Saturday, October 3, 2026
Costa Rica – Day 8 – San Jose and back to Houston
Costa Rica – Day 7 – Jaco to San Jose
Friday, October 2, 2026
We took the bus from Jaco to San Jose. It was only 3 hours.
Had breakfast in Jaco before leaving.
Tried out the hot tub at the Holiday Inn in San Jose when we got there.
Then went on a city bus tour.
First place was the art museum which used to be their airport. You can kind of see that the tower in the back was the air traffic control tower.
One of the features of the art museum was a room with a carving in the wall outlining the history of Costa Rica.
It had other art too.
Then off to the city. As you can see it was raining!
We went to the central market which had several hundred stores selling everything.
Then we went to the church
Then the national theater.
Then to the park to see the memorial to the war of central america. This is the one that the American William Walker instigated in the 1850s.
Then to dinner.
Costa Rica – Day 6 – Jaco
Thursday, October 1, 2026
My sister Maggie’s 40th birthday. I sent her happy birthday text, but did not get anything back. And I tried sending her some money via Zelle the same way I had done in the past, but got a message back a few hours later saying it had failed to go through. Not sure I have any good contact information for her.
Also, Christopher had texted the day before asking if we were going to do the Houston Half Marathon. I said we were and he is going to fly down for it. Now I have to get ready. Only 3 weeks. I had decided to run 5 miles this morning. I got up early and went out on the run.
Lots of neat sites along the way.
It says “Welcome to Aloha – The Place where there is no world crisis”
I only ended up running 2 miles. But it was a start. On the walk back I saw this coffee place with a cat in an astronaut suit. I had to stop.
It was a cafe called ‘Jet Fuel’. I got an iced coffee and admired the other photos.
Lots of street art in Jaco.
Sonia was ready for me when I got back to the Best Western.
We had breakfast, and then went for a swim
And saw the iguana again.
Had a pina colada
Took an Uber to “Roasted Edge” that seemed to have boardgames according to Google maps.
Taught Linus spades. And we also played dominos.
Costa Rica – Day 5 – Arenal to Jaco
Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Sonia and I got up fairly early. Took a walk around the Hotel Eco Arenal property.
They had some cats that would visit us for breakfast.
Lots of beautiful plants.
Then the bus ride to Jaco. It was about 5 hours.
We did make a stop halfway.
It had a butterfly house.
Finally made it to Best Wester in Jaco!
Time to get some food from this all inclusive resort. We had to wait about 90 minutes for our rooms to be available.
But also a lot of neat things to see.
Looks at this guy!
Also had table tennis to play.
We went on a walk on the beach.
Now read take a look at these to pictures, and let me know if you don’t see an obvious answer!
Of course I think the point is that they sometimes have men clean both bathrooms and other times women cleaning both restrooms. But still I thought It was a little funny.
We went on a walk of Jaco and so some interesting sites. A lot of cool street art.
I thought RadioShack went out of business. Apparently the one in Jaco is still hanging on!
This will give you a little better overview of the city.
Costa Rica – Day 4 – Arenal
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Today was a free day. Started with breakfast at the hotel.
Linus and Shirley had found a massage place just down the street from our hotel. We decided to walk over there.
They were closed. But we called them and made an appointment for all 4 of us that afternoon.
There was also a Pickleball court just down the street from the hotel in the other direction. They only charge $20 per hour for the court and they have paddles and balls. They also have a camera system that records you playing and you can download it on your phone.
There was a new towel figure. I think this is a person wearing one of the hats that we brought.
We decided to spend some time in the hotel pool.
Then went into town to get some lunch.
We got a vegetarian pizza and a big sampler and split it between us.
Walked around town a bit.
Got to see the church. A common pattern of development in Latin America by the Spanish was to build a church and a park in each of the cities.
Finally time for the spa.
We could see a good view of the volcano from here.
They had two houses. Sonia and I got one. And Shirley and Linus got the other. We got the 2 hour combo. The first part is a complete body scrub. Then you have to take a shower. My skin felt so smooth afterwards. Then they do a full body massage.
Afterwards they gave us coconuts to drink the juice out of. Also we had timed it nearly perfectly with the rain. It rained while we were getting a massage and then pretty much ended by the time we were finished.
We ended up stopping at Mary’s again for a little snack.
Costa Rica – Day 3 – Arenal
Monday, September 28, 2026 – started the day getting up early to watch SpaceX Starship Flight Test 14. Successful flight, went to orbit the first time and deployed Starlink v3 satellites that will have a normal operational life (unlike the ones that were deployed on the suborbital flight 13 and were only operational for about 15 minutes.)
Then we had breakfast at the hotel. I did not realize that the tables were assigned by room. But ended up sitting next to some German speaking people on holiday.
Then we got the bus for our morning river rafting.
Afterwards we got an into chocolate making.
There was this table that looked really neat there.
On the way to lunch saw a “school bus”. Looks like something you would see in America.
Also got some better views of Arenal.
Was pleasantly surprised to see the housekeeping staff made some blanket animals. We got an elephant in ours.
Linus and Shirley got a hippo or is it a dog?
After a rest we decide to venture out.
We end up going to Saffron an Indian restaurant (one of several) in Arenal. It was also raining.
Afterwards we walked around and looked at some of the souvenir shops.
Costa Rica – Day 2 – San Jose to Arenal
On Day 2 (Sunday, September 27, 2026) we got up early and had breakfast at the Holiday Inn. There was a nice painting on the staircase down to the restaurant. I love how the yellow, orange, and read swirled to make this rooster. It kind of reminds me of the same technique my sister Christa used to make a painting of her dog. And I think it is really just two colors mixed together, red and yellow. Though perhaps there is some brown. It would be interesting to try to recreate it.
The restaurant is right next to the pool, just a little below the same level, but they have made it so it is completely secluded from it. Nice decorations. Great color schme.
Rice and Beans and plantains were staples of every meal. In addition to this you could order a custom omelette. They also had several varieties of fruit.
Our first bus transfer was a little rockier than expected. The bus was to pick us up at 7:30. Which I found surprising, because I did not see that in the itinerary of my Exoticca app. Instead I saw vagaries of “On your second day you will take a bus to the beautiful area of La Fortuna to see the Arenal volcano.” Come to find out there is a detailed itinerary with just the important details such as times, confirmation codes, and contact numbers is in a PDF document in a different part of the app. And there is a number you can contact through WhatsApp with any questions. They are extremely responsive.
When we get out there at 7:15, we see a white van with “tourismo” written on it. I ask the driver if he is going to Arenal. He tells me ‘no’ that it is a different bus. He doesn’t speak English so this is all through a translation application.
Linus sends a message to our tour operator after the time for our bus has come and nothing shows up. “They are running 15 minutes late. Guest at the other location was delayed checking out.” We wait and then another bus shows up. We ask him if he is our driver, he says no. Then we message the tour operator again, “He will be there in 5 minutes.” We keep waiting and eventually that same driver comes to us and says “Are you Roberto Prince?” I say “Robert Price?” And he says “Yes”. It is our bus. They had us down as “Robert Price, Nathan”. We began the 3 hour journey to Arenal.
We sat near the back of the van. Not the best place if you have trouble with motion sickness. This was a problem for Sonia and Linus. Shirley was prepared with these “Ginger Chews”.
We stopped along the way. Ended up getting a few items. One was this sloth holding a salt and pepper shaker.
At the cash register there were a lot of currencies under the glass. One of them caught our eye, “Japanese Rupee” (It is the “five rupees” note in the second column and not the one being pointed to.) This was used in Nepal during the occupation by Japan during World War II.
At the cantina next door, there was toucan just hanging out on the fan.
And across the way there were nice views.
Along the way we saw many sights including little waterfalls.
We stayed at the Hotel Eco Arenal. It was a really new, and nice hotel.
Lots of beautiful plants.
We ended up eating at Mary’s BBQ right across from the hotel.
I got the tomahawk. It is a BIG steak. I got it in surf and turf style with some shrimp. It was really nice. But next time I recommend splitting it between a few people.
Then we caught our bus to go on the hike up Arenal.
There were several other people on the hike with us. One was a person that worked for the Japanese government in Nicaragua which borders Costa Rica on the north. She was down here to vacation.
Afterwards we went to the hot springs. These are naturally heated. But are really like a pool.
We got dinner afterwards.
And that was a wrap for day 2.
Costa Rica – Day 1 – Houston to San Jose
Sonia and I knew a few other people that had been to Costa Rica and had a wonderful time. Lots of beautiful birds, interesting scenery, a good time, and easy to get around. When our friends, Linus and Shirley, and us were looking for options to go on our next trip, we eventually came around to Costa Rica. We first looked at a Eco Hotel in Arenal to stay at for a week. But I wasn’t sure we wanted to spend an entire week in the same spot. Linus and Shirley had used a travel service before called Exoticca, they had a trip that started out in San Jose, then a few days in Arenal, then the beach city of Jaco, and finally returning to San Jose. It checked all the boxes for me.
Our trip started early on Saturday, September 26, 2028. We made no special arrangements to meet up with Linus and Shirley, but we ended up meeting just past the airport security. A great way to begin the trip. We got some breakfast in IAH on the way to our gate, excited for what lay ahead.
It is about a 3 and a half hour flight from Houston to San Jose, Costa Rica. On the way Sonia watched a movie “Best of the Best”. It is about this dance team and a lot of college drama. It was a continuation of the story of “Never Have I Ever”. I ended up catching pieces of it, and it looks to be a fantastic movie. I look forward to eventually watching the whole thing. I spent the time on the plane reading. And I noticed that they had two of the SpaceX Starship movies available on the flight. “Critical Path” and “Test Like You Fly”. I know United Airlines will be installing SpaceX’s Starlink on all their flights. I wonder if having these videos available to passengers is part of the arrangement. The Starship Flight test 14 was schedule for Monday (2 days from our flight). I do not think that people can comprehend at this point how transformative having a fully reusable orbital vehicle will be. It is hard to imagine the world that comes after. I am glad to see all the effort that SpaceX is doing in sharing the path to get there.
Here is our first view of Costa Rica from the airport.
There are 3 things that you will keep running across on your visit to Costa Rica. Sloths are depicted everywhere. Sloths are the mascot (perhaps unofficial) of Costa Rica. They are depicted everywhere. Here is a resting sloth (apparently doing Yoga) that we saw before even getting to immigration.
The second thing that you will see a lot in Costa Rica is American brands. We asked our driver that picked us up at the airport “Could you recommend a place to eat lunch”. “Yes! I can recommend you the best place to eat. The best food in all of Costa Rica”. We were excited. And completely unprepared for what he said. “Denny’s”. And there were American brands everywhere. Burger King, Taco Bell, McDonalds, and even the hotel we were staying at was a Holiday Inn.
But at least you know you will get a good quality room at a Holiday Inn,
Complete with a nice courtyard with a pool and a hot tub.
Right next to the hotel was a Casino. A Denny’s can’t be the first place we eat in Costa Rica (but it would not have been the first time I went to another country and at an American brand. The first place I ate on my first trip to Tokyo was a Sizzlers. And I had one of the best steaks with a wasabi/soy sauce that was just out of this world, not to have been replicated…)
They were not quick with giving us menus or food at the casino. I think they were hoping/expecting us to do some gambling. But I have no interest in that. The math just does not work out. And while the casinos try their best to make YOU feel like you are the especially lucky one, I know that is not the case. I keep remember the time that I went to Singo Bingo with our friends Mike and Marry. The host of that was very upfront. “How many of you think you are going to win tonight?” Of course everyone raises their hands. “Okay, make a friend so that when you go home without winning, you will have someone to console you.”
We did eventually get some food.
Afterwards, we were excited to start seeing the place. But it was raining by this time. It would rain for a bit everyday on our trip. But most of the day was dry. Lucky we had ponchos and umbrellas. (You can see another American brand in this photo: Gold’s Gym)
And even “closer” to home is the Duke’s Texan Style BBQ. We didn’t eat there, but could see it across the freeway from where we were walking.
We ended up walking an extended block. We were using “dead reconning” at first for navigation. “If you keep turning right, eventually you will come back to where you started.”
We ended up stopping at a BYD dealership and checking out the cars. Looking forward to these being an option in the US. (Though unless they have full unsupervised self driving that is as good or better than Tesla, I really have no interest in a different car.)
We tried a couple of times to get an Uber from the BYD car dealership. But wasn’t able to get one. That was the only time we had trouble getting an Uber. Also, seems that Uber is illegal for drivers. OK for passengers, but drivers could be fined. We also attempted to find a place to play Pickleball. But I called and no one answered. It would have been an Uber trip away too. But time to turn on Google maps and figure the best way back. We came across a park and checked it out.
We ended up turning in to our respective rooms relatively early. I feel like it was 7ish. Sonia and I were able to login to the TV using our NetFlix account (just scan the QR code and able to authenticate on your phone’s Netflix app) and watched Kissing Booth. A film about a boy and a girl who were born on the same day. They end up become best friends. And they have a number of rules to help make the relationship work. One of them is that they won’t date each other siblings. Of course the guy has a really good looking brother that the girl likes. And you can imagine where it goes. It was a nice movie though.
But afterwards feeling a bit hungry. Sonia and I go to the Dennys for a snack. It is still raining but the Dennys is attached to the hotel.
Then time to turn in to go to sleep.
From One Blue Sphere
In a cosmos void and lifeless vast, Where stars gleamed cold, and shadows cast, Lay empty realms, a silent space, Without a pulse, a breath, a trace.
But from one blue and teeming sphere, Emerged a race, that conquered fear. With dreams as vast as skies above, Humanity soared on wings of love.
They took the seeds of life they knew, And ‘cross the void, those seeds they threw. To barren worlds and empty moons, To silent nights and endless noons.
With tech and touch, they wove a dance, Gave planets chance, a second glance. Where once was stillness, now there thrived, New forms of life, awake, alive.
Oceans bloomed and forests grew, Skies turned pink, then orange, then blue. Creatures stirred in seas and land, All shaped by humanity’s hand.
And thus, the once dead universe, Heard songs, and tales, a poet’s verse. For every corner, nook and cranny, Echoed with life, from Mercury to uncanny galaxies.
A testament to the human will, That cannot sit, that cannot still. In a lifeless void, cold and vast, Humanity ensured life would last.
Going to work in Mission Control at NASA!!
In February, I start a job at NASA’s Johnson Space Center eventually working in mission control supporting the International Space Station (ISS).
I think you all know that space exploration and the vision of humanity going into the rest of the solar system and beyond excites me. You have surely seen the monthly North Houston Space Society meetings that I help put on. Or maybe you participated in my Countdown to the Moon project. Or maybe you saw one of the many of my space related posts.
Now, I am no longer just talking, posting, and dreaming, but actually taking steps to do something professionally space related.
This is a complete career change for me.
For the past 25 years, I have worked in the computer industry. I started out at Neosoft doing tech support for dialup internet customers, worked at T1 Design creating internet applications for Compaq, at HP working on their online store and sales planning applications, and the last 7 years at Anaplan in various roles, including as a manager.
The job I will be doing at NASA is an entry level job which most people get right out of college. I figure it is a great place to start for something completely new and different. It involves 1 to 2 years of training and testing, and then I will be working on the SPARTAN team in mission control responsible for station power and the external thermal control systems.
Over the course of the next few years, I will be developing a much deeper and real-world view of space operations. My absolute dream would be to work on the Artemis program and to be in mission control the next time we have people walking on the moon.
I look forward to sharing my journey with you.
I hope that by taking this small step, that it might be a giant leap in helping to encourage you and others to pursue any dreams that you want to do.