Celebrating our 14th Wedding Anniversary

Celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary and Valentine’s Day

we rented condo #606 at the 

Sandpiper for a few days!

 

Covid be Dammed, Costa Rica Bound

Covid tested, Costa Rica Health Pass QR code done…..All systems go, we jumped on a Southwest flight to Costa Rica!  We landed, crashed at our hotel. Rested up, we were off in our Vamos rent car.   We hit up our usual Walmart

Loaded up on fresh fruit at a roadside stand, then drove across the country on the Auto Pisa with a lunch stop at Vista Mar. Back at our favorite place, Coconut Grove Oceanfront Cottages in Dominicalito after almost two Covid years we moved into the Small Beach House for two weeks. It was good to be back!  One of the owners, Richard had passed away in 2021 and we sure did miss him. 

The next day we finished our grocery shopping in Uvita, found some Sweet Ears at the local Panderia, and purchased some fish from the fisherman……

and used our ATM card to get a bunch of colones. 

$100 US = 643,000 colones

Our days were filled with long walks on the beach, pool time, lazy afternoons in the hammocks under the palapa, and catching amazing sunsets! 

We did explore and returned to our favorite Playa Hermosa many times, and if was to crowded we headed to Playa Ventanas and explored the caves.  Out our backdoor we always had Playa Dominicalito to enjoy!

The beaches were crowded during the holidays as Ticos were looking for an escape from the city and families gathered to celebrate the holidays.

Small Beach House

Lifeguards

Copas

Diane, the owner of the resort had a party on Christmas Eve with good food, drink, and musical entertainment! We all joined in singing Christmas carols and our rendition of the Twelve Days of Christmas was a sight to behold and hear!  Dale even displayed his musical talent playing a washboard tie…….who knew?

No trip would be complete without a stop in Dominical for drinks and snacks at Tortilla Flats…home of the Basil Margarita!  Diane, Joni, and Desi joined us……they were guest at our resort.

Dale made a unique discovery on the beach behind our resort!  A piece of driftwood that some saw as “A Bird” while to others it was “The Bird”!  Of course we had to bring his treasure back home with us.

We cooked most of the time, but did enjoy a few meals out……Feliz Langosta, La Fogato, and our favorite fried chicken place…Rapipollo!  A drive up to Jolly Roger found them to be closed…..darn!  On our way back to San Jose we stopped at Vista Mar for lunch! 

Arriving back in San Jose, checked into our hotel, returned our car, rode the shuttle to get our Covid test and had dinner before turning in. We arrived at SJO airport……check in and security were a breeze.  I did some shopping while waiting to board our flight home.  

Landing in Houston we got our car and headed home!

Pura Vida!

Bida ta dushi (Life is Good)

Dale and I returned to Aruba to see our friends and enjoy our favorite island.  Staying in our usual Ocean Front Room #1 at Sunset Beach Studios we settled in for a relaxing week!  Following tradition, dinner the first night was at Smokey Joes for ribs….yummy as usual!  

A trip to Super Foods the next day to stock up for our stay was on our agenda.  We filled our days with exploring, beach time, plus enjoying the pool and hot tub with other guest. I loved my early morning snorkels, when I had the ocean all to myself…just me and the ocean creatures. Our love for local places found us enjoying meals at……………

Zeerovers, The Local Store, Kamini's Kitchen, Urataka Center and Barefoots.  We were lucky enough to spend a afternoon with JP and Eef, the owners of our resort, catching up on what was happening in our lives.  JP and Dale even cruised the Lighthouse in JP’s 1968 Ford Ranchero.  Our week flew by and soon it was time for a Covid test and our flight home.  We had a great week, met some great folks, and enjoyed our stay as usual!