Florida Coalcracker Chronicles: Day 10 - Flying Home From Costa Rica

This was pool at our San Jose Hampton Inn on our last morning.

Only one runway points up over the mountain.

Tuesday we flew home from Costa Rica. It was the end of 10 days of fun. Nothing went wrong. We did not lose anything - no one got sick - nobody robbed us - all our hotels were good - all 4 flights were on time.

We woke up in our Hampton Inn at 5:30 am. Sunrise there is always near 6 am. We looked out of our hotel room and saw the pool that we never tried. The water was cold after the heated pool in our Marriott Beach Resort. It was about 83 degrees. We got our showers and packed our bags. We really checked the room making sure we left nothing behind. Extensions cords - iPhone cords - power supplies - computer bricks - stuff in the safe - we wanted to make sure we got it all. When you are old - you forget stuff - so we double check. Check the bathroom - shaver - comb - etc - we got it all. We each have one little roller bag and one backpack.

Downstairs they had breakfasts in bags for us to take with us on the bus to the airport. By the way - the terminal is just across the street so we were in and out of the bus just like that. I gave him a tip of 1000 Colones. The airport was not busy. I think our American Airlines flight was the only one going out. They take your temperature - they check your passport - they also insist you have a fresh covid test paper. We did. They let us through - just like that - no lines - no hassles.

We were at the gate one hour early. Lulu loves this time. She gets to spend any left over cash - she had 20,000 Colones to spend. That is $33. I sit at the gate with our bags. We had good wifi there - and I just read the news. When the gate attendant arrived - I asked if they needed volunteers for bumps. A bump is giving up my tickets for cash plus a later flight. No luck - the plane was half full.

It is a nice airport - it has a pretty large terminal - but only one runway. It heads west to east - right up over the mountains toward the Atlantic Ocean. As we cleared the mountains - we had a few bumps - then it smoothed out all the way home. Lulu and I had our own row. The row in front of us and the row in back of us were empty. There was plenty of room overhead for our 4 bags. Our Boeing 737 had new seats and a new entertainment system. They have little brackets to hold your cellphone. There is a USB plug right there for your cellphone. Using my iPhone and my AirPods Pros - it was the best movie experience in a plane for me. My iPhone screen is super clear - and the AirPods are noisy cancelling. That is great when you are hard of hearing. I really enjoyed the movie I chose - "Across the Universes." It had lots of 1960s music in it.

It took 4 hours to Dallas - we landed - and got directly into a plane to Tallahassee. We have quick entry ow thru customs - you just use your entry card - it looks at your face - bam you are through. The home flight was 2 hours - and we were home. We traveled along the Gulf Coast and could pick out the cities - Pensacola - Destin - Panama City - Lake Talquin - then home.

We got the first cab in line at Tallahassee - and were home by 6 pm. Our house was perfect. Our camera system showed only my neighbor George patrolling our home while we were gone. No one else approached the house. 10 days away and no one came - pathetic. Don't people check on old folks anymore to see if they have fallen and could not get up?

I have had time to reflect on the trip - here are a few comments.

Our trip cost $3800 - planes - hotels - food - admissions - etc. Of that - $900 was covid related stuff - travel insurance - car insurance - covid tests. If we failed a covid test - we could have been quarantined there an extra week - in a hotel - with room service. The insurance would have covered that.

The airline were real strict about covid prevention. They took our temp many times - wiped everything - made us wash - everyone wore masks - no exceptions. Everyone complied - no jerks. They did not care if you had your shots. They wanted covid tests - both going and coming. Our test here in Tallahassee was free - Costa Rica charged us $160 for a test.

People in Costa Rica were very appreciative that we came. They kept telling us that. Their number one industry is tourism. They all wear masks all the time. They do not have vaccines yet there. Even out in the country you see people walking the road with masks alone. Every now and then I forgot to put on a mask - and they remind you politely.

We did stop at a hospital that was giving tests to locals. When they asked us what were our symptoms - we said we had none. They said we must have symptoms - we did not lie. We walked.

We stayed in many very nice hotels - from the Marriott Pacific resort - to our volcano lodge - to the Grand Hotel in San Jose. We stayed at a few chains - one Hilton let us stay free for points. We did not eat fancy - but the meals were nice. We ate mostly at little outdoor restaurants - some chains. We even had our last meal at the mall that had about 20 American chain restaurants.

We tend to enjoy cultural places - historical stuff - museums - buildings - downtown squares. We do like natural things like volcanoes - canyons - oceans - lakes. We love trees and animals - but they are not our main focus - ever. We have lots of trees and animals in Florida - and with exception of color - they are pretty much the same. Just like we do not like to emphasize the difference of colors of humans - same way with other animals - we do not chase them around because they are red or orange.

Cultural differences are cool. Cost Rica has no military. They spend the extra money on education. They are 99.5% literate. It is a third world country - the lower class is larger than the middle class and upper class combined. The average person earns $2.25 an hour - that is $4500 a year. It would be hard owning a home and car on that.

Their roads are mostly two lane and winding. It is common to stop in line for repair for landslides - or a wreck that blocks the highway both ways for hours. We drove 500 miles at an average of about 30 mph. Other roads are dirt and very bumpy. Little SUV's are the common car.

Since the country is stable - they have lots of American chain stores - like Walmart - McDonald's - Burger King - KFC - Hilton - Holiday Inn - etc. They also have chains of their own - like Pop's - an ice cream parlor.

We did not see one camper - travel trailer - motor home. We did see one place to plug into an electric car - but not one electric car.

We stayed at a fancy hotel that rivaled anything we ever stayed in. We stayed in a cabin with no heat and no air conditioning. Many of the bathrooms asked that you to not put toilet paper in the toilet. They had a wastebasket that was covered - next to the toilet.

Costa Rica has excellent fruit - pineapples - water melons - canalopes - bananas - and so on. They sell much of their fruit and vegetable to the USA.

We visited a coffee plantation ands a chocolate plantation. They make 1% of the world coffee - it is considered top drawer.

They only have 5 million people - 2 million are in the capital of San Jose - the rest are spread out over a diverse farming country.

The weather is tropical - always warm - with a wet and dry season. We were in the dry season. It is 90s along the coast and 70s in the mountains. San Jose is about 4000 feet up in the mountains. Some say it has the perfect climate. In wet season they do get 120 inches of rain a year - compared to Miami's 100 inches of rain a year - compared to Tamaqua's 40 inches of rain a year.

They have 23 different poisonous snakes - we did not see a one. They have tiny poison frogs - we saw a couple - you get sick if you touch them. They are pretty colors. We saw a couple sloths - monkeys - but few birds.

They like Americans - American clothes - American music - American movies - and there are lots of chain stores. The average person does not have a lot of money to buy extra stuff. Prices at restaurants included tax and service charge - but any tip was gushed over. We did not see any beggars.

We have had our covid vaccines for over a month. No one has died from virus after getting the vaccine - but it is unclear if we can carry it. We wear masks - we wash hands - we stay away from crowds. We do this to protect others. We will probably not leave the country again until after the covid restrictions are lifted. 4 of our family lives in Paris. We want to visit them next. Lulu has a fellowship to do research in Australia for 2 months - hopefully July and August. Paying all the extra "covid taxes" is a bummer.

We would suggest to others - going to Costa Rica is great. I would wait - although we saw it when it was empty of tourists. That was nice. Even going to Hawaii right now - they demand you quarantine for a week once you get there! They truly do not want you to come.

Our next trip will be a 10 day camper trip. We will compare what we spent in Costa Rica - versus - what we pay on a 10-day camper trip.