Costa Rica - Nicoya Peninsula

 

We arrived in Liberia, Costa Rica about twelve hours later than scheduled.  Our Alaska flight from Seattle landed on time in LAX but sat on the tarmac for an hour waiting for an empty gate.  We consequently missed our flight to Liberia.  Instead, we caught the red eye that night.  Alaska Airlines did put us up in a hotel for the afternoon, so we got a little rest after canceling a hotel and rescheduling our car rental.  As it turned out, we were able to transition to Costa Rica better In the morning light. Our original scheduled flight would have necessitated renting a car and finding our beach hotel 30 miles away in the dark in a strange new environment.  Instead we were able to rent the car, go to the city, get some supplies and a Costa Rican SIM card and make it out to our hotel by 11am and checked in early.

Our first day was spent in Playa del Coco.  The small town has a mixture of northern retirees, along with local and international tourists. The bay was filled with anchored excursion boats; and while we walked the beach, we watched tourists clumsily board small boats in the surf. A tropical sunset and beach side dinning topped off our first Costa Rican day.  The next day we beach hopped, stopping for a quick stroll and photos at each one. Hermosa, Flamingo and Conchal beaches all had a different feel.  Our favorite was Conchal with its white shell ‘sand’.  Our hotel in Tamarindo was very nice.  It was a Best Western, but nothing like a US BW.  It was more like a luxurious beach hotel with an economy price.  We enjoyed cooling off in the pool and some relaxed reading. The town and beach in Tamarindo was bustling with tourists from around the world.  We walked by a lot of fancy restaurants and boutiques to a crowded night market and ate paella on a paper plate standing by the street.  A balmy beach walk in the dark brought us back to our hotel.

The Nicoya Peninsula is one of five ‘blue zones’ in the world. (highest percentage of centenarians) We are hoping to catch the vibe! The beach towns on the southern part of the Nicoya Peninsula are remote and hard to access, and the Waze directional app didn’t want to cooperate with our desire to stay on the coast.  Consequently, we spent hours back tracking roads as we visited Samara and then on to Santa Teresa.  We saw a lot of beautiful country, rural backroads, small towns and jungled hills.  We arrived in Santa Teresa for our two night stay at a boutique hotel between the busy street and the beach.  Santa Teresa is a unique tourist destination.  The main street is a third world dusty rutted dirt road with open drainage, lined with expensive restaurants and boutiques.  The traffic is comprised of gen Z tourists on noisy rented motorcycles and four wheelers with surf boards attached.  Pedestrians have to jockey there way over ditches beside rushing traffic.  We walked five miles on the sandy beaches dotted with occasional rocks and a sea stack. Surfers and their groupies permeate the beach, but private sections could still be found.  We spent a full day in Santa Teresa, walking, swimming and lounging.  On Sunday we headed to the mountains for new adventures but stopped in Montezuma for breakfast.  This small beach community has a hippie feel.  The rocky coast must keep the surfers away!  

Florida Gulf Coast

With our remaining time in Florida, we explored the western shores along the Gulf Coast.  After crossing the Everglades again, we stopped in Naples, with a quick peek at the downtown and beach.  The downtown seemed a bit more swanky than we anticipated.  Next, we scooted up the coast to Fort Meyers and ended a long day of driving from Key West.  The next morning, we drove out to Fort Meyers Beach for a beach walk.  There were a surprising amount of people enjoying the sun and warmth, the most crowded beach we had seen so far on the trip. We also checked out Sanibel Island and Captiva Beach.  We couldn't find any public parking at Captiva, but we had a nice walk on Bowman Beach. In the afternoon, we drove up to Sarasota where motel prices were through the roof for some reason.  We ended up in an overpriced Super8 which was a disappointing dive.  That didn't stop us from enjoying the waterfront park and a good ramen dinner in the trendy downtown. 

The next morning we drove out to Siesta Key and walked again before driving north across the mouth of Tampa Bay to St. Pete's Beach where we found a small fixed up retro motel with a patio and pool.  We really enjoyed this cute little motel and the vibe of the area-a little more laid back, and a little quieter.  We even ate dinner in the room, snagging some frozen dinners at a grocery. store nearby.  Deciding to slow down a little and stay in the area, we tried to reserve another night, but it was booked. So we searched for another option nearby in Madeira Beach and scored on a beachfront room on the fourth floor.  Between check out and check in, we drove up to Clearwater Beach. We spent a lot of time either walking the beach or enjoying the balcony and absorbing the warmth.  Our last day we drove into Tampa.  We walked the downtown waterfront park and then found a motel near the airport, where we got to bed early for our early morning flight back to Seattle.

Florida's National Parks and Key West

Using our motel in Florida City as our base, we visited Bascayne and Everglades National Parks.  In the morning we drove East to Biscayne.  This park is almost exclusively a marine sanctuary that can only be explored by boat our diving, but there is a corner of it on land.  It was enough to have a visitor center with lots of info and a stamp for Esther's passport.  We also took a short hike along the mangrove coastline.  Next, we zipped back west and spent the bulk of the day in the Everglades.  Fortunately, a kind ranger let us in for free despite leaving our forever pass at home.  We really liked the Anhinga Trailhead, watching an alligator chasing birds unsuccessfully.  Determined to make it to Flamingo, we took the long drive.  The landscape of the Everglades looks a lot like African savanna, only there is a gigantic shallow river slowly flowing through all the tall grass.  We caught a late lunch in Flamingo and Ellen got bitten alive by mosquitoes.  On a later day, we also stopped at Big Cypress National Preserve and saw throngs of large alligators.

We spent two nights in Key West in a two bedroom guesthouse centrally located to all the attractions.  Our car stayed parked the whole time.  This was Esther and my third trip to Key West, but we still found new things to see.  Our favorite attraction was Hemingway's House and the six toed (polydactyl) cats. Besides getting a glimpse of the colorful author's life, we got to be entertained by the properties 59 cats. Of course we walked to the southernmost US point and Mallory Square sunset.  We endured Duval St. with its raucous atmosphere.  The ubiquitous roosters and chickens kept the town cleared of crumbs. We had hoped to make it to Dry Tortugas National Park, but the fully booked $240 per person ferry ride prevented that from happening. We really enjoyed our accommodations, despite a loud party next door that kept Ellen peaking out the window until 1:00.

Florida South Coast

Our reasonable motel has a reason that is a reasonable motel.  After enduring a night in what felt like a steam room, we were treated to packaged breakfast sweet rolls in the tiny lobby.  We were happy to get on the road and the promise of warmer temperatures.  Our first stop was the exclusive Jupiter Island with its mansions and manicured landscaping.  A beach stop revealed that we were still in transitional weather,  a brisk wind that took the chill off the last couple of days, but still not time to pull out the shorts.  Next, it was down to Palm Beach and a crowded Saturday market where we picked up some street food for lunch.  In West Palm Beach we walked the grounds of the Episcopal church where the rich and famous like to tie the knot.  Driving by Mar a Lago we caught a glimpse of the Trump residence between secret service cars.  We capped our Beach town day with a stop at Lauderdale by the Sea before heading inland to Coral Springs and our La Quinta motel which was quite an improvement over the previous night.

Sunday was our Miami day.  The morning greeted us with mid-seventies temperature which we were totally ready for.  We had decided to use the Hop on Hop off Big bus to see the major sights.  Unfortunately, our gps directions gave us a bum steer for the bus start, but we had a scenic drive through Miami Beach neighborhoods.  After identifying the real bus hub back in Miami, we went back across the causeway to Miami Marketplace and caught the double decker bus.  We passed by cruise ship row, and were back in South Beach where we got off and enjoyed a stroll on the promenade between a lively beach crowd and the deco art of the hotels.  We walked a couple of miles and experienced a confusing scramble to find the next bus stop; then boarded the bus to enjoy a drive through the various areas of Miami, getting off the bus again in Little Havana.  We ate at an authentic cafe, complete with cramped quarters, dark walls and blaring live music, topped off with Cuban coffee which we payed for later that night.  The open air bus ride back downtown added fuel to our day's sunburn.  We slipped out of the city and found a Best Western in Florida City, spending the night watching the Eagles and Chiefs secure their spots in the Super Bowl.

Frigid Florida

In an attempt to enjoy a little warmer weather in January, we decided to spend a few weeks in Florida.  My sister Ellen is accompanying us on this adventure.  We took a red eye flight that started with a misunderstanding with Alaska Airlines which resulted in paying for some check in luggage.  We arrived in Tampa sleep deprived and freezing.  It was colder in Tampa than when we left Seattle.  After securing our car rental, we jolt started our day with a trip to McDonalds, finalizing our plans for the next day or two days. Our original plan was to visit the panhandle, but reports of snow in Pensacola quickly changed our plans.  We decided to head to the Space Coast and enjoy the Kennedy Space Center while the weather was bad.

We drove across the state in the morning and explored Cocoa Beach with a stop at Ron Jon's.  Lunch was at Big Daddy 5 where Esther tried the Frito pie.  A late afternoon nap at the motel gave us enough energy to go eat at Cracker Barrel.  Thursday was a long day at the Kennedy Space Center where we stayed warm and entertained, browsing the many museums and a warm bus ride through the complex.  We thoroughly enjoyed the experience of 70 years of US space history.  The museum of the Apollo program was our highlight.  That evening we started north toward St. Augustine, stopping to give Ellen a Buc-ee's experience before finding a motel for the evening.

We woke up Friday to another chilly but sunny day.  Though it looked more like Florida in the sun, it still did not feel like Florida.  We toured the Fort Castillo de San Marcus, the historic St. George Street and the lighthouse, passing on the Alligator Farm.  Making St. Augustine just a short stop, we turned south along the coastal route A1A through beach towns, resorts, condos and exclusive mansions and the beach of course.  No one was on the beaches, not even in Daytona Beach-too cold!  We made our down to Fort Pierce and found a reasonably priced motel near the interstate and enjoyed a sunset over the next door truck stop.

Homeward Bound

 We said good bye to Mike and Marti Friday evening and headed west, driving all the way through Oklahoma in the dark, sleeping in a rest area near the Texas border.  We woke up to pouring rain which continued through our morning drive through northern Texas.  Entering New Mexico, we took an unimpressive walk in Santa Rosa, then decided to take a detour and enjoy Santa Fe, rather than Albuquerque.  An early check in to the reasonable Sage Hotel gave us time to walk the plaza with its Day of the Dead festival and our favorite Canyon Road stroll.  We also enjoyed a long walk on a city trail.  Dinner was and expensive disappointing Mexican grill.  Saturday found us driving south through New Mexico to Las Cruces and then west towards Tucson.  It was a stormy drive through southeastern Arizona before we arrived in Tucson and Jim and Diana’s condo.  We enjoyed the evening catching up and having pizza.  The next day we took a walk in Sabina Canyon, drove up to Mt Lemon, stalled through Agra Caliente Park.  Dinner at a good Mexican grill topped off a great day with friends. The next morning, we stopped at a Jiffy Lube for yet another oil change, and headed for California on I-8, through Yuma, then north to Indio where we booked a two bedroom condo in a gated country club.  It ended up being a little trashy, but all we needed to enjoy an evening watching election returns. We took a long walk through the gated country club and ate frozen dinners from the grocery store.  On Wednesday we drove to Lindsay, a small town near Fresno as a launching point to the national parks.  We checked into a motel and walked the town which appeared to almost exclusively Hispanic.  We ate at a Chinese restaurant.  In the morning, we headed for Kings Canyon.  The maps app took us through a long drive through remote windy roads (sometimes one lane) through some beautiful country.  Unfortunately, Esther got really car sick and suffered for a couple of hours.  We finally made it to the visitors center and found out that the canyon proper was closed for the season.  We did enjoy a hike on a ridge looking up to the canyon and some short walks to see the giant sequoia trees.  Leaving mid-afternoon, we made a bee line north, driving until 10pm and sleeping at a rest area near Lake Shasta.  In the morning, we crossed the Siskiyou’s and stopped in Ashland to walk at Emigrant Lake before making Corvallis mid-afternoon to start our grandparents adventure for the weekend.