The adventure began at the airport Thursday night. I arrived late, after two buses and a 10 block hike through downtown. Luckily, Mom and Dad's plane touched down a little late, and then it took them awhile to get through customs so neither of us had to wait very long. As I stood outside watching, a man approached, asking, "You need taxi?" I said, "Yes, but later." "Ok. I wait." And he did. When Mom and Dad came through the door, he shooed away the other drivers and escorted us up to the departure parking lot where he called a buddy. Yes, it was a real taxi, a red one with an official number and all, but those aren't supposed to be operating at the airport. His buddy ran a taxi from Alajuela, gave a us a good deal, and we got home safely. Mom loved the Birds of Paradise flowers I gave them when I picked them up, and they lasted the whole week.
Friday morning found us taking a taxi to the Don Carlos to meet the Interbus -- Easy-going, Everywhere. The van was early, yes, early! We piled in, picked up a few others, and headed to LaFortuna and Volcan Arenal.
We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge, which is VERY close to the volcano. It was beautiful, misty, and isolated. The Interbus ride was uneventful until we got to the turn off to the hotel. 8 km of bumpy, pot-holed gravel road had us questioning our choice (We decided Blair would have bailed after the 2nd km), but the hotel made up for it. Hummingbirds, Montezuma birds and many others were everywhere, and they had a waterfall on the property. Saturday was a raft ride down the river, and the Baldi Hot Springs, and Sunday was rain. I was glad the rain started, though it made everything fairly soggy and we couldn't take the morning hike. I wanted to Mom and Dad to see what the rain was like here; they saw and survived!
Sunday afternoon we headed back to San Jose, and they checked into the Don Carlos in the historic Barrio Amon of San Jose. The staff there is fantastic, and spoke excellent English. We booked a tour for the next day, the 3-in-1 Rainforest Adventure, and prepared to get up early again.
7:20 (?) we were on the road again. First stop was the Sarapique River, which we took a tour boat down. We were very thankful for the canopy on the boat, as the sun was nice and strong that day! Next was the Selva Verde Lodge for a "hike" and lunch. The food was excellent, and the hike was alright. We saw a few frogs and such, but they were hard to photograph -- tiny and quick! Last was the Aerial Tram tour, which took us into the upper canopy of the trees, supposedly to see different things. It was beautiful and calm. The tour also included some snake and frog exhibits, which I thought were pretty cool. Dad disagreed. We collected him from the entrance to see the butterfly garden after he chose not to explore the snakes. They had a frog exhibit that show the frogs in various stages of development, from tadpole to frog. We actually saw tadpoles that were still swimming, but had legs. Giftshop, sloth spying, and back on the bus to San Jose.
Tuesday I had to return to work for the rest of the week, but that didn't slow Mom and Dad down. They came to school that morning, and then rested that afternoon. Wednesday and Thursday their tours took them to Volcan Poas and Irazu, Cafe Duka (?) coffee plantation, La Paz waterfall gardens, Orosi and surrounding valley, and Cartago with it's Basilica and ruins. They've seen more of Costa Rica than I have now! Friday I taught for the first two blocks, and then met Mom and Dad at the hotel. Their walking tour of San Jose had gone well, by all accounts, and Mom and I took the bus to Moravia. We shopped, had lunch in the same casita that Jen and I had eaten at in November, and then walked for what seemed like forever before we found the right bus back to San Jose. We made it, had supper and crashed for the night. I won't mention the time. All I'll say is that it was dark.
Saturday was an adventure! We went to the feria (farmers' market) in Guadelupe by bus, and then walked to my apartment. Apparently Dad and I don't agree on what "close" means anymore; I thought my apartment was close, and when we got there on foot, Dad informed me it wasn't. I think that's a first for us! I'm usually the one who doesn't want to walk, or work harder than I have to. Maybe I'm changing?
After that we took a taxi back to the hotel, and then another to the Mercado Central. A warren of little shops and tiny restaurants, it's pretty overwhelming. Dad had been looking forward to it all week, but I don't know if it was what he expected. He was successful in purchasing a couple of t-shirts and towels, and Mom was in awe of the wall of cut flowers. It is pretty massive. Leaving there, we walked down to Universal, which I wanted to show them, and we lost Dad for nearly an hour. He wasn't lost, we lost him. That's his story and he's sticking to it. Mom and I now have even higher blood pressure, and an appreciation for the police who looked for the "mas alto gringo" (very tall white man), and we all made it back to the hotel in one piece. End of story.
Saturday night we went to the Little Theatre Group's production of "Steel Magnolias" which was excellent. The set was well-thought out; where the movie takes place all over the place, the play happens all in the beauty parlour. A semi-thrust stage was used really well in the blocking choices, and the actors were well chosen for the most part. The best part was sharing the experience with Mom and Dad.
Saturday night was also the night for good-bye. Mom and Dad flew out early Sunday, and they thought they could handle the airport themselves, so I arranged for the tour van to pick them up and take them. That was everything, and then we hugged and cried just a little, and I went home to cuddle Cassie. Seeing as how they've made contact since then, I know they made it home safe and sound, even managing a movie during their layover in Phoenix.
Now for some pictures, and logging off before Cassie destroys something other than the newspaper. Why she gets to sleep all day when she wakes me up is beyond me.
