Lance was driving all of us to San Jose Friday morning because Shane & Letha had an afternoon flight that they needed to catch (we weren't leaving until the next day). About 30 minutes out of town our transmission dropped!!! Yup, I know it is a huge surprise that Lance and I experience vehicle trouble- but this may top all the disastrous car troubles that we have had in the past? We were on a small highway climbing a mountain pass at rapid speed to keep up with the traffic when this happened. It sounded horrible (like when I dropped the transmission out of the Eurovan this summer at a stop light in town- but much louder or kind of like the time that our wheel fell off when we were going 80 miles an hour in Montana- but not as stable). I thought that we were going to roll the vehicle. But, Lance's cat-like reflexes saved the day. When the car came to an abrupt halt we were in a diagonal position in the middle of the highway right after blind corner going uphill. All that I could think about was getting Simret out of the car before we were hit from behind. I jumped out with her, naked- because she had just finished "going potty" in her car seat (her naked, not me). So, there we were on the side of the highway watching vehicles dodge our Jeep. To make matters worse Shane and Letha had to be to the airport in the next 45 minutes and we didn't have a cell phone or anyway to communicate with someone so they could help us. We tried to flag down a few vehicles- but most of the vehicles on this road were Semi-trucks. Finally, a couple with their 6 year old son stopped to offer their cell phone to help. We found out later that the only reason they stopped was because they saw Simret. We ended up calling our rental car company and they said that they would send someone for us, but that it would take at least 1 hour to come and get us. Letha & Shane would have missed their plane. The family that stopped offered them a ride to the cab company and from there they could get to the airport. After they left Lance & I made bets as to wether they would make their flight or not. So they left and there we were sitting on the edge of a busy highway praying that someone would not hit our rental car or blow a tired while coming around the corner. Simret fell asleep in Lance's arms (not sure how- but what a blessing that was). We also only had 20 dollars to our name at this point because we gave Shane & Letha the rest of our money so they could pay for the cab and taxes to leave the country at the airport (they didn't have any more money because they didn't want to have extra Costa Rican money and have to exchange it before they left- they didn't figure in the cab ride- but who would have??). It all worked out in the end- we were finally picked up about an hour and a half later and taken to a nice hotel. It was 3pm and we were starving- we had lunch and a couple large glasses of wine. What would a vacation be without an adventure? I also often wonder, what life would be like without car troubles as well? Guess I'll never have that answer...
"ready to go to the beach"
Simret "getting ready" to go to the beach- she LOVES to look, talk, eat, and sing to herself in the mirror (she must have learned this from Lance).
"See you later, I'm going swimming" Simret would announce from time to time. She is a crazy woman in the water (I know...hard to imagine). She would jump off the edge- almost before you lifted her to the edge of the pool. She wore this hideous swim/life vest that created the illusion that she could swim. Our daily routine was: I get up and go for a run along the beach (yup everyday- it surprised me as well- running is growing on me- I still prefer other forms of exercise) then I eat breakfast/write on this blog and check my email, then Lance gets up and I make him breakfast, then Simret wakes - we go swimming right away then we walk across the street to the beach and play (build sand castles, surf, boogie board, etc.), then by the time 11am comes around Letha and Shane decide to make an appearance. By this time we have already enjoyed 4 hours of play in the sun and they have enjoyed a late night without children and the ability to sleep in... could life get better for either of us?
Getting a map of the National Park. This is our second trip to the National Park this time we have a goal of seeing a few monkeys and hiking to the point (which is about 3 kilometers in).
Simret having some milk before the hike (a girl has to fuel up before the labor of riding in a backpack while singing for 2.5 hours).
I took a picture of this butterfly hoping that it wasn't obvious that it was behind glass, dead with a pin through it. It is just that we saw so many of them and I had more than a difficult time photographing them.
Lance finally got this picture of the butterfly.
The hike required one to walk across these stumps with great balance- because if one was to step on the ground below there is no telling what would happen. Just as mysterious as the multiple bridges.
1 comment:
Sounds like you guys had a wonderful vacation..I am a bit jealous:-) Maybe one day we can join you!!! Glad you made it home safely!!
Post a Comment