How much can a weekend hold?

...driving to a Costa Rican tropical beach and finding a restaurant serving Hebrew National hotdogs (oh, my, yum!)
...doing crossword puzzles while facing the Pacific Ocean
...eating dinner in (or at least near) a downed U.S. plane
...finding the best hazelnut lattes in Costa Rica in the surfer-central city of Jaco (think Santa Cruz, Calif. meets Central America)
...no sign exists for the next major town on the map, so we were driving out of our way, south, for an hour (and that, of course, is how long it also took to get back :>)
...but then stumbling upon another national park
...eating patacones (smashed & twice-fried plantains) the size of my head.  
....Finally, after a one-hour trip took three, walking, dripping wet and sandy, into THE Applebee's in the fanciest part of San José for dinner on the way home.  


Cheap beach trip with my roommie? = Not as spendy as the tourists do it.  
Nachos at one of very few U.S. restaurants loaded with more cheese than necessary (i.e., U.S. food when you most need it)? = Priceless!

A Room with a View

My view at the Wycliffe International Americas Area meetings in Heredia, Costa Rica

Escape from San José

Three friends and I decided it was about time I took my "new" wheels for a ride.  It was a new experience for me to be able to just jump in the car in a foreign country and go where I wanted.  (I haven't owned a car in 3 years!)  We spent a Saturday in a neighboring city, Cartago, driving through fields and herds of cattle to also reach the nearby volcano.  Here are a few pics (most of them mine, but I give props to Ryan M. for the good ones).