International Intrigue
I’ve been known to have a different array of special friends in my life so far. From Hollywood Directors, hanging out with worldly Rock N Roll Bands to bikers and Int’l drug smugglers, I could name some names, not like Heidi or anything; mine was just for fun and a good laugh. We do not know how much longer we have so here is something that will be written down for those later that wanted to know. (smiling) How about this so far Madman for real life drama from the buried stories of my life?
Back on the island after my heart was totally broken for the first and only time. (further back in this decade) There was a guy that hung out during the day @ The Barefoot Bar on the beach. He had recently financed a charter boat business and new to the area with a fine Harley and a fast sports car. Let’s call him Mr. Happy, since that is what he called it. He was wooing me in a big way; the more I ignored him the more he would make the bait more appeasing. Finally he asked me “if you could go anywhere where would that be?” COSTA RICA was my subtle response. No time wasted the TRIP was on, as fast as my words had flowed out of my mouth.
There are so many great details that I would love to share but this post would be equivalent to 5 or 6 posts or never ending. After landing and picking up our 4-wheel jeep rental, we had no itinerary planned except for getting to the NW corner in Tamarindo to do some billfishing and catch a marlin. At the finest casino/hotel in San Jose, we ran across this hip couple from Long Island. They happened to have a house where we were headed called Casa Doubly (forgot the spelling- meaning two houses in one) with a pool and a villa duplex on the property overlooking the Pacific. When we finally arrived, we rented one with an open end. They had a local couple for care takers, the man’s name was Juan, and we nicknamed him “Juan Valdez”. He also was a peeping Tom, weird and some what entertaining. That is another story. . Also to mention getting lost and our journeys to ‘out of the way places’ along the way and drinking while we were setting up for an adventure of a lifetime. We were there a month as it turned out.
Since, Happy was a Captain of an Int’l drug smuggling ring, his job was to fly often to meet up, exchange a piece of paper, burn it, and laundry the cash. No product handling, they had runners for that, he just flew in and out quickly. That was of course before Homeland Security!
In Tamarindo lied a little quaint town known for its great deep sea fishing and not so discovered then. One pay phone located in the Centre, where we would line-up to use our calling cards back in those days. There were a few transplants from my hometown that resided there to surf and fish and for us to say hello to.
Now Happy was truly his name, because not only did he keep me laughing, his passion included drinking, Codina (OTC there) and smoking. He played the guitar like Stevie Ray Vaughan, at its finest. We had a suitcase full of cash money and there were no limits to what we wanted to do.
This couple from NY had all sorts of connections even to bribe custom officials and they were investors in a new land development located at Playa Negra. (A worldly known secret surfing spot still undiscovered to most)) They had formed partnership with a younger couple originally from CA but recently moved there from the Fiji Islands and they were unbelievable musicians too, and the best you could ask for especially Barbra and her voice! Too KOOL for Mr. Happy and they had locals that supplied the best in smoke from the Country. This couple had a friend visiting from LA that could play and they seem to have already made many friends throughout Costa Rica. We went to visit them often! (smiling) Actually we had a huge big party one day at their dream home, which turned out multitudes speaking different languages from many other countries. It was a day to remember, thank God for the video. This is in part 2 when Happy flew my best girl friend down with more cash between her breasts for more partying days ahead and keep us going as long as we could handle it.
To get there you endured a dirt un-grated road that caused you to go about 15 to 20 mph hour in the wilderness depending on where you are going could take a hours. In C.R. you can drink while driving and stop for a pee break, but it is against the law not to have your safety belt on. So you can imagine what had to be carried at all times in the jeep including a flashlight. Most all the roads were dirt except the main highways and the country would clear for a road before building bridges for low areas. The stories I could tell about us driving the jeep through rivers in the middle of no where to get to our destinations and hoping we did not get stranded. It was very scary at times, the whole thing about being lost in this country of no man land. I loved stopping when I sited a monkey that was my thing the entire time, was seeking and finding. Monkeys of all types were everywhere. At night when the moon and stars seemed to appear as on top of your head literally being around the equator, it was neat to stop on your way back to the villa several times to echo their sounds back to them, showing my expressions while under the influence and having fun. Remembering no lights but the sky and your high beamers! The iguanas and frogs were bigger than I had ever seen and was totally afraid of plus scorpions and Halloween crabs as they called them that invaded everyone’s space. Sorry about adding this part in but it was real and exciting to my adrenalin as well.
Note: I am still writing on this wild time, I welcome comments for inspiration as I do so, but revisit if you want the rest of a summarized trip I will never forget. Be back as soon as I can, but can not promise a time or date. Don't forget to hit REFRESH!! if you return and Vote if you wish on the way out.
New update: Delayed due to reading, commenting, a cook-out, dishes, visitors, etc.
P.S. I plan on finishing this post but with a new one, Part 2: Catching My first BLUE MARLIN and My best girl friend flying down for the ride! Sorry I did not finish today......it may be very difficult or impossible to express how much fun this trip was in just 2 postings. (smiling) See you later, Love you guys!
Back on the island after my heart was totally broken for the first and only time. (further back in this decade) There was a guy that hung out during the day @ The Barefoot Bar on the beach. He had recently financed a charter boat business and new to the area with a fine Harley and a fast sports car. Let’s call him Mr. Happy, since that is what he called it. He was wooing me in a big way; the more I ignored him the more he would make the bait more appeasing. Finally he asked me “if you could go anywhere where would that be?” COSTA RICA was my subtle response. No time wasted the TRIP was on, as fast as my words had flowed out of my mouth.
There are so many great details that I would love to share but this post would be equivalent to 5 or 6 posts or never ending. After landing and picking up our 4-wheel jeep rental, we had no itinerary planned except for getting to the NW corner in Tamarindo to do some billfishing and catch a marlin. At the finest casino/hotel in San Jose, we ran across this hip couple from Long Island. They happened to have a house where we were headed called Casa Doubly (forgot the spelling- meaning two houses in one) with a pool and a villa duplex on the property overlooking the Pacific. When we finally arrived, we rented one with an open end. They had a local couple for care takers, the man’s name was Juan, and we nicknamed him “Juan Valdez”. He also was a peeping Tom, weird and some what entertaining. That is another story. . Also to mention getting lost and our journeys to ‘out of the way places’ along the way and drinking while we were setting up for an adventure of a lifetime. We were there a month as it turned out.
Since, Happy was a Captain of an Int’l drug smuggling ring, his job was to fly often to meet up, exchange a piece of paper, burn it, and laundry the cash. No product handling, they had runners for that, he just flew in and out quickly. That was of course before Homeland Security!
In Tamarindo lied a little quaint town known for its great deep sea fishing and not so discovered then. One pay phone located in the Centre, where we would line-up to use our calling cards back in those days. There were a few transplants from my hometown that resided there to surf and fish and for us to say hello to.
Now Happy was truly his name, because not only did he keep me laughing, his passion included drinking, Codina (OTC there) and smoking. He played the guitar like Stevie Ray Vaughan, at its finest. We had a suitcase full of cash money and there were no limits to what we wanted to do.
This couple from NY had all sorts of connections even to bribe custom officials and they were investors in a new land development located at Playa Negra. (A worldly known secret surfing spot still undiscovered to most)) They had formed partnership with a younger couple originally from CA but recently moved there from the Fiji Islands and they were unbelievable musicians too, and the best you could ask for especially Barbra and her voice! Too KOOL for Mr. Happy and they had locals that supplied the best in smoke from the Country. This couple had a friend visiting from LA that could play and they seem to have already made many friends throughout Costa Rica. We went to visit them often! (smiling) Actually we had a huge big party one day at their dream home, which turned out multitudes speaking different languages from many other countries. It was a day to remember, thank God for the video. This is in part 2 when Happy flew my best girl friend down with more cash between her breasts for more partying days ahead and keep us going as long as we could handle it.
To get there you endured a dirt un-grated road that caused you to go about 15 to 20 mph hour in the wilderness depending on where you are going could take a hours. In C.R. you can drink while driving and stop for a pee break, but it is against the law not to have your safety belt on. So you can imagine what had to be carried at all times in the jeep including a flashlight. Most all the roads were dirt except the main highways and the country would clear for a road before building bridges for low areas. The stories I could tell about us driving the jeep through rivers in the middle of no where to get to our destinations and hoping we did not get stranded. It was very scary at times, the whole thing about being lost in this country of no man land. I loved stopping when I sited a monkey that was my thing the entire time, was seeking and finding. Monkeys of all types were everywhere. At night when the moon and stars seemed to appear as on top of your head literally being around the equator, it was neat to stop on your way back to the villa several times to echo their sounds back to them, showing my expressions while under the influence and having fun. Remembering no lights but the sky and your high beamers! The iguanas and frogs were bigger than I had ever seen and was totally afraid of plus scorpions and Halloween crabs as they called them that invaded everyone’s space. Sorry about adding this part in but it was real and exciting to my adrenalin as well.
Note: I am still writing on this wild time, I welcome comments for inspiration as I do so, but revisit if you want the rest of a summarized trip I will never forget. Be back as soon as I can, but can not promise a time or date. Don't forget to hit REFRESH!! if you return and Vote if you wish on the way out.
New update: Delayed due to reading, commenting, a cook-out, dishes, visitors, etc.
P.S. I plan on finishing this post but with a new one, Part 2: Catching My first BLUE MARLIN and My best girl friend flying down for the ride! Sorry I did not finish today......it may be very difficult or impossible to express how much fun this trip was in just 2 postings. (smiling) See you later, Love you guys!
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