Day 3

Road to The Hotel at the End of Day 2



Charlie gets up at 5:30 and goes on the bird watching tour. I sleep in till 7:30! Charles returns with tales of seeing the mighty Quetzal.

We are moving pretty leisurely and don’t get rolling till 10. After we are kitted up and ready to go the Charles mobile won’t start. We roll it down hill and with a pop of the clutch it comes to life.

We have mounted the little HD cam on my helmet now since the high frequency vibrations from the KTM’s handlebars were wreaking havoc with the CMOS rolling shutter. We head farther down the twisty track we descended yesterday before turning around and starting our climb out. Hairpin turn after hairpin with big drop offs to the valley floor keep us on our toes. Shortly we are back on the Pan-American highway. We spend the next few hours catching up to gaggles of cars stuck behind tractor trailers on a very curvy highway. Being on bikes allows us to pass more readily than our four wheeled brethren.



Charles is leading and later says "I was the biggest asshole out there today". we make good time despite the traffic. The reserve light has been blinking for some time on Charlie's bike when we finally find gas. He has been running his bike in a lower gear with higher RPMs and it is thirstier. All the pump attendants are cute young girls. Ours declines the offer to have her picture taken.

We turn off at San Isidro de el General and the road gets even twister. Decent pavement with amazing curves as we climb. We stop and notice the HD camera isn't recording...more on that later. Some of the best roads so far are missing from the record. We stop for lunch at a scenic overlook “The enchanted Valley” and both order something from the menu without really knowing what it is. A good size portion of tasty chow washed down with fresh squeezed juice hits the spot.

After lunch we back track a few miles to recapture some of the twistiest sections of road with our malfunctioning camera. We still hadn't figured out the card was bad. Back on the road it is non-stop curves with very light traffic all the way to the sea. Once we hit the coast we have a hard time finding the resort. Eventually we are stopped at a Police roadblock and the man in black fatigues with the automatic points us in the right direction. The construction crew working on the bridge we have crossed 3 times seems amused by our predicament. It is now HOT and really HUMID. We are really sweating in all our protective gear. Charles as administrator on the trip checks us in to our little house.

We plug in our widgets and head to the pool. At the pool we see the usual crew of aging Germans frolicking. The status quo takes a turn when the only youngster at the pool, a man in his twenties with a ball hat with a huge dollar sign emblazoned on it, asks if we party. After we both make excuses we ask how long he has been in country. 4 years. Hmmm….what do you do for a living. I’m into hydroponics big time…. mind if I smoke…he has a hard time digesting my answer. I’m a housewife I respond. We see a Toucan in the tree above us.

Tony tells us of a beach 15 minutes away shaped like a whales tail. We put it on tomorrows agenda.

At our now mandatory 5 pm happy hour we both order Pilsen in honour of uncle Earl. We had seen the signs at some of the roadside cafes where it replaced the more common “Imperial” brand we have grown accustomed to. Costa Rica has Pilsner!

We spend the night watching CNN with no sound. I hope Dick Cheney is OK. Tonights bar tab 39,827.00$