Mountain biking

I took the following video this past weekend. I wanted to try out the front camera on my phone while it was strapped to my arm. It actually turned out pretty well and hopefully watching the video doesn't make you sick from all the jostling around!!

And in case you can't tell, Callie had a blast leading me around the trails.

Photo Book

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Monkeys and more

 

Sunday Funday

On our last day in Punta Liona we headed to the beach after breakfast. The sun was shining and the waves were crashing. We trekked across the beach outside our resort and headed to Playa Blanco for some bigger waves and white sand. After riding some waves back to shore and getting sand in areas we didn’t know we had, it was time to head back to catch the bus back to San Jose.

Below are some pics from the morning. 

Day on the Beach and Ziplining

Yesterday I spent time poolside while listening to the surf roll in.  I consider it a good day when you wake up, change into your bathing suit and don't change out of it until dinner.
This morning we went ziplining through the jungle.  There were 12 ziplines that we went down.  It was a good time and Justin took some good video.  Now we are going to rest by the pool before we have to say goodbye to the tropics.  I can't lie, its pretty cool to look up and see a flock of macaws fly overhead!

Eyes closed isn't a good look on me!

Yes, upside down was an option!!!

On our Way to the Beach

Presently Justin and I are at the Punta Leona hotel and club.  We arrived yesterday afternoon and finished the day off with a walk on the beach, drinks, and dinner.

There are so many creatures here.  Some kind of furry animal that looks like a raccoon hangs around the restaurant, when you leave your seat it happily replaces you to finish up what you have left behind.

Last night it rained so hard that we called it an early night.

 We stopped along the way to see these alligators.  There was a kid throwing in chicken and selling wooden souvenirs on the bridge.

 We enjoyed some beverages on the road trip.

White Water Rafting Pictures

 The looks on our faces in all the pictures are priceless!

 This one is crazy because it looks as though the entire raft has been swallowed up by the river.

Justin and I are in the middle so, it is kind of hard to see us.

White Water Rafting

Today we travelled about an hour through the winding, narrow, congested streets of San Jose and through the largest national park of Costa Rica to the river Cerro Chirripó.  This river was a murky color and tasted strange (like sulfur) which our guide told us was from volcanos at the river's source.  After the safety instructions we broke up into groups of six people.  Our guide, Victor took us down the seven mile stretch.  There were five commands:  forward, backward, stop, get in and get down.  He added a high five pura vida in there as well.  This man was amazing at navigating the river.  Victor used a whistle to communicate with the other guides, it was a seamless operation.  He told us that two of the rapids (widow maker and another which I don't remember the name) were 3+ rapids.  This means that rafters have a 20 percent chance of falling out of the boat.  Rafters who tackle a 4 have an 80 percent chance of falling out!  Geez that is a jump in percentage.

I wasn't sure that I was going to like rafting just because the safety instructions scared me a bit, but I put on my big girl pants and talked myself through it.  It was so much fun!!!  I am so glad that we got to experience it.  At the end, I was sad to get out of the boat.  Justin said that if we ever white water raft again it will probably be hard to match this experience.   I think that I agree with him.

There was a point when two rivers became one.  There was a divide in the water where the murky brown of the Cerro Chirripo and clearer water from another river lined up side by side.  It was really interesting to see.  

After the rapids we ate lunch at a restaurant and headed back to the hotel.  We are waiting now until the bus leaves for soccer game number 2. 

We have pictures of the rafting but we have to get them from Ryan, we will post them when we get them!  I have a feeling there will be some good ones!!

 View from our hotel room

 Another view from our hotel room

 Stanley made the visit!

 Justin is happy that there is a good fitness center, he can still do lap swim!  

 House for sale

 Pura Vida, it's everywhere!!

 Kids waiting to take the soccer field

 We followed this truck for a while up the mountainside.

 Where we ate lunch today.

Pura Vida!!

Pura Vida...which translates to pure life is a common saying in Costa Rica. We were told it could be used to say hi, goodbye, or anything in between. Our guide simply said to use it like Hakuna Matata.

So I'm sure you've gathered by now but we made it to Costa Rica after a long day of travel. We started our journey early this morning and got to O'Hare around 6:30am. A quick flight to Atlanta and a long layover later, we boarded and were on our way to San Jose, Costa Rica. We touched down around 7:30pm (local time, 1 hour behind CST) and were shuttled to the hotel for a great meal and details for the trip.

We are both tired from the travel but ready to start exploring tomorrow. We have free WiFi in the hotel so we will try to post lots of pictures.

Pura Vida!

Costa Rica

Soon, we will be on another adventure.  This time to Costa Rica.  We will be using this blog to let everyone know about our adventures there.

Stay tuned in.

<3

Sara

RAGBRAI XL

So we did it again!!!
Justin and I went to RAGBRAI last Wednesday to join in the fun at Marshalltown.  We stayed at this huge home (with strangers).  Well, I guess they weren't exactly strangers.  Justin knew the lady's son who lived with his friend Luke's family for a summer.  ANYWAY, the point is that these strangers opened their home to six other strangers.  AND when we woke up the kitchen was all spread out with breakfast for us! SO NICE.

Krit asked me an important question before this all started she said, "Sara do you want to ride or do you want to have fun?"  I decided I wanted to have fun SO she Julie and I did a partial day (40 miles give or take a few) of the entire 84.  Us women had a great time riding, eating and drinking our way to Cedar Rapids.  When we got to CR we hung out for a little bit with Brad and Bri and got ready for the Counting Crows concert.  Let me say that I was the instigator on this one.  I thought that I would be entertained with all old Counting Crows music like, Around Here, Omaha, Mr. Jones...You know, August and Everything After style.  NOT SO, apparently they have made other albums since then and I have to say I recognized about three of the songs they played.  BUT you better believe that I was dancing around when they decided to play Mr. Jones.

Was the concert worth 25 dollars?.....no but was it fun to dance to the live version of Mr. Jones?....yes.

After a nice rest at Brad and Bri's inside the air conditioning we shuffled cars (the women) and caught up with the boys in Springville.  The weather was gorgeous and we had a short 12 miles out of that day (40 total miles) So, we had a lot of fun in the beer gardens :)  I am so thankful that I have married into a fun and adventurous family that keeps me laughing all the time.  We had a lot of fun!!!

OH YES, Kristin taught me one RAGBRAI golden rule never to be forgotten....when there is a free beer sign, a rider ALWAYS stops.  Even when it's Milwaukee's Best!

This picture is on day 2....We had three miles to the end here.  

This picture is on day 1...Team Wild Turkey 

Invasion of the .....

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday Justin and I were invaded by none other than....ASHTON!!!  We had a great time going to the Danvers ice cream social, playing cars, going to the library, watching movies, playing in the tent, going to the children's museum and goofing around.

We can't wait until he comes back since that was the most action we have seen around our house in a LONG time!  Super fun times!!!

Danver's Ice Cream Social...Ashton was very captivated by the band.

Library train table

Children's Museum painting wall

I like how serious he is.

Play-doh

Movie time!

Tent-tastic

Swimming with Julie