Known the world over as Valentine's Day (except in Pakistan where it is banned), we celebrated our 4th VD together. Our first in 2015 was quite a memorable day. We were here at the property and watched as Heimar bulldozed the top of the lot for the building pad. It was a cloudless, hot day and it took several hours. We watched as he cleared the road to our driveway and dragged the driveway up to the building pad. It was a huge amount of earth-moving and exciting to watch the nascence of our home.
In the afternoon, we drove with Roy to Paso Canoas to look at tires for Roy's truck. Then to Cuidad Neilly to meet with a lawyer, nicknamed "Fast Freddy" to sign some documents. As it was our next to last day in Costa Rica and we were driving north, we dropped Roy off at the taxi stand where he got a ride back home.
That evening, M and I drove a little farther to Mirador Osa, a delightful restaurant and "cabinas" establishment located at the northern end of the Golfo Dulce. 2015 was my first trip to CR and M brought us here on our first night on our way down to Pavones. That first morning, I woke to see the valley below filled with mist and the mountains in the distance bathed in soft light. Toucans sat in the trees next to the cabina. It was a magical world and I think that it was that first morning when I began to love Costa Rica. It was romantic to "bookend" our trip here on Valentine's Day.
In 2016, we were in Pavones for VD. During our 3 week stay, we observed the foundation of the house as it was constructed. A few days before VD, we were enjoying dinner at Bruschetta's at La Piña, a popular beachside Italian restaurant near Pavones. Our friend Jon introduced us to Wanda and Jerry. After a chat, they invited us to their home La Veranda for a sunset cocktail. We were fortunate to share a wonderful Valentine's sunset on their expansive deck overlooking the infinity pool with the Pacific Ocean stretching out before us.
Due to circumstance, La Veranda is now available for purchase. Check out my home page and accompanying pages with information and photos on this incredible property.
Last year, M and I were apart for VD. He was here at the house. I was back in the US. I was here for the month of January and M stayed almost 3 months. The house was mostly finished (no kitchen and only 1 full working bathroom.) It didn't matter to us. We improvised a kitchen on our terrace and began to learn about our new home. It was during this time that we realized how much we meant to each other and how we were ready to make this our permanent home.
And here we are in 2018, just 3 years from our first Happy Hearts Day, living, expanding, growing in our new home. And we are back to 2016, living on the terrace with an improvised kitchen! The house painters arrived last week. The construction of our home went more smoothly than we could have hoped. Only 1 problem has cropped up, the original paint job. While we were here last year, the interior paint was peeling in great swaths off the walls, then the paint on the exterior steel beams started to rust. Roy went to bat with the paint suppliers and contractors. And he negotiated that the entire house inside and out be repainted at no cost to us! We feel that this paint crew is knowledgeable and professional.
This was really nice to read, Chrissie.