On the road again

Today we got up and finally got a chance to see the sun in Arenal. Did not quite see the tip of the volcano but managed to see most of it.
After breakfast we drove to Monteverde, also known as ¨Cloud Forest¨. A drive that could have taken 2 hours, if the roads were wide and not curvy, took us four and a half hours! Most of our day was spent driving along the countryside, which is very green and peaceful. Fortunately we are on vacation and in no rush to get anywhere by a specific time, although we were happy to arrive at our destination after all those curves and narrow dangerous roads. Our hotel really feels like it´s in the clouds. A lodge with views of the extremely green mountains and not much else.
Tomorrow promises to be a much more active day. We are scheduled to go canoping, and hanging bridge walking in the forest.
Hasta mañana

Arenal

It has been aproximately 24 hours since our last posting and guess what? It s still raining on and off! That should not have been too dificult to guess, given that this is a Leyva Vacation Blog. Today we decided to ignore the rain and go white water rafting. An experience we had never had as a family or as individuals. For some an item on the bucket list, for others not so much....A fun, exciting, extreme experience for all!

The river is called Balsa river and the whole rafting experience lasts about 2 1/2 hours, which actually went by pretty fast. We rafted down grades 2 & 3 rapids which is slow and calm and intense at times as well, a good balance for us more fearful types. All in all a fun exeperience.

The main reason we chose Arenal as one of our stops in this country, was the volcano, that we thought was active, however, come to find out that it stopped erupting about six months ago. It was active for 42 years but stopped in preparation for our visit...No rain, no lava and no eruptions. See ya later arenal! Tomorrow we leave to Cloud Forest/Monteverde area, where we are scheduled to go canoping. Hopefully in dry nice warm weather.

Good night "Pura Vida Mojada"

Are we there yet?

It had been a few years since traveling to our detination took soooooo long. Last night we left home at aproximately 9:30 P.M. and we did not arrive at our destination until 6:00 P.M. local time (only one hour difference from Pacific Standard time). Thanks in part to our usual welcome at every single one of our destinations... RAIN, LOTS OF IT!!! It would not be a Leyva vacation without the typical downpour.... On this ocassion it came with thunder, lightning and buckets and buckets of torrential rain. We think we must of had a whole years (I can not find the apostrephe on this computer) worth of L.A. rain within a few hours here.

We had heard that Costa Ricans are nice welcoming people and they sure live up to their reputation, but ohhhh how slow they work and do buisness. It took us over an hour and a half to get our rental car. Over an hour to withdraw money from the bank. Everything seems to run in slow motion here. Every so often we want to play the fast forward botton! They are probably wondering why we are on fast forward.

It has been a long day for us and we are expecting to have lots of activities tomorrow, including white water rafting (the easiest level to start :-)

We hope to include pictures of our panic stricken faces as we raft down the local river.

Hasta mañana or as they say here:

"PURA VIDA"

Costa Rica here we come!

26 more days until we leave to our summer vacation in Costa Rica. We anticipate a wonderful eight days in the lush tropical oasis.

Summer 2011 Vacation

Summer breaks starts just a couple of months from now and we still have not made any of our reservations. Hoping to accomplish that this week. Will post our destination as early as the end of this week. We hope...

Vacation 2011

As 2011 draws closer, our plan to vacation in Italy is looking more appealing. We take suggestions...more details as time passes.

Final getaway 2010

It seems that it is becoming a tradition of the Leyva family to conclude our summer with a final getaway to Santa Barbara. We are drawn to S.B. for it's aesthetic appeal, the weather, the tranquility and the proximity to Los Angeles. Without traveling too far, we can escape and feel like we are hundreds of miles away. This past Sunday we drove to Santa Barbara and spent the night at the Miramonte Hotel (a recent acquisition of the Hyatt chain). It was nice to have been given an ocean view, however, it was so cloudy it was difficult to appreciate the view. Furthermore, there was a busy highway/street that divided the hotel and the beach, so the noise pollution made it difficult to perceive the wonderful sound of waves. Fortunately for us, we got to see the sun after a mostly cloudy/overcast morning. The highlight of our trip however, seems to have been (by consensus) our kite flying, what a relaxing truly wonderful experience! When the wind is just right and the place that you are flying the kite at is pleasing to the eye. Indeed we have been blessed this summer, amid most of our activities, we have always taken the time to thank God for the wonderful experiences and memories that we have once again created. Looking forward to another wonderful school year, so that we can be deserving of many more vacations to come.
Until 2011...Ciao