Friday, May 25, 2012
Los Tios
It's been a busy month or two for me and as a result I have a series of half written posts that haven't actually made it to the publishing point. I hope to start wrapping these up and actually posting. This will be the first of this series...
Last month my aunt and uncle (los tios), Bange and Uncle Ralphy, came down to visit. Despite initial fears that they would not arrive until 2 days after their original flight plan, they in fact arrived as originally scheduled. Weary from a day of high emotions and traveling, we pretty much headed straight home and hit the sack.
We spent the next couple days in the greater San Jose area. We went ziplining at La Carpintera, visited the Micro-Brewery, tried but failed in visiting Paos Volcano (super cloudy day made it not even worth entering the park), but were successful in visiting the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, a new destination for me. And I, of course, had to take them to ChiChi's for dinner so they could visit my favorite football viewing location.
The next few days involved shopping, the beach and Manuel Antonio National Park, much like previous visits mentioned here and here. I believe the highlight of the trip (at least for Uncle Ralphy and myself) was a trip down to Jaco for a surfing lesson. Uncle Ralphy hadn't surfed since he was a teenager in Florida. He went out for his lesson and after managing to stand up a few times came back in saying, "I remember that being A LOT easier!"
Bange caused everyone's jaws to drop and begin cheering when she paddled out, popped up and rode her FIRST wave all the way in. She'd never been surfing before in her life, but she totally nailed it. TicaSis, El Pachuco (finally came up with the perfect name for her husband!!) and I rotated the "fun board" (about 7'6") around, but when Bange and Uncle Ralphy decided they were done, I jumped at the opportunity to ride the MUCH easier soft board. I feel like I'm getting better, but soft tops are just SO much easier!!
The next day we were off to Baldi Hot Springs where I was graciously treated to another coffee/chocolate scrub and wrap followed by a nice massage. We hot spring hopped for a while and then called it a night. The next day it was back to San Jose for a quick visit to base and then home for packing.
As usual, the time passed way too quickly, but was very fun!
