Since my annual trip to Sarasota won’t be happening I’ll have to placate myself with the hundreds of sunset pictures taken over the years. This one always reminds me of steam rising as the sun goes below the horizon.
Sunrise on the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. That little SUV was our 'hotel room' that night after an epic 20 hour push from the north. It started the morning before, in Santa Teresa on the Nicoya Peninsula...after missing the ferry to Puntarenas by about 3 minutes, we decided to drive north to see if we could catch the other...which, again, we missed by about 2 minutes. Wife and I looked at each other and said, "let's do it...drive north around the gulf, and catch the Pan-Amarican Hwy! We love road trips!". Little did I know, along the way we would end up 'resolving a speeding ticket situation'. Yes, I was speeding, but it was the only straight smooth section of asphalt we had seen after hours of dirt roads with SUV eating holes and bumps! Who knew two officers were down the road beyond the crest of that hill?...so, after being relieved of what we later found out was an absurd amount of local currency (a 5 spot would have done it, 50 was insane!) we were on our way again. After working our way south, having a pit stop and performing a NASCAR style flat tire change on the outskirts of San Jose (which, by the way was where I would have had to pay that speeding ticket, 'in person', according to the officers) we should have called it a day and reassessed our plans. What follows the flat tire swap was us promptly breaking our #1 rule of 'No Night Driving in Costa Rica, especially on the highway of death!!!'. For a very uncomfortable white-knuckled stretch, the fog was so thick, I was driving by braille, in first gear, with my nose practically pressed against the windshield, hanging half the passenger side tires off the road..."if it gets too smooth, I'll nudge her right, and too rough, nudge her left". Besides, to the right was the mountain side...drivers side was the cliff side, so the wife didn't protest too much at this logic. Some time along the way, a taxi blasted past us and I figured I could follow his tail lights. My thought was 'if they stop suddenly, or disappear...hit the brakes, and hit them hard!'. After passing semi-trucks and other slow moving, and admittedly, smarter drivers, as we continued to climb in elevation, we finally broke free of the clouds to a magnificent night sky that, I kid you not, you could read your long-lost-it's-luminescence Speedy by starlight. By this point of the journey, it had to be close to 11pm, we followed the taxi in to a little pit stop shop along the highway, fueled up the vehicles and ourselves, and thanked the taxi driver profusely for being such a good guide. After exchanging names and hand shakes (back when you could safely do that) I found out he used to run a round trip route each day when he was a semi driver...he knew every twist and turn along the way. He asked us where we were heading..."Osa"..."Follow me. When we get to the bottom of the mountain, I'll turn left...you go straight, and be safe!". Now this would have been a good point to again, reassess our travel plans, but we were in the middle of nowhere, had no idea if we could find a place to stay, and after enough coffee in me to enable me to see sounds, I was good to push on! Besides, traffic was light in the middle of the night (see #1 rule noted above!) and we could make good time! We did make good time, but eventually that coffee had served it's purpose and had no more to give. The wife spotted a sign for a camp spot and we turned left down a single track road. After about 30 minutes I was at the end of my tank and said 'enough...we're sleeping in the car, right here on this earthen pier'. An hour or two of uncomfortable, but much needed shut-eye, I was awoken by the sounds of breakfast being made over an open fire outside the fisherman's home. The smell of fresh brewed coffee wafted our way, and the sun broke through the clouds! We eventually made it to our destination about 4 hours more down to, literally the end of the road. Parked the trusty wheels/bed-for-a-night, pay a cranky ex-Pat to watch over it and arrange for the flat to be repaired while we hiked 45 minutes down the beach to an off-the-grid place a couple days of recovery from the road, and jungle exploration. This sunrise: This car: And This Wonder Travel and Life Companion (who will probably not like that I posted this picture, but I think she's stunningly beautiful...even after a journey like the one we had just adventured): Thank you OF for the chance to slow down and put things in to perspective. Be well everyone, and may we all align again in the near future!
That's something I'm really noticing here in California; no airplane contrails or very rarely. Neat but spooky.
From the drive home the other day, looking from the Waimea valley out towards the Kahurangi National park and Mt Arthur at 1795M it's a lovely day hike to the top or multi day hiking through the park. The grapes are mostly likely either Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc as that's what grows best around here. Apparently the 2020 vintage will be one to remember and not for the Corona virus. A long dry summer has brought smaller but sweeter and flavour filled crops for new Zealand wineries. The Nationwide shutdown came days before wineries were about to go to harvest so they had to have special dispensation as "essential services" to allow the grapes to be picked while the rest of us stayed home. Looking forward to sampling some 2020's in a few months time!!!