The goofiest things I have seen on the highway in Costa Rica

As time goes, by I have seen more and more things on the highway and I really mean the highway. The road to and from work is 3 lanes (most of the time) each way. As such, I figured I would share some of the things which you will not tend to see in the states:

1. A forklift. This one was in the right hand lane only doing about 15 km/hr. He did not appear to be concerned about the traffic jam behind him.
   
2. An ATV. I have now seen 3 ATVs bookin' it down the autopista at about 60 km/hr.
   
3. A Tree. Yes, one day I came home and a mudslide had carried an entire tree down into the road...and it was still standing upright! So I said to myself..."hmmm, yesterday there was no tree in the right hand lane...but today there is...so I guess I better get out of the right hand lane!"
4. A man hanging in mid-air. Ok, so he was actually hanging by a rope working on a billboard sign...but he was literally being held up by a few of his co-workers...now that is a trusting work environment.
5. A pole. No joke...this is pretty common in Costa Rica. Occasionally there will just be a telephone pole in the middle of the right lane. It does have some reflectors on it...but it can be a scary sight your first time driving at night.
   
6. No road. Occasionally one lane just ends with no warning at all...or there is simply a really big bottomless pothole. Some of the potholes are the width of an entire lane and literally about 1 foot deep. Hitting them a few times at 60 km/hr makes me glad I am driving a rental car!
7. People. Not so unusual in small quantities...but once a year during the countries pilgrimage to Cartago they actually take up one entire lane on the highway. That takes a little getting used to.
8. Buses. Very common right? Well here in Costa Rica they simply stop in the right hand lane anytime they want to drop off and pick up folks. Again...not a welcome sight when you are late for work and going 110 km/hr in the right hand lane!
9. Painted Hearts on the road. This one I had to ask about. Apparently when there is a fatality, they paint a heart on the road. You would be amazed at the number of them you see...I understand that most are motorcyclists/walkers.
   

I know that I am forgetting some things....if I think of them I will add them.

Our little cowboy

So back in July there is a holiday in Costa Rica celebrating the anniversary of when Guanacaste decided to join Costa Rica instead of remaining part of Nicaragua. It is quite a big deal in the country and everyone celebrates in some way or another. Kade even got into the action as you can see. His school had a dress up day where all the boys got to dress up as "cowboys". There is apparently a word in Spanish for this type of cowboy but I have no idea what it is. What I can say is this...when our maid came in the door and saw Kade dressed up...she immediately told him that he was a very cute version of whatever that Spanish word was. Then she proceeded to fix the way his bandanna was supposed to be...apparently we didn't do it right....oh well....we are learning. Anyway, Kade had a great time pretending to be whatever it was he was ;-)

FYI - I have no idea what the heck was wrong with my camera that morning...these all came out very funny....

Clearing out my June Pictures

Last night as I went back to the June archives to find the Poaz pictures, I saw a bunch of other photos which I missed somehow. So here they are in no particular order....

1st is a picture of Payton on her way to "school". Since she sees her brother going to school with his backpack every morning...she decided to get in on the action!

The next photo is of the kiddos getting ready for thier walk with Jen. As CherkyB may notice, that is the stroller we bought off them before leaving For Collins. It has big wheels which is a great thing to have in Costa Rica since only about half of the roads have sidewalks...and even then there can be 4 to 5 inch gaps between slabs.

The next two are of the kiddos saying grace before dinner. The Lutheran prayer is a little longer than the Catholic prayer so it took Kade a little longer to learn it. He is really close to being able to say the whole thing now which brings a smile to the table every time he "choses" to say it.

The next one is of the boys on their way to the pool. Kade found it smashingly fun to get dressed the same way as Dad (shades and a hat) so we just had to take a picture. Notice that he has a Spider man boogie board (fancy way of saying kick board). He loves his superheros as you can see from the last two pictures. Kade is waaay into Superman as we have covered before...and now he is dragging his sister into the mix as you can clearly see. The last picture is a little "Bob the Builder" meets "Superman" action...a good combo if you ever find yourself trying to fix a broken door when out of the blue an army of Lava Men appear...hey....you just never know!

Volcano Poaz

So waaay back at the end of June we went on a day trip to one of the closest volcanoes to San Jose...Volcan Poaz. As you can see from the pictures the day started out just as any other hiking day for the fambly...lots of smiles and excitement on the car ride up. You can actually drive pretty close to the top since it is a dormant volcano...so the kiddos were able to huff it themselves with a little help. Unfortunately, just as we got to the top...the fog started rolling in which was soon followed by rain. I at least got to see the lake in the crater for a minute but was not fast enough with the camera and lost the chance. So we headed back to the car just slightly disappointed. We stopped at the cafe for a quick bite and a cup of java to refuel. Then we got back in the car and drove over to the La Paz waterfall gardens. It was a really nice setup with the typical CR zoo fare (butterfly farm, hummingbird area, snake area, frog area and stuff like that). They also put on a pretty good lunch which was all you could eat buffet. Then it was off to go hike the waterfalls. Here they have well groomed paths and for the most part it is all downhill (a bus takes you back up to the main entrance when you are done). In the end it was a really nice hike...but my pack was way too damned heavy. I had Kade, 2 water bottles, a cooler, 2 umbrellas, the SLR and a bunch of snacks and diaper stuff....the thing must have weighed 70 pounds in the end. Anyway, we persevered and as you can see from the pictures of the return car ride...the kiddos were totally wiped out. Kade even fell asleep while he was drinking his juice...now that is a good hike!