Grundsau Tag

Happy Groundhog’s day. I understand ol’ Phil did not see his shadow so winter is just about over.

We are settling in after our vacation. Lise held her annual Groundhog’s Day party on Sunday, a week after we got back. As usual, this was the Okemos social event of the year.

I can sum up the Costa Rica trip in one word; great. I really liked Costa Rica. I got more of the local cultural on the Peru trip. Costa Rica didn’t have an indigenous culture with a history or ruins like the Inca in Peru. Definitely a bit more adventure on the Peru trip compared to Costa Rica. But there was just something about Costa Rica that was pleasant. Maybe it’s the Pura Vida mentality. Both countries welcome tourism but Costa Rica is a bit more tourist friendly. Maybe the road system could use some work and better marking, but you can drink tap water pretty much anywhere in Costa Rica. I drank the water all the time without any problems. Not bad for a third world country. In Peru you didn’t even brush your teeth with tap water.

Didn’t have the adventure of Peru, but this trip was really nice. On a number of levels. All involved were ready for a well-deserved break from the drudgery of life in general. We got to experience some great places and a wee bit of the variety Costa Rica offers. Saw some interesting wildlife, sometimes closer than we wanted. With just 12 days in country we could barely scratch the surface of what Costa Rica has to offer, which does suggest more exploration in the future. Got to try some new dishes and learned to appreciate ceviche, the fast food of coastal Costa Rica.

We all had time to just sit, staring at the ocean and reflecting. Most importantly, we got to spend some good time with each other. It’s really nice to sit at an open air bar, up on a mountainside, with a great ocean view, and just chat. Seeing monkeys and toucans from the bar stool was a nice bonus.

As an afterthought I thought I would look at the trip in terms of numbers. It’s an engineer thing. Had I thought of this before I would have kept track of things a bit better.

3 – The number of participants
13 days – Length of trip, including travel
3 – Number of times turning the wrong way on a one way street.
Unknown – Road miles

1149 miles – Air distance from Detroit to Miami (2 trips)
1122 miles – Air distance from Miami to San Jose (2 trips)
38 miles – Air distance from Quepos to San Jose
118 Lbs – Sum total of our excess baggage weight between Quepos and San Jose

22 – Number of hours in the return trip
3:00 AM – Arrival time back in Okemos

120 – Bird species seen by Ed
122 – Bird species seen by Lise
129 – Total bird species seen
1 – Number of huge man-eating crocodiles seen
1 – Number of huge man-eating grasshoppers seen

1 – Number of obnoxious Frenchmen encountered

7,220’ – Savegre elevation above sea level
0’ – Uvita elevation above sea level
11,450’ – Driving excursion elevation above sea level
840’ – Okemos elevation above sea level

1,045 – Photos brought back on my cameras
920 – Photos left after first editing pass

1 liter – Amount of rum consumed
1 liter – Amount of scotch consumed
2 bottles – Amount of gin consumed
2 bottles – Amount of white wine consumed
30 cans – Amount of Imperial beer consumed
Unknown – alcohol consumed in restaurants or bars
8 – The number of days for your body to replace all your liver cells. Which means I’m just about ready to roll again