Teaser!

So I know I haven't updated in a while... but this whole TEFL business doesn't leave a lot of free time and what free time I do have I've spent traveling! Which often means no laptop and spotty internet access.  I'm still working on an actual post (or 5) but here are some pics til then!

sorry these are scrambled I promise a beautiful organized post complete with words will be appearing soon! (I'm adapting to Tico time here!)

Pura Vida!

We made it Costa Rica!  After a looooong day of traveling (3am until 10:30pm) we arrived at our beautiful hotel in Quepos.  We had a stop over in San Jose, where we went to our school and got a tour.  We were able to store our bigger bags there (and also decided we brought way too much stuff!) and got to hang out for a while until we needed to go to the bus station.  Upon arrival at the bus station we learned that the 6pm bus (that we were planning on) was already full and we would be waiting an hour an a half for the 7:30 bus.  It was mildly nerve racking sitting in the bus station with all of our stuff, not really knowing the procedures there (the bathroom costs 100 colones by the way) but not wanting to make the already seemingly angry ticket lady any more so with any questions.  So we sat there and waited, surrounded by a couple dogs and many strangers, all of whom spoke spanish and many of whom were yelling loudly.  This was alarming at first, until we realized that what they were yelling at was the tv, which had a soccer game on it :)

The hotel reception desk

Pool area and restaurant

Soon our bus arrived and we boarded, proceeded to sit in the wrong seats not realizing they were assigned, and eventually found our correct ones in the very back, seated very cozily between some friendly Costa Ricans.  The ride was definitely a trip.  I can only compare the ride to the Knight Bus in Harry Potter 3.  This man drove with conviction.  He maneuvered that huge bus through the tiny streets of San Jose like there was no tomorrow, and when we got on the highway he couldn't seem to go fast enough.  I'll just say I was glad to be inside the bus and not driving in front of it, the driver took tailgating to a new extreme!

Never the less, we made it to Quepos safe and sound, and then on to our hotel, where we were luckily greeted very graciously despite the late hour and shown right to our rooms.  I was over the moon to see that right outside our door was our very own hammock!  I could tell I was going to like it here :)

lounging in the hammock :)

The next day we slept in given it had been almost 36 hours without sleep, and then ventured out to see the hotel.  We learned that there was a nature trail right from the hotel and decided to go for a hike.  As we approached the trail, right off the bat we saw a huge hanging bridge. We were blown away!   To top it off, right as we started to cross the bridge we saw a 3 foot iguana in the tree about 10 feet away from us!  So far so good!






Walking through the jungle here feels like Jurassic Park, the leaves are so huge they could serve as umbrellas, there's vines and huge roots everywhere, and it's hard to believe it all real and not something in Disneyland or something!  We definitely think we found where some of the inspiration for the Jungle Cruise ride comes from!  As we made our way around the trail we kept our eyes out for any animals, especially monkeys.  We turned at every sound and questioned each squeak.  Was it a bird? A Monkey? A mysterious jungle being? 

We played this game for a while until finally we saw them.  Monkeys.  Lots of monkeys.  Hanging, jumping, practically flying through the trees!  We probably stood there and watched them for a good 20 minutes. Then we moved on. And up.  After a few questionable bridge crossings on the trail, we made our way up to the lookout tower. 




It was bit treacherous and extremely muddy making our way up the hill, but when we got to the top we realized it was well worth the effort.  It was absolutely breathtaking up there, we were above the tree tops and could see the jungle all around us, mist covered mountain tops and tremendous trees!

 Beautiful Costa Rican Jungle!!!

the steps down from the lookout platform

We stayed up there for a while, taking in the scenery until we decided it was probably getting dark soon and we should head back.  We hiked the rest of the trail loop a little more briskly than the first half, and made it back just to the hotel just as the sun set.  After a swim in the pool and dinner at the hotel restaurant we called it a night.  It was a wonderful day in Costa Rica!

Tick Tock...

As our trip is getting closer, I have been doing a lot of "we should do that sometime" things.  You know, things I've been meaning to do but never find the time for, spontaneous adventures, and checking things off my (massive) to-do list. Here's a compilation of mini posts about those things.

The Magical Mystery Tour

We started off our  travels in September with a family trip to New Mexico, where my parents both grew up.  We got to go for a week and spent time in Albuquerque, Taos, Red River and Santa Fe.

Fishing in Red River was a definite highlight of the trip, I don't think I've been fishing since I was a kid in Florida!  It was also amazing to see Zozobra, a 50ft tall puppet they set on fire during Fiestas every year to symbolize geting rid of your "glooms." More about Zozobra here :)

My parents always told me about it, and growing up my Dad even used to make mini zozobras in our backyard :) but seeing the real thing was awesome, even if it was "nothing like it used to be" according to my father who missed being able to go party in the plaza afterward!  It was also great to see some of my parents friends (hey Mush and Karen!), places where they used to live, work etc, and spend time with my parents before we take off for who knows how long!  Their reminiscing about how different things are now made me think though, how long will it be before I look at Scottsdale that way? Probably sooner than I think...


 Roadtrip!

Spooky cafe in La Jolla

Tower of Terror!

 Remember those spontaneous adventures I was talking about? My friend Chelsea Jo and I decided to have one.  Our friend Sasha recently moved to San Diego, so when I saw a kayaking deal in La Jolla, we took the opportunity to see a 

friend and have an adventure!

We met Sailor Mickey

Chelsea and I piled into the car and ventured to California (with a stop in the middle of nowhere, CA to mail Chelsea's electric bill)  jamming to any and every song on her ipod on the way.  Though we arrived in the wee hours of the morning Sasha greeted us with a smile and gave us a tour of her golf course-side place in Carlsbad!  The next morning we did a kayaking tour in La Jolla, and surfed our kayak in beautifully by the way, then met back up with Sasha for some wine and smores by the fire (once we finally got it lit after searching her yard for twigs!)  The next day our wonderful friend "Cast Member" Katie Hundere took us to a fun filled day at California Adventure!  I am a huge Disney fan and any chance to make it to those parks and I'm absolutely ecstatic!  Thanks Sasha and Katie for a fabulous weekend!





Next up on our tick-tock list was Caving. 

I found a Geocache by the cave!

sliding down into the cave

Erin went to this cave with her friends about 10 years ago, and told my dad and I that we had to go see it.  Well we've tried a few times in the past but failed to find it or ran out of time. It's in AZ on the highway between Prescott and Show Low so we've driven past the turn off many times, saying "One of these days we have to go to that cave!" Well it's been one of those "when we have a free weekend" things for a while now and I guess our Nov 13th deadline motivated us to make some time!

too low to stand up

 So we decided to make a day out of it and went caving up there.  It took a little longer than expected, as Erin was going off of 10 year old memories for directions, but after a few wrong turns, detours, and about a 30 minute hike, we finally found the cave. We crawled, scooted, and squeezed our way through the caves and had a blast!  Some of the caves were definitely a very tight fit, and we had to push our way through part of the cave on our side, but we had so much fun there!  It was eerie to realize that we were so far underground, crawling around in holes in rocks, and you could be standing right above us and not even know we were there.  We all ended up pretty sore the next day from using some strange side scooting muscles, but it was definitely an experience to remember!



Up, up, and Away!!!

His dream come true!

We also FINALLY made the appointment for the helicopter ride we got for my Dad and Sister's birthdays.  And I say finally because their birthdays were in April.  This ride was in October!  But talk about fun.  We got to fly all over Phoenix, from Black mountain to Squaw Peak!  And to top it all off, our flight appt was pushed a little late, and we got to be in the air for the sunset.  It was definitely well worth the wait.

Bird's eye view of the buffalo chip!

Gobble Gobble!

Another thing we knew we really wanted to do before we left was Thanksgiving dinner.  Thanksgiving is such a great family holiday and I definitely look forward to it each year.  This year, since Erin and I will be in Costa Rica (turkeyless) for the big day we decided we had to do it before we left.  So we planned it, from Turkey to Trifle, and it went off without a hitch!  We managed to capture the holiday spirit so well we even questioned "What would be open today" when contemplating where to go pick up lunch from! 

And the Adventure Begins

So my sister Erin and I have some plans.  Plans that include lots of traveling. But more on that later.  Considering that communication across the world can be somewhat difficult at times (and if you know me you know that my phone communication skills are already somewhat challenged), I am starting this blog to keep you all up to date on my (and Erin's) fabulous adventures! Bear with me as I attempt to record and share our experiences from anywhere and everywhere! For now the countdown commences.  T-minus three weeks until we depart for Costa Rica!