Shannon and Wes

For the fourth of July we went to the Snyder’s for the long weekend.  On the third, we went tubing on the James River- a fun if not long trip.  On the fourth, we went to Ash Lawn-Highland, home of James Madison.  They had colonial games that we watched while having a picnic lunch, then we went on a tour of the house.  That evening, we went to the house of Joe’s co-worker for a cook-out and an amazing fireworks show- the guy has a tradition of putting on an hour-long show!  On the fifth, we went to the gun club because Wes had been wanting to try out shooting.  He was a natural (Shannon not so much).  Although Wes ended the day by taking a scope to the eyebrow from the rifle’s recoil, he still had a good time and wants to try it again.

When we were in the pool around noon, a family of monkeys suddenly came over to the trees right next to the pool.  They came from over the roof to eat fruit from the trees.  There were probably a dozen of them hopping around, and there seemed to be monkeys of all different ages.  They really weren’t scared of people, but they didn’t try to get food from anyone either- a testament to the success of the “top ten reasons not to feed the monkeys” handout they give you when you check in. 

There was also a sloth hanging around in the trees, which the monkeys briefly decided to bother.

This was a beach day spent relaxing at the resort.  We went down to the beach (visible from our room).  The ocean was a little rough after all the storms, but it was warm, so we played in the water, riding the waves.  Then we went up to the pool for some lunch and to rinse the salt water off.  On the deck of the pool, we saw a few of the Jesus Christ lizards- they can walk on water!

We traveled from our first hotel near La Fortuna to our second one in Manuel Antonio, on the Pacific Coast.  As we were checking out of our first hotel, they asked us where we were going, and when we told them, they made a comment about some bad weather and wished us the best of luck.

When we arrived in Manuel Antonio, we couldn’t drive to the hotel because roads were blocked by down trees, power lines, and work crews.  Turns out, there was a hurricane and an earthquake a couple of days before.  We ended up walking down to the resort and our bags caught up with us later when the roads were cleared of trucks.  The resort was running on generator power the whole time we were there. The resort is on a steep hill overlooking the ocean, so they took us by golf cart from the reception area to our suite.  It rained most of the afternoon, which was a little depressing, but after that we didn’t see any more rain during our stay in Costa Rica.

In the morning, we enjoyed sitting by the pool and looking out at Volcano Arenal since it was a clear morning.  It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the volcano was erupting.  We could see puffs of gray smoke coming out from the top.

We went white water rafting on class 2 and 3 rapids.  It was so much fun!  We had a great guide on our boat that made the trip very enjoyable.  About halfway down the river, we stopped for a much-needed snack.  The guides took one of the 4 boats from our group and turned it upside down on the beach and used it as a cutting board to cut up about 4 pineapples, 4 watermelons, and a bunch of mangoes.  It was some of the juiciest fruit we’ve ever eaten- juice was dripping down our faces and arms!  Then it started pouring rain, so it washed it all away.  We even learned that you can skip watermelon rind across the water like a stone.

At the end of the trip, we went to the home of the owner of the company for a late lunch- beef stew, chicken stew, beans and rice, and fresh papaya juice.  The people were always so welcoming and friendly wherever we went!

In the afternoon, we went on a hike.  Since we went during the rainy season (which we didn’t know before we went), it rained most afternoons.  So our hike through the rainforest was in the rain.  We didn’t see as much wildlife as a result, but we managed to see a toucan and a poisonous snake (we didn’t get a good picture of the snake because it was too dark and we couldn’t use flash because he’d strike).  We also heard some howler monkeys.

After the hike, we went to Tabacon Hot Springs and Resort to go in the hot springs and then have dinner.  We arrived around sunset, so it was a little surreal walking around the grounds (they were somewhat lit, but pretty dark still).  There were about 8 different pools fed by the hot springs, each a different temperature.  There was lightening in the distance, but no one seemed to try to observe the rule of staying out of the water during a lightening storm, so we stayed in for a while but then got out and got ready for a buffet dinner.