If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes.....

We have spent the last few days relaxing at Big Sky (a ski resort near Bozeman). We hiked to Ousel Falls....
























James and I took a fly fishing lesson. It was actually very fun but harder than it looks.


























We went to dinner at a dude ranch for all you can eat bbq. Very tasty and incredible scenery.





The weather at Big Sky was CRAZY! In the morning, during our hike, it was warm and sunny with a beautiful blue sky. We got back to the condo and it rained buckets for several hours (luckily during nap time). In the late afternoon as we started our fly fishing lesson it rained a little but then the sun came back out. James and I went down the mountain to dinner and it was still nice weather. As we headed back up to the condo we noticed that it had hailed and there was snow/hail on the roofs and the side of the road. We woke up the next morning to more rain and cold (maybe 40 degrees). By the time we left around noon it was back to sunny and 72. It's is true what they say about Montana weather---"If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes".

We're going on a road trip to Montana.....

After what seems like a LONG hiatus....OK, so it's a long time for us to not take a trip....we are heading out tomorrow for a 10 day road trip to Townsend, Montana. So it's not as exciting as Africa, Australia or Costa Rica, but we are looking forward to spending some time with James' parents and relaxing on the farm for a week. Well, I will get to relax but James may have to do some farm labor. Stay tuned....

Maija

Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

On Friday we traveled to the Arenal Volcano. It was interesting to go through the little towns and see a different area of the country. We drove along Arenal lake to Fortuna and stayed at a hotel that was just below the volcano and had lots of thermal pools, a water slide and beautiful grounds.





On Saturday we headed to the other side of the volcano and stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge. It is the closest place you can stay to the volcano and has a good view of the volcano.



Arenal is one of 7 continuously active volcanos in Costa Rica and the only volcano where you can see flowing lava most of the time. However, it was cloudy the night that we were there so we didn't see any. We could hear the volcano spitting rocks down the side. The observatory also had a lot of wildlife and was in the rainforest.




We all took a hike to a waterfall on Sunday morning.


On Sunday afternoon we headed back down to San Jose through lots of little towns and beautiful Costa Rican hills.




We enjoyed our time in Costa Rica and loved spending time with the Scoffield family.



James and Maija

Sun, Surf and a Canopy Tour

We have spent the last couple of days mostly hanging out in the nice hot weather. We have spent a lot of time in the pool...


and did some boogie boarding in the ocean.


This morning Arden, Brian, Ward, James and I we went on a canopy zip line tour and had a great time.

We also continue to have great sunsets and took a fun family photo last night before dinner.




We have had a great time in Jaco. We are leaving here in the morning to spend the next couple of days up near the Arenal volcano.

Maija

Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio

Yesterday we drove an hour south with James' parents to Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio to see the native Costa Rican animals. The park is a rainforest & tropical wetlands. We did an hour and a half walk with a local guide and saw many native animals including the following:






White Faced Monkey









Jesus Christ Lizard (named this because it seems to walk on water)












Sloth
















Red eyed Tree Frog












The hike ended at a beautiful white sand beach where we swam and relaxed (until I got stung in the hand by a flying ant! OUCH)




After the park we went to lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean where we had yummy fresh Mahi Mahi.


And as always we had a beautiful sunset

Perfect Vacation Day...

It's been a nice relaxing day here. Weather was great We spent the day swimming in the pool, boogie boarding in the ocean, sunbathing, napping, reading and of course lots of eating. It's been a nice, relaxing, perfect vacation day.








Sunset was beautiful again.









We took a few photos before dinner.

The Jaco Flower "Shop"

We arrived in Jaco, Costa Rica this morning. We flew over night from Denver into San Jose then rented a car for the 2 hour drive to the Pacific coast. It's nice to have some warm weather although it has been hot today. I won't complain....it's always nice to be at the beach. We are staying in a condo that overlooks the beach, it's just outside our gate.



We are here with most of the Scoffield clan. Olivia (6), Madison (6) and Keily (4) decided to find some flowers as we walked back to the condo from lunch. They have set up a "flower shop" right in front of the patio doors, complete with a sign and name tags for each of them.



So far, they have only sold to Arden (Olivia's dad) and James. It is really cute though to see them walking around the pool with their signs and flowers calling "get your flowers....".


The girls also think it is really funny to put a whole bunch of hats on James. They do it and then giggle and giggle. They are very cute and we are happy to be spending the week relaxing with family.



And here was the sunset tonight....