To Samara!

So we are going to check out a few other towns. We need to know what else is out there, who knows, we may be back here or we may fall in love again!
So, at 9 am this morning (Friday - just in case it takes me a day or 2 to get this on!) our driver came to pick up the four of us and all our luggage (btw - we got rid of the broken suitcase, and more than 6 pairs of sweat-pants! that I had packed for the boys). So we are off to Samara. It is a small little fishing town just on the west side of the peninsula, about half way from Montezuma to Tamarindo. The direct road is only good 2 months out of the year and right now it is not open, we need to go around through Paquera and north then west that way. The trip will take between 3 and 5 hours, again depending on how the roads are.

So, again. 9am pickup. I was so excited for this trip to start, a new town, new people, new everything, and then it was 9:35. We had just passed the town of Paquera. Oscar was trying to sleep on my lap. Callym says his stomach hurts. 9:37, Callym says his mouth hurts. As I look at him, I see it. The water is starting to pour out of his mouth. ALTO! ALTO, Chris (who's in the front seat), please help Chris, stop, Callym is throwing up! What do you do when you have one child on your lap, and the other is doing his best to keep all the vomit in your small hands, cupped so that it doesn't mess up the car. I'm not sure if it was the smell, or the sound, or just because it had hit him too, but Oscar started now too. Remember, he's still 'sleeping' in my lap. Warm legs. Yuck. Finally, our driver pulled over. It's not that it took him so long to pull over, but everything else happened so quickly. Was it the Orange juice for break fast? The scrambled eggs and cheese? So we get out of the car, and strip the boys naked, (I need new pants too!) it's a good thing we had 3 bottles of water because we needed to wash all of our legs, arms, hands, face, and inside Oscar's shoes!

Ah, so it's now 10am, the car is as clean as we could manage, but we still have a 2 to 4 hours drive. In this stink, I'm not sure if we can do it. The boys want Chris to sit with them, so he does his best to hold them both over the huge bumps, and the quick swerving that our driver is doing. It stinks! I'm in the front. I feel that there isn't much I can do to help, so I start singing a little mantra like song in my head. Over and over. (to the tune of 'we are family') - We are healthy, all my Mr. Lukie's and me. we are happy, all my Mr. Lukie's and me.

It's now 11:30, I'm still singing my little mantra song. Chris is in the back, holding the boys as they sleep half on him, half hanging off the seats. But suddenly it's happeneing again. Callym again this time, no wait, Oscar too. We pull over and change everyone's clothes again. Wash ourselves, and get back in the car. Callym is asking us, 'please, can we walk the rest of the way'? Oh, my poor little babies. Every mother will know this feeling, and many fathers too. You feel helpless, and desperate, and guilty, and so stressed when your kids are sick. But we keep going. By now our driver says we only have about an hour left. Thank God! He is a very nice guy considering that we totally ruined the back seat of his 4X4. But he is driving very fast (can you blame him? the car stinks so bad). and instead of slowing down for the potholes and such, he swerves really fast, stops quickly and more. It would be a really cool drive for adventure seekers, or for the boys (for about 25 minutes).

After a few quick emergency stops, that ended up being false alarms, we are here. I haven't made a reservation anywhere, but being the slow season, I didn't think it would be a big deal. I was right. We made it to the hotel, and unpacked. Now we had a huge bag of smelly laundry to get done, and have some lunch. We are here. We are all fine. And we will have more to talk about tomorrow. The one thing we do know right now? We are not under any circumstances going back to Montezuma. At least not that way. Was this Montezuma's revenge on us for leaving such a beautiful paradise? I'm not sure.

Where are all the Monkeys???

After a nice dip and play in the Ocean, you really need to clean off. The salt sticks to you, and you feel sticky and dry all at the same time. With the heat and the humidity here, it's not a comfortable combination. Chris was off to do some international calls, and the boys were in bed having a siesta. I was going to wash up. No wait, I had also just bought Chris a treat snack of some 4$ Doritos. Yes, he hadn't opened them yet, but said he would when he got back from the phone calls. O.K., so I jumped in the shower. Then I thought I heard something. Kids talking? Where those boys up already? Checked but no, it wasn't them. I'm now drying off, and I hear it again. I look but it's still not them. As I'm drying my hair, I hear the wind blow over Chris' bag of Doritos (they are out on the balcony). All done, I'm ready to wait on the chair for Chris to come back. I'm walking towards the door, and "NO (insert foul word) WAY"! I see the sweet curl of a monkey's tail as he hops onto the balcony arm rail and into a tree. I'm running for the camera, and trying not to wake the boys up with my thundering steps. But alas, I was too slow. He was gone and across the street before I could take any kind of shot with the camera. As I come out side with the most dissapointed look on my face, I notice the Doritos. The bag is ripped into two, and there is a trail of chips all around the chairs and table. How long was he here. I'm thinking now that I could have probubly gotten some really good shots of him if I had just come out earlier. Oh well, Chris ended up throwing away the chips, and his left over beer, never know if they had some to wash down those expensive treats!