Adventure!!!

 Friday, November 2

The word of the day is: ADVENTURE!!!  We had quite an adventure today!  We met Diana at the bus stop at 6:45 am so that she could babysit Jaden while we took a tour.  We were informed that the tour was “non-refundable” and not to miss the bus.  We needed to catch the 7:00am bus to Turrialba with Rysen, Amanda and Jennea (Jennea ended up on a different bus but still arrived in Turrialba on time).  We were then greeted by our Tour Guide for the day.  We piled into a van and took pictures of each other (just in case it was our last day to live).

Rysen

This is how Amanda and Jennea prepare for death.

Two of our tour guides.

Our tour consisted of a day of zip lining through the rain forest and repelling down waterfalls.  

Sounds dreamy?  

It was!  I wanted to do it all over again once we finished.  

We started with a lesson on how to repel: where to put our feet and our hands and how to break with the rope.  Then we had a lesson on how to stop ourselves on the zipline (they forgot to tell us to look at what we are doing when you put your hand on the cable to stop yourself… or maybe that was self-explanatory).

We proceeded to the first waterfall, and Amanda and Jennea were first to risk their lives by repelling down.  Check out those faces:

Next went Rysen, Eddie, and then me.  

It was so fun, and actually pretty easy.  We headed on to the first zip line.  This time, Jennea went first.  Then I went.  It was gorgeous, but hard to enjoy because I was worried about how to stop myself at the end.  When the guide gave the signal for me to break, I reached my hand back to break and accidentally touched the cable with my hand… Don’t worry I lived… and I didn’t get a flesh-eating bacteria infection (which is one of the reasons Amanda had said she would not go zip lining). 

On to the next waterfall.  This one was a lot more steep and a bit higher.  Also, there was a lot more water falling on our heads!!!

The next zip line went well, and we headed to a foot bridge.  I didn’t know what a foot bridge was.  Now I do…

We repelled down the next waterfall, which began with a swinging out from our perch atop the falls.  The guide at the bottom pulled our rope to stop us from swinging back into the rocks while we slowly let our self down mid-air.  I wish I could go back and do it again… it was so fun!

Next we zip lined our last one, and one of the other ladies in our group got stuck… the wheel on her pulley got stuck and the guide had to “zip” out to her and pull her back.   I guess it was a good thing it happened on the last one.

For our last waterfall, we had to repel a long way down.  My guide sent me down before I had a chance to tell him I was left handed.  He handed me the rope in my right hand and said “Go!”  Next thing I know I am swinging out above the waterfall thinking, “Oh, no… this is the wrong hand.”  Oh well…  I made it down okay.

We walked back to the building where they store everything for their tours.  They had bathrooms and showers for us to change in and then on the second floor was this open-air restaurant with a gorgeous view of Turrialba. 

Waiting for lunch...

We missed the 1:00 bus so we had some time to shop and walk around Turrialba.  We shopped for a birthday gift for Sael (we are going to his party on Sunday) and then headed home.

On the way home, Amanda and I stopped at Kerin’s house to help her with party stuff while Eddie headed to Tuis to pick up Jaden from the babysitter.  Amanda and I had a big job: we inflated about 250 balloons that smelled like bananas, cherries, and chocolates.  Thankfully we used an air comprssor.  

We made a great team: she would use the air compressor to blow up the balloon for 6 ½ seconds so they were all the same size and give it to me.  I would tie it after slipping it into a hole cut into a cardboard box to measure the size.   We helped with a few other things like wrapping prizes for the kids, but we also just spent time talking with the family and eating bread and cookies.

Check out this piñata that Kerin made for Sael's party.  She made it with balloons, newspaper, glue, water, tissue paper, an edge of a carton of milk, and felt. 

 It is not quite finished, but we were amazed at her creativity. (By the way, when we attended the party on Sunday, we missed the piñata part.  But Kerin said that Sael (age 2) got a guitar for one of his gifts and he would not let go of it the rest of the day.  When they tried to get him to hit the piñata, he used his guitar because he didn't want to let it go.)

After a long day, we headed home.  Unfortunately, it started raining and it was dark.  I did not have an umbrella and my only flashlight was my iPhone (which I did not want to get wet).  Amanda called Eddie and told him to meet me at the bus stop with an umbrella.  I am so thankful for my caring sis-in-law and my gentlemanly husband!!!  Especially because just as I was meeting Eddie, I discovered a old man on a bike following me trying to get my attention.  I didn’t even realize he was talking to me, let alone understand what he was saying.  It turns out, he wanted to give me a flashlight because he was worried about me walking alone in the dark.  The people here are so kind and thoughtful and always willing to take time to help others or just chat.  As we chatted with him, we learned that his daughter-in-law is one of the teachers at CISA… we also witnessed an armadillo snooping around the brush.  That was a first for me!  I am thankful that God is watching over me and keeping me safe!