We needed to catch the 8:30am bus to get to Quepos to get a rental car since we’re picking up Matt tomorrow. There’s a rental car company in our town but it was more expensive so we figured we’d suck it up and spend an hour and a half and $6 on the bus in order to save about a $100 on the car. Seeing as I woke up while the sun was still rising, I wasn’t particularly a peach on the bus as more and more people kept squishing in seats and in the aisles. Since I was lucky enough to be sitting on the aisle side, my shoulder became one woman’s seat while another’s exposed stomach was inches from my face.Plus, I was already annoyed because I had been in a store getting drinks when the bus rolled down the road. As I ran to catch it while Mike was distracting the driver, I ran out of my flip flop and landed barefoot in the mud. Just to find out that the bus wasn’t even the right one. Then while sitting at the bus stop, I leaned over to wipe the mud off my foot and dumped my purse right next to the foot I was cleaning. Guess where it landed. Mud. That, on top of the skinny dog that Mike fed a granola bar to interrupting my Pop-Tart breakfast by pawing me on the knees with his paws that were…you guessed it…covered in mud, made me look like I started my day with a mud bath.
After we got on the correct bus, we realized that the wrong bus, which had come through over a half hour before, had made it less than a mile. The three days of rain didn’t only affect our fun but our terrain. Soft mountainous areas and storms don’t mix well and eventually, the mountains give up. We noticed on our way to the bus stop that our road was narrower. Chunks of dirt and rocky earth were floating in the river with trees teetering on the edges tangled in power lines. One power line hung so low we could have used it as a jumprope. As the bus drove down the main road, we saw that the mountains developed new waterfalls with trees in the middle of them and dirt that was once part of the mountainside was shoveled to the other side of the road. Fortunately, the damage was worse in the opposite direction of where we were headed, we didn’t know how bad but cars were parked and the roadside fruit stand had one of its best days.
When we got to Quepos, we went to our original favorite internet café (that also serves our favorite coffee ground right next door), stopped in the used bookstore that we thought was non-existent and picked up a few more books and then headed to our next car. A white Hyundai– which I doubt will be returned the same shade. After loading up with groceries, we headed home. Since the grocery store didn’t have everything we wanted we decided to check out the next town over from us to see what they had. Seeing as it was seven hours later, we were also able to see what caused this morning’s roadblock; a fallen tree the diameter of a monster truck’s tire that crossed the entire road. Chunks of it lay cut up on either side of the road. We were able to keep going a few more kilometers before a surfing guitarist (I only know this because he was carrying both) cautioned us from the side of the road that it was closed ahead. He was headed to Dominical but the bus couldn’t bring him all the way because the road was gone. A bridge had collapsed and it was currently being worked on, which included ripping up the pavement and redoing the road. We could see the line of tractor trailers parked ahead. He got off the bus to walk the rest of the way – at least six miles. We decided to repay the kindness that was showed to us by bringing him back to town. His name was Steve, passing through to catch swells before heading back to San Jose to meet up with his buddies. From his accent, he originates from Australia and appears to be bouncing around Central America until his money, or luck in finding random work, runs out.
We ended our day out at our third grocery store (scavenger hunt, I tell ya) and met Charlie. He wanted to know what we were being for Halloween and was pointing out the parties we won’t be attending since we have very important things to do tomorrow and not be hungover for a ride that could prove to be very interesting given the conditions of the roads. Charlie, with his long gray hair and potbelly was going to be either the devil or Jerry Garcia – a guy he used to do sound for. When that caught our attention, he continued to tell us that his wife played electric violin for Jimmy Buffet until 24 years ago when he decided to buy their Costa Rican bungalow for $5,200. (Nope, I didn’t forget a zero.) He also surprised her on her birthday one year with a two-bedroom cabin on 47 acres of land overlooking Dominical for $23,000. I’d say he made some really good decisions as a young deadhead.
Tomorrow we’ll be on the road to San Jose bright and early. I’m not sure what these roads are going to look like but I’m optimistic seeing as it’s the country’s only major highway. My only concern is that I vaguely remember driving through some very mountainous areas…and well, those aren’t holding up so well these rainy days. We’ll find out.
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