Thanks for the kind words! It really was how you describe it-fantastic. There was nothing bad there like you say. In fact, there were no bugs!!!!!!!! No misquitos!!! Even at the Cano Negro swanp of all places, there was not one single misquito!!! The temps varied from the mid 60's to the mid 80's, but the majority of the time it was in the mid to high 70's. Of course this is farenheight (sry my knowledge of celcius is terrible). It didn't rain once when I was there (they have a 2 month dry season-the rest of the time it is soaking wet). Of course, if you look hard, you can find the centipedes and spiders. I saw one centipede in the forest at Monteverde and it basically just sat there and did nothing. The only spider I saw was a small tarantula, but that was also in the forest and our tour guide had to fish it out of a deep hole for us to even catch a glimpse of it. The hotels (I stayed in 4) were not the "jungle shacks" I thought they would be. They were very clean, had air conditioning, locks, safes, purified water (although I still drank bottled water to be on the safe side), and maid service. I would imagine it is relatively easy to end up in a "jungle shack" by accident, as there were quote a few there, so you want to do research before you go. I used American Express travel service. Let me know if I can tell you anything else!

I went to CR four years ago and had a spectacular time. Flew to San Jose, went to Arenal / La Fortuna, Monteverde, and Quepos / Miguel Antonio Park. In 9 days, I saw a volcano, hiked around the volcano and through the jungle and the rain forest, rode zip lines across the rain forest canopy, swam under a waterfall, went to the mountains, went to the beach, heard and saw monkeys, lizards, sloths, and many other animals, rode horseback through the mountains and across a river, took a three hour sailboat ride, went to the famous hot springs, got a reflexology massage in a grass hut, toured a coffee plantation, rode a bus with locals and their chickens, had great food, did a little shopping, went to a couple cool art galleries and musuems, wore a t-neck and jacket and 2 days later a swimsuit, learned a little Spanish, learned a lot about the country, people, and environment, and always felt safe and comfortable. I went on a guided tour with Gap Adventures (gapadventures.com) on the 9-day tour. I think it was called the Quest adventure. They have dozens of differenet tours in CR, guided and independent. THe one I did was great, because they arranged everything from hotels to transportation to entrance fees to reservations. They got you to an area, told you what cool things there were to do, and then arranged for you to do whatever you were interested in. It was not a tour where everyone does the same thing at the same time and you are kinda trapped and on someone else's time table. You get the same guide for the whole tour and she knew the areas well and knew everyone in the areas we went, so she could always point us to the right people and places for what we wanted to experience. I frankly do not think I would want to try to navigate and drive through the country without a knowledgeable guide-- it's not like AAA will come get you if there is a problem and there is no mechanic or tire store around the corner. The roads are VERY rough and not well marked-- it would make a heck of an adventure, but just think about if that is the adventure you want, or if that would detract from the adventure you really want. I thought the loosely-guided tour was perfect and would highly receommend Gap, although there may be others that are just as good (I am not connected with them in any way, just a happy customer.) OH! One word of advice for San Jose-- If a man pinches you on the arm downtown, just say "No!" firmly and move on. That is the customary way that a man tells a uh, shall we say "lady of the evening" that he is interested. Some men just pinch anyone they think is cute, hoping she's a "lady of the evening"! You'll only experience it right in the center of downtown by the square, though, and if you say no then they apologize and leave you alone. Frankly, you likely won't want to hang out much in San Jose. One day for a musuem or two and the flea market is plenty. It is literally hard to breathe in the city because of all the pollution. Hope this helps. I'd be happy to answer any specific quetions if I can. --A.

Are you saying all the exterior shingles are the same size? Are you sure they are wood? Very basically, the same type of cedar shingles used on a roof are also used on the sides of the house but they are random widths and they will not have groves. I think your home is possibly sided with a specially prepared cedar shingle that was popular in the 50s & 60s and are no longer available. This type of shingle was put on over clapboard siding much the same as aluminum siding. Do a Google search for cedar siding. Maybe you will get lucky.

My kitchen is like Rosie's - I put away what I could and left out a few daily use items and a couple of decorative things like a houseplant. Your backsplash is truly beautiful, but I don't think your kitchen will suffer from a few items being out. It will make the space look warmer, as though people actually live and cook there. (You do, right?)If you don't use them daily, you can put away the blender and possibly the mixer, if it isn't too heavy to get out every time. The knives can go in a drawer, and the container with brushes under the sink. That doesn't leave too many things on the counter.