Hotel Mi Tierra Alajuela

... and have a place for you all to come visit. I hope you all saw the beginnings of changes in me when I was home...but my journey has just begun.<br><br>Sorry this first blog is so damned long...I had previously tried to blog at least once a week to keep this from happening, but this time, it could not be helped. Oh, and for the inside story of what went on, you have to go to my facebook for the gory details ; )<br><br>Peace and love always!<br>Pura Vida!

... the life in the crazy party Guanacaste, it was a real treat for me to spend this first night alone and peacefull in my dorm. Which was a great idea as I decided the next day pretty spontaneous to rent a bike to explore the mountains, the lake and river. Run by a swiss couple it was really nice to get to talk to the owners of the bike rental. Franzi and Freddy are a couple who live for over 2 years in Orosi. Especially she seemed to long for someone German speaking to talk ...

... were leaving. They all laid around and did not want to leave the lanai. Once ready to go, at 8:15 a.m. we said goodbye to stripes, smiley and socks, our faithful vacation buddies that kept us company the entire time in Puerto Viejo. We said goodbye to Jose and Susana and then it was time to hit the road to San Jose. The drive took us approximately 200 km through Cahuita to Limon (Highway 36) and then ...

... of the museaum which was gated so we thought it was closed. As it turned out, the other side was indeed open. We explored the circumfrence of the city block and eventually made our way in. There were exihibits of gold, and some naturual history about the development of Costa Rica. We attempted to see the butterfly garden but were unable to locate the access and everyone we spoke to seemed to be unaware of it even though we could see it ...

... of his house. Carlos - a tall, very pleasant, easygoing young man (in his forties - a couple years older than our children). Carlos unlocked the gate to the covered and tiled "garaje" (garage or carport), then the door to apartment #2 itself. Clean, two-bedrooms, somewhat furnished, light, bright. . . and in our price range. THIS WAS IT! "When can we move in?" "When do you want to move in?" "TOMORROW!" "DEAL!"

... cold builds character even if you're a coffee bean. ("Cold" by tropical standards, of course; we're talking something like 65 degrees Farenheit. Brrrr!) Whole bean coffee does keep longer than ground coffee, especially once the bag has been opened, due to the lower surface area to volume ratio. The tour operators, however, still recommend buying ground coffee unless you have a professional-quality grinder because having an even grind is critical. I've been ...

Its the night before I go home and wow has this been an adventure. The last few days in Mal Pais were great. I saw some amazing sunsets, have a nice tan, and read some really good books (thats right plural). For those of you who truly know me know that I don´t read that much, so you must know I was really relaxing and vegging ...

I woke up early to get ready to head out of town. Rachel and Darren both got up to drive me to the airport. When we arrived at the Tamarindo airport we started laughing. It makes Ft. Wayne look like SFO. The airport consisted of one small runway, cows wandering down the side of the runway (luckily we realized they were fenced in) and a small crew of employees. The guy who checked me in for the flight was also the luggage crew ...

... spoke only broken English but was fantastic. He knew exactly what to tell us at every point, and did so with such gusto and enthusiasm. All the staff members there clearly loved their jobs. <br><br>After we successfully navigated through narrow passages, around huge rocks, and over deep holes, we stopped for "high fives" and cheers, putting our oars together in the air. <br><br>One of the guides is on the national team, and said he may get to go the Olympics in China if the sport is ...

... C'est notre dernier message en direct du Costa Rica. Nous essaierons de mettre quelques photos à notre retour. Il y a aussi quelques anecdotes que j'aimerais noter pour ne pas les oublier. Nous serons de retour dans le froid, la slushe et la neige dans la nuit de lundi à mardi. Nous espérons que vous avez apprécier nos récits. À bientôt! Melanie et Yannick (avec une pensée pour Marie-Ève, qui est déjà dans le froid!)