We had a fantastic family vacation to Northern Costa Rica.  Our friends Mike and Teri along with there five year old son Henry rounded out our group.  The trip started with a little beach time in a small town called Playa Hermosa where Sierra, Cooper and Henry were able to explore tide pools, play in the sand and swim in the hotel swimming pool to their heart's content.

After a few "decompression" days at the beach, our group then all piled into a rental van and headed up to the mountains around volcan Arenal.  It was a regular 3rd world drive down memory lane for me, remembering Mexican adventures of my younger days, with the one way bridges, random livestock dodging, big car right-of-way rules (the bigger the vehicle, the more of a right it has to do whatever it wants), and general lack of "traditional road rules" made for fun driving.  We spent three days exploring the natural wonders of the area.  The rain/cloud forests were truly stunning, teaming with a plethora of plant and animal life.  As "zip" lining is a bit beyond us (with Cooper and Sierra at 3 and 5 years old) we went hiking in on trails with suspension bridges, affording us views of the forest canopy.  A nice hike to a waterfall outside of La Fortuna was also a hit, providing us with a cool pool for the kids to swim in as well as animals to discover (fish, frogs, insects, etc).  One day we enjoyed poaching a "closed" natural hot spring where we had a rushing creek of bath temperature water to ourselves.  Apparently a competing business across the street put them out of business, leaving only a fence between its warm water pools and would be water soakers like ourselves.  But the highlight of the area (in my mind) was the volcano itself, with constant eruptions sending rocks tumbling down the flanks of the mountain.  This display was enhanced at night, as the rocks would glow molten red as they toppled down, exploding like fireworks as they skipped along.  It was an amazing display, an a bit frightening to someone like Elaine and I, who enjoy climbing (dormant) volcano's.

After a drive back to the coast, and an evening enjoying the sunset on the natural bay that is playa Hermosa, we awoke bright an early for our flights back to the frigid February temperatures of the Midwest.  Ahh Costa Rica!

Click here to see video footage from the trip