A whole new meaning to DARK!

So yesterday I spent some time shopping in Jaco before boarding a bus to Quepos. I had decided after hanging out with the kids from the house the night before that I needed to move on (I might as well have been on a set from the real world! SERIOUSLY!)! Don´t get me wrong, they were all REALLY nice.....but some we barely 18! The night I was there we had all gone out to the bar across the street from our hostel and had fun since it was free drinks for ladies.....but BOY were there a lot of prostitutes! Some of them were letting it ALL hang out! Booty showing from the bottom of the way too short dresses (I have SHIRTS longer than that!) and way to low and loose tops (boobies about to pop out everywhere!)!

Let me back track a little further though....after my last blog I headed to get some sushi at Tsunami Sushi where my book said that they had a buy one get one free special on Tuesday nights....not the case but the sushi was yummy and a nice change of pace! As I was leaving I met these 3 women from Kansas who invited me to go and have some drinks with them and their friends....they were such a hoot! One of the woman was named Jennifer so I thought that was cool that I´d found yet another Jennifer! While we were hanging out one of the women said, "Just so you know we´re all a bunch of lesbos!" I let them know that I was TOTALLY cool with that which led to a really long silly drunken discussion between the women a the table about whether or not they liked the term "lesbo"! After hanging out for awhile I headed back to my hostel since all of the women were heading to bed soon because they had to be up at 5am for a rafting trip.

So, back to my trip to Quepos. I got down to Quepos in about an hour and then hopped on a smaller local bus that drove me to Manuel Antonio when my hotel is located. My new hotel is actually a B&B and is VERY cute and has an AMAZING view of Manuel Antonio park and ocean! My hotel is pretty far from anything so yesterday I hung out and relaxed and enjoyed the view....until about 5:30 when a big storm came in and the power went out! Now this may not seem like a big deal to many of you reading this but the sun starts to set here around 4:30 and my room doesn´t actually have any "real" windows! 2 out of the 4 walls in my room are covered with screened windows and wind was howling through them and everything was blowing around my room! The roof that was covered in plastic siding was blowing up and down and bending backwards and forward and the furniture on the patio near the communal kitchen was being knocked over....that´s when all the lights went out!

Luckily I had brought my headlamp because the only light came from the occasional lightening that lit up the sky! I spent the next three hours making dinner, writing in my journal, and reading.....and JUST as I was about to go to bed the lights came back on! I was pretty happy because even trying to go to sleep was hard since it was pitch black...it helps to have some lights on somewhere.....I guess that´s because I´m SO use to having lights on somewhere!

This mornning I woke up to more rain but luckily is stopped by 8 am and I´ve been able to wander around Manuel Antonio.....I think after this I´m gonna head to the grocery story so I can cook some meals and save some money. :o)

So.....Only 5 more days in Costa Rica! Sometimes it seemed like I had sooooo much time to spend here, now I´m surprised that it´s all gone by so fast and I only have a few days left....BUT, I think I´ll be ready to come home on Tuesday....I miss Greg, my kitties, and my bed! Speaking of kitties....the lady that owns the B&B has 4 cats that we get to play with when we come for breakfast....it makes me happy to have cats around! :o)

In Jaco.....feeling confused! :op

So I made it to Jaco today via a speed boat from Montezuma. It was a cool one hour ride and we even got to see sting rays jumping outta the water and flapping their "wings" (I think I heard once that that has something to do with mating....not sure!). When we got to Jaco I said goodbye to Jenny and headed to Hostel de las Camas.....at first sight it's a pretty cool hippy/surfer/backpacker place....seems a little young for me though! LOL.....what did I expect- I'm in my 30's!!!! The place is cool but I have heard one person say something about bed bugs.....eeeck!!! I think I may only stay here one night....maybe 2 max! I may move on to Quepos/ Manuel Antonio.....who knows! Either way I've heard that I need to at least visit Manuel Antonio.....

Which leads to why I'm so confused! I only have 7 nights left in Costa Rica and there are things I want to see but they are in opposite directions! I would like to see the Manuel Antonio park and Cuidad Quesada (they have mineral hot springs!). I think I'll just head to Manuel Antonio tomorrow and stay there for 2 nights then head the 6 hours (so far!) to Cuidad Quesada and stay there for 2 nights and then head to Alajuela for 2 nights so I can see Volcan Poas....OR I can cut Poasoff the list and stay in Cuidad Quesada for 3 nights.....decisions, decisons! :op

Anyway....I'll keep you posted and let you know where my travels lead me! :o)

Oh yeah, yesterday Jenny and I went to this restaurant named El Sano Banano and we had a really yummy, although expensive dinner. The cool thing was that we got to see a movie with dinner! We saw Taken.....lol......not a great movie to see when you're about to head out on your own for a week in another country!

At night when we went to bed we were woken up at 3am by the sound of stuff rolling onto and off of the roof....almost like rocks or coconuts....THEN things running all over the roof! We still have no idea what it was but it went on for at least a half an hour! At one point I saw something run over the fogged plastic "skylight" in our room....kinda freaky! glad to be out of that hotel anyway! Although cheap there were big ants all over, geckos (cute but not above my bed!), and spiders IN my bed....lol.....hopefully this place doesn't have all those things tonight! :op

¿Mala suerte?

Hello everyone! So yesterday Jenny and I tried to leave Nosara at 7am to come to Montezuma....boy were we in for an adventure! We were outside of our hotel and were waiting at 7 but no bus came! By 8-30 am we found out that the bus had broken down and no one knew when it was coming! We checked local car rental places but none of them had cars because it had been a holiday that weekend and the president of Costa Rica had been in Nicoya so everyone rented all the cars to see him and celebrate! Just our luck! So Jenny and I stood there not knowing what to do....if we wanted to catch the bus we had to wait on the corner for who knows how log for the bus! Luckily there was a private shuttle waiting a few feet away and the couple who had ordered it said they didn´t mind if we hopped in and were dropped off in Nicoya! They were super nice ad wouldn´t even accept any money from us! We got to the bus station JUST as the bus to Paqueras was pulling away (we needed to take that bus to connect to Montezuma). The next bus wasn´t for 2 hours!

We found a taxi driver that was willing to drive us the hour and a half to Paqueras for a resonable price so off we went! Along the way we experienced Costa Rican traffic....about 30-40 cows being herded down the road! Lol! When we got to Paqueras there was a cool parade going on! The parade was made up of the colorfully decorated ox carts Costa Rica is known for! There were SO many of them! Jenny and I hopped out of the taxi and headed for the bus station....but we got lost! We stopped at the police station and they said the bus would pass by their station in a half hour and that we could wait at the station....PERFECT!

Jenny decided to run to the store and bathroom since we had a half an hour to wait.... as soon as she went in the store the bus came- EARLY!!!! I tried to stall the bus but no Jenny..... so the bus left! A min or 2 after it drove away Jenny walked out! LOL....just our luck! ;o) A taxi pulled up and offered to help us catch the bus....no luck, it was long gone!

The taxi driver was a young guy and offered to drive us the hour to Montezuma for $30....we took it! We ended up passing our bus towards the end of the drive so it was nice to know we got there in good time! Our driver, Coco (nickname), helped us find a place to stay.....it´s ok....not nearly as nice as the place we stayed at in Nosara!

After tossing our stuff in the room we headed to the beach and checked out the small town of Montezuma. We ended up having a delicious dinner (I had fish cooked in coconut milk- YUM!) overlooking the water and some DELICIOUS sangria! After all our traveling we ended up turning in pretty early....I swear, it´s the damn sunlight! you can NOT sleep in here!

Today I didn´t set my alarm and woke up at 6 am and SWORE it was hella late so I tried to go back to sleep. After a couple hours I SWORE it was noon.....it was only 8AM!!!! LOL.....Jenny and I decided to go hike up to the waterfall since we were up....what a trek! It wasn´t that it was very far but we had to walk along a river climbing up on slippery rocks and stuff..... we had to go SO slow so we wouldn´t fall.....when we got to the fall it was really pretty and came crashing down from 80 feet up (that´s what my guide book said at least!).

After the waterfall we decided to head to the beach....such an absolutley PERFECT idea! We spent the next 5 hours lounging around, going into the water, reading, and just enjoying the warm breeze and weather of Costa Rica.... I think this was the first time since my trip that I really felt that I was on a chill vacation! Just doing nothing and enjoying the most beautiful view and warm weather in my bathing suit! SO nice! (lol....I would SO insert a happy face here but I can´t find the colon!)

So, now I feel nice and warm and my skin has that sunkissed feel and I get to enjoy a beautiful night with my new friend Jenny! Tonight is her last night here so we´re gonna go get dinner and get some cards and just hang out....should be a cool chill night!

*biggg hugz to all*

See you in about a week!!!! Damn! have I already bee here 2 weeks???

I *LOVE* turtles!!!!!

Yes, it's true....I have a thing for turtles....they are so cute! Maybe it's because you don't see them all that often, but I think they're adorable! Yesterday after a really chill day in Guiones (I'll get to that in a bit) I came back to my room and my roommate said she had met our neighbors from Belgium who have a car and were going to check out the turtles on Ostional beach...and guess what? They had asked us to come along!

So, to back step, earlier that I'd met up with Michon for breakfast and then decided to go to Java Jungle and make some calls and relax with my book and have some refreshing iced tea....which is exactly what I did! I got to talk to my grandparents, greg, my mom, and Robert and Edith (yeah, I made A LOT of calls....but, hey! it's free and there was no one behind me waiting for the phone!) and really get into my book. After hanging out there awhile I figured I should get out of the AC and enjoy the sights, sounds, smell, and weather of Costa Rica so I moved on down the road to the Beach Cafe and had the most DELICIOUS muffin EVER! IT was a oatmeal banana muffin with tons of chocolate chips...YUM! I hung out there people watching and reading and then decided to one up it and move on to the beach to read....lol....no matter where i sat the water seemed to reach me and I was pretty soaked by the time I was ready to leave but the water was refreshing and I'd saved my book and backpack form the waves....can't say the same for my coat I was sitting on! ;o)

On my way home the sky started to turn black and thunder rang through the air threatening to open up a massive downpour on me! Every few minutes the sky would light up with lightening behind the clouds. Just as I got to my hotel the drops began to fall, but nothing like the downpour I'd expected. After meeting the Belgiums (Carolyn and Martin) we ended up having dinner together at the restaurant at our hotel and then we were off driving through the night on the dirt roads to Ostional Beach! We had to cross 3 rivers to get to the beach and stop for one ant eater crossing to get there.

Once we were on the beach the massive amount of small crabs running around and hearig the clacking of their shells was a little eerie and freaked me out since I was wearing flip flops and I didn't want one to run over my feet.....but I had to get over it so I just kept moving! As we walked down the beach we couldn't find any turtles but we saw massive amounts of eggs that had been unearthed by other turtles laying eggs or other animals. We decided to retrace our steps and we saw some turtle tracks....but no turtle sp we continued on. The second set of tracks we found had a turtle at the other end! The turtle had just got there since she was digging her hole for the eggs! Luckily I had my cell phone that has a flashlight option with a a red setting so we were able to watch the turtle through her whole process without disturbing her! It was SO cool to see how much work it took for her to dig her hole and then the massive amount of eggs that came out of her (at least 50!). Once she was done laying her eggs her work wasn't done....she spent a lot of time covering her next and then began the long trek back to the sea. It was so cool to be able to follow along side her and see how she would move forward when the water would roll in and stop when it would roll out....I'll post the pics of this when I get home! It was such an amazing time! I think it's been my favorite thing so far! :o)

Today I got to sleep in for the first time since we got her (I slept till 7:50 am!)....tonight we may go to see a live band in celebration of Guanacaste day (a holiday to celebrate this region). Tomorrow Jenny and I are planning on heading to Montezuma!

One teacher, 2 teacher, 3 teacher, FOUR!!!!

So yesterday Jenn left me to go home at 4 am! At 6:30 am I headed to the airport too to fly to Nosara. At the airport I ran into a guy who teaches science in san jose and another guy named Bill who teaches math in florida. Bill and I were going to the same place so we decided to share a cab when we got there. I was having a little trouble finding a place to stay that was cheap so we were driving all over Nosara. Finally we decided to drop Bill off since he had a place and Bill gave me $20 to pay for the taxi (he only owed $7 since all the extra driving around was to find ME a place but he insisted on me keeping it and wished me good luck....and I DID end up having good luck!). The taxi driver found me a place for $50 a night (a steep climb from the $30 room Jenn and I split!) but it was the best we could find.

Luckily the lady that owns the place was super nice and introduced me to Jenny from the states... Jenny and I decided to have lunch together and we found out that both of us are teachers! She teaches spanish down in san diego! We hit it off so well that we decided to ask Myriam (the lady who owns the place) if we could share a room. She was very happy and said that was why she introduced us, because she thought we'd get along! So now we each only have to pay $30 instead of $50 (they charge a per person fee not a flat rate per room).

The place is def a step up from other places we've stayed. There is a pool here, internet, and the rooms are REALLY nice! They even have bio friendly soap, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower, along with a fridge and coffee pot, and free bottles of water....oh yeah and all the water in the hotel is purified and ready for drinking! sweet!

So Nosara is very pretty and def has an ex patriot feel....tons of americans and the prices to match! There are tons of howler monkeys though that like to start howling at 5 am....but hey, we've got monkeys! Yesterday I spent most of my day hanging out on our patio in a hammock watching it rain....i mean POUR! After the rain stopped I went and found Michon and we hung out before she had to go to class. On my way home I decided to stop and buy a pizza since that had a buy one get one special and i figured I'd have food for a couple days!

After getting my pizzas I started the dangerous walk home....did I mention it rained? well the rain turned the roads into a slippery muddy mess! every step had to be carefully placed and even then i almost fell on my ass a couple times! While I was carefully picking my way along the road something a little smaller than my fist ran across my path....it was dark and all i could tell was it was black and looked hairy....tarantula? who knows! all i know was i was soooo happy to be back in my room!

Today I met up with Michon for breakfast and then happened to run into Jenny as I was walking Michon back to her place. Jenny and I decided to go get some coffee/tea. At the coffee place they have a phone set up to skype and we can call the states for FREE!!!! I think that is SO nice of the owner! You don't even have to buy anything! I think I'll be going there on a daily basis and buying some tea (just so i don't feel bad) and call home!

After our coffee/tea we decided to find the beach! IT was so beautiful! The water wasn't all nice and blue but it was pretty warm and there were tons of "unicorn" shells and crabs (the crabs were creepy when they were crawling all over!). We walked about 3 miles round-trip on the beach and then tried to find our way home a different way.....lol.....it took awhile but we finally found our hotel.....did I mention none of the streets are labeled???

When we got back to the hotel we jumped in the pool....so refreshing....and guess what? we met ANOTHER teacher! LOL.....they seem to be everywhere! ;o) So, that's about it....I'm enjoying my lazy day....just finished hanging out on our patio eating a yummy peanut butter and blackberry jelly sandwich....it's kinda nice not really having any plans. :o)

Speaking of not planning....I'm planning on heading to Montezuma in a couple days and Jenny and I may go together! It's always fun to have someone to travel with and she's pretty cool! We def seem to have a lot to talk about and it's not always about our students or job! ;o) LOL....I told greg that it's funny that my new roommates name is Jennifer....I joked that I traded on Jenn for another! ;o)

Oh yes....last thing.....i have an awful sunburn after all the walking on the beach today since I forgot sunscreen (i know! i know!)....not only is it really red but it's got CRAZY lines! I have the straps of my backpack and my spaghetti strap tank top all burned onto me....the sucky thing is that it's gonna change to a tan and I'm gonna have all these crazy tan lines! Oh well! that's what I get for not putting on sunscreen!

*big hugz*

Jenn leaves tomorrow :o(

Today we made it to Alajuela....had to wake up at 5am....boo!!!!! we had a bunch of rowdy guys down stairs who did not undersatnd about QUITE HOURS!!!! Bummer too because I was REALLY enjoying my bed but they were so loud! BUT, on a good note jenn and I had fun last night eating yummy quesadillas made with the cheese from the tour we went on and fresh avacado and GREAT conversation with 2 people we met from belgium! We ended up chatting away and before we knew it over 4 hours had passed!

This morning was dragging though....the bus ride from Santa Elena to Alajuela seemed to drag on FOREVER....only 4 hours in reality....alajuela leaves something to be desired though....I´d much rather be in the forest/jungle/beach than here....too crowded, SO many cars and it def doesn´t feel as safe as the other places we stayed....I guess it´s just too much of a big city.

The good thing is that we found a really cool taxi driver who is willing to come and pick up jenn at 4 am to take her to the airport and then come back and take me to the airport at 6:30 am so I can fly to nosara....we checked with our hotel too and he´s giving us a fair rate....oh yeah, and he even complimented my spanish....lol....which was really nice to hear....i hate speaking it but it seems that in a pinch i can def get what i need and express myself!

So, as my title says, tomorrow i start off on my adventure alone....i´m really gonna miss having jenn here! it makes it so much easier to know that you have someone with you who knows and understands you and gets to share the moments and memories....the good thing is that I´m meeting up with Michon tomorrow so i won´t really be alone....but she´s in school all day and i have to stay in a place by myself....that´ll be new....i think i will be staying in some dorm style rooms....no more living in the lap of luxury with a private room and bath....lol....

ok....i think dinner calls! *bigg hugz* to all who are taking the time to read my blog!

I love having FREE internet access! :o)

I felt so disconnected the first few days we were here and I couldn´t get in contact with anyone....especially when we were in La Fortuna and I was suppose to meet some burners there but we went there way earlier than I expected and I didn´t have easy internet access so we never got to meet up! :op

Anyway a little update about what we did today (and last night). Last night we went to dinner in the treehouse....a restaurant built around a tree and then headed over to this bar called Amigos! We had a lot of fun people watching....some of them can REALLY dance! We also had fun trying to order drinks! We were trying to be cool in the beginning and saw everyone drinking these drinks called ¨Tropical¨....they looked like wine coolers but we thought we´d give them a try! We ordered it and took it to our seat and thought we were SO costa rican.....and then we tried it! LOL...we found out it was only flavored tea! Our next attempt at getting drinks wasn´t much better! We thought we´d order something easy...vodka and cranberry....not as easy as you´d think! The guy didn´t seem to understand us at all and tried to give us another Tropical! We ended up going with vodka and red bull....no translation needed! Although I must say, those were the WEAKEST drinks I´ve ever had! he barely put one shot in and we know because we saw him measure it out! So that was our exciting night out on the town! Not much happens here it seems! Tonight there is suppose to be some stuff going on but we have to be up at 5 am to catch a ride to san jose so we may stay in....who knows!

SO, today! We woke up at 7 am so we could go to the cloud forest in santa elena and walk the bridges that run through the tree tops....pretty cool! The trail was nice because we didn´t have to really worry about any viper snakes popping out at us like in Tortuguero or HUGE spiders. We were able to see the cloud forests from the ground and high above on the bridges. The cloud forests reminded me a lot of our redwood forests....the trees get most of their water from the mist that surrounds the forest and plants grow on top of each other and there were TONS of ferns!

IN a little while we´re gonna go grab some lunch and head towards Monteverde to go on a cheese tour where we get to see the cheeses made and try them! I wish I could bring some home with me, especially since i know how much greg and i like to try new cheeses and I know he would appriciate it but I have over 2 weeks here and I don´t think it will keep! :op Jenn and I have decided that we will buy LOTS of yummy cheese today and skip going out for dinner and make YUMMY cheese quesadillas! Sounds like a plan to me! :o)

*big hugz to everyone*

ps- hopefully I´ll be able to post pics soon....can´t really download them anywhere! :op

Finally made it and BOY have we seen A LOT!

Today is sunday and Jenn and I have been here in Costa Rica for 5 days....and BOY have we gotten around! We landed in San Jose on Wed at 5.30 AM and decided to head straight for Tortuguero Village so we headed to the bus station where we got on a bus that took us to Cariari. In Cariari we hopped on another bus to Pavona where we ended up getting stuck on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere! Our bus driver left us with the bus running and came back 20 min later with some bolts and a wrench and fixed the bus! We finally made it to Pavona and hopped on a boat that took us the hour and half ride to Tortuguero Village. WE were a little confused when we were left off but with some help of some locals and a guy who spoke on our boat who spoke spanish we were able to make our way to the other side of the island and find our hotel. We stayed at a cute place named Miss Miriams and we had a deck that looked out on to the Caribbean! All we´d had to eat all day was an empenada I´d grabbed at the bus station so we were starving so we went and ate at the Buddah Lounge along a canal....we ordered a shrip pizza....lol....i KNOW! SO costa rican, huh? We were so hungry we DEVOURED the whole thing! We went back to our room and were ready to crash out but were shocked to realize that it was only 8 pm! I guess with all the travelling and the lack of sleep on the plane the night before we were exhausted!

Day 2

We decided to check out the island and find a cool place to eat....we wandered around just missing all the downpours when we found a place called La Casona. Jenn and I shared a plate of fresh cut fruit and eggs with toast and headed out. After meeting 2 girls from England we had decided that along with the turtle watching tour we wanted to go on the canoe tour and catch a direct shuttle from Tortuguero Village to La Fortuna (a 4 hour trip instead of a 12 hour trip if we took public transportation). That night we got to see a green turtle laying eggs.... it was pretty cool to see the golf ball like eggs falling out of the turtle! We also got to see her covering the eggs with her back legs! The tour itself wasn´t what we had expected. We thought that we´d get to sit and watch the whole process with our group of about 10 but it turns our ALL the groups went to watch the SAME turtle and we had to take turns....it was DEF cool but not what we expected...BUT at least we got to see a turtle...the groups that went after us didn´t get to see the turtle laying eggs because her nest washed away so she went back to the sea.

Day 3


Jenn and I woke up at 5am so that we could go on our canoe tour before we headed to La Fortuna. We had heard it would rain but we had NO IDEA!!!! When the rain started we decided to just enjoy it and not put on our panchos....no big deal....the tour continued on and we saw LOTS of birds, iguanas, an Jesus Christ lizard(because it can run on water!), a sloth (it was waaaaay up in the tree....all I saw was a dot!), some howler monkeys and a white faced monkeys, and a fresh water turtle. Our guide pulled it out of the water so we could hold it! We didn´t see as much as the other tours though because of all the rain....yes, the RAIN! It continued to come down all through the tour but at the end it was coming down like a SHOWER....a REAL shower! I coulda been standing in a shower if I closed my eyes! There was also thunder and lightening which was VERY cool! On the way back to Tortuguero Village the rain was coming down so hard that EVERYONE was ready to be out of the rain! The roads in Tortuguero were so flooded there were rivers that went up to my ankles! When we got back to our room I was wringing out cups and CUPS of water from my clothes!

After showering and getting dry clothes on and packing our stuff Jenn and I grabbed some breakfast and headed to the docks to catch our boat to head to La Fortuna. In La Fortuna we found out that EVERYONE was there and finding a room was difficult. We ended up sharing a room with the 2 girls from England and hanging out with them that night.

Day 4

We woke up to find out that the hotel we were staying at was shady and wasn´t being honest (she had said we could get 2 rooms on saturday but then said they were booked and acted like she couldn´t understand me) so we all moved to the hotel next door which was much nicer! I decided that it would be a great idea to wash some of my clothes in the sink. As i was wringing my clothes out and pressing them into the side of the sink to get the excess water out the whole SINK FELL OFF the wall!!!! OMG!!!! I was laughing so hard and yelling for Jenn to come help me...who woulda known it was just hung on the wall! We ended up getting it back on the wall but I was afraid to touch it again!

Later that afternoon Jenn and our English friends headed out to see Volcan Arenal and Baldi hot springs....the trip to volcan arenal was wet, wet, WET....and i was equally as wet! We hiked to a waterfall which was cool and tried to see Volcan Arenal but there were too many clouds so we couldn´t see the volcano OR the lava running down it! After all the rain and mud we were all very happy to go to Baldi hot springs where we could get warm and wash away all the mud. There were 25 pools and one of them had 3 slides....they were REALLY fast and fun! The only bad thing about the hot springs was that we had to put back on our cold wet clothes!

Day 5

Today Jenn and I are in Santa Elena, next to Monteverde cloud forest....we had to take a shuttle from our hotel to a lake, a boat across the lake, and a shuttle to get here....we´re gonna go grab some food and check things out...hopefully we´ll be able to go to a bar to see some night life tonight! I´ll try to updae more frequently!

hugz

And the waiting begins!

waiting for my adventure to start! My bags are all packed and sitting by the door. Now I'm just waiting for my traveling buddy, Jenn (Nnej) to come and pick me up.....then we'll do some more waiting at her place (I'll print my flight info and some info I need for the trip....like how to get to Tortuguero Village! It requires a 4 hour bus ride and then a 1 1/2 boat ride to get there!) and then Greg will come and pick us up. He'll drop us off at the airport and we'll wait the 2 hours for our flight to Denver....THEN, yep! you guessed it! We'll wait for our connecting flight to San Jose, Costa Rica! We land at 5:30 AM!!!! Crazy!!!!

waiting

waiting

waiting.....

but it's nice....it actually give me some time to relax and get excited! :o)

Thanks for everyone that's been checking in on my blog! I added a counter and am surprised (and excited) about all the hits so far! :o)

*hugz*

Just about ready!

Well….I think I’m done packing! I always feel like I’m forgetting something but I guess as long as I have my passport, ticket, and credit card I should be just fine! BUT, as you can see from my pics I have a whole lot more than that! ;o)

I have to say that I’m pretty proud of myself for fitting three weeks worth of stuff in that backpack (thanks James for letting me borrow it!) I think you guys would be surprised to know that not only did I fit all of my clothes and shoes (boots, sandals, and flipflops) but I also fit my pillow! I LOVE my pillow and can’t go anywhere without it! I was gonna try and go to Costa Rica without it but I HATE when you don’t get a good night sleep because the pillow sucked!

After Greg got home from work we went on a date! :o) He took me to our favorite local sushi place, semo sushi! We ordered waaaaaay too much sushi but we enjoyed every bite! We cam home and Margaret Cho’s newest comedy show was on TV so we watched a little bit of that along with our favorite show- Weeds! :o)

We’re off to bed now….Greg gave me a quick tutorial on how to use the satellite phone he got me for the trip…..i didn’t think I would need it but since I am gonna be traveling alone for some of the trip it’s probably a good idea! Alrighty….off to bed….one last night of snuggling down in my awesome bed with my amazing boyfriend and adorable kitties! :o)

I think this pic pretty much sums it all up....my laptop open to this site, my clothes piled up that I need to pack, my travel book opened to some random page in my "Let's Go Costa Rica" book, and Beso flopped out in the middle of it all! :o)

still getting ready....

and i'm looking at my kitties lounging around and i'm gonna REALLY miss them! I know it's weird but it's true....they are so fricken adorable and I'm not gonna see them for 3 whole weeks....i'm gonna miss greg too....i know i'm gonna have an AMAZING time but i really enjoy the kisses greg gives me every morning and the kitties that are curled up next to me when i wake up....

but i guess waking up to howler monkeys and seeing sea turtles laying eggs will be enough to keep me from getting too homesick! lol....for someone who likes to travel I sure am a sap! :op

Getting ready....well sorta! ;o)

So i'm sitting in my room, looking around and thinking that I should probably start getting ready to go on my trip....I mean i DO leave in 3 days!!! BUT the procrastinator in me is doing everything else BUT packing....lol....for god sake i'm making a blog!

Soooooo.....what HAVE I done to prep for my trip?

• I visited Kaiser last week and got all kinds of shots (Hep A and B along with typhoid) and lots of medicines including malaria pills.
• I've bought all kids of things I needed and didn't have or just wanted more of: new boots, mosquito net, pants, tank tops, bathing suits, rain poncho, bug repellant for ME and my clothes
• Done laundry
• Notified my bank that I'm gonna be out of the country
  

Now that I'm writing it down it sure doesn't seem like a lot....soooo, what do i still have to do (why do I have a feeling this is gonna be a long list?):

• Pack (seems like a small thing but will take up a lot of time)
• print out tickets
• clean room (I HATE coming back to a messy place after traveling!)

Ok....i KNOW there has to be more but right now that seems like that's all.....ok.....more later....gotta get ready to go to a BBQ at Matt's mom's house and then off to a beach party INSIDE a warehouse....there's sand AND a few pools!!! crazy!!!!

*hugz*