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Limerence Update #26 Trip to San
Diego and Washington D.C. Los Sueños Marina – Herradura Gulf of
Nicoya, Costa Rica July, 2001 The
beautiful Los Sueños Marina-Herradura in the
Gulf of Nicoya, has been our home-base since May 1, 2001.
This area is roughly the dividing line between the relatively drier northern
part of Costa Rica, and the wet tropical southern zone. We needed to be south of latitude
10° for the hurricane season from June-October, for insurance purposes. We wanted a base
in Costa Rica that would facilitate visits from family and friends. The Los Sueños Marina
is adjacent to a five-star Marriott Golf Resort with many new condominiums and homes in
the surrounding hills around the golf course. Los Sueños
is a safe, secure place to dock Limerence while we travel inland and explore Costa Rica.
Also, the Gulf of Nicoya offers many tropical and uninhabited islands to explore during
the summer. We are located fifteen minutes north of the popular beach town of Jaco. On
weekends, throngs of tourists from San Jose come to Jaco to enjoy the surf, resorts, and
funky atmosphere of this glitzy surfer town. Another plus for this area is the fact that
it is less than a two-hour drive from the San Jose airport.
We enjoyed
visits from friends Roy and Linda Longworth in May, and son Jake in June. Acting as tour
guides for our guests, we explored the cloud forest of Monteverde Park, and the tropical
rain forest of Volcan Arenal and Lake area. Other reserves that have become our tour
grounds are Manuel Antonio Park, Carrera Biological Reserve, and Rio Tarcoles. Each park
offers unique opportunities to see hundreds of exotic birds and wildlife. It has been
great fun to learn more about Costa Rica and share it with family and friends. In early
June we flew back to the United States for two weeks. Our first stop was San Diego were we
shopped, visited, and partied for six days. It was wonderful to be back! We hosted a
cocktail party on Friday night at the San Diego Yacht Club and got to see many old friends
who are somewhat astonished that we sailed all the way to Costa Rica! The time passed
quickly with errands to run and supplies to buy. We also visited our storage locker and
packed up business clothes for our next week in Washington D.C. We flew to
Washington for the 12th Annual Energy Efficiency Forum meeting. The all-day
meeting is an opportunity for government officials and business leaders to gather and
exchange information and viewpoints about energy policy in the United States. This year’s meeting was especially topical
with the huge energy crisis in California, and the fact that the keynote speaker was
Vice-President Richard Cheney. Doug and I were invited to attend as special guests of the
Forum, because prior to retiring, Doug organized and founded the event. It was a
fascinating day, and Johnson Controls surprised Doug with a special award – the
Douglas A. Decker Leadership in Energy Award. It will be presented in the future to other
people who show a life-long commitment to energy efficiency and management.
After the
Forum Meeting, we had a tour of the BOCC – Building Operations Control Center in the
Pentagon. This room houses the high tech computers and controls systems for the entire
Pentagon – temperature controls and security and safety systems. It represents the
culmination of years of planning and development for Doug’s Government Business Group
at Johnson Controls. To make the day complete, we enjoyed a private retirement dinner
party in Doug’s honor at the Old Ebbitt Grill in Washington. Old friends and business
partners roasted and toasted Doug. A wonderful surprise was a visit from Doug’s
brother and sister-in-law, Ron and Kay Decker. It was an evening to remember always and a
tribute to a 40-year career at Johnson Controls.
We enjoyed a
quiet next day in Washington, and packed up a suitcase full of business clothes to ship
back to storage in San Diego. We toted six heavy bags to the airport full of boat supplies
and precious cargo for our trip back to Costa Rica. Fortunately we made it through customs
with no questions asked!
Our trip to
the States was great and full of good times for our memory books. Many friends gave us
encouragement to keep this website current as we travel, and we hope as you read our
stories you will sign our guest book. It was great to see so many old friends and we look
forward to our next visit. Odd as it may
seem, as we flew back to Costa Rica we were happy to return home. . . to Limerence. Fair winds friends, Captain Doug and Judy |
