Sheepwagon.... or BUST!

Wade and I headed to Wyoming for the "annual" Allen Family reunion. Aunt Pi and Brock were our fabulous hosts and Chen Jing and Alan Hogan were the only others who attended. We enjoyed the fresh mountain air, the good company, the starry nights, and the delicious cooking. Wade had a great time on the four-wheeler and getting "monster"rocks for Aunt Pi. I learned a lot about sage, Chinese culture, and making scrambled eggs on a BBQ grill. Overall, an outstanding trip! On the way back to Denver, we ate at Silvermine Subs. Yummy!

Here's the official report from Aunt Pi:

This is a report on the reunion that most of you missed. Those
few in attendance did think of all of you. Six of us showed up. Of
course Brock and I were already there and the real surprise was my son Alan and
his wife, Chen jing, coming in from Michigan. He hadn't gotten the word
that the reunion was cancelled for I thought they were going to try to go to
Alaska this summer or fall. I was real happy to see them. As I said
we didn't know they were coming. He thought it would be a good opportunity
for all the family to meet Chen jing. Anne-marie and Wade drove
up from Denver. Then over the weekend 9 locals did show up at various
times. Yes, Jim, the weather was sometimes a little cool but felt good
except for a cold wind most of Saturday. One morning the temp dropped
to 38 degrees, but the other mornings were like 42. The days were
beautiful.

Anne-marie learned how to cook scrambled eggs on a big griddle over a wood fire, she learned how to make sage smudge sticks, and she carried a baby monster quartz rock down a hill that was a very large quartz rift. The whole hillside was all beautiful quartz. See her photos. Wade was a wonderful cook and wood gatherer and he carried a huge monster quartz rock down for me. He also learned to love riding our new 4 wheeler. Chen jing and Alan gathered a lot of silver tip sage to take back to Michigan to make smudge sticks and Chen jing taught us all a lot about Chinese culture and way of living.

Since the custom has been set at reunions that the site for the next
reunion is usually decided at a reunion, we took it upon ourselves to make some
decisions for the group. It is very obvious that gas prices will not be
going down much in the future, so we decided that perhaps it is best to
have a reunion every two or three years and then people can save for it.
We also decided the next reunion should be in the midwest so we will
need someone to plan it. (any suggestions?) There are a lot of
state parks in the midwest. The geezers should not be the planners.
It is time for the younger crowd to take over that job. Anne-marie said at
one time someone had suggested that renting cabins and a houseboat at Lake
Powell might be a good idea. Brock liked that idea.

We had wonderful food since we pooled our contributions together. We had green chili stew, steaks, barbecued ribs, brots, and super delicious breakfasts. Anne-marie brought delicious muffins and cookies. We didn't go hungry. Chen jing got to try s'mores for the first time and Brock cooked fried pies over the campfire. Monday morning we all went our merry separate ways.
End of report,
Pi, designated chairman of
the 2008 Allen family reunion

Click here for a slideshow of all of our photos from this trip.

The famous sheepwagon

Sage burning ceremony (you had to be there).... Yes, I can verify it smelled wonderful.

Elk Park.... It reminded me of Kendrick Park in the days when it actually rained in Arizona.

Back country taxi service

The master chef works with young apprentice Wade

Philosophical

Today is Dad's birthday. He would have been 67. I light our memory candle from the Chapel wedding and thought of him today. It turned out to be a lucky day for us as Wade got a call back for a second interview. Wade sipped some scotch as a thankful tribute.

These two quotes seem to say everything I feel.

it is not "if" we will lose the things we love, it is "when". with some, the loss comes in a major catastrophic event. for most, love is surrendered one piece at a time...first childhood, a promising romance, the passing of a loved one, and finally a child who leaves home. but as we lose, can we not gain a deep knowing that in the presence of grace, love for the sake of love is eternal.

_________________

'how you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down. and, so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one gigantic test followed by one gigantic lesson. in the end it all comes down to one word. Grace! it's how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light'. Philosophy.

Thanks, Erika & Stephanie, for helping me see the good side to all of this!

Wade's new haircut

I finally convinced Wade to shave his beard for his interviews. He had a good time with various stages in between.... chops and a gotee from the 70s (before he was even born!)


Here's the final result. (You can see why his friends called him Babyface yesterday.)

Costa Rica part 4: Heredia y escuela

On Sunday morning, after Wade left, Stephanie, Erika and I met our driver from the school. He drove us to Heredia, a suburb of San Jose, and delivered us to our homestays. Erika and I were placed with a family of 2 parents, 3 girls, 4 dogs, and a parrot. Needless to say, there was always something going on at home. That afternoon we went to their grandparents house for lunch and then to the mall to buy shoes for the youngest daughter (at Payless!)

On Monday morning, we had orientation and took our placement tests. I was placed in a class with Stephanie, Mari (from Norway), and Scott, a teenager from Denver too. Erika was in a class with a 19 year old college student, who thought she was old. Class went from 8am to noon every day, with a 20 minute break. We practiced and learned a lot of Spanish.



That afternoon, we went to the Mercado with a group from school and took a walking tour of the area. On Wednesday night, we even went to go see Sex and the City-- the movie, with subtitles in Spanish. Each afternoon, we walked to lunch with Stephanie and tried out new restaurants while we did HOMEWORK! Then we would head to the internet cafe to keep in touch with friends and family.


Saturday, we spent our last day with Stephanie shopping and soaking up the last moments of our trip. We were sad to say goodbye, but it is very nice to be home!



Downtown








Take care of this park like your home









Refined people have beautiful parks









View near school




An edited version of some of our photos is available here.

The complete version of ALL of our photos is here.

Costa Rica part 3: La Playa

Many people go to Costa Rica to check out the volcanoes. Unfortunately, we only "passed" Arenal on the way from Monteverde to the Guanacaste coast. But, that simply means we'll have to go back soon.




When we arrived to Playa Brasilitos Wednesday afternoon, it was much warmer than Monteverde. We stayed within walking distance to Playa Conchal (shell beach.) The "sand" consisted of crushed shells. The water was clear. That night there was a large thunder and lightning storm.




The first night, we all stayed at Hotel Brasilitos. Wade and I had a room on the second level with a large deck for watching the ocean. Erika and Stephanie didn't like their room as much, so they moved to Hotel Nany, figuring we could enjoy the pool there too. We spent Thursday afternoon on the beach, enjoying the sun. As we returned later in the afternoon, the tide had risen very high and we were forced to wade through some parts until we could get to the road. The locals Wade talked to said it was very unusual, and there was a storm in the Pacific causing it. Wade got very brave and headed for the bar each night by himself. He tried Ceviche and enjoyed hanging out. I kept falling asleep because of the sun set so early, and then it was pitch black!



Friday was cloudy and it rained in the morning, so Wade and I decided to head to Erika and Stephanie's pool. Wade, Erika and I swam all afternoon. (The swim-up bar kept us rather content too.) It reminded me of summers in Gilbert, AZ when we lived in the pool, and as Erika put it, drank gallons of chlorine water.




Wade, Stephanie, and I had dinner together that evening. Unfortunately, Wade's cool lobster wasn't very tasty :(

Saturday morning Wade and I went for a lovely "walk along the beach" that turned into a death march because we had no water and little sunscreen. Stephanie and Erika went shopping, and then we piled onto the public bus for a 6 hour trip back to San Jose.

We were soooooooooooooo happy to see Douglas at Hotel Vesuvio again. It had seemed like ages since we had left on Sunday.

Wade got up at 3:30 Sunday morning to catch his flight home. We were sad to let him go....

Costa Rica part 2: Mountain Oasis

The four of us had two main goals for the "travel part" of our trip: 1) to do a canopy tour (better known as zip-lining) and 2) enjoy some relaxing beach time. So, Sunday morning we headed to Monteverde, known for its Cloud Forest. Stephanie had spent some time in Costa Rica before, and kept talking about Tico time (the custom of starting things a little bit late.) Well, that morning, the van to pick us up came EARLY! Like Stephanie was still in the shower and none of us had eaten, early. The driver was fairly patient and probably enjoyed watching all of us run around trying to check out and leave. We made a few more stops and finally headed out of town.

We had intended to take the public bus, but it left very early, and we heard it made a lot of stops. So, we decided to opt for tourist transport. The road from San Jose to the Puntarenas area was fine. However, the last hour and a half was a bumpy road, twisty and narrow road. I began to remember that I didn't like heights. (This was confirmed later!) Once we got to the top and entered Santa Elena/Monteverde, it was worth the trip! It's high up in the mountains and has gorgeous trees and views.

We didn't have reservations, but the guidebook suggested Hotel Arco Iris (rainbow). The woman at the desk said she had a small house for 4 with a kitchen, living room, and 2 bedrooms. We asked to see it, and agreed it would be worth the price. It was SWANKY! She told me we could put our bags in the room and then check in, in case it started to rain. She should have said "downpour!" As a native of Arizona, I am not accustomed to seeing that much rain... EVER! We were all hungry from our road trip so we braved the rain and headed into town. We ate at a cute restaurant called Morphos and watched the rain. Then we crossed the street to do some grocery shopping. Santa Elena is a pueblo so we enjoyed the contrast to the big city of San Jose.

Monday, we had reservations at Selvatura, to do the canopy tour and suspended bridge walk. After we put on our gear (climbing harness, helmet and gloves), listened to the brief orientation, and signed a waiver releasing them from ANY liability, I realized this might be scarier than I thought. I don't like heights! Wade and Stephanie loved it immediately, and went alone. The first two lines Erika and I did with a "taxi" (guide). The third was the longest and I decided I wanted to go alone.

That was cool because you actually had enough time to "see" things, and I figured Wade wouldn't let me crash into a tree. (Most tourists do this for the adrenaline rush, not their love of nature.) On the last line, Erika went by herself too.

While Erika and I tried were busy gathering courage, Wade and Stephanie went on the Tarzan swing..... The suspended bridge walk really let you check out the canopy at a much slower pace. We liked that too. We had lunch and then headed back to town before the afternoon deluge.







Erika on the zip line









Couple overlooks canopy



Tuesday was my favorite day in Costa Rica. We made arrangements to have a guide take us through the Cloud Forest in search of the mysterious quetzal bird. This is the national bird of Guatemala, but they are endangered and apparently hard to spy. As the name suggests, cloud forests are usually cloudy (and rainy), but we had a very clear day that was relatively cool. They are different from rain forests because they are high in the mountains and don't have mosquitoes! Also, the light from the sun reaches through the canopy to the forest floor. It was awesome! We learned about a lot of plants and we were lucky to spot a female and a male quetzal (in addition to a wide variety of other birds)!!!! We ended the tour at the hummingbird "park" where we saw several different species. During the tour we met two other teachers who teach at an IB school in Mexico City who were staying at the same hotel. One was British, the other Mexican. We had pizza with them at Tremonti and then coffee and chocolate fondue at the Treehouse (literally a restaurant/hotel built around a tree!)

The rainy afternoons in the mountains allowed us to relax and enjoy our casita. It had an amazing porch just meant to sit on and watch the storm, sipping a cup of tea. But, we had to leave at some point. So on Wednesday we continued our journey to the beach on the Pacific side.

I can't wait to go back to our casita!