I took the 8:10pm Commuter Rail train from Providence to Boston where I was met by Jason--we took the Orange Line T to his dorm and then we hung out with his crazy roommates for a while. I was way tired so while they partied, I took a short nap from 11:30pm-2am. Jason and his roommate from Boston named Eddie woke me up by jumping on the bed--of course being obnoxious and wonderful all at the same time. Like good gentlemen, they walked me to the taxi hub where I picked up a taxi to take to Logan. My driver was from Somalia and had a great interest in my academic work--he himself is getting a degree in healthcare management.

When I arrived at the airport at like 3:15am, the American Airlines ticket counter wasn't open yet. After a bit, they finally started checking passengers in. Check-in was a breeze and so was security. The flight departed promptly at 5:30am and I slept literally all but 12 minutes from Boston to Miami. After arriving in Miami, I had about 1.5 hrs before my next flight took off. The airport there is crazy--you can totally tell it is the gateway to Latin America. While waiting for the plane, I met a nice Tico (it's what the locals call themselves) man who was giving me suggestions on what to do while in his home country.

I arrived about 15 minutes before Karol (who flew from Newark) and was a little nervous at first because I didn't know how easy it would be to find her without the convenience of a cell phone. I made friends in the Immigration line with a 45ish looking woman traveling alone to do some body workshop or something (I didn't fully understand) who didn't speak a word of Spanish. Right before I was called to go through Immigration, I saw Karol enter the back of the line. Perfect timing! She cut ahead and we proceeded through immigration, to baggage claim, and then through customs. All really easy.

Next we tried to rent a car--we chose a Costa Rican company because we figured they would be more lenient renting to us with Karol's expired license. Ha. We were kidding ourselves. No rental car, on to the taxi. Oh, it's important to mention we arrived on Good Friday and the entire country was pretty much shut down--no buses running at all. We were met by a mob of taxi drivers all telling us they were the best. Karol and I decided to go from San Jose to Puntarenas via taxi (which was this dude's little Hyundai) and she managed to bargain the price down to $80. The taxi ride took about 1.5 hrs and we stopped to buy fruit on the way. Two mangoes, plantain chips, some nasty coconut thing Karol wanted...and something else I can't remember what for US $6.

When we arrived in Puntarenas (El Puerto as the locals call it), we stayed at Hotel Alamar right on the beach. We settled in and then attempted to go to the beach but threw that idea out the window about 15 minutes after we got there because the sand was blowing like crazy. Back to the hotel for dinner (I had spaghetti and some salad and Karol and I shared french fries--great combo, I know), and Karol chicken w mushroom sauce, rice, and veggies. We took a stroll around the town but there wasn't a whole lot to see. Watched the sunset and enjoyed not having to be anywhere or do anything in particular. We scoped out the ferry we would take the next day, and came across some ridiculous Jesus procession with crazy music. Jesus was in a see through casket carried by 6 men and Mary was following him (she stood about 20 feet high) carried by 4 women. Unlike anything I've ever seen before.

After the procession, we chilled on the beach for a little longer then went back to the room and fell asleep around 8pm.

written by  seektruth2 on March 23, 2008 from Puntarenas, Costa Rica
from the travel blog: Costa Rica 2008
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I dropped Ann off at O'Hare at about 3 pm. It's now 5:40 pm, so her boarding call has been made. I haven't received any frantic last minute phone calls or e-mails, so I have to assume she has her passport and credit cards with her!

She's flying to LA tonight, then has a 3 hour layover before her flight to Melbourne! She's gonna have a blast!

written by  hallanniem on November 8, 2009 from Chicago, United States
from the travel blog: Great Australian Fun Filled Expedition (my GAFFE)
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Road Trip 1

Road Trip 2

Road Trip 3

Road Trip 4

After enjoying a delicious dinner at Jim's Chicken wings in [[United-States/Fort-Collins]] Co, we decided to begin our road trip. At 10pm we left [[United-States/Fort-Collins]], arriving in Boulder shortly after to swap cars. After unloading our gear from the Xterra and packing Ben's beastly 4Runner, we left boulder at midnight to arrive at my good buddies place in Breckenridge Co, at 2:30am. Just a standard day in our lives and a great way to start the trip.

Taam's Breck house

Dutch hallway

Logan and company

Chocolate daag

Cali Snarf Snarf

we stayed at a friends place who goes by the name of Tom or (Taam Taam). Taam is always an extremely hospitable host and has posted me up on his various pads in Breckenridge for years. Taam is not only a great guy but actually one of the most talented riders I've ever seen on a snowboard. It is only through the help of good friends like this that keep a shelter over our head during this road trip.

Ben journaling

All throughout Toms place was some amazing artwork done by a friend who lives in Breckenridge. The majority of his work was some very intricate stencil taggings done with spray paint.

Albert Einstein spray

Angry man

snowboard spray

biggie spray

Skull colored pencil

Tomorrow we will be snowboarding up at the fridge and heading to Vail after that. I haven't ridden a snowboard yet this season and it has been over two years for Benjamin Howard.

This is my first blogging attempt I've done on my own and outside of school. Kinda weird and awkward but it'll get better. ten four, over and out

written by  Skeptic on January 3, 2011 from Fort Collins, United States
from the travel blog: Road trip of Freedom: Benjamin Howard, Logan Soraci, Nathan Minatta
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