Pura Vida - Happy New Year!

Well, I got back safely from Costa Rica and it was such a great time! I will be posting pics as soon as I can.

We hit up three towns: San Jose, La Fortuna and Tamarindo. All of them with different vibes.

San Jose - The Capitol City. Everyone said not to spend any time in this town so we decided just to get in, get our bearings and stay the night here (since we got in at about 4 pm). We stayed at the Best Western so when the shuttle dropped off the first set of people at the Best Western Irazu, we thought that we were in luck. This one had a Casino attached to it and was walking distance to Denny's (in case we had a late night hankering for Moons Over My Hammy). However, the driver said that we are about 10 minutes from OUR hotel - in downtown! Now, I knew that this hotel was in that area because the website told me so. "Within walking distance to the heart of the shopping district." What I DIDN'T know was that at night, there are special kinds of shoppers out. I'll explain the story more with the pics, but to summarize, if you go to Costa Rica, don't stay in San Jose! It's like flying into California and staying in Ontario for the night, but more run down!

La Fortuna - This town was a Spanish version of Kingsburg! The town shuts down pretty early. Good thing they have a giant volcano right next to it to keep everyone on their toes. It would be as if our Coffee Pot Water Tower were to spew at random times.

Tamarindo - The Pismo Beach of Central America. Laid back and with $2 beers, you can't go wrong! Every pic of the beach is a postcard. It was in this town that I ran into someone from UCLA! Crazy. It's also here where we met the most locals (wait until you hear the story of Rick The Human Horse)!

I wish everyone a very healthy and prosperous 2009. This is going to be a year of big change, but hopefully all in a positive way! More to come later!