Happy Trails

 

More recent casualties:

• My favorite sunglasses - frame cracked, possibly salvageable
• Hydroflask water bottle - lost somewhere in transit

We capped off the trip with an all-around epic day, complete with horseback riding and making new friends.

We started the day out with Sadie milking the cow again (Molly watched but did not want to participate) and feeding the pigs. The "baby" pig here is huge - its mother even bigger.

Having seen to it that the animals would not go hungry, we fed ourselves. Today was the typical Costa Rican breakfast of Gallo Pinto (black beans & rice mixed together), which is a traditional meal eaten to give plenty of energy throughout the day. Turned out we needed it.

We were scheduled to go horseback riding, so we went over to the barn to start the tour. We had heard that horseback riding is this lodge's signature activity, and we quickly learned why. Rather than assigning us horses and mounting up with minimal instruction, we each selected our own horse and spent an hour or so "getting to know each other". This included giving instructions to the horse, having it walk forward and backward, walk in a circle, follow, and stop until we felt comfortable. Then we mounted the horses and headed out.

Kathleen's horse - Conan

Molly selected the smallest horse, but he was spirited

The littlest girl chose the biggest horse

Working with the horse (no animals were harmed in the taking of this picture)

Molly's horse snacked on grass every chance he got

The ride itself was better than advertised. I was expecting a ride to a waterfall, a swim, and some lunch. We got all that (except we didn't swim), but we also got an extensive nature tour. The farm next door includes a privately-owned rainforest preservation project. The ride goes through the rainforest, and the guides point out plants and animals along the way. We saw the poison dart frog, several sloths, some toucans, howler monkeys, and other interesting creatures including a land crab that chased the guide's dog.

Creek crossing (just a preview of what was to come)

 

Sloth of the three-toed variety

Poison dart frog

Molly's new friend (a toad)

Land crab

We stopped for a bit at the waterfall, which was very pretty. However, the river was not suitable for swimming due to the recent heavy rains. The current was quite strong, and it likely would have been like swimming in a washing machine.

Waterfall - the reward at the end of the journey

On the way back, the guide told us he had a little surprise and wanted Karen - the mother of the other family - to go first (the "girls" were a bit younger than me and Kathleen; Karen was around my dad's age). We rounded a corner and he put her on a vine, pushing her out into the jungle. We all got a turn, but it was great seeing her take that first leap.

Molly the Monkey, in her natural habitat

 

 

No Mr. Immigration Agent, we haven't been to an agricultural area...

 

After getting cleaned up we went over to the restaurant (the one place on the property with wifi) to get our internet fix. One of the ladies from the other family - Lindsay - was there so we visited with her for a bit. We really enjoyed getting to know her and her family, and the restaurant must have sensed this as they connected our tables for dinner without us asking.

Lindsay is Internet-famous for Lentil, her pet dog. Lentil was born with a cleft palate and she has a Facebook page, blog, and some other pages here she uses the dog to connect kids who were born with facial differences. She's raising money through Kickstarter to take Lentil on a tour to visit with some of the kids whose lives she has touched, and to let other kids know that "different" is ok.

The theme of Lindsay's tour is "chews kind", based in part on Wonder, a children's book (fiction) about a boy born with a rare craniofacial condition. We had all read and loved this book after Molly introduced us to it. Before dinner Molly drew this little sketch mashing up the Wonder cover and a dog theme, and shared it with Lindsay, who posted it to Facebook. She had received about a thousand likes before dinner was over.

Before we left, Lindsay loaded us up with Lentil schwag and inducted us into the official Team Lentil. The girls are huge fans (as are the grownups).

 

It turns out that Lindsay also knew Rachel Steamer (a friend from high school who passed away a couple of years ago), which we discovered when we connected on Facebook. Maybe this social media thing isn't all bad after all.