I finished my batch work for the day late on Thursday night. Needing to wind down before I went to bed, I checked on a couple of friends' blogs. It was just weird--my good friend Nancy, whose family of husband and twin boys is bicycling from Alaska to the tip of Argentina, was in Jaco (wherever that was), Costa Rica, and our next door neighbors, whose business had gone down in the housing crunch, had moved to Costa Rica (hopefully temporarily)--living near Bejuco, wherever that was.

The chances of them meeting--about zilch, but why not at least make a comment? So, at 11:45 p.m.
I left this comment on the Ririe's blog:

"Check this out. It is strange to have two families I love in Costa Rica. familyonbikes.com then click on blog.

Thanks for sharing your incredible experiences!"


Friday afternoon, I checked Nancy's blog, and my mouth dropped:

From Nancy's Blog: http://familyonbikes.org/blog/?paged=2

Can the world get any smaller?

So this morning we were pedaling along the coast watching waves crash into the sandy beaches when Davy started complaining about his stomach. A mystery pain that just kept bothering him. Eventually we figured we needed to find a cabina and check in for the night ? Davy couldn't ride any more.

So I took off ahead of John and the boys and found a delightful little place near Bejuco. I sat down to wait.

A few minutes later, a big black SUV pulled into the parking lot and a woman popped out. "LouAnn is my neighbor!" she told me. "She just told me about you guys this morning. I spent a bit of time browsing around your site and saw that you were in Jaco ? and now we find you on the road!"

Now wait a minute? One of my dearest friends in Boise just happens to be this woman's neighbor? And she just happens to be here in Costa Rica? And we just happened to check in to a hotel right around the corner from her house? Can the world get any smaller?

We will be heading over to Tonya's house in a few minutes for hamburgers and a swim in the pool with her kids. Should be a fun evening ? but whodathunkit??

comment from Tonya:

Thanks for a wonderful evening! It was great meeting your family!

From Tonya's blog:

I jumped on the blog this morning and noticed a comment from my friend and neighbor. She mentioned that she had a dear friend travelling on bicycle with her husband and twin boys down the Pan American Highway from Alaska to Argentina. They left on June 8, 2008 and happened to be in Costa Rica.

I was referred to their blog and what a neat family. I noticed that they had last blogged in Jaco and thought it was kind of cool that they were near the same area but never in my wildest dreams expected to actually see them!

We were heading into the Surf shop to return the surf boards when to our surprise the Vogal family was pedalling our direction. No freaking way! I whipped the car around and as crazy as I am I jumped out of the car and was completely acting like a loony fan!

I couldn't believe that just this morning I heard about the Vogal family and now they were standing right in front of me! The Vogel family being dear friends with our friends and neighbors! What a small world! We insisted that they endure us for a little bit longer and had them over for the most pathetic dinner I could whip up. Poor family! I do not enjoy cooking, and it shows! My apologies! They are staying just down the street from our house and will be hitting the road first thing in the morning. Check out their blog at http://www.familyonbikes.org/. It was an awesome day!

comments from Nancy:

Thank you so much for the hamburgers - and no they weren't pathetic!! Given the fact that we ran our of gas for our stove a few days ago and haven't filled the tank yet - which means nothing cooked for us! - the burgers were GREAT! And, of course, it was delightful chatting with you guys all evening!

Thanks again,
Nancy


This might be the most completely coincidental incident I've ever inadvertently created! Just a fun thing.

Check this out!

http://vigilantesoftware.com/ej/

This is Elijah Daniel Silver--and he is VERY cute!!!!

Now I am a grandma at 60--and I just heard of someone who became one at 78--so I can't complain.

I have been in heaven in many ways. It was WONDERFUL to pick Erin up. We met most of her significant people--and they viewed her as an angel sent from God to bless them. What an experience!

This week has been bittersweet, with Erin being delightful--and me making the good choice to stop and enjoy her--while also finishing a week at school and getting most of two batches done--and gosh--that's been a miracle in itself.

Also, I was explaining that Ivan and I have had a window of time (2 years) in which we were moderately prosperous. It will change a bit downward when Ivan becomes retired next January. And Erin pointed out that during that time she has served a mission, Tyson was married, Ryan joined the service (and we got to support him in San Diego), Alayna had her first baby, and we get to visit, and Amanda is getting married. The prosperity has gone for good purposes, and it has really has been a tender mercy!

Oh, and our flowers have never been so profuse and lush! The place is truly beautiful right now--despite me not getting outside to help out at all. sigh--but another tender mercy that all the other years of work continue to pay off--thanks to Teryl and Ivan. I wish there were time to take pictures--I'm flying out to Austin in a couple of hours--but there have been plenty of pictures--just image the flowers twice as lovely!