Costa Rica…the first few days

Well, well, well….we’ve been back for a little under a week now and it already feels like our trip to visit Kev was ages ago! As you already know, Jame and I went to CR for a couple of weeks and damn was it ever a good vacation!!! We saw a lot, did a lot, but it didn’t feel exhausting at all. To be honest, I don’t think I have had a vacation that relaxing in a while. :-)

We flew out of Seattle and had a 6 hour layover in Denver. Our plan was to have some eats and drinks and get some Kev some Crown Royal at the duty free. We were thinking about packing it, but figured the duty free would be the safest bet since we didn’t want to risk having a bottle of booze break in our suitcase. Crown is one of Kev’s favourite alcoholic bevies and he requested we bring him a couple of bottles down in exchange for staying at his place. You can get Crown in CR, but it is quite expensive compared to here. DONE! Or so we thought…..

Upon arriving at the Denver airport and walking around a bit to kill time, we decided to hit up the duty free. We grabbed four bottles and made our way to the counter. Like all airport duty free shops, the cashier asked for our boarding pass. No problem…..so we thought……

Since our flight to San Jose was a red-eye and the store closed at 8:30, it was impossible to buy the booze. Jame and I were totally perplexed by this as in the past we’ve purchased booze, left the store with it, and got on the plane with it. We had done that in multiple countries. Well, in Denver someone from the duty free has to hand deliver your booze to you minutes before you board the plane. Maybe this is an American thing only?!?! Anyway…it was all news to us. Do you know anything about it???

Since the cashier closed the store at 8:30, that meant no one would be around to delivery us the Crown for our 12:10 am flight. We begged and pleaded for the cashier to make an exception for us, but she said she’d get fired if she did. We personally talked to the airline to see if they could store the bottles for us before we boarded. To no avail. Then we tried asking customs if it could happen. Nope! As a last resort we went back to the duty free store and offered to pay the lady to stay until our flight. She felt really bad, but said she had had such a long day that not even a million bucks would make her stay. Damn! We were sooooooo bummed out about the whole thing, we instantly called Kevin to fill him in. He said we would still come, but would have to sleep on the patio. Hahaahhahaha!

After all of that it seemed to take forever for 12:10am to come, but it eventually did. The flight was about 5 hours and we arrived in San Jose bright and early. Kev was there to pick us up, then we drove to his apartment, dropped off our things and went for some breaky. My first impressions of the area Kev lives in were: 1) There are a lot of nice home furnishing stores in his neighbourhood 2) People in CR like to run, they were everywhere  3) Every home, apartment building etc has a security guard stationed out front 4) Escazu, where he lives, is super super nice and nothing like I had envisioned and, 5) His pad ROCKS!

After some delicious coffee and traditional breakfast we went back to his apartment. He had to go to work for the day, so Jamie and I napped and hung out by the pool. Take a look at Kev’s place:

**He has the biggest balcony in the complex and this is his view..pool and all!!**

When Kev got home from work we went out for a delicious sushi dinner and then to a local bar for some drinks. It was there I had the BEST pina colada EVER!! Yummy! Needless to say while the guys drank Imperial beer most of the trip and drank coladas the whole time!!

The next morning we got up bright and early and headed to Playa Negra, which is about 4 hours away from San Jose. Kev had rented out our very own beach house for the next few days and it was AWESOME! The beach is frequented by surfers who were always taking advantage of the big waves. The guys tried some surfing too in a smaller break, but it was still pretty rough. I attempted it for a brief millisecond, but then got a bit freaked out. I have a phobia of oceans and drowning, and since the waves were pretty rough I chickened out pretty quickly!

From Sunday to Thursday all we did was chill in our hammocks, read, drink, chill some more, have a siesta, swim/surf and repeat. It was sooooo wonderful…the epitome of relaxation. The area was so quiet it was like we had the whole beach to ourselves!

I loved basking in the sunshine, but I also loved it when the sun went down because all we did was hung out on the balcony in the pitch dark with drinks in hand chatting and listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Looking at and listening to the ocean morning, noon, and night is pretty sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here’s what I’m talking about:

 

**When you’ve been staring into the darkness for hours and then the only girl wants a picture to document the moment, the flash is a lil’ bright**
**Littlest gecko ever!!!**

This guy is Bob. He is originally from Portland and has been living in CR for five years. He makes his living taking pictures of surfers/tourists. He hangs out at the beach for a few hours, snaps some pix, posts them on this site at the end of the day, and sells them. I could handle that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was using a 600mm lens and I was totally drooling over it! Bob and I were chatting for a bit while the guys were surfing. It was kind of funny because when they got out Kev said to me “Most chicks would chat up the surfers, but you’re chatting up the photographer.” Hahahhahhaha!!
 

Jame and I went to Tamarindo one afternoon. It’s about 25 minutes down a VERY bumpy, dirt road. We just wanted to check it out. It seems like a super cool party town, but it’s very Americanized. These are just a few shots from our way there:

 

Ok, now back to Playa Negra:
**Poor pooches! They were everywhere and it was sooooooo hot!!!**
**This girl was like a cocker spaniel/retriever cross. She befriended me. She was so sweet :-)**
 
**Part of the beach was all mini shells instead of sand**
**Black sand, hence the name of the beach**

By the time Thursday came around it was hard to pack up and leave! Our first few days in Costa Rica definitely did not disappoint. The weather was fantastic and our only worry in the world was to remember to reapply sunscreen! What a great place!!!!!!!

It was a LONG drive home because of construction here, there, and sometimes everywhere. Here are a couple of more shots I snapped on the drive home:

 
**Friendship bridge……how fitting :-)**

….to be cont’d