Update from the farm

Hello all,

The last couple of days have quite the workout.  I have been doing a lot of composting and planting. Composting starts with the decomposed horse manure.  Yesterday I shoveled ten, ten gallon bags of poop.  I am officially used to the smell of barn.  After gathering the poo, I mix the compost. It contains one part decomposed organic material, one part soil, and one part dry materials, I used dried leaves.  I made three huge piles of each, then I mixed them all together.  It was tough. Imagine you are stirring up a big batch of chocolate chip cookies, only the spoon is a shovel, and the bowl is 6 feet tall.  I dug it though. The hard work is really making me healthy.

Planting pineapple is really simple.  You plant the top of the pineapple about 2 inches deep, and top it off with compost.  Planting coffee trees is only slightly more complicated.  First you dig the narrow hole for the roots. Then you mix composed in the bottom of the hole.  After that, you trim a ring of soil around the hole to put compost on.  Lastly, you put fill and pack the roots in, and top the dirt with composed. 

Indoor Soccer Team

I have been listening to music all day, every day.  I’ve been trying to listen to music I don’t usually listen too.  I have so much music, it makes it difficult to listen to it all.  Some of the albums include Trouble- Ray LaMontagne; Feed back- Jurassic 5; Together/apart- Grieves; Rage Against the Machine- Rage Against the Machine; The Darjeeling Limited Soundtrack; Skin and Bones- Foo Fighters; Time Bomb- Iration; All Day- Girl Talk; Jay-Z MTV Unplugged; and Hunky Dory- David Bowie.  I would recommend any of these albums to music lover’s with eclectic taste.  For people who have similar taste to my mother, I recommend Trouble, Hunky Dory, The Darjeeling Limited Soundtrack and Skin and Bones.  They are NOT RAP, so try them out!

On my day off, Ronnie, the chef and I hitch hiked in to La Fortuna to get cash and have a nice day.  We missed the shuttle in the morning, so we had to walk and HH.  There are many locals driving by, so it isn't dangerous.  Ronnie and I had a full day of drinking and walking.  We also missed the shuttle home, so we had to get a cab.  Ronnie talked down the cabbie, so it wasn't too expensive.  We also bought Tiger Woods, 2006 on the playstation 2, so we have some great entertainment.  

Yesterday, I had an indoor soccer game.  We won 2-0. It was my first shoutout. I am actually respected as a goalie. It is pretty sweet indeed.  I got a good picture of my team after the game.  My knees and hips are quite bruised, which doesn't really make the work on the farm any easier.  

Other than that, I have been working hard, being healthy, and having a great time.  Sorry if this post is a little funky. I started it 4 days ago, and am too lazy to revise it tonight!

Hope all is well,

Joe

My first 4 days at Essence Arenal

The view from my tent. It was like a treehouse.

 Hey all,

I finally made it the Essence Arenal.  It was quite the journey.  First, I missed my arrival date because I didn't plan properly for the bus trip. Once I arrived in La Fortuna, I missed the pick-up for the farm, because the driver didn't know my name (he was supposed to). So, I didn't get in a van with a stranger.  The farm people were a little frustrated with me.  Then I was late for breakfast in the morning, which put them over the edge.  I blame my roommate for the the night, she set an alarm, and was under the impression that it was lax on the time for breakfast.  It wasn't really her fault, but I had to talk to the owner and convince him to let me stay.  It was really stressful.

Anyways, now that I am here, it is all good.  The last three days, I have PUSH mowed the entire farm, and gathered stones for another day.  Both were an incredible amount of work, but I rocked it out.  I am losing weight pretty quickly, I haven't been on this good of track in a long time.  It is because of the hard work and the incredibly good food. There is an in house chef who cooks amazing vegetarian food, all from the farm.  Pretty much every meal is the best I've ever had.

Millipede I found while moving stones. 

I was living in a tent for a night, but then I was moved to another house with the chef.  His name is Manny, he is a cool guy.  We have been chillin out at night.  He is helping me with my Spanish, and I with his English.  We play God of War II, and drink beer.  On my day off, we are going to get food and have a BBQ.  It is gonna be pretty bomb for sure. He will teach me a thing or too.

My roommate Manny.  He fell in love with photobooth.

Yesterday night, Heiro, the farm help, took me into town to play indoor soccer, on concrete. It was intense.  The whole town was there.  The level of competition was very high.  I was playing goalie for the team.  Playing goalie requires a lot of communication with the team.  It was difficult to communicate with them, but they were very nice and understanding.  We played 2 games, and lost them both (4-3), (4-1), but the team was happy with my performance.  For those of you who don't know, I played in high school.

I just finished breakfast, so I need to bounce out to work.  These are some pictures from the farm.  The volcano is called Arenal.

Hope all is well,

Indoor soccer.

Joe

Volcano Arenal.

First Days in Coasta Rica

I made it.  Much has happened since I left. 
1. When I got to the airport to fly out of portland, I found out I accidentally made my return flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico instead of San Jose, Costa Rica.  I had to by another ticket to have proof that I am leaving the country.  I am unable to switch my trip because I already left, so I am going to by a ticket to san juan.  It will be my cheapest option.  It has been a big hassle to say the least.

2.  Once I got to San Jose, I met some Austrian and German fellas.  My original plan was to stay in San Jose for a few days, but there wasn´t a ton to do, so I went to Montezuma with the guys.  The place was paradise.  We hung out on the beach and relaxed for 3 days.   We found a trail up to the top of three waterfalls.  There, we found a rope swing and a 35 foot cliff to jump off.  When I think of what I wanted to do in Costa Rica, this was a great start.  We met two girls from France, and we also hung out with a couple from Canada as well.  It is so easy to meet people when traveling alone. 

3. Last night, I missed my bus connection to La Fortuna, so I stayed one more night with the Austrians.  We were in Puntarenes, and the only restaurants that were open were Chinese Restaurants.  It was pretty funny trying to order chinese food in spanish.  My spanish is coming along.  The few months I have been using Rosetta Stone has been paying off.  Although i am not anywhere near fluent, I have been able to ask for directions, hold simple converstations, order food, and tell people that mi español es no bueno!  It´s hard to pick up new words, but I am really solidifying what I have learned.

4.  I just arrived in La Fortuna.  It is beautiful.  It has a volcano, hot springs, and rain forest.  It is very beautiful, but very full of tourists.  I am going to be picked up at 5:15 tonight to start my wwoofing experience.  I am very excited to be in a private place, and not to stand out so much.  The swindlers are getting annoying. 

I dont know if there is internet available at the farm, but if not I will check in next Sunday!

Peace and Love,


 Joe  

7/11/12 Last hours in Portland

Today is my last day in Portland. I am sitting at Brads, sorta doing rosetta stone, sorta pacing around, and sorta watching How I met your mother (great show).  I am really anxious to get to the airport.  I am nervous about how little Spanish I know.  There was a problem at the post office, so the next levels got sent back to Minnesota (I forgot them).  I just got Level 2 of Rosetta stone and I am trying my best.  Right now, I am learning directions and stuff.  It is pretty essential.  

I do have my hostel reserved, it is right in the heart of San Jose.  I think it will be great fun, and it is only 11$ a night.  niiiice.  I will be staying there though Sunday, then I will be off to the organic farm to begin a new adventure.  

Last night, Brad and Janie took me to Kennedy Elementary School.  It is turned in to a hotel complex.  There are 6 bars, a movie theater, pool/hot tub, brewery, smoking room, and a couple other things I am forgetting.  It is really an awesome place.  They brew their own beer and distill their own whiskey.  We had a nice time.  Here are some pics.  

I am going to get on out of here,

I'll check back in Costa Rica.  I will be there tomorrow at 5:00 am.

Voy a la Costa Rica!

7/9/11 Camping at Eagle Creek and Portland Blues Festival

Hey all, 


I have been really busy since the last post.  We went camping, to the Blues Fest, and I had dinner with my aunt.

Eagle creek has a trail that goes along it all the way up the the Pacific Crest.  Because of a time restraint, we camped just 4 miles up stream, just inside the Mt. Hood wilderness.

The picture to the right shows the falls located right behind our camp sight.  These falls had three level, but you can only see the top.  The falls run along a steep, moss and tree covered cliff.  It is beautiful.  Everything was so green and vibrant.  Above the falls, there was a nice calm spot that we used to wash dishes and things.  The water was quite cold, too cold to swim in.  It did, however make a great way for us to refrigerate our mayo.

Because our campsite was so close to the trail, people were cutting through to see the waterfall.  It was an obvious hot spot.  We didn't mind though.  I met a guy from Kalamazoo, MI.  He was nice, and he let me borrow his water filter.  I also met a girl from Switzerland.  She was very nice too. She was staying in Washington and was just there to see the sights.  We also met a couple from Florida. They were camping for the first time ever.

The picture to the right is of me in front of Tunnel Falls.  The black spot by my right shoulder is a man made tunnel that runs underneath the falls.  The falls are huge, probably 200 feet tall.
The picture under that one is of Brad walking on Eagle Trail.  We were walking along a huge gorge with the river running down the middle.

Yesterday we went to the Portland Blues Festival.  It is the second biggest in the county, bigger than Bayfront Festival.  We went on the final day to see Steve Miller.  It was great.  He played a bunch of old song, as well as some great blues.  You can tell he is getting a bit older, but he sang well and the songs are such great singalong songs.  I managed to get about 30 feet from stage, while Janie and Brad sat in the back on blankets.

Today I reserved my hostel in San Jose.  It is very centrally located near the capital and many museums.  The cost is eleven dollars a day, pretty cheap huh?  I am still finalizing my wwoof plans because I may be able to teach at one, but they haven't got back to me yet.  I did find one that has plenty of room, so I have a backup.

Anyways, I am gonna hit the sack, I am beat.  Long day of Rosetta Stone tomorrow.

Night,

Joe

Fri 7/6/12 - Disc Golfing in Portland

The view from my napping bench.

Yesterday I spent the whole day in Portland.  My friends live in the suburb, Tigard.  It is just south of Portland.  I took the bus in the city at 9:00 am.  My plan was to disc golf and explore the city alone.

I played at a Pier Park in Portland.  Oregon reminds me a lot of Minnesota, except the trees are bigger, the hills are bigger, and there is are mountains, volcanoes, and oceans all within an hour of Portland.  It is pretty sweet. Pier Park was an awesome course.  It is big enough, and every hole had a lane to throw through.

I met a couple of guys from Lacrosse, WI.  I played with them from about half the course on to the end.  They invited me to play another course later in the day.  I agreed.

After discing, I went took the bus downtown and met up with my Great Aunt Theresa.  She took me to a little restaurant called, The Labrador Retriever.  As you can guess, it was Labrador themed.  It was like heaven to me, because I grew up with black labs,  Max is our current lab at home.  I ate a spicy chicken curry.  It was pretty good, but a bit dry.  I also had a tasty home brewed IPA.

Peacock at the disc golf course.

After lunch, I went and took a little nap on a bench in downtown Portland.  There were a bunch of people sleeping on benches and hanging out.  I rested for about 45 minutes, before deciding to take a walk.  Up the street, I saw a hunger strike protest outside of city hall.  The people were living like hermits in the boulevards.

View from the 8th hole tee box.

I leaned against a wall on the opposite side of the street and observed.  One sign said, "Job loss + foreclosure = homeless." It saddened me to see those people there.  I saw another girl, she looked like she was 18 years old.  She was wearing a dirty dress, and no shoes.  She walk across the street and bummed a cigarette from a guy.  I wondered what her situation was.  Where did she come from to be in that situation.  Or possibly, is she just in the wrong crowd, or is she just lazy.  I don't know, but it was really thought provoking.

The fellas picked me up in the park.  We went to a private course that was about 40 minutes out of Portland.  The course was really beautiful and extremely difficult.  The course was located at a little family owned resort.  The resort had a amphitheater, a stocked fishing pond, peacocks, a campground, and two disc golf courses, one easy, one difficult.

If you know how golf scoring works, I got +17 on the day.  Not only was it a difficult course, but I could feel the fatigue affecting my game.  The course went up and down massive hills.  If I made a bad shot, sometimes I would have to tip toe down 50' drop offs.  It was intensely wooded and steep, but one of the best, most beautiful courses I have ever played.



When I got home last night, I went down hard.  I am gonna hang out today and finalized my Costa Rica logistics.  Once Brad gets home, we are going to hike 4 miles in the woods and camp for the weekend.  Its gonna be ballin.

Peace and Love,
Joe

Wed 7/4/12 - Oregon and Washington Coast

Yesterday, Janie and Brad took me to the coast.  It was a lovely day to spend the 4th.

The Goonies house, Astoria, OR

First we went up to Long Beach, WA.  It is a 26 mile long highways that runs right on the beach.  We didn't get to drive on it, but there were cars rollin up and down it while we were there.  I wish we could've driven it, but the spot where we entered was closed, and we didn't want to drive around looking for another one.  We had a nice lunch there, and we played some music and napped a little too. The water is super cold there, so the swimming was definitely out of the picture, even for a Minnesota boy like me.

After Long Beach, we traveled back over the HUGE bridge to Astoria, OR.  Astoria has been the setting for such films as: The Goonies, Free Willy, Kindergarten Cop, and Teenage Mutan Ninja Turtles III.  We was the goonies house, haystack rock (where they matched up the map, the road that the jerk in the car made the brother fly into the woods on the tiny bike was the road up the haystack rock), and the school where Kindergarten Cop was filmed.  It was cool, but I felt like a major tourist.  People are living in the house, and they were getting ready to leave.  I felt like I was prying.

Haystack Rock, Canon Beach, OR

Anyways, it is extremely beautiful, AGAIN, and I recommend it for anyone.

I am gonna a hop a bus and go play one of the best disc golf courses in the country.

BYE,

Bridge between Astoria, OR, and Washington State.

JOE

Tues 7/3/11 Washington Park International Test Rose Garden

Today I went to the Washington Park Experimental Rose Garden.  It was a nice, pretty garden.  Here are some pictures to show.  I am lazy tonight... Tomorrow we are going to the coast for the 4th of July.

Joe  

Tues 7/3/12 - A Week in Portland

I have been in Portland for about a week.  Brad and Janie have been great to stay with.  We have eaten some really great meals in and out, play some interesting music with some interesting people, and had the opportunity to see some beautiful nature.  That's pretty neat.

Last week, Brad, Janie and I took a trip out to Silver Falls.  I have a couple pictures here, but there are lots more on the slideshow.  It is been rainy here, so the flora and fauna was incredibly bright and vibrant.  The greens were were especially beautiful when contrasted with the clear blue water and moderately cloudy sky.

The falls you see to the right are the tallest of the series.  There are ten waterfalls in all.  To put this picture in perspective, the dark shadow in the center of the picture running right to left, is the hiking traile.  People look like ants from here.  The path ran under the waterfalls.  There were caverns and voids that ran all along the walls.  Some of them
we could climb in.

This photo to the left was taken just to the left of the falls, revealing the winding path and voids found on the rock walls.  We there was a mist that filled the air.  It was a nice cool off from the exercise and the mild weather of the day.

Because of the constantly moist biosphere during the rainy time here in Oregon, the conditions are perfect for moss and lichen to grow.  Their symbiotic relations can be witnest easily through most of the forest.  Entire trees would be green from their bases to most of their branches.  Hanging from their branches would be the lichen.  It was pretty neat.



Salmon berries grow abundantly along Silver Creek.  The are cousins to raspberries, but they are much more tart.
They are not quite as tart as rhubarb, but they are sour.  I loved them.  As we walked down the trail, I pretty much was eating them the entire time.  I wish we would have remembered to bring a bag, but what can you do?

Silver Falls was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to.  Not only were the falls wonderful to look at, but the sound of running water gave me a relaxed peace of mind.  There wasn't too many people out, which was nice.

I would highly recommend this area to anyone who enjoys nature and the out doors.  The trails are kept in nice shape too, so people with bad ankles could handle it!









The following day, Brad and I went up to Mt. Hood.  Mount Hood's peak is just over 11,000 feet.  The summit didn't really look that high and dangerous, but apparently it is quite treacherous.  It is one of the most popular mountains to climb in the world.  There are many ways to reach the summit, difficulty ranging from medium to high.  The newer, less experienced climbers account for most of the deaths. Click to read about deaths on Mt. Hood

The summit photo shown above was taken from behind this building, the Timberline Lodge.  This lodge has great history.  It was dedicated by FDR as a place where people can enjoy skiing through all four seasons.  The Timberline Lodge was also shown in Stanley Kubrick's, The Shining.  It is used in the opening scene, and is the building the film is supposed to be set it.   They didn't, however use it for any of the indoor scenes.  During the winter months, the lodge is completely engulfed with snow.  To prevent too much weight from building on the roof, it is extremely long and slanted, so the lodge is literally engulfed. 




During the trip, I read a book on Billie Holiday.  I am writing a song about her life. I will share it when I am done.  Should be sometime this week.

Hope all is well,
Joe