Catching Up (original title): In which I didn´t catch up. I left it setting in my archives for 2 months now! Bad Tanner!

( Orginally written 2 months ago. Um, maybe three.)


Ok... So it's been a couple weeks now and I haven't posted anything. We'll The past couple of weeks have been exciting. I'll break it down, piece by piece.


Two weekends ago, we road-tripped it to Puerto Viejo again and this time I drove. It was three friends of mine and myself in my car, while six others took the bus from San Jose on down. It was a pretty awesome adventure, driving through Costa Rica listening to Bob Marley and Sublime. I had no problems, however, I did have to pass more people on this two-lane roads than I ever have in the past. Passing diesel trucks, buses, bikers, etc... It was just a wild ride all together. Also, I have to dramatize a bit, when we were passing over the mountain pass, a big-rig lost control and flew off the side of the road. It was pretty much straight down a cliff. We were about 5-10 minutes behind when it happened, because when we got there people were just showing to the scene. No police or ambulances were there yet. I later found out that one guy died and the other was in critical condition. With the roads as crazy as they are here, you would think that the drivers would be a little more cautious; in fact, they're crazier.


So after a 3 1/2 hours drive, which is making great time, from San Jose to Puerto Viejo, we get to Rockin' J's and setup our stay. It is an awesome Hostel located at the south end of town about a 1/4 mile outside of the main strip. We stayed in tents that the have setup on the second floor, and some people decided to just rent a hammock and sleep in those for the nights.


The first night there, the local band was playing and people were getting down. I had my guitar earlier and the singer came up to me and wanted to know if I wanted to play a few song of my own. Of course I said yes, and halfway through their set I just up on the mic and played a few songs. I'm working on my singing, I just went up there and had an awesome time. The bongo player and the bass player backed me up and my friends just kicked back and enjoyed. We all just had an awesome time. .


The next day, we grabbed some Pati's which are these awesome little bread pouches that are filled with just a whole bunch of goodness. I don't know what's in them but Alyssa described them as "the best hotpocks" she's ever had. I told my Tico friends that's what she thought of the, and they just shook their heads, like, come on... Really? We went back to the beach and Sage and I just battled the waves for a couple of hours. After that, we swam past the break and just laid on our backs, in the water, and relaxed. "Let's just float out to Jamaica," I said. I then realized that the current was pulling us out pretty far. No problem though, we same back in, packed our things and walked back to the Hostel. Next time Jamaica, we'll get there one day.


Later on, we walk downtown to hang out for a bit. The dudes slipped away for a beer while we just watched the girls go from street store to street store, looking at everything. Next thing I know, there's a little cat rubbing up against our legs and purring extremely loud. I have to say, it was one of the coolest cats around. Mom, don't let Boob or Otter know, haha. We later go to a bar called Tex-Mex and there was an awesome reggae band playing that simply just kicked butt. We were there for about 2 hours and then went to this other dance-bar that seemed kind of getto. Oh well, it was fun. I have to say though, since I've been down here in Costa Rica, I've been getting down with the dance moves. There's just something about this place that makes you want to move. It's pretty classic.

I love Puerto Viejo!!!


Driving back, put any snow-storm to shame in regards to driving through it. I couldn´t see over my hood. I had a 300 foot cliff on my right side, and diesel trucks and buses passing me on my left. It was not the best idea to be driving at that time. (It was about 8:00pm, black night, lightning, and heart racing, was the only thing I could perceive at that time).

On the right hand side of the road were little red reflectors, which were literally the only things that I could see. It was actually a pretty terrifying experience. But, again, those little red reflectors are proclaimed as ¨los ojos del gatos,¨(the eyes of the cats) and they were they only reason I was able to get back to San Jose through the mountains.

Windy roads, cliffs on one side, massive vehicles on my left, but I made it. I made to a home that told me to pretty much never drive in those conditions again, because many people do die on that road. I can see why, and I did learn my lesson. I´m not driving on that road again. Done, done, and done.