Thursday, February 19, 2009

Costa Rica!

Our flight to Costa Rica was great. There were about 25 of us in the group and everyone was so much fun! The movie they played on the flight was "Nights of Rodanthe". Can we say depressing!? We arrived in Liberia at about 2pm and were to the Hilton Papagayo Resort by 3pm. Casey & I were tired, so we took a nap for a couple of hours.


Here is the view outside our bungalow.

After our nap we walked down to the pool and there were a bunch of the guys in the pool playing water volleyball. Next thing I know Casey is playing too... in his jeans! I think he looks pretty hot!

Kelly & Dave were our buddies all week. They are so much fun to be with, and both are hilarious. They made us laugh all week long.
On Sunday, we went to church, and it was so fun. The people are so kind there and were so excited to have us. This little girl about 8 years old walks up to me after church and just gives me a big hug, it was so touching. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the resort.
Monday we rented a car with Dave & Kelly and drove to the nearest beach called Coco Beach. It turned out to be filthy and so we didn't stay long. Instead, we drove back to the small town in Liberia where the airport is and we found a mall with a theatre and watched Benjamin Button. Casey & I also had a mean air hockey match. He would get so into it, he would hit the puck so hard it would fly across the arcade, it was making me laugh so hard. After the movie we ate at Pizza Hut, we were already craving American food.

Tuesday we rented the car again and drove to another beach. This time we asked Yessiana, the consierge at the resort, which beach was good, and she gave us direction to Avellena Beach and it was AWESOME! Casey & Dave decided to test their surfing skills. Neither of them have ever surfed before, but they gave it a good go. Casey's stomache was rubbed raw by the time they were done.

On Wednesday, the group went on the MEGA tour. It consisted of a canopy ride (zipline), going down the longest waterslide in Costa Rica, horseback riding, steam room and mud bath, and hot pools. We had such a great time. The entire day was a blast, and to top it off, we got to see howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and white faced monkeys.
On Thursday, we took a four hour bus ride to the rainforest and volcano and did another zipline, only this wasn't any ordinary zipline. This zipline was 600 feet above ground and 2000 feet across and consisted of 6 different ziplines. I think this is the scariest thing I have ever done in my entire life. I still can't believe I did it. People get cruising down this zipline at about 40 mph, and there is no way to slow yourself down, and if you don't make it all the way across, you have to pull yourself to the other side dangling 600 feet above the misty rainforest. It was so surreal!
Friday was our last day, and we decided to go back to Avellena beach and relax. The boys surfed again, and to be honest, weren't any better than the first day. :) We spent the evening at the resort playing water volleyball, eating, hanging out with the group, listening and dancing to the live music, and getting sad to leave, but excited to see the kids.
Saturday morning we packed and flew back to Dallas, and had a wonderful Valentines dinner at 3Forks steakhouse, Sunday morning we flew home, on the plane they were playing "Nights of Rodanthe" again, someone must have said something and they changed the movie to "The Duchess" which was depressing too! What is up with showing depressing movies on an airplane, it's not like people don't have enough anxiety on a plane. Anyway, back to the trip, it was a wonderful trip and I had such a great time with Casey. Thanks babe!

14 comments:

Heather said...

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! Sounds like an awesome trip. Thanks for sharing details and your amazing pictures.

Mitsy said...

It looks like it was SO AMAZING! I am so jealous about the zipline! I know it is probably scary but I would LOVE to do it! I would have loved to see the monkeys too, and surf and oh I guess EVERYTHING that you did! What a fun trip! I'm glad you made it back safely! Love you! :)

Renee said...

Seeing those pictures brings back great memories...it is a beautiful place and it looks like you had a wonderful time! I am glad you are home but you DESERVED a break!

The Burninghams said...

Oh you lucky girl! How fun!

Kaysha Alesa said...

I love these pics. It looks like you had a blast. You look so hot too! I am proud of you. I love the surfer burn... That is what a rash guard is for, hello? Surfing is so hard, but fun.. did you try it? Oh, please frame the pic of you two muddy people. good times.

Shea said...

wow, what a fun trip! all your pics are hilarious. i'm excited to talk to you and maybe see you soon too ! :)

Kenn and Natalie said...

I'm glad you had a great time!! I love all the pictures but especially the mud paint one...so awesome! We will have to get together when we come this summer. I will be doing a summer term at BYU to finish up my classes so my kids and I will be there for 6 weeks or so!

Adrienne said...

You are so brave to do that zipline...I would have freaked! Looks like a fun adventureous trip!

Mary said...

You are so adventurous. Love your pictures. Thanks for sharing your amazing trip with us. We're glad you're back and I bet your kids are too. Are you?

Mommy said...

After that memorable trip, I'll bet you were not just a little upset at getting sick. Reality didn't really need to hit that hard huh? I hope you are feeling better and Hadlie is starting to let you put her down again. It looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing.

Janell said...

You have got to be kidding me! That looked freakin awesome!! Good for you guys. That's so cool that Casey is doing so well at his job! Congrats to the both of you!

Whitaker Family said...

Awesome, Hol! It looks so beautiful. Kaysha is right, you do look great! Casey too. It wasn't unitl I read the coments that I realized that you were covered in mud. Thought you were just tan! Ha!

Joy said...

Okay seriously I am so jelous of your vacation. It sounds like a ton of fun. Do you guys want to go on a cruise at then end of March? Seriously?

Jan said...

Wow...you guys looked like you had soooo much fun. How exciting to go on a zip line and ginormous water slide. Casey looks like he keeps things interesting and exciting! Glad you had fun...you haven't changed a bit you crazy mud wrestler!