Iron Valley Snow Tubing

I had purchased a groupon for 2 for $28. The normal lift ticket is $22 per person. The groupon was about to expire and we had no choice except to go on Sunday morning after church. It took a little less than 2 hours for the drive toi Lebanon. I couldn't help thinking of Aunt Mary as we made that drive. Her  and George lived there all those years. We arrived a little after 12 and the conditions were bad at the time. They tried to tell us not to pay but we really had no choice since the groupon was about to expire. The crowd really wasn't bad at all. There are 2 areas for tubing. One for older kids and adults and one for little kids. We spent the day at the larger tube park. There is a tow rope to pull you and your tube back to the top - or you can walk up the hill.
We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful.
Staff regulated when you started your ride - they had 4 of 8 lanes operating at one time. They made sure the end of the ride was clear of riders so you didn't have to worry about someone walking in front of you as you finished your ride.
There are tables outside where you can sip a cup of hot chocolate between runs. There is also a small seating area inside near the snack shop which had soft pretzels, hotdogs, beverages and hot chocolate. You can eat at the Miner's pub. From the dining room you could see the tube park. Prices are moderate and there is a 10% discount for snow tubers. 
The parking lot is directly in front of the tubing area - which was nice. We kept snacks and extra gloves in the car and could easily make a stop at the car between rides. 

Camden and I stayed for 3.5 hours. Towards the end the day the runs got much faster as we blazed to bottom of the hill. By this time the crowds were gone and we had no wait. I think I had more fun the Camden.

Celebrating David Bowie

We went to see the Celebrating David Bowie Tour at the Fillmore in Silver Spring MD last night. We just returned from Costa Rica and had to hustle there as soon as we pulled into the driveway. We arrived fashionably late and missed the first few tunes.

It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since David Bowie’s death. His untimely passing was a huge shock, but his music and influence continue to reverberate throughout the culture at large, from his final mesmerizing Black star album to the flood of covers and tributes that have popped up since his death.

To honor Bowie’s memory, a collection of his former bandmates came together last year to form Celebrating David Bowie, a tour of rotating musicians playing homage to all eras of Bowie’s career. Spearheaded by longtime keyboardist Mike Garson, Bowie’s most frequent collaborator who performed over 1,000 concerts with The Thin White Duke, along with guitarists Adrian Belew and Gerry Leonard, and special guests including Fishbone’s Angelo Moore (various stops of the tour will also feature performances by Evan Rachel Wood, Sass Jordan, and Joe Sumner, among others) this iteration of the tour imagines what a Bowie live show would look like in 2018, with a setlist spanning his decades-long career.

Here is the Set List:

Bring Me the Disco King
Rebel Rebel
Moonage Daydream
Fame
Changes
Space Oddity
Quicksand
Stay
The Jean Genie
Five Years
Lady Grinning Soul
Station to Station
Ziggy Stardust
Time
Wild Is the Wind
All the Young Dudes
Suffragette City
Young Americans
Changes

Encore:
Loving the Alien
Life on Mars?
Aladdin Sane
Heroes

Our trip to Costa Rica

We arrived in Costa Rica on Saturday February 3, 2018 at 1pm. It was very easy to get through customs and find our rental car agent outside of the terminal. We got a quick ride to the office and picked up our little Suzuki car. We then had about a 30 minute ride to the Pacifico Resort in Guanacaste Province. I met this guy in the picture while Maureen was checking in. We got checked in and made our way to our beautiful 3 bedroom Condo. Pacifico is a very secure gated community right of the strip in Coco. The only drawback about the condo was the very steep hill you had to climb to get into the building.  That afternoon was spent lounging around the pool. We met some Canadian folks visiting Pacifico for a couple months. I sure could find myself returning here for a couple months once I retire. The weather is just perfect during January and February. That evening we explored the town a bit and visited a local grocery store.

Sunday was another relaxing day. We didn't want to venture far because we needed to find a good place to watch Super Bowl 52. There was some concern because we couldn't stream the game in a foreign country on our Fire Stick. A fellow at the pool provide us with info in Mr z's.  We got there early around 3:30 and were able to get a nice table with good TV views from many different angles. There was a nice specials on buckets of Budweiser for $11. They had a bunch of block pools and Jenna was so close to winning until the New England kicker missed the extra point right before halftime. The game sure was exciting. John was clearly rooting for the Patriots and was quite disappointed with the Eagles Win. Afterwards it was nice to hear that Tom Brady and his family vacation here every year too.

Monday morning Maureen visited the Concierge in the office to look into some excursions and we elected to go on a Yacht cruise that afternoon. We had heard about sunset catamaran rides but they were unavailable since one of the boats was in for repairs. Anyway the boat ride was quite an enjoyable experience. Costa Rica is quite different when viewing it from the water. The Captain took us out around Monkey rock to a secluded island where everyone was brought ashore for snorkeling and paddle boarding. After that we were shuttled back to the yacht, feed a nice Costa Rican style dinner and then saw an amazing sunset on our return to Playe de Coca.

Tuesday we ventured out in our car to a little beach town called Tamarindo. It was over an hour drive from where we were staying, The drive was somewhat unnerving because of the lack of street signs. Once into the town we parked in the first parking lot and paid the attendant $10 to park and watch our vehicle for the day. Another $15 got us chairs and umbrella for the day as well. The beach was beautiful, sandy white with blue water. The only downfall was the wind. It was howling. We ate lunch at a local soda and left the town at 4:30 to avoid driving back in the dark.

Wednesday was an excursion day. We bought our adventure pass for Diamante Eco Park online. We could of just purchased the ticket there and avoided an online service charge. Either way the cost of admission is worth the price. We started our day right from the welcome center on a zip line. The attendants were very helpful,  We all felt comfortable and secure. The five runs where average excerpt for what they called "Superman" a 3000 foot  run with beautiful Pacific ocean view. It was really quite spectacular. After zip lining we spent some time in the animal sanctuary learning about local birds, snakes, turtles and other animals. After about an hour we caught a shuttle back to the welcome center for a Costa Rican style buffet lunch. I had a nice salad and a couple plates of food. Afterwards we returned to the animal sanctuary and then  visited the beach area where we went snorkeling, relaxed in hammocks and rope swings. I took a kayak into the ocean too. That evening after we returned to Pacifico Jenna and I went to Murphy's,  a pub within walking distance of the resort. We met the owner, who was quite friendly. He had moved to Costa Rica 4 years earlier and had opened the pub. Quite the character

Thursday the girls wanted to spend shopping. So we hit every little nick knack place in town. It was quite exhausting but we did manage to get a handful of souvenirs and gifts. Then we spent the afternoon at the pool. Once again we met some interesting people from Canada. The lady was very helpful in giving us directions to the Father Rooster restaurant where we were thinking of having dinner that evening. Later that evening we ventured out again and found our way to Father Rooster's. It was right on the beach about 5 miles from where we were staying. The girls hung out on the beach while I walked along and checked the area out. Later we had some drinks, apps and pizza. The had rope swings and very comfortable padded seating outside or inside. 

Friday was when Jenna had planned on leaving to go to Houston Texas. It would wind up being her last visit to the area as she decided to break things off with the guy she was visiting. So after we dropped her at the airport we planned an outing to a waterfall that was about and hour north of the airport. Llanos de Cortez is considered to be one of Costa Rica’s most beautiful waterfalls. The falls are wide and wispy, with thin streams of water tumbling along the mossy rocks. Rocky cliffs are visible through the transparent cascade. 

At the base of the falls is a nice pool that is good for swimming or wading, and there is a sandy area to just hang out and relax. We both went swimming and I even climbed up under the falls.There were even a couple of vendors set up serving cold drinks and snacks like grilled chicken kabobs. We were not looking forward to the return to the car and we able to bum a ride on a bus filled with seniors on a group tour. 

On the way back we stopped at the beach in Playa Hermosa. Quite the beautiful beach and ly about 10 miles from where were staying at Pacifico. We were kind of disappointed we hadn't found it earlier in the week. Jenna would have really liked it. Easy street parking with short walk to the beach. If spending the day you would want to pay someone to park and watch the car. 

Very excited to say we're going back in 2019. 2nd week of February.