Everyone I work with is tired of the same old trope: “I need a vacation”. These four words get left on Post-It notes and this cool LED note tablet for weeks. Some would say months! Well, Adrienne did some research, as she is wont to do, and came up with Costa Rica. We have some friends who have been several times and highly recommended it. So we (she) researched it, we (she) planned it, we (she) packed our bags, and we hopped on a plane and came here. And it’s amazing!

Flights were uneventful except it was my first flight trying out noise-cancelling headphones (highly recommend). I guess I didn’t realize how loud the plane really was (although looking out my window I could see the diagram on the jet engine showing how far in each direction you need to be away so you don’t get sucked in, so perhaps we were close to the noise-creating part of the plane?

While in Atlanta, we hastily ate lunch at Pei Wei (which I have been pronouncing Pee Wee) at 9:49am and it was important because we wouldn’t have time to eat until later, but otherwise that meal was certainly not blog-worthy.

Customs was no biggie, so we made our way, luggage in tow, to the taxi station which was a hoard of drivers with either taxi company signs or hastily-written passenger names. Ours was at the back, and he walked us to a full-size Range Rover SUV and we started the nearly 3 hour journey to our resort. I think I skipped it earlier, but our flight was a bit turbulent. Our car ride was also turbulent (but a great view and nice driver) and by the time it was over we were ready for it to be over.

We came to the main entrance, and met with Alfredo, who was a very nice Costa Rican man who reviewed our itinerary with us in great detail. The itinerary was not necessarily new information to me, but it certainly had not been reviewed in a while. About two months ago, we sat down and reviewed the resort’s excursions and activities guide (hereafter EAG) and painstakingly chose what all we wanted to do while we would be here. So I’d been through the itinerary, and the EAG, just not in a while. It may not have been new information but it sure felt like it was.

While we met with Alfredo, they brought us a cool wet washcloth with a pleasant vanilla-mint scent to it and some fresh pressed pineapple juice which was kindly spiked with a bit of rum. Having enjoyed our drinks, we said goodbye to Alfredo and hopped into a golfcart which took us to our villa.

I was not adequately prepared for our villa. We have a private hot-springs fed pool, hammock, and reading couch outside, outdoor shower on the opposite side, giant walk-in rain shower in the bathroom, and plenty of room for two introverts to be close to one another. Over the pool is lush jungle.

We had to change reservations for dinner and ended up enjoying it (although I didn’t take notes). We made our way back to our villa, slipped into the pool for a bit, and went to bed. More to follow tomorrow.