November 11, 2007 - We're Baaaack

Ahhh. We're back in Alajuela! :D

Yesterday, we were up at 3:30 AM. Neither of us could get to sleep early enough for that to count as more than a nap! Then to the airport for our 6:50 flight. As we checked our bags, Rick asked the fateful question - "can I take the banjo as carry-on?" Well, the clerk wouldn't give a definitive answer, so we checked it and kept our small suitcase as a carry-on instead. Every one of our suitcases weighed *exactly* 49 pounds - what planning! Of course, this meant we were lugging around a 50 pound carry-on. At least it had wheels...

We flew via Atlanta, with a 4-hour layover, so we got our last chance to have super-spicy food - cajun - ow! Atlanta's other notable feature is that we didn't have to go through security again - I stupidly wore my new lace-up-to-the-ankle shoes...

Our trip was so last-minute, we had the last 2 seats available - so we weren't sitting together :(. We were both so dopey from lack of sleep, I don't think it mattered though. We hit some turbulence, but not enough to mention until we were on approach to San Jose. I'm writing this down - I will *not* pester Mom to fly. It wasn't awful. I didn't even clench (remember - dopey - no sleep - works like a tranquilizer), but if you were apprehensive about flying, you wouldn't like it.

Then - Yikes! the line! We've never *seen* the immigration line so long! It was nearly to the last gate! It took us 2 hours to get from our plane to our hotel. We did ask the officials if there was another line for residents; they said no - I think they either though we were scamming for a short line, or they didn't think we were residents. When we finally did get to the split, we had to say "really, we're residents." Oh well, we left all that at the airport (check your panic and baggage at the gate) :).

We got to the Fifth Avenue Hostel, unpacked the minimum, and konked out by 12:30 AM.