We really didn’t want to leave our first spot in Costa Rica, it was the perfect spot. So in typical (our family) fashion we pushed ourselves a bit on timing–soaking up more beach and more sun until we came to the conclusion that we better hit the road. We were CLEARLY told many times not to drive at night but we thought why not right up until sunset? Only timing never works out so smoothly. With many stops—bathroom, snacks, dinner, mommy meltdown (cough), and a few other incidents we were well on our way to being 2-3 hrs PAST sunset on our drive. Oh well, we thought—we wanted an adventure! Or did we?
The drive to our next spot, Arenal, was windy and longer than we planned. And we enjoyed it right up until we got into the height of the mountains and then all of a sudden—major dense fog. For you Cali folks in my life, picture the road up to Fish Camp near Yosemite National Park PLUS the dense California Valley Fog. Luckily the road was illuminated by reflectors along the middle and the sides…..for a bit….. and then BOOM—they were totally gone. It was like we froze completely. There were a LOT of swear words coming out of my mouth along the lines of “WTF?, we can’t do this, oh SH&&, we are going to die”! We are convinced that in that hour of driving in that condition (luckily it cleared the rest of the way) we lost a good year off of our lives and I will need to get in to my colorist to get the gray out. Sigh. Again, we remind ourselves we wanted adventure. We are just grateful that we lived through this one.
But 4.5 hrs after we left Manuel Antonio, we arrived at our 2nd spot–Hotel Arenal Manoa in Arenal. Home to a beautiful picturesque volcano, rolling hills, warm rain, and lots of sunshine. Again, I won’t bore you with details but rather share in the photo goodness. This leg has been a little bit more relaxation with some fun adventures squeezed in between. And by fun I mean—an amazing and AUTHENTIC horseback ride through some of the most scenic land I have ever laid eyes on that led us to a crazy big waterfall. Mixed in with a rain storm on our way back. Seriously, my girls have been non stop writing in their journals. And on day 2–we enjoyed another resort near us—rock climbing wall, followed by a visit to an animal rescue center, and then a river tubing excursion that should land DYPHUS in our lap when they see the video of our kids plummeting down this river, HAPPILY, by tube IN the rain!
Seriously though, this climate suits me and I am pretty sure I am never coming home.
PURA VIDA!
Bonus Video: No harm came to any children in the making of this video.
If you missed Round 1 of our trip–click here.
We leave today for our last adventure and spot—where we are pretty sure we plan on doing nothing. Wish us luck with that.