Oh to have perfect waves!

So this past weekend Patrick and I, along with 2 other friends, went to Ollies Point and Witches Rock (Roca Bruja, in Spanish). Just so you know, these two surf breaks are world renowned and are places the we've wanted to go for, well, since we've been surfing.

To start our trip, we arrived in a town called Hermosa (Beautiful in Spanish), where we met the boat for transport. The boat we took is called a panga, its kind of a large fiberglass boat. It has two benches, a small canopy, and a single engine (you'll see pictures). To load the boat what they do is bring the boat very close to the shore and hold it from washing onto the beach. There was an older man and two children holding the boat. We had boarded, the older man walked away, and the two children hopped on. Confused? Yeah, we were too. Well, off we went. We started chatting with the boys, they told us they were 16 and 14, but there is no way. We guessed, 14ish and 11. We asked our "captain" if he had done this before, he told us, "oh yeah, I've been doing this for years". Hmmmmm? I think I was laughing for the first 30 min. on the boat. I was having a hard time grasping the concept of our boat captain being 14.

So, off we went to two of our dream destinations. About an hour later we arrived to PERFECT waves. When I say perfect, I mean, PERFECT! It was Ollies Point. This is a break located in a national park, there are no roads in or out, and if you walk, I'm pretty sure you'd get lost or eaten by something in the surrounding jungle. It was very peaceful. Ollies Point had some of the best waves I have ever seen. We drop anchor, throw our boards over, jump in, and paddle into the line up (the line where the wave is breaking, the ideal place to sit and wait for waves). While we were surfing, the boys went fishing and caught something like 10 fish. Really a great experience.

Then we went to Witches Rock. This is a famous break. Really a neat experience. This is also part of the National Park, however, here you can find 1 road. Apparently its really awful and unless you have a Defender 90, you won't make it.

This is for my Uncle Allen, Defender 90s are all the rage down here. They're everywhere. I have to say I think of you every time I see them.

Here are some pictures of our trip:


Below: A picture of our friend Judd taking the reigns, along with our two "captains."



Below: Patrick and I on our way to Ollies Point.



Below: One of our "captains", he said he was 14, don't believe it, I say 11, what do you think?



Below: On our way to Witches Rock.



Below: Just another picture of us on our way to Witches Rock. You see they rock between us, this is the rock. Maybe its called this because its ominous, just there in the middle of the ocean.



Below: I told you he caught a lot of fish!



Below: Unloading the boat. We were trying to get a guy to take our picture, and yes we were posing, but he was really bad with his timing.

Halloween Weekend

I have not dressed up for Halloween in about 5 or 6 years. I had always enjoyed it, but never taken part. FINALLY, I get to dress up. I am in a town, where there isn't too much to do, so any reason for people to have a good time. Here are a few pictures from Halloween weekend.

Note: Patrick's costume is no reflection of me. He wanted something that would make people laugh, and it sure did. He was a "pene", in Spanish. You will have to look up the meaning, I don't want to say it in my blog.

This is Patrick and me, I was Pink (the rock star).


This is a good story. Patrick, well you know what he was, I was Pink, and our friend Sean was dressed as our Parking Attendant. I don't know if you can see the pigtails and you can't see the skirt, but our parking attendant in town is a he/she. He/she is always wearing little tops, and small skirt, and a neon vest. Its a riot. Good job Sean!


Meet Obama, a Kirshna, and Pink!



Saturday, Patrick and I headed to Arenal, a very touristy area, known for Lake Arenal and volcano. We headed out with another couple, Judd and Jackie. Here are a few shots and videos, I'll explain as I go. I have to mention that many of the scenic pictures were taken from the property of our friends Summer home.



Here is a panoramic shot, Patrick loves this feature on his camera.


I love this picture. Notice the boots, gotta have them.


We went to a very exclusive resort with hot springs, heres a video. It was amazing. Waterfalls everywhere, you could get lost.


The following day we went to Sky Adventures for a canopy tour. The longest cable is something like 2,400 feet, while you are up to 600 feet in the air. We had to take a tram to get to the top platform. It was amazing. Here are some pictures and videos, they'll do the explaining. Heres their website if anyone is ever interested http://www.skywalk.co.cr/index/index.html .

This is a group picture.


This video is one of the guides showing us the view from the longest cable. Beautiful huh?!


Everyone was dirty, because of the grease used in the pully system. It was raining so it sprayed all over us. Tasted gooooood!

So this was our weekend. Let me know what you think.

Rules of the Road

So the basic "Rules of the Road" in Costa Rica are that you should not hit pedestrians or other cars...

...also, for the sake of your car, watch the potholes!

Thats it!

Here are some videos to give you an idea.



This next video is an AVERAGE road in Costa Rica, I would by no means call it bad.



Usually there are a lot more pot holes, the ride gets to be very very bumpy. I would consider some of these roads, roads for 4 wheeling in the states...






Did I mention I got stung by a scorpion...

...4 TIMES, FOUR TIMES!!!!!

I put on my raincoat with just a bikini on the second day we were there, I walked out to the car, and WAM...WAM...two times in the back. HE WAS IN MY COAT!! I ran back crying. Patrick helped me with ice and whatnot, I wanted to put my coat back on..WAM...on my elbow...still there, Son of a B***h! Then I squeezed the whole coat trying to squish it...thought I got it...lets try again...WAM...my finger...words can't describe how aggravated I was.

Here is the little B@$%@&D!



On a lighter note, here are some more pictures from our trip...


These dogs followed us everyday when we would go check the waves or go surfing!


Patrick and I had no tv, so we would play cards every night, it was so much fun!

Some Surf Photos

So this is all thats been happening lately. I've been surfing a lot, and two of those days there happened to be a photographer, so Patrick and I picked up some pictures. Here are a few...







The following picture will give you an idea of the size of the wave, even though I don't do it justice:

Oh to be Home Again...

I was back in Maryland for about 10 days, and it was awesome. I went home to surprise my dad for his birthday. It worked he had no idea and he was speechless when he found out. I think I'll pat myself on my back, because I'm terrible with surprises (I tend to spoil it).

Went to a bar to check out a band for my brother, Alex, and his fiance, Laura, my sister-in-law.

These are some pictures of my family, parents and my brother and his fiance.








We had a big bbq for my dad, 30 people were there, good food good people some good cherry seed spitting (we're not rednecks, and don't tell me you wouldn't do it if you had a case of cherries).

Below is a picture of my two uncles and my cousin, Megan.


I am extremely close to my family, and it was a great visit! I love you guys!

I saw my bestfriends Jeff, Matt and Christine (Heather was missing)! No pictures, but it was great to see them. We didn't do anything special, just catching up.

Then I headed to Ocean City to visit my friends and maybe do some Right Coast surfing. I did visit friends, but the water was too cold for me, considering I'm in 80 degree water now. I stayed at Bianca and Matt's, they're such great hosts, we went to Kirby's the first night, then to Belly's and Fager's the next (all names). It was a blast. I did a little too much shopping in between. Here are some pictures, I went with my bestfriends Bianca, Steph, and then Matt was there also...



And what better way to finish my week than go on a bike ride with my parents.

I'm so grateful to have you both in my life and I love you with all my heart. I'm know I'm not very close, but know that I think about you often and I always love you!!!

Not too much!

So, whats new?! Hmm...not too much.

Patrick and I recently got a water proof camera, its a lot of fun, but we realized you can't keep the camera in your pocket, while in the water for more than something like 3 hours. I would say its very water resistant. Not water PROOF. Here are some of the pictures...


Paddling out!


Patrick and I in the water doing what we do...and what we love!


Look at that PERFECT wave! For those of you who don't surf...this is what you're looking for, maybe a bit bigger, but this shape!!!!!

We always have these little parades going through town, believe it or not, but they are often for advertising the local grocery store. The next few pictures are of one such parade...




These are children dressed in local Costa Rican costume. I think its beautiful.


More of the parade.

Went to a town south of Tamarindo, called Marbella, for some surfing and a change of scenery for Memorial Day, of course they don't have a Memorial Day here, so I had to use Patrick as an excuse. Its a really different beach, black sand, very green, and of course its rainy season now, so they are getting a ton of rain, check out the clouds in these pictures...





After staying the night in Marbella went surfing the following morning and then headed to our favorite beach for what other than...more surf! Its called Playa Grande...


Its not often you get to enjoy the company of a kitty whilst you eat your breakfast. I love it.

So I already mentioned that we're getting into our rainy season, but I didn't mention that we just had a tropical depression roll through. I guess one can expect certain visitors when you get something like 15 inches of rain in 3 days. Give or take.


How he got there...I have no idea. He just was. Did I tell you I discovered him when I had to go to the bathroom and it was an EMERGENCY first thing in the morning. I wasn't prepared to go to the bathroom in front of one of my most feared animals (I HATE FROGS!!!!!! I'd rather have a pet snake or turantula.) I ran out jumping and screaming, I'm sure it was a site!

Anywho...not too much has been happening down here. Same old, same old. Miss you all!

So many things, so little time...

So heres whats been going on for the last 2 months, its been busy and thats why you haven't seen any pictures or heard anything from me. I meant what I wrote in the last blog, but I must say it was filler and fluff, because I was too lazy to write.

So in mid-February I went to a small town called Santa Teresa with some friends visiting from the States: Dave, Rob, and Tommy. They went down a day in advance, I had to work so we followed, leaving at 1:30 in the morning. Its about a 4 hour car ride, mind you, had it been paved and not mountainous, with steep drop offs, it may have taken about an hour and a half.

Dave had told me the previous evening, while Patrick and I were packing, that the road turns into what looks like a driveway, this is what happens when you take instructions too literally and make a wrong turn, at 4:30 in the morning...


Then after waking up a local Tico and his entire family, wife, son, mother, father, a guy by the name of Johny came outside, barefoot and shirtless to help us get out of the mud. He was amazing. Eventually, they got a neighbor to pull us out. This took us an hour in a small town called San Rafael, which would have taken about 3 hours anywhere else. Amazing!


We made it to Santa Teresa, it was gorgeous. Compared to Tamarindo it was incredible green and trash free. The mountains came right off the beach. We stayed in a little cabina (cabin) that was about $20 per night per person, it had 2 bedrooms and a kitchen. Cheap huh?!




As soon as we got there we surfed for a few hours then went for breakfast, I love having breakfast in a bathing suit, that is, having it in a bathing suit and no one caring.



We surfed about 18 hours in about a 3 day period, I was sore needless to say. The waves were amazing.


The second day we spent the entire day on the beach, from before breakfast all the way through dinner. We even started a fire and cook a pretty spectacular meal. Great end to an amazing trip. I'll be back for sure!


Patrick and I went to our first fiesta. Each town has one, to celebrate their saint. Usually they begin on Thursday with a big dance, then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, they have all kinds of foods, clothes, and the main even being bull riding. Its incredible, you'll see in the pictures, there are about 30 Ticos, and maybe a few Gringos in the ring. Notice that most of them wear flipflops.


This next picture was taken just before he got gored and thrown 10 feet in the air. Oh, and when someone gets hurt they have a little 2 x 2 foot hole in the fence where they throw the person to a doctor. Pretty funny, in a sick kind of way.



The only other exciting or semi-exciting thing I've done is gone to Nicaragua for my visa (non residence can reside in CR for 90 days then have to leave for 72 hours). So we went to one of the most poor cities in all of Latin America, Granada. I can say that it was gorgeous, right next to Lake Nicaragua, with all the different color buildings. The big yellow building in the main church in the center of town. I took many pictures just because of the vibrant colors, enjoy!



Just a local bus, I couldn't give you any details, but it does say Hospital and Market on it...go figure?


Guess what they're playing? Thats right...BASEBALL! Apparently, its the favorite pasttime of Nicos.


This was by far the worst part of the town I had seen. Flys everywhere, the water was 10x worse than what is looks like. The animals were just feeding on the greens near it too. Notice the shacks in the background.


View of the city, walking from the more poor section to the center.


Kids playing soccer in center city.


The local market. Its really smelly and they have raw meets sitting outside for sale. Rainboots for $8, watch repair, and anything else you can think of, for really really cheap, cents, in fact.


I can't manage to find a picture, but they're still using horse a buggy for transporting goods. Almost all the cars in town were due to the tourism. Despite all this, we had some amazing food, stayed at an amazing hotel (Patrick got a room with a hottub, and private pool)...



The skyline of Granada. In the background you can see a dormant volcano, Mombacho. Great trip over all, quite the learning experience. Its good to be home in Tamarindo though.

Not too much going on here. Same old same old. I'm tired now, so I'll be keeping up with my blogging, because this is exhausting. Hope you're well, take care, and thanks for reading...I MISS YOU ALL!