Costa Rica Journal - Friday, 4-17-09

The morning was off to an early start with Fred arriving at our place on his way to Quebradon. He going to check out the farm and stopped by to tell us he'd only be there for an hour or two, then he would give us a ride down to Guatuso. We put on our bike shoes and rode down to Finca Leola with our laptops in tow. I still wasn't able to connect mine, so Joe and I shared his computer. After catching up a bit, Fred returned and we all jumped in the car.

Friday is the day of the farmers' market, and I was very exited to see it. We also needed to buy some other things in town including a broom, mop and a ducha (hot water for the shower head). The farmers' market wasn't a big one, though it probably was in frontier CR standards, and I was used to the one in Utah at Pioneer Park. This one was about the size of 4 - 6 fruit stands, however I was glad to see it and we picked out 5 bags of produce and even got delicious fruit samples.

Next, we stopped by Gallo Mas Gallo and found out that our refrigerator was ready for us so we put that in the back of Fred's Trooper. We purchased our queen mattress as well, and tied that on top. It was very nice to get a ride to and from town like this, and Fred was extremely helpful in all that we accomplished. When we got home, we unloaded our purchases, but our bikes and laptops were still at the office. The only solution was to get a ride back down to Finca Leola, and then we had to ride the grueling hill back up to our house in the midday sun. By the time we were home, we resembled cooked beats, and decided that we should not try that again in the middle of the day.

Once we had recovered a bit, we were spending some time in our front yard and our next door neighbor Danielo, (who owns a wood shop) approached us. He was trying to tell us something that we couldn't quite understand. It seemed that he was offering us to ride over to Arenal with him. He called someone on the phone and handed it to Joe. It turned out to be an English speaking friend of Danielo's and he confirmed that he had some deliveries to make in Arenal and that his trip would take about 3 or 4 hours. Our neighbor was offering us a ride into Arenal and back while he made his deliveries and we graciously accepted.

The three of us crammed into the small pickup and made our way over the pass to bustling Arenal, taking in some beautiful vistas along the way. When we got there, Danielo dropped us off and said he'd be back to pick us up in one hour. We took advantage of the pizza restaurant that was there. This place also took part in a book exchange, so we grabbed a few books as well. After about an hour and 1/2 in this small city, our neighbor returned from making his deliveries and we got into the truck once more and drove back home. We thanked him as we got out and walked next door to our house, thinking our trip was a nice change of pace from Cabanga.