Costa Rica: Day 1

We woke up early on our first day in Costa Rica. My body clock never fully adjusted to the 2 hour time change. Below is a picture of our first glimpse of the mountains! We were on our way to breakfast when Steve realized he had left his camera in the room. I shot this pic while I waited for him to go and grab it.

One of the many doorways at the Marriott Hotel in San Jose:

Open air everything! This wasn't your everyday Marriott.

After some fresh fruit and arguably the best coffee we had throughout the entire trip, we checked out and started the drive out of San Jose en route to the Buena Vista Bungalows in Manual Antonio. A road trip in Costa Rica is very different than a road trip in the US. We learned quickly that the directions we had printed out were not going to get us very far. There were no street signs in Costa Rica. Not one. Each location is measured by it's proximity to other landmarks. Crazy. Steve whipped out his plastic compass and we managed to get out of San Jose pretty easily. On our drive we passed a sign for a waterfall, "5KM up." The morning had been relaxed and we had the whole afternoon to make the trip to our second hotel so, we decided to venture up the mountain to see this waterfall. After we parked, we were quickly greeted by an english speaking woman in a long dress who owned, operated and maintained this, "park." She welcomed us to paradise and explained how she danced and practiced yoga in the rainforest and how the waterfall we were going to see would be magical!

We paid the park attendant who was stationed in this small hut.

Then, we picked up our map and were on our way.

Super-size leaves!

It was a long hike and at times an unsettling one. Even in the middle of the day, the rainforest can be a very unwelcoming place. It's hot, humid and alive with creatures.

At one point, we stopped in our tracks when we heard a rustling in the trees. There was a creature hidden behind the leaves and it didn't want us to come ANY closer. We were warned with a hiss. We stood there for a moment and then after I asked Steve what it was, (he didn't know) I ran. Not the smartest move as I could have put Steve's life in danger but, I couldn't just STAND there. Steve followed. Yes, we were running through the rainforest away from a creature that we had threatened. We never saw the waterfall. We knew there would be other waterfalls to see that didn't require such intimate exchanges with jungle creatures. As soon as we got back to the parking area we hopped in the air conditioned SUV and drank lots of water. A storm was rolling in and we had gotten out of the rainforest just in time.

The view from the parking lot:

The rain kept up for a hour or two during our drive. It was kind of fun to see it rain so hard! We were in Costa Rica during their wet season. We expected some rain but, the thought of this kind of rain lasting for the duration of our trip was setting in. Thankfully, the rain slowed down and finally stopped by the time we reached Manual Antonio. We finally arrived at our sleepy little hotel on a hill. It was cloudy and quiet. No one was at the pool or out taking walks.
This little bungalow was nestled into the side of a mountain. The wrap around view was outstanding!

We headed down to see our hotel's beach. Not a soul in sight that afternoon. But, we did see countless crabs!!

Steve spent some time wrestling with a coconut. Finally, he cracked it!

Me, on the beach:

The view from the bungalow:

Flowers and more flowers!

We had dinner that night at El Avion. Their bar is made up of an old C-129 plane that crash landed in Panama years ago. Neat! The air was toasty warm that night.

Even though the sun had set and I couldn't see much more than the heat lightning in the distance, I still had the sensation that the restaurant was perched way up high! After dinner, my eyelids felt heavy. Bedtime always came early for me on this trip. In Costa Rica, the tree frogs don't sleep in.

Discovery.

Jonathan and I woke up a little bit later yesterday morning. We still had a long list of tasks to complete but, our goals for the day were a little different than they had been on Saturday. Yesterday, we began the process of organizing/discovering/preserving objects that have been untouched or simply in storage for years. This cabin has been in the family since the 1930's so there is no shortage of memorabilia. Everything has a story and in many cases it's a story we haven't heard yet. One of my projects was to organize the shelves in the twin bedroom. I found these gems hidden away in between a couple of old books. Note the bag of, "LEE" that appears on the second drawing below. This was one of the many masterpieces I created back in the Summer of 1987. Age 9. I know, I know...please don't be jealous of my artistic prowess. This one is probably only worth $1,000 or so on Ebay so, I decided to keep it. In the end, the animal chewed magazines are now in the garbage and all of our beloved drawings, Dad's toy boats and our children's books now occupy the shelves!

* There is a new theory on why I might have drawn a, "bag of Lee's." Once upon a time there was this brand, Lee. Remember? Perhaps this drawing was a window into my wish list at the time. Jenny, did you have a Lee bag?

The Opening.

This has been a long week...and I only worked 2.5 days of it! I spent a good chunk of time feverishly checking my work email in an effort to catch up on things I missed whilst in Costa Rica. I also prepped for my bro-in-law's arrival for this year's cabin opening, kicked my first kickball of the season, digested the fact that I've worked at JDK for 10 years (gulp), and to my surprise I got to see a not so long lost, friend. Seeing her smile really brightened my day yesterday.

I woke up with tired eyes this morning. I could have slept for another hour or so but, there was work to do. Cleaning! This happens to be my favorite type of work. I arrived at our family's cabin down in Charlotte, VT at around 9:15am. Jonathan and I chatted about what needed to be done over the weekend. He spent most of his day outside-starting with the two trees that fell during the winter. I started in the kitchen with the stove and then moved around the room: scrubbing, washing, drying, sweeping, moping. Three hours later, we had some lunch outside-cajun turkey sandwiches with some crisps. Eventually, I got to move on to the other rooms which all seemed to come together faster than the kitchen. All of a sudden it was dinner time! Where did the day go? I looked around the cabin before dinner. The windows were open and it smelled fresh and clean! I finished making up the last bed and then called it a day. We decided to make blue cheese burgers on the grill for dinner. It was a delicious reward for all of our hard work. We still have lots to do tomorrow but, today was very productive and satisfying. There's nothing better than to see this place come together after it's long winter sleep.

Pura Vida!

Steve and I walked in the door at 4:30AM yesterday morning after a long day of travel. Costa Rica is a beautiful country and home to some amazingly friendly people! I'll be sharing lots of pictures from the road trip sometime soon but, for now...just one. This was one of my favorite beaches in Manual Antonio located just south of Quepos.

TGIF

I've had one focus this week-the Terry Shoot-which was the culmination of about a month's worth of work. Today was our third and final shoot day. I'm tired but, I feel good. Things went smoothly and that's a satisfying feeling. Tonight, I'm going to have a glass of wine with some friends and relish in the fact that I don't have to get up at 5:30AM tomorrow morning. At some point, I'll begin the process of catching up on all the things that were set aside this week while the shoot was in progress. For now, those things can wait.

Grilled Grapefruit Margaritas.

I tried something new this weekend, Grilled Grapefruit Margaritas! This drink requires: 3 cups of fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, 2 cups tequila, 1 cup triple sec and some lemon. Have you ever smelled a sugar coated, grilled grapefruit? Heaven! These drinks were tasty but slightly bland. The grilled fruit was the best part. I'm still thinking about ways to improve upon this very simple recipe. What would add more zing without overpowering the grapefruit flavor? A bit of mint or maybe cinnamon? I'm looking for ideas and I've still got a coupe of grapefruit left to eat up!

Oh, Vermont. You're so pretty and you smell nice too!

Here are a few pictures taken during yesterday's ride through the country! I ended up with a sunburn on my left arm which was hanging out of the sunny side of the car for the entire morning. Oops.

I've got a busy week ahead but, I'll be rewarded handsomely with next week's trip to Costa Rica! The countdown is on. Nine more days...