I'm telling you all about my trip to Costa Rica for my Make It Through Monday moment today not to make you jealous but to make you feel good since it seems I brought back some sunshine with me! I heard the temperatures weren't all that bad while I was gone last week but there was no sign of the sun for quite some time. We had nothing but sunshine while in Costa Rica so I figured I'd be nice and bring some back for you! We flew into Liberia and then drove about 40 minutes to the Hotel RIU Palace Costa Rica which was a wonderful resort. The cool thing about staying at RIU Palace is that you also have access to RIU Guanacaste right next door! They had some water slides at that resort we went on which was a blast! Lots of time was spent at the beach and poolside as the weather was perfect. Sunny and in the 90's most days. You'd actually get pretty hot laying by the pool or at the beach so you'd go into the water and it was perfectly refreshing. Both the ocean water and pool water was warm! We of course were missing Milwaukee while gone so we took a water taxi into a town called Coco Beach did a little shopping and even visited a brewery! I ordered a flight of their beer and got to try 4 different ones. They were all so good! We maybe, just maybe, ordered some fried pickles too. I told you we were missing home a bit!
One day we got off the resort and did an all-day excursion which was awesome! It was about a two-hour drive from the resort but totally worth it. We started the day zip lining which I had never done before. It was so fun and I can't wait to try it again. After that we went down a 1,300 ft natural water slide through the jungle. That was my favorite part of the day. It was super fast at one point but what an adrenaline rush! Our next stop was a very delicious lunch on top of a mountain with a beautiful view. We had just a bit of time for resting as right after lunch we were onto the next adventure which was horse back riding. I'm a huge fan or horses and love to ride so I really enjoyed that part of the day. We finished up at some natural hot springs. The pools were so warm and relaxing and there was even a mud bath! You went into a sauna then put a little mud on your body, let it dry then washed it off. Your skin was left feeling amazing!
On our final day we left the resort for a bit and went for a drink at The Monkey Bar. This is one of those hole in the wall places that is amazing. You just walked down the beach a little from the resort and headed into the trees and there it was. The reason it's called The Monkey Bar is because lots of monkeys hang in the area and they get so close you can actually feed them! Speaking of food, although I didn't eat anything there, I was told by many people how amazing the food is at The Monkey Bar. If you go look for my $1 with my name on it on the ceiling.
One of my favorite things about Costa Rica is a saying they often used which is "Pura Vida". It technically translates to "pure life" and they use it for so much. If you're having a good day you can say it, you use it as thank you and you're welcome, so many different scenarios and I just loved it. We had such an amazing time in Costa Rica and I highly recommend visiting. Even after a wonderful vacation it's always great to be home too. I missed you and don't worry I'm home for awhile now!
Thanks to my friends Lisa, Jeff and Amanda for letting me borrow some of their pictures. I realized I didn't take nearly enough! :)
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