What a day, what a day, what a day!

About 9:00am Gerardo came and asked me if I wanted to come over for coffee. I said thank you but I already had some. Well, when he mentioned tortillas, I couldn't say no. There were a few extra people and I remembered I had half an avocado in the refrigerator so I came home and mashed it and took it to Tia's. I think the lady upstairs is named Yolanda and she was talking about us going to the pools and bringing me a swimsuit. Gerardo cautioned her that I might get sick but she said she would take good care of me. I also took Ana her dream catcher which she really liked.

I had decided to make a crock pot meal before we left so I left Tia's before the others and went home to put it together. I didn't have ranch seasoning or a packet of chicken gravy but I improvised. Chicken in the center, potatoes on one side and fresh green beans on the other. I did add garlic and onions and used complete seasonings and chicken broth. Just didn't get thick. I could have added flour but I left it as it was.

While I was preparing this the swimsuit was delivered. It is multicolored with a blousy front so it worked just fine. The legs holes were much too big but nothing I couldn't make do with. Unlike the suit from China, there was more than enough room on top.

I packed up my red bag - thank heavens for my red bag - with a towel, extra set of clothes, water bottle, cookies, pineapple and Ana gave us two bananas and my iPad. Pictures were even taken before we left. We had our swimsuits on under our clothes. Gerardo drove us to the pools and Yolanda had paid for both of us the day before. She goes almost everyday for her arthritis. We located an empty table and put our bags on it. She knows all the people who work there so she has lots of people to talk to.

The first stop is the hot, hot pool. Like a big hot tub. Most people were speaking Spanish but Adolfo spoke very good English. He is a life coach and was very interesting. You are only supposed to stay in the hot water for 20 minutes but I have never seen so many interpretations of 20 minutes. About an hour later we moved to the medium warm pool. It is great big and meanders over a big area. It has varying depths. Very comfortable.  For the most effect you are supposed to go from the hot tub to the cold pool but we never made it to the cold one. Just back and forth between the hot and medium warm.

At one point there was a family with us in the hot tub. It was Grandma, who really didn't like the hot water, son in law, daughter and their teenage daughter. I was sitting next to the wife and then the husband. He seemed to speak a fair amount of English. At one point he had been rubbing his wife's foot - like a foot massage. He stopped but his hand was still by her feet so I slid my foot over and she grinned. It took him a couple seconds to realize it wasn't her foot. We all laughed. Their daughter started talking to me and pretty much spent the rest of the day near me. I gave her cookies and when we sat down to have something to eat, she brought over a plate for me of tomato and lettuce, hard boiled egg and a wonderful rice mixture of rice, vegetables and meat. She also brought one over for Yolanda. I took them the dish of pineapple. Her father told me he is with the police in Moravia, outside San Jose and they came for the day. Very nice family. We exchanged contacts. I learned the girl is only 14. And I learned today Gerardo is 62 and Yolanda is 80.

And, for my first time, I got sunburned. I did have sunscreen on but I am burned across my shoulders and my neck. I will be putting lots of aloe on tonight. I had a hat and sunglasses on so I think my face is fine. I did just notice my upper legs are pink. I was invited to go again tomorrow but I have to bake cookies and I don't think my skin could stand 2 days of sun in a row.

Here are some pictures.

Yolanda

Cold pool

Medium warm pool with the hot tub. Beyond that are the kids pools.

More of the medium warm pool.

One of the attendants - who really liked cookies!

We left here a little after 10:00am and got back at 4:00pm. I gave Yolanda a plateful from the crockpot and had one myself. It was really good and so nice not to have to worry about making dinner. I have a feeling I will sleep really great tonight, even though I did pretty much nothing today. I had a great time and very much enjoyed the day. Muchas gracias Yolanda. Besides everything else, she gave me the swimsuit so I would have something to wear when I go back!