Home, Sweet Home!

We had an amazing trip to Costa Rica! It was not without it's foibles ... pushing us to truly rely on God for answers since man did not seem to be coming through!

An uneventful drive to www.pillars2.com to stay with our friends, Nancy and Lamont who graciously fed us and took us to the airport after breakfast.

Our flight was on time when we arrived but by boarding time, it was obvious it wasn't going to stay that way. The plane was there and everyone had disembarked, we thought. For some reason, there were still elderly people on the plane and I'm guessing only one skycap to escort each one off? The cleaners couldn't begin their job (not that they did a very good one) until the last passenger was off... meanwhile, we waited.

Finally boarded and waited again! Then a thunderstorm delayed us and by the time we arrived to meet our plane in Atlanta, our 1 hour layover turned into a "missed our plane by 25 minutes." ... or so we thought. No one seemed to know! Our next flight wasn't even on the monitors! After MUCH discussion as to who was to blame, the airline or the weather, we were finally given hotel and meal vouchers and then they realized that our flight had never left, but was postponed til the following morning! However, even that was messed up as one person said the flight was 5:45 AM and another said 7:00 AM ... So we got to the airport 2 1/2 hours early (international flight) and found out it was a 7:00 AM flight ... we could have stayed in bed and asleep for longer than 3 hours. BIG SIGH! This was all a not so gentle reminder that "it is not about us." Many others were inconvenienced as well ... we made the most of it; making friends with a woman who spoke no English and making sure she got to her hotel and turned her over to people who spoke Spanish better than us :-)

We managed to get to our conference JUST in time for Bill to speak! He had just enough time to pull out his laptop, go over his notes, find a translator and begin. He did a very good job! He spoke on police ethics and it was well received. I spoke next with the wives of police officers, and Bill was told I was "over the top." ... I guess that means I did a good job :-)

We thoroughly enjoyed our time there. The hotel was a classic, old style but nicely maintained. www.hotelamericacr.com Great food and pleasant staff. We were on the 2nd floor. The rooms have no AC but each had a fan and open louvered windows way up high ... you needed to keep them open but then you could hear all that goes on in the hallway... and they could hear you!

While we were there on Saturday, Bill's 92 year old dad (back in the States) had the opportunity to fly to Washington, DC to see the WW2 Monument!! Richie Lindmark, a former Sunday School Student of Dad's, helped organize the local contingent and "chaperoned" the group down and back. He posted pictures on Facebook and we got to see them Saturday night. We were both in tears and found ourselves having to explain it to our friends with our limited Spanish! YIKES!

When the conference was over, we rented a car and bravely made our way out of the city of Herredia (near San Jose) and over the mountains and down the west coast along the Pacific Ocean, traveling to Quepos/Manuel Antonio National Park to www.hotelparador.com Wow!

Met with a cold washcloth for our faces and a cool passion fruit drink (non alcoholic) to sip ...we followed our bellhop to our upgraded room overlooking the monkey trail/ocean view and immediately saw the monkeys playing in the trees :-) It was raining but we didn't care! In fact, it rained all but about 6 hours for the two days we were there and we still didn't care! Good food, good music, a nice pool (for when it only misted out) and pretty neat hiking trail that was absolutely soaking wet (but we had umbrellas) and did I mention the food? We hiked down to the beach when the rain stopped for a few hours and swam in the Pacific Ocean ... warm water with cool currents (probably from all the rain) .. did I mention the food? :-)

I was concerned with all the rain; mudslides we saw on the way down ... and sure enough; we had to wait in traffic on the mountain for over 2 hours for them to clear a BIG one ... 12 ambulances left the mountain but only 3 had their lights on. We're not sure how many were hurt/ killed but he rocks were HUGE; one the size of our living room. We did not see any damaged cars, so figure only the workers were affected. Prayed a long time for these workers.

The same rain that poured on our conference and vacation is the same rain that eventually formed Hurricane Rena. We were home by then with very minor delays and a warm welcome back at www.pillars2.com a delicious supper, great company and a good night's sleep! We slept in the next morning, breakfasting with our friends and returning home later in the afternoon.

It was a great week sharing with other Christians, encouraging them in their walk with the Lord and in the Word!

Excitement!

Such plans we have! Bill will be a guest speaker in Costa Rica at a Christian Law Enforcement conference and I will have a few minutes to speak with the wives of the police officers, as well. This means we have to pack.

1. No checked baggage - we just don't want to deal with it
2. Buy new carry on for me - Bill gets the old one :-)
3. Cram stuff into every nook and crannie - I'm good at this
4. Soap the zipper on the old one to make it run smoother - Hey! It worked!
5. Sit on Bill's suitcase to close it - good thing I have not reached my desired weight
6. Find time to brush up on Espanol - Uh oh
7. Clean house so if we die no one sees how messy I really am - double Uh Oh
9. Try to figure out TSA's rules about liquids/gels/aerosols - what is my lipstick considered?
10. " " " " " - what is my deodorant " ?
11. " " " " " - what is my sun screen stick " ?
12. Wait patiently for Bill to come home from work - I'm getting antsy
13. Remember where in my gigantic bag I put the Dramamine - (_____left blank intentionally)
14. Pray for good health, good travel, open hearts and relaxing schedule - should be #1, eh?

Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to share with other Christians in Law Enforcement and help us to be good ambassadors for You.