Day 4 - and the interim

Howdy doody!

Life has been great here in CR... but our laptop started acting up, putting a damper on our blogging activities. Remedies have been slow to implement due to the slower connection speeds at our current hotel, but hopefully I can get it fixed today before we take off.

Day 4 was relatively un-eventful... if you can consider San Jose traffic un-eventful (which is isn't); and if you can overlook 'forgetting a bunch of important stuff at the hotel' and trying to find the nearest McDonalds (which we almost can). But everything turned out ok. And after getting out of San Jose driving here can be a pleasant experience.

A word or two about McDonalds. If I were to venture a guess, I would say that CR is not known for its cuisine. Rice and beans. Rice and chicken. E mas arroz con frijoles. E mas gallo pinto. Rice and beans for breakfast. Rice and beans for lunch. Rice and beans for supper. Mind you - 2 weeks ago, I would of never guessed that I would wake up some morning and want rice and beans for breakfast. As it turns out, after the first day's breakfast, and a good night's sleep, I did. They are very good, perhaps the best rice and beans anywhere. But a guy can only take so much rice and beans. I think I have met my quota for the rest of the trip.

The palate needed a break, so - off we went to McDonalds. It was one of our cheapest and tastiest meals here so far. You know the food choices are limited when the most palatable and varietal menu is found at McDonalds - or Burger King (as is the case here in La Fortuna).

A word or two about driving in Costa Rica. Watching the traffic down here for the first day or two was intimidating. But the drivers here are very patient, and with a GPS it simply becomes a matter of going with the flow... and keeping a very sharp eye out for motorcycles -  which as Ken Miller kindly explained, have their own set of driving courtesies and rules. They are everywhere and can go anywhere at any time. I would venture to say that everyone watching for the motorcycle/moped craziness makes for safer driving all the way around. Things look chaotic, but everyone drives slow and the traffic has its rhythm.

We have done a lot here in La Fortuna, but I will let Nick bring everyone up to date on this part of the trip (if I can get the laptop and pictures option up and running). We are headed to MonteVerde today for some more rain forest and plan on being there for 2 nights.

Appreciate the prayers and thoughts.