CR Redux

First, let me explain something...

When Jae Rae and I travelled Europe for a month a few years back, we took the time to stop at various internet cafe's and email our friends/fam updates on our shenanigans. Turns out, this ended up being a fantastic online diary of our whirlwind month abroad. I still revisit those emails, almost six years later, and it brings a smile to my face to bring back the memories I have forgotten. The hot German bartender with a HUGE crush on Jae (she is the most beautiful Korean gal you will ever meet); the bachelor dressed as Elvis for his bachelor party at the wine festival (and his cute blonde friend that seemed to have a thing for me); the three bottles of wine we drank while savoring tapas in Barcelona as "Tokyo y California" as the called us; the emergency trip to the hospital at 3:00a in Amsterdam where Jae had to lead me, blind, to a cab, and try to convince the night nurse in the notorious toke-town that no, I was NOT high on drugs and YES, I really could not see. Oh, and one cannot forget the midnight walk home from the Moulin Rouge through the Red Light District in Paris where the two of us almost got accosted by forward Frenchies. Oh, and there is so much more that just isn't suitable for the millions of readers of this blog. (Bahahahaha, right.)

Anyway, this point of this post is two-fold:

1. To share some of the funny stories from my trip to Costa Rica with Shupasaurus with any of you that might be interested.

2. To help me remember next year (hell, next month) what we did and the amazing time we had.

So don't feel obligated to read the whole thing. I know you have things to do, TV shows to watch and cocktails to drink. All of which are probably much more exciting. But to those of you who make it the whole way through: I owe you a drink.

Here goes...

Travel

I was lucky enough to get off work extra early on Thursday; an extra good thing since i still had my packing to do! After a quick ten minute packing job, it was off to happy hour! Shupe and I got started a little early while waiting for the usual suspects to get off work. A giant beer for you, a giant beer for me. A little Morgan's action and then sushi to cap it off. The goal was to get nice and toasted to make the 12:30a flight, 3 hour mid-morning layover and noon-time arrival a little more tolerable (perhaps scoring some xanax would have been easier?) Here's a note to my fellow travellers: shots of saki plus two late night/early morning plane rides is not a good mix. Just ask Shupe.

Day 1

We got to town mid-day and got our rental car. Fail #1: my dumb ass forgot my driver's license, so driving for the next 6 days was all Shupie. After the couple hour drive to La Fortuna from San Jose, we arrive at the Magic Mountain Hotel, right in time for happy hour! Bonus! Gotta love 2 for 1 at the hotel. We settled in, had dinner at a soda nearby (a soda is like a road side food stand w/ standard Tico fare).

Our view from our room in La Fortuna: Arenal Volcano

Day 2

We signed up for a guided hike and our guide, Pedro, was awesome. We caught a glimpe of a howler monkey right on the side of the road. Amazing. He knew everything there was to know about birds and every fallic reference Costa Ricans make about their various plants.

Pedro

Later, we hit a long and lazy happy hour near the hotel, with a great view of the crazy Costa Rican tour bus route, followed by 2 for 1 in the pool, where we chatted with Kelly, a middle aged man from Arkansas and his fellow giant-tour-bus tourist buddies. I think seeing a 20-something in a bikini was a definite perk up from the 50-something crowd he was travelling with. I don't think his wife felt the same way.

Day 3

A morning of ziplining!

Who's got two thumbs and loves the zipline? This guy!

And let me tell you, the ziplining here was AWESOME! We went in Kauai a few years back and the most exciting thing we saw were.... COWS! It was literally over pastures! Not to mention the $150 per person price tag we paid! This trip was only $60 and even included.... Drum roll... My very first horseback ride! Yeeeeehaw! After a couple of hours of swinging through the jungle and getting a bird's eye view of the waterfalls, I got my chance to ride a real live horse!

My first horseback ride!

Of course, these horses weren't the thoroughbreds from the Budweiser commercials, but a horse is a horse is a horse when it's your first time. I'll admit, when they started galloping I got a little scared that I was going to fly off (hey, I had an aunt who got squashed by a horse, so I have reason to be apprehensive!) but it was awesome. Not so awesome when I told Shupie about my nervousness and he told me that wasn't called a "gallop," but "barely a trot." Oh what the heck ever, Mr. 4-H! Dork.

Me, swinging through the trees

After our zipline/horseback adventure, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up (it was the first reeeeeally hot day) and decided that instead of hitting the hot springs (my idea), we would drive a couple hours to the other volcano, Poas Volcano.

So, we hit the road. And just when we are far enough for it to be annoying to turn back, we realize we forgot the GPS. DOH!

After a couple of "I think this is the way.... Oh, wait, Shupie, turn around"s, we stop for a brewski at an uber local Tico spot where thankfully I know enough Espanol to get a couple beers, some food, a potty break and the check. We hit the road for the end of the trip and after a good four hours of driving, we start seeing actual signs of where we are headed! Hot damn! We reach our destination at around 4:15 and learn that, ahem, the park closes at 3:30. After a brief expletive rant, we turn around and head back for the few hour drive home. We will forever remember the GPS after that trip. Tico drivers are crazy enough during the day, let alone driving on the non-lit roads at dark time.

Day 4 - Shupie's big 33!!

We hit the road to our second destination, the Monteverde Cloud Forrest. It turns out to be our lucky day, because about an hour after we leave (around 9:30a), we stumble upon the only microbrewery in Costa Rica! Volcano Brewing is a totally fun little brewery/restaurant/hotel that we will definitely be staying at on our next CR adventure. We share a sampler and have a couple colds ones, including their signature "Gato Malo" or "Bad Cat." Our awesome server, just arrived from her home in Tamarindo, warns us that our idea of changing our trip and staying a few days in Costa Rica might be a tough one, as most hotels are full due to Semana Santa (Holy Week), which is a big Tico holiday. We take her advice to heart and head on our way.

We quickly learn that the last two hours of the drive to our hotel is on the crappiest road you would imagine. It's the road I was scared of when reading about the crappy CR roads. So far we had seen crazy passing by locals and total speeding, but no bumpy, rocky, rutty roads like this. And, as is par for the course, someone you know and love (me) ends up having to use the facilities (of which there are none) about half way through. This was the first time since the notorious "Only five more Hawaiian minutes til we get there" bus trip of my graduation trip that I thought I might actually not make it to the restroom. Thank little baby Jesus that we found the one bar mid-way there with a restroom (and some Imperials - woohoo!) we could stop at. Unfortunately, a travelling Swedish student was currently using the facilities to BRUSH HER TEETH! I about died. Anyway, she hurried it up and I got the ultimate "ahhhhhhhhhhh" moment, followed by a couple more Imperials. Turns out, Ms. Sweden and her five travelling student friends had accidentally broked off their car key in the car door the day before and had therefore been drinking for the last 12+ hours straight. I can see why she wanted a tooth brushing. :)

Cow transport in CR... I'm sure they were just taking him for a vacay in Tamarindo

So we make it to our hotel, the Fonda Vela, and get settled, head to the bar for our free welcome drink and then take off on foot to find some dinner before our night hike. We end up settling on the first place we could find that has food AND beer (imagine that): pizza. We eat up and head back on the mile long walk. Half way through, it starts drizzling. Ten minutes into the drizzle, it turns into a downpour. Shupe and I turn our walk into a hussle and move booty to our hotel.

Here's your gag moment for the trip:

On his birthday, Shupe and I get caught in the pouring Costa Rica rain, cross a foot bridge over a flowing river when he stops, turns to me and give me a big rainy smooch. Take that, Nicholas Sparks, and your stupid romantic barfy novels!

Yeah. So that happened.

Anyway... We take off on the night hike after we get back (thankfully the rain was a half hour bout and then done with). The dweeby family we had to go with aside, the hike was kinda of neat and we got to see some pretty giant poisonous frogs, along with some wicked spiders and scorpions. I guess night hikes are aimed at boys.

Shupe the Stud at the Fonda Vela Hotel

Day 5

We decide that we've kind of "done" the whole jungle hiking/exploring thing the next morning and head off to try our luck at finding a place to stay in Tamarindo, the Tico beach destination on the Pacific Coast.

After another lengthy (because the speed limit is so slow) drive, we get to our beach town destination at noon time, grab a cocktail and some lunch and work on finding a place to stay. The first place we asked, right across the street from the beach, says they have a room, but with no A/C. Ehh... We'll let you know.

The second spot: no rooms.

The third spot: Hotel Pasatiempo. First, the owner is awesome, speaks perfect English (he's from Colorado, for heaven's sake) and even offers to help us change our flights and rental car plan.

See, our itinerary had us staying this night in Monteverde and then driving to San Jose the next day for our last night in CR followed by flying out the day after. After 4 days in paradise, we (I) just weren't ready to go home. I was willing to pay the $600 each to change our flights and go to the beach for a few days.

But Mr. Colorado got our airline on the phone and (viola!) our flights get changed to Sunday AND we get upgraded to first class.... For less than we were going to pay to change our flights before! Chicka chicka yeah!

We book a room for the next five nights and head to our bungalow to suit up and hop in the pool. I now know the true meaning of Pura Vida. Pure life. Having not a care in the world.

Not only was the hotel awesome and Mr. Colorado incredibly helpful, but they were featuring LIVE MUSIC at their bar that night. Someone pinch me now!

Shupie and I got drink a few (ok maybe more than a few) Imperials, grab dinner, drink some more Imperials, and head to the show. We meet tons of fun people and the cover band is totally fun. As Shupie isn't much of a dancer (perhaps because his signature move is the Elaine and he knows it) I find a fun gal from Nova Scotia to hit the Costa Rican dance floor with me. Totally fun. And not only that, but I get a salsa lesson with one of the local Tico's that work at the hotel - so fun!!

Hotel Pasatiempo at night

Day 6

Turns out, a night of Imperials and dancing makes for a tired gal. Shupie and I venture out to check out close by beaches while we still have the rental car and hit Lola's on Playa Avellanas, a nearby hot spot. Turns out, beers and Lola's at 10 is still a little early, so we cruise around a bit and head back to spend some time at the beach by our place.

After Shupe gets his first few runs in (mama was too tired from dancing to surf today) we hit some happy hours (apparently everywhere on the beach has two for one specials).

As we sit at a super fun little spot with a live DJ and decent cocktails, staring out at the great blue yonder, it little trinkle of rain starts. We stay out there, figuring the rain will subside (heck, the told us it hasn't rained in four months in Tamarindo!)... Turns out, this wasn't going to stop at a trickle. As the terrential downpour starts, we grab our stuff and head for cover, where we watch in awe as the staff run frantically to move the DJ equipment, patio chairs, hanging linens, everything that risks ruin in this serious rain. It was quite entertaining, I must admit.

Happy hour, before the downpour

Thinking that we might want to check to make sure that the airline got our flights right, we hit the local internet cafe. Big mistake. After seeing those 700+ unread emails, I quickly remember that there is a reality. After a moment of panic, I take a deep breath and return to vacay mode. Those messages can wait a few more days.

But the catch is: those jerks at United who bribed me with first class goofed on our flights and have us going home on Saturday instead of Sunday. They will have heck to pay!! Just kidding. I tried to call and see if we could change the flight to what it was supposed to be, but the half hour wait time at a quarter per minute just wasn't going to happen. So we had the quick chat and decided that maybe Saturday was better to come home. I missed the mutts, Shupe had already worn each of his shirts four times, and I really hadn't properly arranged mutt-sitting and dog food delivery throught the weekend. (yes, we are those jerks that leave people to watch our dogs but do not buy enough food for them to eat for the entire time we're gone. Whoops!)

Day 7

Today, beach day! After a quick breakfast, we rent a board and hit the beach. Shupe, then me, then Shupe, then me, then Shupe, then me, then Shupe... Shupe and more Shupe. Hey, mama is pale and can only take so much time in direct sunlight.

But I'll admit, they were right: Tamarindo waves are uber easy to catch and even a bozo can do it. A bozo named Chelsea! It was awesome. We take our turns riding, drinking beers from the travel cooler we bought, resting, riding, drinking. And thanks to the old man who walks up and down the beach selling beer out of his ice chest, our little cooler stayed full the whole time! It was awesome.

In the afternoon, we even hook up with some folks from Jersey, one of which is a spitting image of Penny, our fabulous Aussie friend who stayed in SD and Sac with us a few years back. We chat them up and take turns hitting the waves for the rest of the afternoon. Perfection.

The end of the wave

Day 8

A lazy Tamarindo day, enjoying the joys of the Dry Law days. Yep, you saw that right. Turns out that Thursday and Friday before Easter in this uber Catholic country and dry days: no booze can be sold at stores, no drinks can be sold at bars or restaurants. What does this mean? Stock up on Wednesday and bring your own. Yep, most restaurants are ok when you bring your own. Other restaurants will servce you, as long as you promise to tell the cops (if they come) that you brought it yourself. Or you just have to keep watch for the cops yourself and then make your cocktails scarce. We wound up at a sushi place after being handed a flier at the beach and learning, after a little prodding, that they'd serve if you signed a waiver saying you brough it. For real.

Shupe and I head home to imbibe our own by the pool for the night and call it a perfect CR day.

No guaro for you!

Day 9

Go home day.

Beach day, while we can. We last Imperials and get our junk ready to go.

Our shack at the Hotel Pasatiempo

We arranged a cab to drive us the hour from the hotel to the airport (which we changed to Liberia instead of San Jose, as it was 3 hours closer). He drove like a maniac and I had flashbacks of the time my aging grandfather drove me to the airport in LA to drop me off and the entire time I felt like I was on the brink of death the entire time. Until now, that was the scariest ride of my life. No longer. This Tico knows how to pass like Mario Andretti on the last lap. (did that sound like I know anything about race car driving?)

The first class ride home was nice, albeit snobby, but nice. The hot towels they pass out was a little over the top, but the woman who walks the aisle with the wine all but made me forget what a snob I was being. Not to mention the real leg room and actually comfortable seats. And free movies. I mean, I not only got endless wine, my four favorite gals even got to join me on the second leg of the trip: Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. Sex and the City and wine on the ride home?! I almost forgot how bittersweet the trip home was.

Thanks to my mama for picking us up at midnight from the airport. Love you.

Have you read all this way? Look at you!! :) Congrats for sticking with it!

All in all, it was the best trip ever. We had the best time, remembered why we still like each other after these last five years, got to take a break from stressing about work and got to do things we've never done (yeah, horseback riding)!

I realized that we are all too focused on work, earning money, paying bills and being a part of the daily grind. We need time off. Time to decompress. Time to explore. Time to see the world.

So now, we are back to work and back to reality. But this time, our work is a means to an ends that will take us somewhere. For now we have the Discoball Speakeasy, but soon we'll have another adventure to look forward to. And I can't wait.