Costa Rica Trip 2012

COSTA RICA TRIP

Hello everyone! A couple of weeks ago I went back to Costa Rica to visit family and friends. I hadn’t been back since 2005, and OMG, the changes in those 7 years!

To mention just a few: cleaner air (newer and better buses!), tons of new construction and businesses, and an impressive system of new and improved highways. This latter impressed me so much I actually got behind the wheel of a car after 13 years of abstinence. What can I say, after driving in Dallas and Atlanta and up and down the U.S. in a big rig, I don’t know why I was afraid to before. I had a blast!

Even though I visited for only 4 days, I was able to cram all sorts of activities into this short time. Who needs sleep, right?

I spent lots of time with family. Stayed at my brother Ricky’s house and got reacquainted with nieces and nephews and even a great-nephew whose a cutie pie! 

Brother Ricky and me

 Flory, one of my best friends, picked me up Friday afternoon. She has a small business and had some errands to run, so we figured we’d catch up on the go. Ha! It ended up being a 4-hour Central Valley tour (I lost count of how many cities we went through!) that was incredible. It allowed me to see just how much the country has changed since I moved to the U.S.



High school classmates

 Saturday evening I had a high-school class get together with lots of good conversation, music and  food.                            



Ana Lucia and me

 Sunday was a crazy day. Had lunch at Los Anonos, one of my favorite restaurants ever! Going there has been a family tradition for over 45 years. And we always order the same dish! 

                                           
                                                                   



My brother dropped me off later at one of my sister-in-law’s home and spent the afternoon visiting more family.

The evening I spent with my Stepmom and my other brothers and sister. We had some BBQ ribs. I really enjoyed my time with them. It’s never enough! Funny how everything revolves around food, right? I swear I didn’t stop eating from the moment I landed.                                                        

Monday, my last day, we went to Puntarenas for some beach and food. Stopped at Puerto Caldera on the way and got my feet wet.                     

             And we couldn’t leave without having one of our famous “granizados”, kind of like a snow cone on steroids, at the “Paseo de los Turistas”, the Tourist Walk.

                                                                                                                 

Would you believe that what little shopping I did, mostly for food again, was late Monday evening? I got back home Tuesday needing a vacation from my time off! Talk about time management.

How about you? Where have you traveled lately? Where are you planning to go next? Would love to hear from you.