Why is it snowing in Costa Rica

I’m so sorry I didn’t write last week. It was all so crazy with the snow storm hitting Costa Rica for the first time ever and instead of zip lines there were lift lines and ski runs. Instead of scuba tanks and snorkel masks there were skis and poles and goggles. It was all so confusing to me. I thought I would be 60 feet under water swimming with sharks or body surfing on waves but there were these snow drifts and freezing temperatures. What happen to me and my family? Ahhh… the travel gods had played a cruel trick on me, but I wasn’t going to let a few feet of snow or 70 degrees of temperature difference ruin my trip to Costa Rica we would have fun not matter where we were.

You know they say that crises plus time equals humor and the whole fiasco of switching gears from sea to ski for our vacation is now starting to become humorous, but deep down inside it STILL HURTS!!! I can’t tell you how depressing it was to have read and scheduled and talked and planned for a tropical paradise vacation and then to have this snippy Frontier agent say, “You’re a day late for your flight and there is nothing I can do for you. Happy New Year.” We heard the travel agent say “midnight on the 2^nd of January.” We all thought it meant the night of the 2^nd not the early morning of the 2^nd. I feel so dumb, but will never make that mistake again. The Frontier agent did say that many people have made the same mistake. All of our group was very supportive over the whole screw up, but you could tell that it cut deeply and it is starting to depress me again so I’m changing subjects with this positive note. When we head back to Costa Rica again more of the family will be able to join us and that is a happy thought.

The day before we left had been such a fun day. Everyone came down to the aquarium for lunch and a chance to see me swim around with the sharks. Sammy and Jensen were a little scared of this black suited, goggle eyed, bubble breathing creature everyone was calling Grandpa. I waved but those boys didn’t know what to think especially with all the fish around. During the feeding I was initiated into the dining room tank because I had the Morey Eel sitting on my shoulder wanting food and then I kicked him in the face as I swam off. But the real pain was the puffer fish that decided to chomp down on my thumb thinking it was a tasty treat. Thank goodness I was wearing steel mesh gloves or it could have broken my thumb. My thumb hurt for a week and it still is a little purple. We did have a blast in the rest of the aquarium.

The game of the vacation became Heroscapes. I don’t know if you have ever heard of this game but it includes role playing heroes with different powers and abilities on an epic battle field you create. There is strategy, major battles and small skirmishes. Sometimes the all powerful hero gets crushed by the lowly ugly swamp creature or he may rule the board. We played as individuals and as teams; rolling dice to conduct battles and inflict wounds. Yes and it got intense at times as the rolls didn’t always go as expected. Like the time Brad crushed my Superman with this big thumping creature that shouldn’t even be on the same board game. We had this one major game with Danica and I against the rest and it came down to a final struggle of only two guys and a careful roll of the dice. After the vacation Mom suggested that we need to buy the game so we can keep up with the kids and stand a chance to compete.

After the disaster at the airport mom was able to resurrect the vacation and preformed a miracle by getting us a condo in Breckenridge for exactly the time we needed. We all would have gone nuts or killed each other over Heroscapes if left alone in the house for another week. So it became a ski vacation and we were going to tackle the Colorado mountains. Mom even wanted to go skiing. We traded in snorkeling masks for skiing gloves and headed to the mountains. We got there Friday night and set to work on getting as many free skiing passes as we could. That meant going to condo tours – everyone going to condo tours. They took one look at Brad and Celeste as starving students and just gave them the free lift passes, but gave us the full pitch. After Saturday and Sunday we had enough passes and an extra place to stay for only a few bucks. We took a break from condo presentations Saturday afternoon to go to “Ready, Fire, Paint” where we got to paint and fire some pottery pieces. It was a blast – painting and talking and watching the snow fall and the pieces turned out so well. Sunday we went to church and enjoyed a fantastic steak dinner. Again I had to brave the elements to grill the steaks to perfection, but it was worth it.

Monday was ski day and even Mom jumped on a pair and went forth to conquer the slopes, as long as they were green. It was sunny, not crowded and with a touch of new snow. It was as perfect as skiing could be. Brad and I skied with mom for a few runs and then moved on up the mountain. I don’t remember skiing being so fun. We skied down a terrain park run and I even caught a little air. I couldn’t stop skiing and they had to call me on the cell phone to have me come down and eat. Of course we ate at Eric’s Downstairs. The next day was even better except for the wind, but the slopes were great. Brad and I found this far side of the mountain that had all these great blue runs that ran up and down these rolling hills and it was a super ride. I didn’t enjoy the ungroomed runs but we were skiing fast enough to beat the chairs down and with no lift lines got in a ton of runs. Mom and Celeste skied their buns off in the afternoon, even some blue runs, and then we sadly headed home to face reality. Now Mom wants us to plan a vacation in the mountains one year and the next year at the beach.