Costa Rica: Arenal to Tamarindo

Beautifully clear view of Arenal Volcano

 Arenal volcano was stupendous this morning. Somehow during the night, it forgot to rain and instead, showcased the volcano in full, bathed in bright hazy sunshine. Not being daft, I hastened to dress and almost sprinted down to breakfast to make sure that we got one good shot. Experience has already taught us that if you wait five minutes, the weather may change. Scowling children pretended to smile, while I happily snapped pictures anyway. With luck, one might actually look human.

It was also the last morning of our wonderful family room. Our maid had left us lovely towel animals and we will miss her. I am also going to miss the amazing omlettes made fresh by the chefs...but I ought to do something else or my clothes won't fit. After breakfast, suitcases were stuffed into the wee car, and off we twisted for the last time. We headed out around the lake towards Liberia.

German Bakery

 Brilliant sunshine left the views crystal clear as the sun sparkled off the lake. The grass was lush and the egrets posed contentedly with the cattle as we cruised by. I would have to say that if I was backpacking, I would definitely include a stay at Toad Hall. Their optimism and signage made me laugh and for $15 a night, I would check out their "free advice " and "free beer, some days" along with their trip advisor award. Since I am not backpacking, we sped by and stopped at the German Bakery instead. Here, freshly baked sunflower bread was procured, along with German chocolate muffins, chocolate croissants and snapple iced tea. This meant we had sandwiches for the road.

We had to laugh

The entire trip was only 238km but it took 6 hours due to incredible slow moving trucks around the lake and construction. Obviously, they take advantage of the dry season to inconvenience tourists just like everywhere else. Lol. Once into the dry side of the mountain, the temperature hit 36 degrees. We didn't stop again though. Along the way, we saw the drive through dessert for mcdonalds, police aircraft and lots of interesting villages.

Last view of Arenal

Road side dryness

Insanity traffic in Liberia

Tamarindo El Diria Resort

Now, we are Tamarindo. On first glance, we are in a surfer town with lots of tourists. The beach is bustling with vendors and locals, while tourists crowd the bars, boats and beach. Once checked in, the kids hit the child friendly pool, while I relaxed in the sun. We are in a simple hotel room so, hopefully, the weather will be nice enough to be outside. I did sneak away to watch the sunset, and then opted to cruise for dinner. I am so tired of sandwiches of the peanut butter variety today. I have made loads from that wonderful bread.  After trolling the streets, we ended up at a wee Italian place up from the beachfront. Little Italy made yummy pizza for our cheapest dinner yet, plus next door was Gelato. Wandering the streets on the way back, we stumbled into a former Fort McMurray resident and now have messages to deliver back home. What are the odds of that?

Notes to those traveling with children. Do eat pizza and have ice cream. Do not allow admission to gift shops without a cursory glance. Male anatomically correct body parts for corkscrews...ummm....thankfully my daughter assumed it was a whistle. Also, there is open drug use here as you'd expect in hippyland. Explaining the smells should prove interesting over the next couple of days...it sure is one way to get an education. This is also a much younger crowd here, compared to where we have been. Let the beach fun begin.

Guanacaste on Dwellable

Dive Bombed by Dragonflies: Me and my Specialized Bike

The road trip is over for this year. I have managed to shuffle back to my desk at work, and slip slowly back into routine. Except for one thing...

I am back in the saddle, with my very belated birthday present bike. To understand, I should tell you that I had a birthday last year...almost a year ago. For my birthday, my oldest daughter handed me a drawing of me riding a bicycle through the trees. The idea behind the drawing was that I should go choose a bike from the shops. But there was a problem with that in my mind. After looking at bikes, I had chosen one that was out of stock and then the store that carried it was going out of business. Then, I looked at the price tag and thought "NO!" I spent the funds on dance lessons, swim club, pottery and other child related stuff. I just couldn't justify spending money on a bike - with the clincher being that we were heading into the long months of our northern winter. No bike for me.

Now, I also know that I disappointed people with that decision as they really had tried to do something for me that I had wanted for about three years. My other bike had been a tank, it was impossible to pedal and very unpleasant to ride. It was a $30 garage sale special and that is the only good point about it. I eventually got so fed up that I tossed it out.

So, early in July, a new bike sports shop opening up in our community. They were doing a demonstration on Specialized bikes. This was perfect as I was already being inspired by the Tour de France and was really wanting to get back on the trails. There was also a rumor of sale. Fortunately, I already had my tax return back and it was enough...to think about a little bike.

My criteria:

Inexpensive: $200ish
Light
Easy to pedal
Comfortable
Fun
Pretty color

Umm...yep...pretty color...

I tried a couple of bikes to test drive down the back lane and hated them. If I was going to buy a bike, I wanted to love it. LOVE IT.... Add into this experience, the fellow running this new store was the same fellow that has watched me come and go into the defunct store over the past three years eyeing up bikes and then walking away. He also noticed I had my birthday present picture in my hand and was willing to humor me by test driving bikes. But, he got sneaky. He asked my my opinion and I frankly said that they were wrong and could he remember the one I really liked before? He went prowling and brought me three similar bikes as they didn't have the one I liked, but they were all wrong too. Then, he brought me a bike that I had passed over due to sticker shock. I always start at the cheapest bike - see criteria number one.

Try this.

 Ok. He had the staff explain the specs. http://www.specialized.com/ca/en/bikes/mountain/jett/jett#specs

Those went in one ear and out the other. I spent exactly 5 minutes riding this bike and I had to have it.  I didn't even look at the price tag as I walked up to the till. I handed over my credit card and just said "Don't tell me how much, just do it." I closed my eyes and signed the paperwork and walked out with my bike. My Special Specialize Bike. Who knew?

Since coming home, I have been out almost everyday riding my bike. Sometimes, I take the girls through the trails or on mornings like this one, I headed out on my own for two hours to see where the trails go. http://www.woodbuffalo.ab.ca/Assets/Departments/Community+Services/Parks/PDF/Birchwood+Trails+Map.pdf for the map. I don't actually follow the map, I just go where I please and hope I don't run into a bear. In fact, today I turned around as I thought I was getting too far along the electric power lines.

As I was riding today, I had the wind blowing a coolish breeze to offset the sunshine. I had hills to climb and then race downhill. I hit all the small neighbourhoods in Timberlea and loved it. I was dive bombed by dragonflies and even had one fly down my shirt at one point. The mosquitos couldn't keep up and the trails were clear. The point of this is that I LOVE MY BIKE.

Thank you for the belated present to my family. I guess they do listen to what I want sometimes afterall...It fits all the criteria except the first one...but you get what you pay for...GRIN.


(For my next birthday: please could I have a water bottle holder, kick stand, bike lock, and grocery transportation device? Anyone? Lol)