From Atlantic to Pacific, Gee the Traffic Cops are Terrific.

Catchup time. Been a while, blog readers... sorry... (Long Blog Alert)

Lemme just jump right in here. Sum and I had a blast in Costa Rica. For those of you who haven't heard the stories, here goes...

After some breakfast Chic-Fil-A, and a short drive to the Charlotte Airport, we were airborne and on our way. A few hours later we were gazing out the window at volcanoes, and eventually the pacific coastline. We landed in Liberia, and I'll admit I found the open-air airport surprising. Just a big metal building, 2 walls, open on each end, with huge fans overhead. I guess when its 88 degrees all year, why waste energy on heating and cooling?

Quick drive to our rental car joint, and off we were in our Daihatsu Bego. We followed our directions, and everything was easy up to the part where they said "turn downhill down the dirt road, through several small villages." Thats where it got fun. A VERY bumpy hour later, and we enter Playa Guiones, our destination for the first part of the trip. We arrived at sunset and it was incredible...

A quick walk, and we went back to the Harmony Hotel, which was also incredible. You should go, doesn't matter who "you" are. Excellent food, beautiful setting, and the best mojito the world has ever known.

Our days here consisted of surfing, which was awesome. At low tide, Casey and I learned to surf, got up our first try, and rode waves for an hour. Incredible. Try #2 at high tide was not near as successful, which yielded me two big bruises on each arm and a bloody nose (not sure what from...)

Summer loved (well, everyone did) the horseback riding on the beach and through the rainforest. We saw a lot of the area, and got to gallop for the first time ever. ouch. Here's us on the beach, getting sore in certain areas.

Playa Guiones was a special place, and the Harmony Hotel was special too. I want to go back, and take everyone I know. That kinda special.

Tuesday was travel day... drive across the country to La Fortuna, at the base of the Arenal Volcano. Should be uneventful, nothing to report. Its just a drive.

As many of you know, I (Derek) have never gotten a speeding ticket. And apparently today was no exception. After a super confusing conversation, where our language barrier fell just enough for me to understand that either I drive 3 hours outta my way and pay a hundred dollar ticket (plus 40$ for sum taking a PICTURE of it) or i can pay this lovely civil servant 40 bucks and the ticket magically disappears. Even in Spanish, I understood what was going on here. :)

La Fortuna was incredible, but not quite the "special" place that was the Harmony. This was more of a place for adventure and fun. And boy was it ever. 

We rafted down a class 3-4 river, the rio toro. It was great, especially when i looked back and saw summer's face, screaming, surrounded by whitewater... but somehow managing to stay in the boat. :)

We went to a couple butterfly conservatories, which Norman wanted to see, and none of us objected. It was pretty cool to see so many flying around us. And on us.

The River, The Butterflies, the amazing hot springs that we spent our last night in; They all made for quite a vacation. But in my opinion the coolest thing had to be the zip lines near the volcano. We rode a tram up a mountain to an incredible view of Lake Arenal, and the Volcano. It honestly looked like a scene from Jurassic Park or something. And the best part was, we got to enjoy the view at 40mph suspended on a steel cable 600 feet above the treetops, screaming like a little boys and girls.

I really suggest you save your money, and go do this. Hell, i'd even contribute, just so we could talk about it afterwards. It was just about as close to flying as I imagine anything could be. Wow.

So that was Costa Rica, in a nutshell. Be sure to ask us more questions, as there's plenty more thats fun to tell.

and... 2 weeks later....

Sum and I are at the Atlantic Ocean. Quick weekend trip with Emily, and we had a great time. Got a lot of sun, relaxed, checked out a little karaoke, and even sang a little myself. Summer and Emily made me. 

I sang some Bon Jovi, and this really awesome 300lb man tapped me on the shoulder after I sang. I turned around and this rather imposing fella asked me, "Whattreya drinkin?" I answered, "Bud Light." (it was on special for 1.50, gimme a break). The big guy raised a pitcher and said with the world's largest intoxicated smile, "Lemme fill'er up for ya. You just keep singing. You're the man." At this I grinned, accepted his offer, then laughed as he walked back to the end of the bar, yellin' at his friends, "Thats my MAN... he's got TWO." (Later I realized he was talking about two women. Ha. I was sitting between Sum and Emily.

A few fist pumps, comments, and the big guy fighting to light our cigarettes.. ("Nah man I GOT THIS... You're the MAN, and I'M lighting your cigarettes!") and it was time to go. I gave the guy a handshake and a pat on the back, and Sum gave our new friend a hug. Hilarious memory.

So thats about it. I really promise to do shorter blogs from here on out. Sorry people. At least I included pics so it reads like a children's book. Even Mackie can read this one.

I'll leave you with a pic of Summer at Myrtle Beach that I took... with her new addition to her nose, which I'm quite fond of. Enjoy.