Finally the rest of the wedding trip from October.
Almost there!
Shuttle ride to the resort.
The first morning we were there, everyone hit the pool.....
....Except me. That's me, the nerd with the umbrella trying not to get my notepad and brochures wet. It should be no surprise to anyone that's ever traveled with me, or knows me for that matter. I gathered all the info and organized our activities for the week. It was about 4 hours worth of running around, getting input from our crew and schmoozing the travel desk, but it was well worth it and it's what I do. I can't help myself. We had an itinerary for the week and wouldn't end up sitting around the resort all week. Not that the resort wasn't nice, but it's just not my style. I need to get out and explore. Plus, I got Ty and Nikki all their activities for free because I did all the leg work and brought a bunch of business to my new buddy Gilbert. Yep, his name was Gilbert....how could he not be the man!? He gave us discounts because our group was so big, but I'm an envelope pusher when it comes to freebies. Those guys can do just about anything. You just have to ask. Having a bride and groom in the mix made it a pretty easy sale too so I didn't even have to pull out my best bargaining skills. I was in the pool right after lunch, which was perfect because I need to be 4 hours behind all those youngsters in drinks anyway!
We loaded our vans the next day and headed to Coco Beach for the day.
Just looking at all these pictures again reminds me what a fun group we had.
Sometimes you just need your drink to match your outfit!
Pinterest idea......nailed it!
Brian practicing in case she needs a back up hair dresser. Turns out all she really needed was an interpreter.
Wes and Jana snorkeling
Shorty can't even touch
Catamaran for the snorkeling trip. This is where we learned who should not be going out fishing on the smaller boats. There were a lot of sea sick people! We saw a lot of cool fish and I saw some Eagle Rays. Of course I got washed up on to the rocks and cut my hand and arm because I always think I can hold on and the wave won't push me in. I do it every time! There were a lot of cool shells on the beach so I got some good souvenirs for the kids.
Getting ready to board
Our resort
Clayton's sweet tan lines from his mesh hat.
Fishing was next on the Agenda: Cam, Shad, and Meghan's boat
The fishing derby winning boat!
Sweet Captain Harry around your waist there Brian! I joke, but by the end of the trip we had caught so many fish, I was wearing one too otherwise the pole was constantly digging into my hip or belly!
They would put these fish in one side and they would flop around and pop out the other. It was so funny to watch these guys try to contain all these fish on such a little boat. Plus, they were trying to keep it clean and rinse all the blood, ect since it was a charter boat. Kara and I could care less, we were having a great time and Captain Harry (aka Brian) was in the back with them most of the time. Half the fun was trying to get out of their way when a fish came on board or keep our lines from getting tangled. We had to trade poles a lot and if we lost a fish, these two often had an extra pole with a fish on it to hand off to us. This fishing trip was all around fun!
Tuna
Sea turtle
Kara, you should post this pic on Hayter's FB page to show you representing in Costa Rica!
We got really lucky and happened to go on a day when there were a ton of mahi mahi. It was so fun and really hard fighting them. We also caught some tuna which were also fun until we got into the mahi mahi and realized how much better they were to catch. They fought hard and jumped out of the water a lot. The only thing that sucked is that there was no bathroom so we had to limit our beers.
Clayton, Ryan, and Casey's boat
Dinner the night before the wedding at the steak house
Nikki's Fam
I should have gotten a picture before we devoured most of it, but I was too eager to eat it and forgot. This is the Mahi Mahi we caught that day. It was delicious! It probably didn't hurt that it was cooked by an awesome chef that knows what to do with it, but if this is what it always tastes like, I may have to start purchasing it. Thankfully a nice guy with a Spanish speaking wife, saw the run around I was getting from all the restaurant staff and helped me get it into the right hands to be cooked for us that night. Kara and I were about to give up and thought about tossing it in the garbage because Kara had been standing outside with the dripping bags of fillets and we didn't really want to walk around the resort with it for much longer.
Clayton took a couple bags to the Italian restaurant for the reception dinner and it was spectacular as well.
Mom, Renee and the rest of their group made it back after their volcano tour. It was all day and the same day as the earthquake. I was getting a little nervous when they hadn't gotten back before dinner. I checked with the travel desk to see when the shuttle would be back a couple times and when I finally found them in the bar, they didn't even know there was a earthquake. Maybe they were just messing with me about knowing there was one, but they really hadn't felt it. Guess maybe because I was on the 4th floor when it happened it felt bigger than it really was. The buildings are also made to sway to withstand the quake or so I was told after the fact. I would still high tail it out of my room leaving my key and shoes behind if it happened again. Just thinking about it again shocks me that there were people getting on the elevator as I was sprinting by in the stairwell. Haven't you ever seen an earthquake preparedness handbook people! It was a 6.5 tremor and when asking a bartender if they have a lot of quakes or if that was a big one, his response was "no it wasn't big and they don't have that many, it's been over 8 days since the last one." Oh yeah, 8 days, that's sooooo long ago. Bottom line: They happen frequently, aren't too big of a deal, and there usually isn't a ton of damage, probably due to how things are built. There were cracks in the building, but it was a cement or stucco looking in most places so they probably just fill in the cracks.
Nikki getting a present from Ty before the wedding.....
Pearls!
Kara, with all her kick ass foresight, bought champagne while we were at Coco Beach for Mimosa's while getting ready. Kara and I, with our kick ass math skills had to look like bonehead's at the checkout asking the non English speaking clerk via hand gestures and actions much like charades to return the bottle of $400 champagne that we accidentally rung up thinking it was cheaper. We looked like a couple of dorky Americans but it was highly entertaining for us on the walk back to meet back up with the group.
View from Nikki's room
Such a good zoom! Shouldn't you boys be getting ready?!
Cheers!
Disclaimer: All children and pregnant ladies in this picture have non-alcoholic drinks.
Senior picture. The only thing missing is his letterman's jacket!
That's a wrap on the wedding day. Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Zinda....and me, because it's my blog....
Back out for some more adventuring
This photo is from the other Adventure tour some of the group did while we were out fishing. This is Ty hanging upside down. This was the most fun way to go. I wish they would let you do it every time. Zip lining isn't that great, but this makes it much more fun!
Ty being dropped into the canyon.
Time to hit the trail.
Shad and Clayton got donkeys.....hmmm.....is there a double meaning somewhere in here?
Comin' out hot!
Yeah Cowboy!
Jumping off the falls
After lunch, we found these waiting outside.
I always thought the humps were hard, but they are soft and fleshy meat. Now I wonder about a camel....
They adventure continues. We went to a hot springs next.
These were the changing rooms. Kara was bitten by a tick walking down the trail. It hurt so bad that she pulled her pants down to see what was in her leg. Nikki picked it off her and luckily got the head. I felt kind of bad about chanting "ants in your pants" over and over the whole time she was pulling her pants off and dancing around in the trees after I realized it was a tick and she could get lime disease. It immediately made a big bruise and was bleeding. Costa Rican ticks don't mess around! It's been a few months now. I think she's in the clear so I can laugh again.
Surfing at Tamarindo Beach. Maybe I should rephrase that. Trying to surf at Tamarindo Beach.
Nikki could get up pretty good. I had to debate each time whether to enjoy riding the wave all the way to the beach on my belly or knees and having fun or trying to get onto my feet feeling 99 percent sure I would immediately fall off. Now that I've experienced it, next time I will get a lesson and get to my feet at least for a couple seconds. I'm working on my core right now so I'm ready!
Until next time Costa Rica....
I always say that, but honestly, I'll probably never be back. It was awesome, but there are so many other places that I'll need to see first that once is probably enough for me.
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