The taxi driver picked me up and drove me down to the Budget rental car, which was suppose to be open at 7 a.m. Only I didn't know that the time had changed as we crossed the border with Panama. It was actually 6:10 a.m. and I was standing in the middle of San Jose. Even McDonald's wasn't open, so I sat on a step outside of a Wendy's and played on the iPad a bit.
I experienced some Costa Rican culture with the Friday night bar stragglers that coped with previous nights celebrations. When decided on going to the Quiznos for a little breakfast and kill a little more time. They were suppose to have wifi but it wouldn't connect, bummer. I suppose I should have just played a game or something to kill more time but I was afraid if I stayed away too long, Correen would worry. So on I strolled back to budget to get the vehicle. Originally I was suppose to get the vehicle at 10 a.m., it was now 7:20 a.m.
With the little SUV in hand I tried to place my phone with gps on the dash so I could get satellite signals for the gps while viewing the navigation, only it kept falling down by my feet while driving, shutting off because the power button was being pressed or it would fall over on the dash. For the first 15-20 minutes I was driving by my gut feelings as to the direction of our hotel. On Paseo Colón, I drove a ways down it, hoping the gps would start to function. I passed by a huge central square where loud dance music was being played by a DJ and some kind of celebration was happening. When I tried follow the gps at one point, not sure if had a signal, but I drove directly through the center of a street market! I wasn't the only one, but there were hundreds of people crossing the street and I had to work a SUV across it. The other thing is that the SUV was a standard so having a free hand to hold the gps wasn't an option. With satellite signals restored I was slowly navigating back to hotel, passing by familiar sights from the earlier drive this morning.
I found Correen and the kids at the hotel pool and I decided to go pack while the kids played a bit more. We loaded up the SUV and were on our way by 10 a.m. In the San Jose traffic at a set of traffic lights we saw teenagers walking up to the windows of cars looking for donations, likely for a school or club. I wondered briefly if the parents of Tegan's Irish Dance school would consider this for a fundraiser. Likely not, It was 8 lanes of traffic at that set of lights. Shortly after that we were passed on the inside by 2 men on a motorbike, the passenger carried in each arm 2 car tires wrapped in plastic wrap. So that's 4 tires, 2 men, 1 motorbike at 80 km/hr! It was about another 1/2 hour until we caught up to them and snapped the photos.
We were on our way to Tamarindo so I could get some dental work done and then off to Playa Grande our only booked stay in Costa Rica for the week. PGI or Playa Grande Inn was very inviting with its pool, lounge area and surfer vibe. We had a large room with 3 beds and A/C, the Internet was working. We arrived at dusk and the dirt road the gps had us on was a 10/10 for kid size fun bumps! Correen didn't like the Dakar rally feel of this trip. We immediately were introducing ourselves to others at PGI, enjoying some beverages, kids were playing in the pool and then we were eating some delicious food like chicken burritos and shrimp salad rolls.
We stayed up a little later and enjoyed some good conversations about travel and the local area. Tegan was offered a surfboard for use at the beach tomorrow by Justin; the manager of PGI. Tegan and Elliot also had their first go at ping pong and enjoyed sharing some love with the pet cat.
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