Costa Rica, Day 1 (On our way to San Jose)

Where do I even start? 😂 This trip was pure magic. 

Day 1:

Thursday, Oct. 21st

It was 2am in the morning when I was abruptly awaken from a deep sleep. I remember finding myself in a bed at my grandparents house in Utah. How could I have forgotten? My adventures were just beginning. I got myself ready for the long day ahead of me and checked to make sure all of my bags were packed. Mom, Dad, Britton, Garrett, Hazen, Grandma Sandy, Grandpa Lynn, and myself were all ready to go. The bags were packed and the arrangements made. The cold, dark, and dry environment of Utah were going to be left behind, and the warm, humid, lush and tropical Costa Rica was about to enfold me. We hopped into our tiny minivan with barely enough room for our tons of luggage and 8 travelers. Off we went to the Salt Lake City airport. I remember pulling into the dark parking lot with hundreds of cars parked everywhere. Once we found an open spot we parked there and then got on a shuttle that took us to the airport. There is something so magical to me about airports. Just thinking about them bring back such good memories and excitement. The thrill of getting up when it's still dark outside and imagining flying on airplanes gave me the adrenaline I needed to get through the day. We got to the airport and got through the ticket line (barely) and passed through security tired but excited. I can still feel myself shaking. Once we were all set we made our way to the gate. The excitement had barely begun, and yet we had had so much fun already. At about 6am we boarded a plane to the Dallas Forth Worth Airport where we would board ANOTHER plane that would eventually take us to San Jose, Costa Rica. The flights went smoothly and even though at some points we were exhausted and questioning our life choices, the highs were so high that it made up for the lows. So much happened in these short hours of travel that felt like lifetimes. After  hours and hours of traveling, our party of adventurers made it to San Jose, Costa Rica airport. Flying was half of the battle, next we had to go through the Immigration line that definitely made us question EVERYTHING. We spent a solid 2 hours in line just waiting and waiting to show some airport worker our passports. Ugh... that was truly horrible. There was a light at the end of the tunnel though and we managed  to make it through our final stages of airport nonsense and stepped out into the warm and humid environment of Costa Rica. Pure magic. As we waited for our shuttle to our hotel we gazed at the city around us. We weren't going to be staying in San Jose, but on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica. Puerto Viejo to be exact, in an adorable Airbnb that was literally in the jungle, only a little bit of a walk from the ocean. I craved it then and I crave it still. After a long day of travel we all were very hungry. Considering we didn't have a rental car (yet), we had to find a place that we could walk to from our hotel. Let me just say that there weren't many options and the decision came down to either the "Fiesta Casino" or Dennys. Considering that there were 4 children among our group we decided our best bet was Dennys even though we all groaned at the thought of it. We walked to Dennys in the dark (it gets dark at 5pm) and humbly sat ourselves down at a table. We were so hungry that we didn't even want to complain. The language barrier between my family and our waiter was somewhat comical even though my dad speaks Spanish. I got some simple but yet overpriced pancakes (what the heck) and we all just chomped on our food. It didn't taste that bad actually. I was VERY hungry. Anyways, I still could not believe I was in a Central American country that had a Dennys. That evening we got the very much needed rest that we deserved after traveling so intensely. The next day, our adventure would truly begin...