Costa Rica! (Day 1)

Day 1:

Whoot! Here we be!

What is this? 17 adventure filled days in Tico land.

Why?  The last several years have seen a lot of changes for us as a family. Funny how life works out. 10 years ago - no 11 years ago, who would of predicted that we would still be calling Phoenix home? Or that Bob would be working on his dissertation? Or that we would have rounded out the Oxley family with 4 boys, 1 Chloe, and 3 chihuahuas that no one else seems to want?

We have been talking and planning for some type of trip from the first year we moved down here; some type of get-away-from-the-routine-and-re-connect-as-a-family-trip. Over the years plans for 'the trip' have spanned an around the world year long trek, a 6 month sailboat adventure, a 6 week trip to Alaska, a 3 month R.V. tour, living in CR for a few years, and now this - the final manifestation and real life. Here we be:

The trip seemed incredibly long: Walt took us to the airport at 3:00 p.m.; we landed in CR 15 hours later at 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Hotel check-in was 2:00 p.m.but they thought they would be able to accomodate an early arrival.

Of course the accomodation hinged on when the current occupant decided to actually check out. And as it was still well before 7 a.m. local time (which would have been 6 a.m. for our Phoenix friends), the last thing they were thinking about was checking out. Sleepy as we were, we decided to do some exploring.

We are staying in the Las Sabana hotel, which from what we can gather on the San Jose map, is located in the Sabana neighborhood, west of the downtown area. It is mostly residential, and surrounds a very large park: Parque Metropolitano La Sabana. The park was a very short distance from the hotel, so after a free Costa Rican breakfast, off we went.

5 minutes in the city park and they boys were ready to move down.

 

9:00 a.m. found mom and dad sleepwalking so we ambled back to the hotel hoping to find our room ready. Not to be. The boy's donned trunks and mom and dad reclined in the shade. At least it sarted out as shade:

 Dad woke up with 'coon eyes.

Here's Micah chillin' with the latest thriller:

We ended up checking into the room at about 12:30, and sacked out for the next 4.5 hours. The room is small compared to the typical American suite, but it has a kitchenette and two bedrooms. Here we are headed out on the town to find some groceries:

We didn't get very far, clouds came rolling in and we were expecting a fast sunset. With the crazy traffic and non-existant street name signs, we decided to head back:

We passed Rosti Pollos on the way back (which happened to be right next to a Burger King) and decided to try it out. The food was good, quite a bit different from Mexican cousine - but be warned, when the menu says enough for 4 people, it is more than enough for 4 people. We ordered two of the 4-person chicken and rice platters expecting some ravenous boys, and ended up walking away about $70 poorer and with enough for about 2 more meals. We enlisted Micah for the supper shot:

It started dumping down rain while we were in the restauraunt. The climate is incredible, I don't think we had more than a 5 degree temperature change today, and the restauraunt was all open air. We tried to sit the rain out but finally gave in and made a mad 1/4 mile dash back to the hotel. The boys loved it. Mom and dad were grinning as well.

Many thanks to Las Sabana hotel and staff - and especially Cristian! Incredibly welcoming and accomodating to a very tired, dirty, and very American family.

Pray for us - our safety, and a special measure of grace as we re-connect and try to nuture soft-hearts. Miss you and love you all!