La Fortuna!

We left Tortuguero this morning and headed away from the Caribbean coast to more of the center...we are now in Fortuna, which is most famous for having a volcano super close by. The volcano´s name is Arenal.

A Dutch woman we met in Tortuguero told us she stayed here for 3 days and never actually saw the volcano. It was covered in clouds. But, our amazing luck continues and we had a beautiful clear view of the volcano as we drove here. And, our hotel (at a special price) has an amazing view of the volcano as well. It is gorgeous! We are going to try to get a picture of it for you here.

We have been exploring the town for a bit...it is a tourist town with every other store selling tours or souvineers or both.

The plan for tomorrow is to pack it full. Possibly, ATV tour in the morning and then a hike near the volcano and/or waterfalls in the afternoon. Guess which one Tom is most excited about??

We will keep you posted.

Also, we did go turtle seeking last night, and we found one. It was a Green Turtle (an endangered species) and she was laying her eggs on the sand. There were about 100 tourists there (more than we had seen the whole time in that village) and it was a bit nutty, but the guides did a fairly good job of keeping things in control so the turtle could have a positive experience. She laid about 100-150 eggs (think Ping Pong balls for shape and size) and then she covered them up. That´s when our guide had us leave so she could have some peace -- although we were the only ones leaving at that time. That beach by late July-ish will have thousands of turtles laying eggs on it. Amazing! (To find her, we did hike a couple of miles each way in the sand -- speed walking in sand kinda sucks!)

So, we get to do laundry tonight. Living large in Fortuna! I think I have convinced Tom to get some ice cream. ;-)

Love you all!

Our canoe adventure!

So, today we went and explored the Tortuguero canals by ourselves.

We (meaning Tom) spotted lots of cool wildlife --- like an igauna, a monkey, lots of birds, and a cayman. I noticed the bright white birds...once I noticed something more subtle.

It was a lot of fun in our canoe. Sometimes, it felt like we were the only people left on earth as we went around these amazing areas. Other times, we could still hear motorboats so we knew the apocolypse hadn´t happened yet. :-)

It truly made us appreciate our guide from yesterday -- our arms are killing us!! 3 hours of rowing is a bit more than our usual routine.

When we returned, we ate our Tico (meaning Costa Rican) breakfast...see below...

Okay, so are not too sure how authentic the fantas are, but the beans and rice (pico gallo) are served with everything. We are at 4 meals running now...

I think we are going to go look at turtles tonight...or try...they may not be there, but we will be!!

Love you all!!

Tortuguero!

We made it to Tortuguero yesterday! It was a 3 hour van ride from Alajuela and then a 40 minute boat ride because there are no roads to Tortuguero. No cars around here...just bikes, lots of walking, and a couple of ATV´s.

Our room is nice as long as the fan is directly on you at all times, but the bed is comfortable enough. From our room, we can see the Caribbean Sea, and the view is amazing! The roosters didn´t start this morning until 5 AM, but we had to wake up around then anyway for our canoe tour.

It was awesome! We saw howler monkeys, spider monkeys, toucans, blue herons, tiger herons, caymens (sp?) and more! One of the spider monkeys was less than 10 feet away as it went foraging for food.

It is absolutely beautiful here. Check out the greenness up above.

We are off to take a nap!
Love you all!

PS The toe is doing great --- strong enough to put on the Keens today!

We are here!

We landed in San Jose this morning at 5:30 AM.

We hailed a taxi to our bed and breakfast where we easily agreed on the first activity of the day -- a nap! After a couple of hours snoozing, we woke to go find the breakfast part of the place. This wonderful lady, Sylvia, was waiting for us in the kitchen. (She was watching the World Cup -- as was everyone else in Costa Rica today!) Sylvia made us a wonderful breakfast with rice and beans as well as eggs and fresh fruit (banana, watermelon, papaya, and pineapple!). From what we have read in the guide books, rice and beans can be a part of every meal and we will be seeing it again!

We then decided to venture into the city of Alajuela and see what could be seen. Armed with a map from the hotel and a vague interest in hunting down the LDS temple in a nearby town, we set off.

It was fun to wander the streets and observe the differences from home, but also the many similarities.

We ended up finding a bus station and jumped on a bus for the town we knew the temple was on. Honestly, that was as far as our planning went...is this adventure or just stupidity?

We met a new friend on the bus, Abraham, a nice Mormon returned missionary who was able to point us in the right direction (and knew of bus transfers we needed to take).

The temple was gorgeous! We got to walk around the grounds -- it was just us and some workers because it is only open Wed-Saturday. It is one of the "little temples."

We then got it in our heads that we could then find Gustavo, a friend of a friend, who works at a major hotel around here. So, off we went -- again, relying on the kindness of new friends, we made our way to the hotel.

Gustavo was fantastic -- he treated us with great kindness and we appreciate him a lot.

We returned to our hotel -- and took another nap until dinner. We went with a fellow traveler who has visited 49 countries. Ahhhh...someday!

And now we blog...we just learned that tomorrow's destination may be blocked by a rained out road. But, I am sure, we will find our way...

PS The toe is feeling fine...

OUCH!

Today is the day!

We leave for our honeymoon in a very short amount of time!

We are super excited!

We have been preparing for weeks!

We have packed our clothes!

We have gotten our shots!

We have booked our hotels!

We have our passports!

We have our ride to the airport!

And I got to spend the morning at the doctor's office!

Wait!! That isn't supposed to be part of the plan...but alas, it happened.

Here's the story --

Many months ago, I bruised the big toe on my right foot under the nail. So, I had a nice dark purple bruise thing going under my toe nail since, well, a long time.

The nail began to separate from the toe over the past few weeks, and this morning, I caught the nail on the sheets causing me to scream in anguish. Pure anguish!

The advice nurse was able to get me an appointment with my doctor this morning (Fantastic surprise, Kaiser!) and off I went.

She chose to remove the nail completely and then informed me that crutches would be needed for the next 2-3 days.

I politely declined stating that by tomorrow afternoon, I plan on hiking through the rainforest and checking out the wildlife.

She then politely informed me that I was wrong.

So, maybe a compromise is in order?

Anyway, I now have some painkillers, an antibiotic, and an anti-inflammatory all packed in my carry-on along with a fresh supply of gauze and antiseptic.

Thank goodness for an Eagle Scout husband!!

And we are off! The adventure has obviously already begun...

Getting Ready To Go!

So getting ready for Costa Rica has been pretty fun so far -- booking hotels, looking at fun things to do once there, talking to people who have been, and a few more things that we have pictures of below.

So Yesterday we went and got some shots. Janell wasn't to pleased to see that I chose to mock her in my photo. But I will admit that after my four shots (including a tetanus) my arms are fairly sore.

The last couple of weeks we have been buying some new clothing that we thought we could use in Costa Rica. Below we show you our modeling skills....

I know I look like I am coming to snatch your children away but I promise I am a harmless overenthusiastic tourist to be. In preparation for our trip and the landscape we are expecting we have decided to turn our backyard into a mini jungle... and by decided I mean haven't mowed in long enough that now we cant even get to the lawn mower.

Thanks to our wonderful friends and family we are feeling more prepared for our Honeymoon. the gifts and gift cards are really coming in handy. Thank you.

Lame!

Okay, so we know we are kind of lame.

We should be posting all of the time, right? So many exciting things to share, right?

Things like we bought a new bed (king size!!) or like how we are planning our honeymoon adventure (Costa Rica - 18 days!) or like how we love each other more now than when we got married on March 6 (Really!!). But, alas, no posts...

Well, don't feel too bad...we haven't done "Thank You" notes yet either.

More soon...promise!