The day started at 2 am on Friday, Veterans Day. We caught a 5 am flight to Miami intending to connect to Liberia, in the northwest corner of Costa Rica. Well, we landed at 8:30 in Florida and had a three hour layover scheduled. We killed some time by chowing on Mahi fingers, garlic shrimp, and salads.
The night before we left, the flights looked fine. There are only two of them a day to Liberia, but we didn't doubt that we'd be able to get on. What we didn't know was that the night prior, a volcano went off in San Jose. As a result, all flights were postponed and some of those delayed people decided to travel to Liberia instead. So we got bumped. The next flight didn't leave for another seven hours. So in the meantime, we played Farkle and napped near D14. I think I listened to three Jeremy Roenick podcasts. And I had a couple of hot dogs from Nathan's.
We got on the last flight, landing in Liberia at eight pm. Of course, it left a half hour late because the pilot was missing. We even got in business class, so we got dinner. Of course, this was an American Eagle plane, so there was no hot food available. It was either Cobb salad or vegetables and hummus. Of course, the salad didn't have avocado. Mom's complaint was that there was shredded cheddar cheese instead of Bleu cheese. I think I slept for a good hour.
Customs was a breeze, as no one was in line before us. Plus, our luggage actually showed up. Going international and making a connection always has me feeling a little uneasy, so I was glad this went so smoothly.
We took a ten minute van ride to Adobe rental car. The agent, Max, went into a crazy amount of detail on the car. Everything from emergency info, to how to pass another car, to GPS instructions. We appreciated it, but just wanted to go, as we had a three hour drive ahead of us.
So we pulled out in a very nice white Hyundai and started hearing this constant beeping. It was so annoying, once we were driving five miles per hour, it was going off. We pulled over and tried doing everything from turning the car off, to buckling up, to making sure the trunk was closed to checking the gas level. Out of ideas, we drive beach to the facility. As it turned out, The emergency brake was activated. Why they turned that brake on when the car facility is on flat land, I don't know. Also, I've never seen a car where the emergency brake is on the left side of the driver. For all the detail he gave us, he apparently forgot to mention the emergency brake.
So we left, this time for good, at 10 p.m. The first hour was easy, taking the Pan American highway. Then the GPS had us get off and take Route 6, which was a paved, but very quiet road. Then the fun began. We were directed to get on Route 927 for 16 kilometers. I don't know how this road qualifies as a route. I have traveled on some rough roads in my life. None was as bad as this. Boulders, puddles, pebbles, mud, tight curves, uphill climbs, and downhill twists from start to finish. To go about ten miles, it took us an hour. I was literally praying for protection on our car. And doing this at night made it even worse. I think we may have passed two other cars in the entire hour, so I guess the locals knew better.
To then get on Route 142 and a paved road was like walking onto a beach. But then we had another hour of driving. This last road had even more tight curves and sharp angles as we maneuvered around the huge lake for what must have been 45 minutes. We finally arrived at Arenal Kioro at 1 am, 23 hours after we woke up.
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