We had our first visitor! I had gone home to the states and my bff Trisha decided to come back with me to visit! What fun!! We had a blast and she took some kick ass photos of all the stuff we did! This is me and Mario at the table at the top of the driveway. I have never quite figured out why they put this table here, well the view is incredible, but there is no way coffee would stay hot to get up here. I have been trying to get a little more exercise, well a little exercise(since more implies I was getting some), since I spend my days sitting at a desk, and so I walk up to the table and then down the steep road back to the back of the house. A few times around and I am worn out! as are Dora and Diego, so I guess it's doing us all a bit of good.
This wonderful spot is a hotel/restaurant near our house called Papa de Paramo (there should be an accent over the second a in papa so that it is the father of Paramo and not the potato of Paramo, but I forget how to do that). We came here the first time when some new friends invited us to a party when their brother came in to visit from Texas and we just LOVE it. It is so tranquil and the food is great! Trish and I spent the day here - just the gals - 
and I looked up and saw this sloth in the tree. How cool! He hung out for a long while going up and down the tree. The waiters were worried about him when he went out to the teeeeeny branches way up top to eat. He finally came all the way down to pose for a picture.
We made the obligatory trip to Manuel Antonio to see the monkeys and other wildlife. Sadly, there were no monkeys to be seen. I have never been to Manuel Antonio and not seen a single monkey! Rotten luck - but we wound up renting beach chairs and a tent and sitting out on the beach. We drank some girlie drinks with flowers and umbrellas and Trish got a massage from a woman who gives them right there in the chairs. What a great relaxing day!The day ended with this incredible sunset. We really couldn't asked for more - ok maybe monkeys - but what a nice day!
We also FINALLY made it up to Arenal. I had such hopes of seeing my first volcano spew lava. I was really worried, but for naught. Arenal apparently has been napping for 7 months. We saw a huge cone shaped mountain covered in fog. Trisha and Mario thought it was great, but I was a little let down. We stayed in a hotel with a great view of the volcano for $30 for the night and drank the BEST sangria in the restaurant next door. Boy is it expensive though. After a pitcher we really didn't mind. I had bought a thermal coffee pot when we got stuck in San Jose so we ordered a second pitcher to go!
The next day we splurged and went to Tabacon. It was expensive - but well worth it. What an escape from reality. Tabacon is a series of thermal springs, all piping through a natural setting. The gardens were unbelievable. The water was really HOT but you eventually got used to it. There are waterfalls everywhere which give a nice massage. We found a few falls that were cool water which was nice too. We had a few drinks at the bar, Mario managed to sit on the stools, but we stayed out of the water because it was too hot. We paid for the included lunch, but I would skip it in the future as we found the food mediocre. 
We found this really cool shop outside of La Fortuna. The sculptures were so beautiful. Trish couldn't resist cheesing it up a bit. I really enjoyed having her visit. Hope she comes back soon!
