Wow! What a day. It started with a wake up at 2:00am and our cab arriving at the house at 3:20am. I still can’t believe we made it out of the house on time, and without killing each other. Before I go into details about our day, I would like to congratulate Briana and myself for packing only two suitcases for the four of us. We came in at 48 lbs. and 28 lbs. Sweet baby Jesus, we did it!!
OK back to our day. We arrived at Dulles International Airport, we met Briana’s folks, checked in, flew through security, took the train to the C terminal, and made it to our gate. We grabbed breakfast for the kids just it time to board. Costa Rica here we come.
Now if you’ve followed my blogs in the past you may know my beautiful wife Briana hates to fly. But due to the three hours of sleep she received last night, she was asleep before we even pulled away from the gate. A first! Our first leg we had a one hour layover in Houston. I have to admit I was kind of impressed by their International Terminal, especially all the waving cats. We quickly boarded but this time Sienna and I were sitting separately from Kiley and Briana and of course my window seat read “due to FAA regulations this seat can’t recline.” ARGH!!!! But I made the most of it by sleeping and watching most of the new Netflix movie Bird Box. Highly recommend it!
We finally touch down in Costa Rica. We all were very excited however the customs line we could’ve done without. But if that’s the worse thing to happen then we’re off to a great start. We grab our luggage and made our way outside of the terminal and this is where I felt like a movie star. I spot our driver holding a sign that read “WHITE RODNEY“. I got a huge chuckle with that!
I had arranged for a 9-passenger van to take us from the airport to Heliconias, which is approximately three hours. With a stop for lunch, we indulged in a crazy good pizza with carne frita (fried pork), fresh avocado slices, black beans, and tortilla chips. HOT DAMN GOOD!!!! After taking a few photo ops, we all piled back into the van and continued on with what felt like five more hours (but was really only 1.5 hours).
And some may have fallen asleep for the last leg of our journey.
We finally made it to Heliconias Nature Lodge around 5:30pm. Pretty damn cool. Briana’s parents are staying in a glass bungalow, which is basically walls of windows and we are staying in a tree house (10 feet off the ground!). The lobby had these awesome chairs made out of racing tires.
After getting settled into our little bungalows, and yes the girls loved the swan towel, we met Briana’s dad for a drink and dinner at the restaurant, which was exceptionally good. And so is the local rum. YUMMY!
We love how everything is open air here, oh and the girls LOVE the two local dogs that run around the property.
Today up at a normal time, ok 5:30am for me, breakfast and some delicious Costa Rican coffee. Then we venture out at 12:30 for some pedal boarding on Lake Arenal. Wish us luck! And then back here to do more relaxing, swim in the hot springs heated pool, and always looking for sloths.
Until later…..don’t just read my blog, just go!
Take me with you!