And Now For Something Completely Different

While still in Costa Rica, we feel like we´re in a different world. We´ve made our way north to the touristy beach area of Tamarindo. It´s not just the numerous gringos, the over-abundande of surf bums, or the higher costs that make this different. We are lucky enough to have some family here too - Chris (my bro), Hillary (my sister-in-law) and Mia (my niece!) - plus we are staying at a real hotel and eating fancy foods. What has become of us?!

Of course it´s been really great time to spend time with fam. We are very honored to have our first "visitors" so soon. We spend our days eating well, reading, surfing, hiking, playing cards, and playing with Mia. It is difficult for me to see my first niece and know that it will be another 1-2 years before I see her again. Mia won´t remember these two years apart, but the rest of us "adults" will.

The week flew by too quickly and everybody was sad to depart. K. and I extended our beach stay by moving 20km north to Flamingo. My uncle Buddy put us up in his favorite hotel for two nights. My uncle Bob and aunt Julie sent us on a jungle canopy tour, whizzing through the trees on zip lines up to 1/2 km long. Thanks for the fun wedding presents!

This part of our trip was extra special because it was the closest thing to a traditional honeymoon. After we got married, we spent several days in San Francisco with K´s family. Then we took off for our 2 week roadtrip through the northwest. Eventually we embarked on this journey. All three trips have been fantastic, but none of them were exactly relaxing. We have been doing a lot of hiking, camping, cooking, and staying in cheap places. This last week was a great change of pace.

Now we return to our regular programming. Next up: Nicaragua.

Chris tried to teach us all to surf. 

I could stand on the surfboard for about 3 second. Credit to Kristin for snapping a picture in such a short time frame. 

Kristin zipping through the dense forest.