Travel Log: Day 41 (8/7), Jaco Costa Rica

I spent most of the day doing post-Japan research, but squeezed in a workout while the kids and JC were at the pool. I went full circle on this Guam stuff and now want to go to Guam after Japan, but in October. It also will be simpler if all of us go there together. JC had the idea a couple days ago to call United to get me two round trip tickets to Denver, and my mom her round-trip ticket to Guam. Copilot confirmed that doing that would allow them to link our tickets together so if anything happens to our tickets it happens together. That will keep the cost down as well as prevent us from traveling separately to two locations.

In the middle of the day JC started yelling that something was wrong in the kitchen. Water was pouring out of the kitchen sink cabinet. I opened it and saw that the supply line came disconnected, so I shut off the valve. We cleaned up the water and messaged the hosts to let them know what happened. I was unable to reconnect the supply line because the threads were stripped. They are working on getting someone to repair it.

JC and I decided to have some drinks and hang out at the pool. It was entertaining as there was some good people watching.

Travel Log: Day 42 (8/8), Jaco Costa Rica

JC and I went out for coffee this morning. We went to our first choice from a couple days ago which was closed, La Artesonal. The coffee was good, probably on par with Jet Fuel.

Talked to mom about our proposed dates for Guam and she was good with them.

Our sink repair man came today. He spoke no english and wasn’t interested in me telling him that I don’t speak good Spanish but I’m learning. I heard him on the phone having a heated conversation with some lady. It must have been his boss or the host. He kept saying something like “the problem is it’s plastic”. I was fully expecting he would have to replace the faucet and wouldn’t be able to do it right then. To my surprise he told me shortly thereafter that it was fixed. I quickly turned the hot water on and it was running, and then he left. Shortly after that I realized when we run either the hot or the cold, it was dripping a lot under the sink. We contacted the host again and they are setting up round two tomorrow. It’s actually round three because they told us they recently had this worked on. The tradesmen here are not very talented compared to their US counterparts. I might be the best plumber in this country and I know dick about it compared to plumbers in the US.

Typical FAC activities to end the night. We watched Rocky II and everyone loved it.

Travel Log: Day 43 (8/9), Jaco Costa Rica

JC and I went on our Saturday run. We paced it a little bit slower today but we were still dying from the heat at the end. It didn’t help that we had alcohol the previous two consecutive nights.

The middle of the day was dedicated to booking our flight from Osaka to Guam. It was a frustrating experience because of the internet oddities here at the house. The session kept dropping even though I was getting through the process on t’way’s site quickly. Had to switch to my phone as a hotspot to get the booking complete on like the fourth attempt. The flight was a bargain at about $800 instead of the $1200 I had planned.

After that we decided on the Airbnb for Guam and booked that as well. We got a really good place for $5,100. Using the gift card my wonderful ex-coworkers got me brought that down to $4,600 which puts the lodging at well under the $5,500 we had planned. It’s good to be coming in under on the purchases so far, with Guam being by far the most expensive location this year.

We then had a traditional Saturday night of pizza and video games / screen time starting at 6pm.

Travel Log: Day 44 (8/10), Jaco Costa Rica

This morning I had an idea just pop into my mind related to the Guam/Denver travel legs. It occurred to me that I could buy a round trip ticket with my mom, and then surround that on both sides with another single round trip ticket that takes me there initially and then returns me to Guam in the end. Copilot thought this was a good idea, but Gemini cautioned the airline may flag it for being a nested ticket and cancel the tickets. I started a text chat with United to get an answer on that, and the person or bot I was talking to said it was fine to book it as I described it.

JC and I started getting ready for the first day of homeschool tomorrow. We’ve got a decent plan but I’m sure we’re going to have to feel our way through this for a few weeks. I think we’re all looking forward to having a consistent anchor for our days.

We gave the kids some bonus screen time tonight in celebration of the last day of summer vacation. JC and I went to the beach for a while.