The Rest of the Trip.......Pura Vida!!!!

I love this photo of the shadow of our plane. We were leaving the jungle and heading for dryer ground, back to San Jose and then on to the volcano. Here is the Arenal volcano. This was probably the highlight of the trip for me (well besides the crab in my shoe!). When we have been here before it is almost always covered in a thick layer of clouds, this was spectacular just to be able to see it during the day. We checked into our rooms at the Observatory Lodge, this was the view from our room, no kidding full out glass windows with such an awesome view!!! We could see large bolders bouncing down the mountain side, sometimes breaking open to reveal the orange lava inside, we could also hear this incredible rumbling noise as they careened down, full speed ahead!!
The evening came and WOW, what a spectacle!! We were able to see the orange/red lava traveling down the side, exploding on the way and making quite a beautiful sight!! Try going to this web site and you will see what we saw (my photos all turned out very black!!)http://www.arenal.net/photo/latest/2007-07-22-observatory-lodge/ I kid you not, this is what it looked like. I watched until after 1:00 a.m. and then only slept with one eye closed so I could enjoy a once in a lifetime experience!!! There was a darling shop called the Lady Bug, it had cute pottery, art, trinkets, etc. Couldn't resist getting my photo by their cute sign!
I should have ended with this story, but oh well, still not good at placing my photos!! We stayed in a beautiful hotel the last two nights in San Jose. It is two mansions that they have converted into an incredible hotel. Very reasonable at only $85 per night!! This link will show you some nice photos.http://www.hotelgranodeoro.com/printable.htm I am a bathtub junky! When we arrived our room wasn't ready so we put our stuff in Joe and LaVon's room, ahhh, they had a HUGE bathtub, wow, I was so excited! I also noticed Gary and Annie's room also had a HUGE bathtub. Well we stowed our stuff and went out to explore. We went to a tiny town called Escazue to shop......well no shopping at all, but dad enjoyed walking and walking and walking up and down the streets, some very steep. I was able to keep going because I knew I could soak in that huge tub later that night. A few hours later we were back at the hotel, got our luggage and moved into our own room. Dad went downstairs to get the key to the safe and I walked into the bathroom to take a look at our HUGE tub........well, the photo is what I saw!! No tub, not even a small tub. I may have had a hard week, who knows, but I actually began to cry, can you believe it over a stinkin' bathtub!! Then I did what any blonde would do, I walked out of the bathroom, took a breath and walked back in the bathroom to see if I had somehow missed the tub, really!! I did this two or three times, and every time it was still an over sized giant SHOWER....This had to be the only bummer of the trip and it wasn't even that big of a deal!!

Dad having a great time on the Tarzan fall! A free fall of about 15 to 20 feet and then a huge and exhilarating swing until they grab your feet to stop you. A lot of us lost our shoes and socks as the guys tried to pull us to a stop!
Happy Sue, after the free fall!
Totally freaked out Sue in the middle of the fall!!!

The butterfly farm had a lot of beautiful and colorful butterflies all around as well as a lot of flowers. I will not post my 300-400 flower photos, just let me know if you ever need a foliage shot for anything, I'm sure I've captured it on my camera!!

I have oodles of photos, too many to post. We had a terrific trip, dad had it planned down to the very last detail, something only he is perfect at!! The weather was wonderful, great food and fun with our friends. Now kids, let's put our heads together and figure out how to get the family to Costa Rica! Pura Vida!!!