We took a four day weekend since my work was slow and everyone in the states had off on Monday. What fun!! We rented a car and went up to San Jose. I had the I want to buy everything in sight frame of mind but was able to restrain myself! We are having the floors tiled in the house, all of them, so everything is topsy turvey once again and we were just in the way, a perfect excuse for a get-away. We took Diego with us just for the fun of it and because he has been looking so depressed since there are no dog parks here.
Mario had a problem getting to the rental place so they delivered the car here. We will be utilizing that service a lot I think! We decided to go to San Jose via the Costenera. They paved the whole thing since Mary and I were here in June! Funny enough they still ride horses there although it looks like a highway now. This is one of my favorite pics from the June trip:
This is a paved road now.We decided to skip Dominical until the way back, and headed directly to Manuel Antonio. Mario hadn't been this way for many years and kept commenting on how much everything had changed. We stopped for a bit in Manuel Antonio and Diego got to take a dip in the ocean. He loves the beach here. He can run out really far because it doesn't get deep and lay down til the waves break over him. The he runs around in the surf like a nut. It was great to see him so happy. We ate in a restaurant on the beach and a guitar player came and played one of my favorite Spanish songs for us (Te Amo Demaciado by Koporacion). Diego decided it was a sing-along about half-way through and almost gave the guy a heart attack. I guess he didn't see D under the table lol. From there we went to San Jose. 
I really don't care for cities and I remembered why while we were there. I can't take the traffic! It really sets me on edge. We stayed at a hotel called Hemingways. Thanks Michael from Doin Costa Rica! He suggested it as a dog friendly spot and it was. The hotel is a block from a park where Diego could do his business, hard to find greenery in the city so that was a blessing. They have a cute cat there so D couldn't lounge around with us in the public places, but the room was HUGE so he was comfy. We ate right next door and the restaurant had a bar so we hung for a bit. It was an interesting night, we were talking with a guy from Belgium who had come to Costa Rica for a long weekend 5 years ago and was thinking it might be time to move on. There were also 2 young guys there, one from Spain that worked on a cruise ship and another from Sweden who had just arrived and was staying in a hostel. We all swapped "how do you say this in your languages" for a while and had a great time. Then 2 of the bartenders "friends" came by and sat with the young guys. After a while we figured out the "friends" were there to entertain the young guys. Interesting evening to say the least.
I really don't care for cities and I remembered why while we were there. I can't take the traffic! It really sets me on edge. We stayed at a hotel called Hemingways. Thanks Michael from Doin Costa Rica! He suggested it as a dog friendly spot and it was. The hotel is a block from a park where Diego could do his business, hard to find greenery in the city so that was a blessing. They have a cute cat there so D couldn't lounge around with us in the public places, but the room was HUGE so he was comfy. We ate right next door and the restaurant had a bar so we hung for a bit. It was an interesting night, we were talking with a guy from Belgium who had come to Costa Rica for a long weekend 5 years ago and was thinking it might be time to move on. There were also 2 young guys there, one from Spain that worked on a cruise ship and another from Sweden who had just arrived and was staying in a hostel. We all swapped "how do you say this in your languages" for a while and had a great time. Then 2 of the bartenders "friends" came by and sat with the young guys. After a while we figured out the "friends" were there to entertain the young guys. Interesting evening to say the least.The next day we walked to the boulevard and shopped shopped shopped. I didn't get everything on my list, but I put a dent in it! We had paid an extra $10 to stay in the hotel past the noon checkout time, and by 10 am we were pooped and thinking about leaving San Jose. We went back to the room and Mario crashed so we wound up using the extra time for him and Diego to sleep.
After the death defying drive leaving San Jose we went to his sisters' houses. I think the Costa Rica maps I got from NavSat for my GPS were a great investment! We used it everywhere this weekend! Although it kind of spooked me that the closest landmark to his sister Zuly's house was the morgue and it was in the POIs. As with all of Mario's family, although we had eaten and asked only to have coffee, both sisters made us dinner. We had a great time and I got to speak a lot of English with Mario's niece's husband who is from North Carolina. We left way later than we should have and headed to San Ramon.
We had booked a cabin in San Ramon at a place called El Bosque Lodge. It was kind of strange because you had to pay for the room in 12 hour increments. Now if I had my US brain working I would have said hmmm hotel by the hour, wonder why that would be... But I didn't think about it until we were leaving. The cabin was really n ice and clean, but there was no phone, no restaurant nearby, nothing that would make a 2 night stay worth it. It was a nice place to sleep and that's what we used it for. It was relatively cheap also. It was REALLY hard to find and at the bottom of a mountain road, not a fun drive at 9:30 in the pitch black. Waking up was beautiful, no traffic sounds, no roosters, just tons of birds.
We went to visit Mario's other sister and her family. The views from their house were INCREDIBLE and of course I forgot to take pictures. They have a furniture business and we got to see where they make the furniture. Really cool and interesting. The wood here is beautiful! Oscar is going to make a table for our living room from the center of a tree, he had a slice of a tree there that looks like it will make a beautiful table but unfortunately it is sold, he is looking for one for me.
We went to some really beautiful places with them, first we went to Zarcero to see the topiaries. 
Then they took us to see a spectacular waterfall. 
It was a great day! The next day we took a spin through Sarchi on the way home. They are famous for the hand painted ox carts they produce. Here is Mario next to a wheel:
Exploring my new home is really a blast!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHANA!!
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