Best. Birthday. Ever.
I know a lot of really amazing people, and one of them decided to let me tag along on a relatively spontaneous trip to all-inclusive resort in Costa Rica. I did very little aside from reading, sleeping, swimming, and eating for five straight days, most of it right here:
I'm not sure I even remember the last time I spent one day doing nothing, much less five. This trip was SUCH a gift, on so many levels, and "thank you" (to my friend, AND to God) still feels so inadequate. I came home feeling more deeply rested than I've felt in a really, really long time.
Costa Rica is an incredibly beautiful country - no matter what the weather's doing. We were there towards the beginning of the rainy season, but the weather was ever so kind as to be warm and sunny (if occasionally overcast) for most of the day. Afternoon thunderstorms rolled thru fairly predictably around 4pm (giving us just enough time to shower and change and get ready for dinner). and the weather even contrived to be sunny and pour buckets at the same time one afternoon, producing this fantastic view from the balcony of our suite:
We flew into the airport in San Jose, and our resort was in Playa Conchal, so we rented a car to drive across the country. (We also rented a GPS, which turned out to be totally worth it.) One of the first things I happened to notice in the rental car agency was a very large warning sign posted on the way, which read something to the effect of "DO NOT CROSS RIVERS WITHOUT BRIDGES, OTHERWISE THE DAMAGES WILL BE CHARGED TO YOUR ACCOUNT."
"What on earth would warrant the need for such a sign?" I wondered.
Well... a week later it became evident that "rio" (river) is loosely applied to everything from actual rivers to small rivulets attempting not to look like puddles. I suppose if you needed to get somewhere and the bridge was out, it might be tempting. We did not break the rule. But I may have had a small panic attack on the way back to San Jose when the GPS suddenly warned "EXTREMELY DANGEROUS BRIDGE AHEAD." (Turned out it was not at all dangerous, having just been reconstructed.)
"But I am also somewhat comforted by the fact that a very large truck just crossed that bridge in front of us and nothing happened to it," observed my friend, grinning, as we drove over it.
I admit that these factors probably played into my completely serious belief that this sign along the side of the road up to the resort meant "Brontosaurus Crossing":
No, seriously. Squint one eye and pretend it's dark and raining, and if that doesn't work, cover up its head and think of the tail as a brontosaurus head.
I don't know what these animals were actually called, but they were some sort of raccoon/rat-like creature and they were super-cute. For lack of a better name, they've been tagged as "Not-Brontosauri" in my Facebook photo album.
You can see how one might mistake them for small brontosauri from a distance, tho, can't you?
Did I mention Costa Rica was beautiful?
It also had super-fun squirrels. (I am most excited about having my very own photo of a squirrel to use at crucial moments when wishing to create a diversion. Squirrel! (No, really - squirrel!)
Ruby Slippers, by Jonalyn Fincher
Lean In, by Sheryl Sandberg
Daring Greatly, by Brené Brown
and Beauty, by Robin McKinley
All of which I would HIGHLY recommend.
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