting in the foreground. Still, I had to throw in a Playa Langosta picture with Mrs. C. doing the beachcomber thing.

Indolence

Costa Rica is a good place to do nothing if you are a visitor. Not so much for the locals, who work hard to take care of us.

I would never do what this man is doing. I've had a brush with melanoma and got past it, so I know better. Sure, this is part of why people come here but it's a pretty bad idea. Probably better to sit in the shade of an umbrella and watch the ocean.      

Surf

Today's theme song.

We ain't got no surf in the Mississippi and you sure wouldn't want to spread out your towel on the waterside mud. So if I want shots like this I have to go to Playa Tamarindo.             

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Yes.

Playa Langosta, late Sunday afternoon. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more.               

Fútbol Playa

The scene on Tamarindo beach yesterday: agile young bodies with a golden fútbol. Costa Rica is soccer-mad and had a good run in the last World Cup. Not far away, across the border in Nicaragua, it's all baseball.                                 

Obligatory Beach Shots

A bit of what was going on at Playa Langosta and Playa Tamarindo beaches yesterday afternoon.

We have three more days here before we return to the freezer on Sunday. Nothing much planned. I don't know what to do with myself. Might as well go take some pictures.

By the way, there is a big set of pix from Monteverde and Tamarindo on Flickr here.