What Does It Take To Leave the Country? A lot apparently.

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As part of the Best. Christmas. Present. Ever (oh fine, it ties with the ticket to Tokyo I got last year) I am finally in Costa Rica with Wes. So far it has already been an adventure, starting with our quest to find parking at LAX. Lot B? Full. "Please drive to Lot C." Lot C? Also full. At that point we give in, drive to my office and have a taxi pick us up there. Frustrating, but ultimately will save us money on parking, so we get over it pretty quickly. On the plus side, we left 5 hours early to try to get seat assignments together, so we had some time to spare. Unfortunately, it was not the only hiccup in our departure. As soon as we get to the ticket counter the AA agent starts making frowny faces at my passport. Not a good sign. Admittedly, I was taking a risk by using a passport that expires in 4 months, but I had checked the State Department site (has to be valid for 30 days), called the Costa Rican Embassy (has to be valid for 90 days) and spoken to AA International Customer service ("eh, as long as you return before Jan. 22nd no worries!"). So I wasn't really anticipating a problem. The ticket agent, of course, insisted that my passport had to be valid for 6 months or the computer wouldn't let her check me in. Apparently her manager had no override codes. (Come on people, I just want to leave the country for 8 days!) Fortunately, between my frazzled state and the tears welling up in my eyes (fine, it may have actually been due to the threat to the airline for being liars), our agent went above LAX management to find someone who would authorize my departure. Yay!
We had a long wait at the terminal, chilling at the airport bar. It was finally time to board our flight, and 6 hours later we were landing in Costa Rica (and I'd like to point out that the customs agent didn't even blink at the expiration date on my passport). From there it was off to Toyota Rent a Car to pick up our Diahatsu Terios.
The ride was gorgeous - after we got to the San Ramon turnoff we climbed up the windy road through the Los Angeles Cloud Forest. The area was lush, tropical and green....and completely socked in by clouds. This would be a common theme on our trip. I couldn't see more than 20 feet ahead of me through all the winding curves. I'm not sure how we made it out alive (Wes was probably less sure). At least the roads were in good repair - something we weren't anticipating after reading countless guidebook entries on the horrors of Costa Rican roads.
Once we arrived in La Fortuna we found that there were more clouds and we couldn't see anything but the base of the volcano. We were too early to check in at Arenal Backpacker's Hostel, but we left the car locked up in their secure lot and wandered off in search of food. A couple of meters down the road we found a "Comida Tipical" restaurant where we feasted on tasty chicken casadas - set meals that included chicken, beans, some sort of seasoned rice, white rice, salad and sweet plaintains. We also had our first introduction to Imperial, the most prevelant beer in Costa Rica. All for only 6,400 colones (about $12.50).
From there we wandered through all 6 blocks of "town" and found the local "Super" Mercado. 80 cent Imperial. Yes!
Back at the hostel we finally go our room. Thank goodness there were two beds - it was far too humid to share. So much for this being the dry season - so far it has rained for about 2 minutes every 10 minutes or so. We love it here anyhow and wasted no time heading down to the pool (me) and the hammocks (Wes).
We headed back to the market for dinner and breakfast supplies and made use of our outdoor kitchen to make a tasty Christmas Eve dinner of shells, butter and pizza cheese. More appetizing than it sounds.
Now we're just contemplating whether to return to slumber or attempt to hit the town and be social. It's looking like sleep will win out.

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Photos

Even the birds thought the restaurant was tasty!
Snacking birds at the restaurante we stopped at for lunch. Huge banana fnas. Our first encounter with wildlife.

View From the Top
We passed over Lake Nicaragua on our flight into San Jose International Airport.

Volcano? What Volcano?
True to its reputation of being located in a rainforest, La Fortuna was filled with rain and low lying clouds. You could barely tell there was a Volcano on the other side of the mist.

Christmas Eve Imperial
Wes enjoys a Christmas Eve beer on the walkway outside our room at Arenal Backpacker's Hostel.

The local brew
Imperial. The cheapest beer in Costa Rica. But at 80 cents a can we weren't complaining.

Ah, my favorite pastime...
Taking pictures from the walkway at our hostel.

Downtown La Fortuna
The town square. Cloudy.

Hostel View
Wait for it...more clouds.