Bicycle Built For Two

July 9^th

The day following the great surfing experience, we were expecting to be much more sore. But I guess we just didn’t push ourselves hard enough, because we both felt well rested and ready to do some more adventuring today. Rising much earlier today, we ate our usual delicious breakfast around 10:00 and found ourselves out front of the resort preparing the bicycles. We were advised during our initial tour of the resort that if we did desire to ride into town, that we should only bring what we needed leaving behind cameras, jewelry and passports. If that doesn’t strike a big vote of confidence and safety, I don’t know what will.

So we took off down the pot holey road and headed into town. Greg secretly stashed some folding money in the inside brim of his hat. We were ready to experience some Costa Rican culture! Most everyone we passed were very friendly offering a “Hola!” or some other nice gesture. Lots of dogs too! If we haven’t commented on the number of dogs we have come across, I’m taking a second right now to let you know that the number of dogs in this area almost match the number of residents. But not to worry, the dogs appear to be just as friendly as the people.

After crossing a river or two we eventually made it into town. We locked up the bikes to a chain link fence and started checking out the local shops. Mainly visiting the most touristy looking shops we could find, we were looking for something we could bring back with us to remember our Honeymoon in Costa Rica. Greg had his eye on a wooden frog that he had seen earlier in the week. But finding it again may take some searching. We did however come across a cute cutting board we liked. We have already started a cutting board collection at home and this fit perfectly.

Walking from shop to shop we took full advantage of the AC being blasted in your face as you entered the stores. Did a little browsing, said some “Gracias” and moved on to the next store. Eventually we had had our fill of shopping for the day and found ourselves at an ice cream shop to take a quick snack before hopping on the bikes again. Not being able to communicate fully, Callie ordered what looked like Chocolate Chip Ice Cream only to hear the fellow behind the counter reply, “Rum raisin?” “No, no, no! What is this one?” She said pointing to another drum of ice cream. “Carmel and vanilla.” He replied. Perfect! We both ended up getting a scoop of that to treat ourselves to.

The ride back was just as bumpy as ever. But we made it, with sweat beading all over our faces. A quick rinse before jumping in the resort pool, we found ourselves poolside once again soaking in the sun. We wanted to try surfing again, with a much larger and more stable board, but were willing to wait one more day. Today was for relaxing again. We laid by the pool for the majority of the day, watching the iguanas scuttle around the floor and along the tree branches high above. We watched as another couple indulged themselves in what appeared to be at least 8 fruity drinks from the bar. Feeling slightly inspired, we ordered some smoothies of our own.

Bringing our drinks back to our Villa with us, we read some books and stole some naps waiting for the right time to head down to the restaurant for dinner. Finally, it was 6:00 and time to get some food. Feeling somewhat proud of conquering his fear of sushi, Greg offered that we get California Rolls for appetizers, Callie was happy to oblige. And for dinner we split a brown rice and jerk chicken topped with a mango salsa. The food was excellent as usual.

Feeling the end of our Costa Rican trip approaching. It was getting easier to plan the remainder of our days. Leaving plenty of time for more relaxation, our biggest concern at this point, is wondering how we’re going to dry out the majority of our damp clothing in this insanely humid climate. Guess we’ll just drop our bags off at the parents house and let them open them.

LaLa

G & C