Los Suenos, Costa Rica

We stayed 3 nights at the Marriott Los Suenos. It was a very relaxing time, but we also had something planned each day. The beach was nice for the kids. The surf was low and they could walk out pretty far. I loved the pool that curved in and out around the property. It seemed to go on forever.



Here is a run down of our activities. Driving in, we stopped on the Tarcoles bridge, home of hundreds of crocodiles. We counted at least 44.



That night, we hung out at the hotel and found a nice sports bar for dinner at the marina.
The next morning we went out on a deep sea fishing trip with Costa Rica Dreams. We caught several fish right off the bat, and then the fishing slowed down. Brian asked the captain to take us closer in for some bottom fishing, and we had some luck pulling in some unusual catches. Scotty caught a tuna and a moray eel. The deck hands were very nervous about the eel. They can bite! Boyd caught a wahoo and a trigger fish. I caught a Bonita. Brian let us reel in so many that he only gets credit for a very tiny red snapper that we threw back. The boys enjoyed their catch at a local restaurant while I went to bed with a miserable heat induced migraine. Stupid headaches!
The next morning we got up and drove to Carara National Park. We paid a guide to show us around and we were very glad we did. We saw several different species of birds, two types of bats, Capuchin monkeys, a cute little rodent called an Alguti, and a lot of poison dart frogs and centipedes. We also had a good time finding different types of fungus. The forest was so beautiful.
We went back to the hotel and found some fried chicken along the way for lunch. Fried chicken is a big thing in Costa Rica. Who knew? We laid around at the hotel pool and beach some more, let the boys play some Xbox, WII, and PS4, and ordered pizza for dinner.
Did I mention that our room had the most amazing view and Scarlet Macaws in the trees every morning?


Here are some more pictures if you are interested.
Marriott Los Seunos pics

Adventure Park and Hotel Golfo Vista

This was a quick one night stop between resorts. The whole reason for the stay was the zip line tour, but the place has so much more to offer. The staff is very friendly and helpful. Your zip lining tour, dinner, breakfast, and lunch are all included in the price. In addition, there are many hiking trails, ropes courses, and climbing walls to play on. We could have stayed another day to explore, but we must move on to the beach.


More pictures here.
Adventure Park pictures

La Fortuna, Costa Rica

I am speechless. This country is so beautiful and pictures do not do it justice. We arrived in San Jose around noon and had a 3 and a half hour drive to the Los Lagos hotel in La Fortuna. The roads are so windy that you do not want to try and nap or read along the way. Also, you are afraid to blink because you might miss some amazing sight. Every hill or curve in the road brought a view that was more breathtaking than the last.
The Los Lagos hotel is a small resort with pools fed by thermal springs. The boys (including Brian) had a great time on all of the slides. I even got up the courage to do the fastest slide by the end of the trip.
Some of our other activities included the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges and Tabacon Hot Springs.
I do have to tell you about one place that we dined. We were coming back to our hotel after a morning at the Hanging Bridges and decided to stop for lunch. Brian saw a sign for Benedictus Steak House and made a very quick turn into the driveway. The sign said 800 m ahead. Not too far up the road. As we drove we became more and more unsure that we were in the right place. There were sheep in the road and we were on a windy dirt road heading up the side of the mountain. At the last curve we saw this.


We thought that we were at someone's private home, but we had actually stumbled upon a quiet and quaint restaurant. It was apparently just opening and we were the only people there for the entire meal. Our waiter not only served us, but we think he may have cooked the food, and he told us some history of the place and gave us a tour of the gardens after our meal. Hands down the best meal up to this point, but it was only day 2 of the trip.
Here are the rest of the pictures from this trip. I will have to load pictures from Brian's phone and the gopro later. La Fortuna Pics

Location:Montes De Oro,Costa Rica

Cabo San Lucas

We just returned from one vacation long enough to wash all of the laundry and pack for the next. This is a whirlwind of a summer! But we are enjoying every minute of it.
Last week we spent 5 days in Cabo. Unfortunately, Hurricane Dolores vacationed near Cabo at the same time. It kind of messed with our fishing plans, but it gave us an opportunity to drive up to La Paz and check out the fishing in the Sea of Cortez.
Day 1 - Traveling day from Dallas to San Diego to Cabo. Flight and car rental ate up most of our day but we were told to try El Toro Guero near the airport for some authentic mariscos (seafood). It was definitely a place the locals choose to hang out and the food was amazing. We made it to our hotel with enough time to dip our toes in the water. The waves were pretty ferocious and the the current was strong.We stayed at the Welk Resort Sirena del Mar. They gave us adjoining rooms and we had a great kitchen for making dinner and hanging out. The rooms were amazing. We had a jetted tub in our room.

Day 2 - Time Share tour of the Diamante properties, home of Tiger Woods' vacation home, Dunes course, and a 10-acre swimming pool. We shouldn't have wasted our day, but it was a gorgeous place and we got our rental car for free. 

More time at the beach and at the pool. The boys had a blast with the GoPro, especially Boyd. We have lots of underwater video of him in the pool. Hmmm? I don't seem to have any pictures of the pools. I guess we were having too much fun. Look up the Welk Resorts online. 

Day 3 - Early morning drive up to La Paz, about 2 hours north. 8 hour fishing trip which was pretty unsuccessful but very eventful. We fished half of the day with no bites, and then just as we were about to go snorkeling we hooked something. Scotty pulled in a trumpet fish. 

Then we dropped anchor, right about where that picture was taken and decided to swim around a bit. It was a very short swim that included some jellyfish and a shark. I am still having anxiety attacks over this swim. It will take me a long time to jump back into the ocean again. Needless to say, if you are in the ocean, you should expect to swim with lots of sea life, even some that you would rather not swim with.

The rest of the afternoon we trolled back toward La Paz and only hooked onto one more fish. We aren't sure what it was because it dove down and eventually got the hook loose, but Boyd, Scotty, Cindy, and I all had a shot at reeling it in.

Dinner was recommended by the deck hand and it was another local favorite, Rancho Viejo. They served tacos and their specialty, a baked potato stuffed with beef, onions, and mushrooms.

Day 4 - Jake and Brian attempted a fishing trip off the tip of Cabo. We chose not to go because the swells were still high from Dolores. We were glad we didn't when the guys came back in after an all-day trip without a single fish. Our day consisted of hanging at the pool and beach, and a trip into downtown Cabo and the marina. 

We were told to go to Edith's for dinner. Apparently, everyone was told the same thing. The host whispered to us to try The Artichoke just down the street, and we were glad we did. It was almost empty and the service was great. We ordered a variety of different menu items from steak to shrimp ravioli to grilled shrimp to fajitas. We also ordered grilled asparagus and grilled artichoke for appetizers. Don't miss this place if you ever visit Cabo. 

Day 5 - Travel day from Cabo back to Dallas. :(

See more pictures of our trip here. 

San Antonio Getaway

Last weekend we went down to San Antonio with some friends, and we stayed at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa just outside of town. Swanky! Of course, we used the teacher ID again to get the government rate. Cha-Ching! More money to spend on drinks and snacks by the pool.
We spent 3 days laying by the pool, sliding down slides, and floating the lazy river. I think it is safe to say that we all had a blast.





No vacation with Brian would be complete without a stop at one of Guy's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. We made a trip into Alamo Heights for some Bun N Barrel. Think huge, messy hamburgers and BBQ. They even have a juke box, which made the boys' day.