Goodbye Cindy, Goodbye Oregon

Boy does it rain here, alot and I love the rain. We ran off to the beach on Saturday. It was amazingly beautiful and really frikin' cold and I was surprised by how many people were on the beach, walking and playing, even attempting to fly a kite in a really, really strong wind. So we had a fun tourist day. And then the Oscars on Sunday, a small gathering of film friends from Cindy's movie, nice and uneventful, the awards were uneventful, the gathering was nice. And today Skye and I went through our lessons and packed and I jogged and then then the rain lifted and the most amazing(I know, word overuse) rainbow appeared right out our window, click on the image to enlarge and get full effect. It was surrreal. And tommorrow, around 3 in the morning tommorrow we head off for Mammoth Lakes to get in a little skiing this season.

Visiting in Portland

Monday just basically chilled with Cindy. Checked out Powell's Books, huge and wonderful, very Portlandesque, a landmark. Tuesday, Cindy back at work and Skye and I meet up with Grandma Dianne(my mom) at the Oregon Zoo. Luckily it wasn't too big, so we could see everything, linger here and there and get out of the freezing cold in not too many hours. It didn't rain on us,(unbelievable) but it was pretty cold. The polar bears and musk ox seemed to appreciate and even the tropical going lorakeets didn't seem to mind. Maybe it was just that they were being fed a constant flow of sweet sugary nectar by the many zoo visitors, the three of us included. Again, I had to threaten and bribe Skye and then threaten again before she would feed the little guys, and of course after she started it was hard getting her out of there and it became her favorite thing at the zoo. I'm such a mean dad.

Portland and surroundings

Cindy got a great place by McCormick Pier right on the river and in the heart of Portland. If you look at the pic with Cindy and Skye on the bridge, her place is the 1st corner unit. Had a great dinner our first night in town. Yummy, yummy restaurants are everywhere. Skye climbed a demo rock at REI as we began to replace what was lost by Delta. She was more than a little resistant at first but after a little encouragement, along with a threat and a bribe she was up and climbing and of course, now wants to go back.



























Sunday we headed out for a leisurely drive along the Columbia River Gorge. Like a painting, were some of the views. We passed what must have been dozens of waterfalls before hitting the big one, the Multnomah falls. There were a lot more people at the falls than I expected, but I've gotten used to the vary sparse tourism of Nicaragua. When I think back to Yellowstone and Venice the falls were pleasantly uncrowded. Then we headed down towards Mt. Hood. Cindy was a little hesitant, what with the lost hikers and the tragic Kim family. Skye and I however were up for an adventure and wanted to see some snow. When it started snowing and the tire chain signs started showing up and we were the only car going into the mountains, Cindy's hesitancy went into overdrive. Skye's reassurance that she knew how to build a snow fort apparently didn't help. Eventually after the road all but disappeared and the flakes got bigger and bigger and the sky got darker and darker we started heading downhill, saw signs pointing toward Portland and quickly found ourselves in traffic heading back home. Cindy could now take in the beauty of the winter wonderland we were in. We got back in time to see Kobe win the MVP for the NBA All-Stars and read about 3 climbers lost up in the Mt. Hood winter wonderland we had so recently escaped from.

Driving up to Portland

It seems like we just got back to LA and we're off again. No, in fact we did just get back and are on the road up to visit Cindy in Portland. Skye's luggage is still at large, luckily her Nica clothes are quite different from her Northwest clothes. The trip was for the most part uneventful, took 16 hours over two days. We did see thousands of migratory birds heading south, that was pretty cool actually. Now we're up in Portland in Cindy's new temporary digs. Check out little Skye, kicking back in the back seat. We're both eternally grateful for IPods. Ok not an eternity, but they sure make the drive up nicer.

To Give One Pause, or not

Today or tonight, (when you wake at three and start working what is it?) Point being I am once again tackling the organization of my office and the many bits of paper that needs to be tossed, considered, filed, or acted upon, in my life an impossible, sisyphean task,

So I run across this little scrap of paper that defies classification, really it is just too hard too small to keep track of or file, but very interesting, as follows:

Ignorance is bliss

Cornell University researchers, who wrote a paper entitled "Unskilled and Unaware of It," believe they're on solid ground here: They found that inept people tend to confident--even downright certain--that they are smart, funny, and in the right. The talented, on the other hand, underestimate their skill, assuming that if they can do it, anyone can. What's scary, says Prof. David Dunning, is that "we could easily make people at the top realize how much better they were. But the people at the bottom are intractable."

Check out the paper, mostly dry but skip to the charts and think.

Back from Nicaragua

Friday and Saturday

Off to Nicaragua again. An hour or so late yet otherwise, uneventful flight, an hour wait for a reserved rental car, getting slightly lost on the way to Granada but in the end we arrived to the wrong hotel where we didn’t have reservations and were able to book a very nice room and all was well and on track. That night we had some really yummy pizza and Skye got to visit with Mr. Beady eyes the cat across the street at Zoom’s, “Granada’s only sport’s bar”.

Next day we’re off up to the Los Congos developments. It’s the dry season and everything is much drier and browner, a remarkable difference from when I was here just three weeks ago. We marched all over the property, quite a hike really. (Explanation of pics; Jonathan(Los Congos person, Charles(partner and friend) Skye checking out view from a lot we may get. Skye marching up through one of our properties.)

We saw several howler monkeys. (They're the dark blobs in the picture below.) Pretty cool and amazing actually, it was a nice treat for Skye.

Skye next to our favorite tree on one of the properties. There are some absolutely awe-inspiring trees on one of the properties, just wonderful.

And the views are unbelievable. As this property thing becomes more of a reality, it becomes more exciting, I can see the houses and courtyards, and they are quite splendid. I can imagine the resort and spa and restaurant. But then I remember all the steps it will take to get there and that as well is an exciting adventure but more than a little scary and intimidating.

Skye is getting a bit of a geology lesson from Charles as he tells her about the volcanic rocks that are all over the property. She’s picking up a little Spanish, here and there, mostly about
food and restaurants.

Sunday

Skye and I head back to Laguna de Apoya, the side opposite Los Congos, where the locals come to swim and cool off and out on the weekends. I swim out and back a few times, just to get a semblance of exercise in on the trip while Skye frolicks and splashes in the shallows. The purity of the water is remarkable. I know I keep going on about one wonderful thing after another, but

it is truly a fascinating country. Don’t get me wrong though. All is not well in the country, it is still the second poorest country in the hemisphere, after Haiti. In
spite of this it feels no more impoverished than much of what I saw in Mexico and the people are really open and warm. I don’t want to come across as condescending by any respect. It’s just that given our country’s history with there's, one could easily imagine the resentment and anger that could arise, but thus far that is not the case. (Again, picture explanation. Skye chilling. A view of Los Congos, and thus our properties from the other side of the lake.)

Monday

Today was a business day. Meetings in Granada and Managua and more meetings.

Tuesday

Off to San Juan del Sur to check out the beach and developments. Showed Charles some of the crazy steep paved roads that pass as normal in Nicaragua. He was not pleased. (We also had no idea of what Thursday would bring, that made these roads indeed seem normal) We got on a dirt road to go south to check out some other developments. After many bumps, potholes, dust and no signs we figured we must have been on the wrong road and headed back towards Grenada in search of the road so clearly marked on our map. We later found out that indeed we were on the correct road.

Wednesday

Today we went to check out Mombacho Volcano . What an incredible journey. To start we are told we need reservations to go up in their truck but since we had a four-wheel drive vehicle

we could go up on our own. Always game, I signed the release waiver (a first for me in Nicaragua) put the truck in 4wd and headed up. Before it got too steep a rat accidentally (I assume) landed on the hood and scurried about for a good minute before it finally fell off. That had us all laughing, that is until we saw how steep this road really was. I have never seen a road like it before. I gunned it and then when I slowed ever so slightly to not hit this massive bump too hard, we stalled. Now I was a little worried. I reversed down this crazy jungle hill until it was flat enough for me to get back in gear. This time there would be no slowing down for bumps. Ten minutes latter, after much white-knuckling we arrived at the top, safe and sound and shaking with adrenaline. WOW!!!

Then we took this amazing hike in Cloud Forest, absolutely amazing, stunning and lush, hundreds of bromeliads and orchids.

The views were spectacular. It was definitely worth the scary car ride up. Very windy cold even, very different from anything else I'd seen in Nicaragua or anywhere I've been for that matter.

Friday

Oh boy what a day today was. Got to the airport an hour before the flight, That's what it suggested one the ticket and what was posted at the airport, and knowing how small the Managua airport is, it seemed reasonable, until the lady at the counter told us we had to be
there three hours prior to the flight and it would be impossible for us to board due to immigration policies. OK we missed our flight and were rerouted through Atlanta. So now we will get to LA at 10:30 at night instead of 11:45 in the morning. At Atlanta were first told to go to the wrong gate and then told the flight was late and to
come back in 45 minutes, when we came back in 30 minutes the flight had boarded and the door was closed, now our second missed flight. Now we were going to get to LA after mid-night. Ok so I went a little ballistic, screaming at the women behind the counter, mostly antagonized by their rude handling of the matter. Security was called, but never came and I sat down and fumed. We were seated next to a lady traveling with her cute little dog which escaped half-way through the flight and scurried about the plane for while. And then when we finally arrived in LA, Skye's bag was missing, as it still is. It was a stupid bad travel day. Right now for me DELTA SUCKS!!!Oh well. Still cool clouds over Nicaragua and one of its many volcanoes, not sure which one

Nicaragua and me; A Brief History

I first started looking at real estate in Nicaragua 5 0r 6 years ago. It seemed a bit unstable, but getting better and I didn't have the money. 20/20 hindsight and I would have figured out a way to get the money. Real Estate has been steadily going up and it has plenty of room to grow. So years later, I'm hearing more and more about Nicaragua and real estate in the US, which has been mostly kind to me , looks to be flattening and after a little research, I decide to go and see it for myself. It was an eye-opening experience. It is the 2cnd poorest country in the Western hemisphere, which the US bears a substantial amount of responsibility. It is the largest and least densely populated country in Central America. It is beautiful and has many sights to see. Granada and Leon both vie for the oldest European cities in the Americas. Nicaragua was the first mainland Columbus hit which explains the last bit. It is a very cool country. Not tempeture-wise, it is quite uncool. Update--We, the Carr-Danniells family and Charles Lee, have purchased land in Los Congos, a development with amazing potential. It is located in Laguna de Apoyo, amazing already, nature made it that way. All located 20 minutes from Granada, cool colonial town, on Lake Nicaragua, the tenth largest lake on the planet. We go back tommorrow to finalize the deal and to plan our building. If all goes well we will be in Nicaragua for the next 5 or so years, building and renovating, selling and renting. We are still looking for more partners, at various levels of commitment. If interested, let me know.

A favorite quote to pass along

As much to move on from that last post(hopefully the after shot will be more pleasant) as to share one of my favorite quotations from Jack Kerouac. "But then they danced down the street like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellos roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww'!" On The Road 1957. And now back to packing.