Aqui estoy...

Here I am, back in Costa Rica (where DID that last year go??). Six times now in the past six years have I flown from the Pacific Northwest into San Jose airport. I was reminiscing yesterday of the first time we flew in...how young I was...and what a different person I am today.

There is something special about coming back to a place and a people that is familiar...I overheard some female tourists, not much older than me, chatting about their new adventure of coming to Costa Rica. The flight from Dallas to San Jose, they were reading their travel guides and cramming their last minute spanish into their brains (I definitely was in their shoes 6 years ago).

But I had to laugh at some of the comments (ones I probably made at one point too): "Did you know that they sometimes use "adios" to mean 'hello' as well as 'good bye'?", one young lady queried. (They don't, it's just used for good bye). "Oh, that's like 'aloha' in Hawaii I guess", her friend responded. (True of Hawaii I hear; not true of Costa Rica).

I could have stepped in, I guess, let them know the truth. But hey, part of the adventure is figuring this stuff out on your own. I do wish I could be there to hear this girl greet her desk clerk at the hotel with a confident "adios!" :)

From the Kootenays to the Cariboo and back again.

This last week I would consider to have been my own personal BC adventure...

For the weekend, we drove 10 hours to Kootenay Lake in order to meet up with Alberta friends from CBC and to enjoy a chilly weekend of camping together. What fun was had...what memories shared...and what cold nights! We were thankful for sunshine during the day, warm sleeping bags, and the fire before bed (when we finally got it started...wet wood is the worst!).

As usual, Mike pretended it was hotter than it was, and stuck to the shorts/flip-flops outfit...

Amy and I attempted to skip rocks (she is much better than I), and then ended up playing big rock, little rock...the game of the weekend.

This was the beautiful view...I love BC. Our camping spot was a little different - just on the edge of the lake with no trees or shade from the view of the RVs all around us...but we still loved the view!

And Kaetrianne, all of 9-months, joined us for her first camping adventure - she did great.

After returning to Abbotsford Sunday night, I turned around and left Monday morning for Quesnel to visit Kevin and Christa! The ride north was much different from the ride east earlier in the week...but equally as beautiful. If I hadn't been by myself, I definitely would have more pics from that drive.

It was GREAT to see Christa, spend some quality time with her, and to play with Wyatt - and see how much he has grown!After all that travelling, it was marvellous to come home, visit with the team that just came back from Costa Rica, and with my mom who was here to visit! It was great to see Charlee and Bodhi again - I don't know how I'm going to survive 3 months without seeing them!!

I leave for Costa Rica in one week!