back to normal

The vacation is definitely over. But before I complain about real life, a quick recap...

Costa Rica really was great. Definitely recommend it to anyone but even more to folks who are in the middle of wedding planning and medical testing. It makes for a nice break. We were very fortunate to have this opportunity to go. The Fiance's folks were staying down there for a month so we just stayed with them in their condo. When you add in frequent flyer miles, it makes for a reasonably inexpensive vacation.

We stayed from the 12th-18th and pretty much just hung out for the first four days we were there. Spent some time on the beach, at the pool, on the balcony (soaking up the view and sunsets), wandering along the one street in town. We ate some great local food. We crossed the estuary at low tide to make it to the adjacent undeveloped beach, grabbed lunch, and took a water taxi back. We took naps. We hunted for seashells. The Fiance body boarded. I read.

On Monday we took a day trip inland. We saw rainforests (and a few animals along the way) and met indigenous tribal folk. We went to some hot springs at a new resort in an isolated area. It was stunning. The view of the volcano was amazing (even though it was cloudy and you couldn't see the top). It's their dry season now and the Pacific coast is brown but does have lovely weather. Inland, it's a bit more rainy but oh. my. gosh. It's so green and lush. Beautiful. It was a long day but totally worth it.

Due to the unscheduled nature of this trip, we ended up doing a day trip on Tuesday as well. The Fiance, his sister, and I went to Nicaragua. We visited some markets and wandered through a few towns. We saw more volcanoes and a huge crater lake as well as Lake Nicaragua. We had a little boat ride on the lake where we got to meet some monkeys. One of those monkeys gets fed by people on the boat so she walked on all of us to get to the food. She hung out on The Fiance for a bit.

We got to see iguanas, howler monkeys, white-faced monkeys, a coati, giant termite nests, tons of birds, a blue morpho butterfly, and lots of cows on the side of the road (in Nicaragua anyway). I came back only a little sunburned and with a slightly injured booty (because of that darned water slide at the hot springs). Good times...

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Now that I'm back, wedding planning is again in full swing. If all went well with the alterations, I should be able to pick up my dress on Wednesday. We ordered invitations (to take advantage of a sale), booked our wedding night hotel room, and finally decided on the honeymoon location. There was a little groomsmen snafu but I think that worked out fine...crisis averted. The biggest things (still) on the To Do list are to pick that freakin' photographer and get our cakes taken care of. Having those done will definitely make me feel better but I've got to tell you. I'm a little stressed. And overwhelmed. 138 days to go, 100 To Do items...

Comments

Katie Lady said…
Sounds like a fabulous trip!

Did you ever get the package from me?
cjm said…
Oh, yes! I forgot to thank you. I'm reading it right now. So thanks! :)
Katie Lady said…
Oh good! I'm glad it finally got there, at least BEFORE you are married, lol.

You are most welcome! I found it to be quite useful and grounding, if that makes sense.
StaceyG said…
So was it really humid in Costa Rica? That's what's holding me back.
cjm said…
It wasn't humid at all at the beach. It was beautiful. Humid in the rainforests but I'd be disappointed otherwise. You just need to go during rainy season if you want lush foliage on the coast. If you want nice weather and can deal with dry grass/dirt, hit the dry season.
Anonymous said…
Vacation sounds great. And I have every confidence that you are going to pull off this wedding in a spectacular style!
Patois42 said…
Love the thought of jetting down to Costa Rica for a spur-of-the-moment trip.
It's so hard to get back to 'real life' after a fabulous vacation, isn't it? I'm trying to do the same thing right now, myself. Looks like you had a GREAT trip! The pics are beautiful!

crowd favorites

100 things--thankful

hey, would you like to see the nursery?