Living in stle in Costa Rica

Chuck and I have been living "in style" on this trip but we returned to "60's style" traveling yesterday, leaving our "bubble" for a beach town. We had three choices of traveling and chose the cheap one which turned out to be a large open air truck with wooden benches called a "collectivo" for $8 each. We boarded withl5 young backpackers. I thought Chuck was disappointed after our week of luxury living so I looked over at him. He was grinning from ear to ear. Across from him were 5 busty young French girls in tight tank tops bouncing up and down. Ah ha! Chuck always did love sightseeing!
After that we took a shuttle to the sleepy coastal town of Uvita, where we scored a small cabin for just $50, owned by a sweet Tico family named Perez. They loaned us silverware, coffee pot, and cups. Today Papa Citor drove us to the beach for free in his pickup. It is fun to live in a real Tico community for 4 days.

We are off to Costa Rica tomorrow, our first big trip for 2011 and hopefully on to a sunnier climate than rainy Portland. Looking forward to a new adventure with the new year. This year, we bring a few more meds, some larger clothes, band new hiking boots and orthics to place inside them. But, the good news is that we are still doing it! Will keep you all posted on our adventures there from Feb. 11 - March 4.