We're Back!

We made it safely back from Costa Rica at about 11:30 PM Monday night... what a trip! I was more than a little worried about this trip, flying, the food, the heat... but my worrying was all pretty much a waste, we had a blast!

The first day of our adventure was pretty much all travel, we left SL at 6:30 AM, landed in Houston about 3 or so hours later and had a 6 1/2 hour layover. We ate, walked around, ate some more, walked around, watched a movie on the portable DVD player, and played card games. We then got on another flight to Costa Rica, and landed safely there about 3 hours later. By the time we got through customs and got our rental car it was past 11:00 PM... so it was a very long day. We stayed at the Hampton right by the airport so we could just crash, then begin our travels the next day.

Our first part of the trip was on the North East side of Costa Rica, Guanacaste. It took about 5-6 hours to drive there, but through beautiful rain forests and coast lines. We stayed in a condo on Flamingo Beach for 4 nights, and it was right on the beach. It had rocking chairs on the porch that overlooked the beach, it was so beautiful! We just went to all the different beaches, Tyson snorkeled and saw a 8 foot sting ray.

We went and did an all day tour of the Arenal Volcano. It such a beautiful area. We drove in a tour van for about 5 hours, stopped for lunch, then went on a hike at the base of the volcano. The weather was much cooler and it was raining pretty much the entire time. We only got to see the actual volcano for about 2 minutes when the clouds cleared out. But we saw white faced monkeys, howler monkeys, and tons of birds on our hike.

After the hike, we went to a natural hot springs that is heated by the volcano. There were about 6 pools, the one at the top was about 104 degrees and each one got progressively cooler, the bottom one was 97 degrees. I got in the bottom one for about 15 minutes and then sat on the side while Tys tried out the other warmer pools. Then we had an amazing dinner at a hotel that is right on the side of the volcano. Our tour guide said that when its clear, at night you can see the lava from the volcano, but it was too cloudy the night we were there.

Friday, we made our journey down the coast to about the middle of Costa Rica on the West side to Jaco. On the way, we stopped at another National Park and saw this guy:

The river was just packed with them, it was so crazy, we were totally safe, but the cows drinking on the river bank might not have been...

We stayed in a condo right on the beach of Jaco. The waves were pretty intense so I didn't do much swimming there, just at the pool. Tyson wanted to get in some more snorkeling, so we went to another National Park, Manuel Antonio, down the coast a bit.

We walked for about 2 miles (in flip flops, in 97 degree weather) to get to this beach:

Once we were there, it was totally worth it, but I was questioning it the entire way there. Along the "hike" we saw several sloths, birds, and iguanas. It was all so incredibly beautiful.

After we hung out at the beach for a few hours, we made the 2 mile trek back the car. Tyson's grandma didn't get to go with us because she is still recovering from a concussion, but she made the request that we stop at Hotel Paradore, which is on a peninsula right up from Manuel Antonio. We decided to eat lunch/dinner there and enjoy the amazing view (oh, and I so can't eat all that food, but I tried ;)

After our big day at Manuel Antonio, we decided to just rest and lay low on Sunday, I think the heat was a little intense for all of us... Then the weirdest thing happened, I ate a bowl of cereal and a banana, and it just didn't sit well... I haven't thrown up for 5 weeks, so I was really trying not to throw up... but I couldn't keep it down. But then I threw up blood! It was so scary... we called my mom and sister trying to find out what I should do, we'd be back in the US in less than 24 hours... We all thought I should at least go get checked out, so we went to the local clinic. My blood pressure and temperature were perfect... then we met with the doctor. He said he wanted me on an ambulance to go to the main hospital in the capital, San Jose (2 hours away) to have endoscopy done.

We were freaking out, but for some reason, neither of us felt like this is what we should do. Tyson got me some saltines and sprite, said a prayer with me. Then we called my doctor here in SL, and she said, DO NOT have any procedure done in Costa Rica. She said if blood was in my urine or bowel movements, or if I couldn't stop throwing up blood, then to get medical attention immediately, but a little blood (about a tablespoon) meant that I probably tore something when I threw up and I just needed to lay low and let it heal up.

I went to bed at about 7, and slept until about 8 the next morning... I felt totally fine, no blood in my excrements (sorry, so gross), and I was keeping food down just fine. We felt if we could just make it to Houston, we would be okay. This is us on the last day before we left the condo, such a beautiful place.

We made it back to not only Houston, but Utah just fine. I have a doctor's appointment today, just to make sure everything is alright. It was really scary, but we feel so blessed that it wasn't anything worse.

Costa Rica is a beautiful and fun place. The sunshine did both of us some good. We had such a fun time together, and I'm so happy we did this before we have a family... those long car rides aren't fun. And for the record, I am so grateful to be an American, and to live where I do, and have the many blessings that we have. When we walked into our house Monday night/Tuesday morning, it really hit me how much I have to be grateful for, there is no place like home.

Also, one last note, I'm now 20 weeks, and our little guy is more active each day, he almost never holds still, and we are getting so excited. My mom is coming out soon to help me get some shopping done and get the nursery ready, can't wait!