Costa Rica
Descent into trailer park (Drive Day 93 minus 14 years)
I’ve lived in trailers and resent the “trailer trash” stereotype. But I’ve never looked forward to one as much as I do the trailer park in the outskirts neighborhood of San Jose called Belen. After uneven, volcano-top boondocking I yearn for level ground and outbuildings with hot showers. Not to mention warmer temperatures at lower altitudes. Bring on the beer, set up the awning, dust off the plastic chairs and label me whatever you like.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Volcano-hopping to Poas (Drive Day 92 minus 14 years)
There is one more active volcano on the Costa Rica must-see list: Poas sits above the country’s capital of San Jose and we camp above the cloud line. Which means sunset is an infinity pool of spectacular.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Waiting for eruption (Drive Day 91 minus 14 years)
It took too long to arrive to turn around and leave this blissfully level camp spot the very next day. Besides, nighttime eruptions are supposed to be peaking and we’re far enough away from Arenal’s summit to be safe. Which is good, since the thought of “escaping” on this road is almost as terrifying as drowning in lava.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
An Aria for Arenal (Drive Day 90 minus 14 years)
The tourbooks recommend exploring the lake at the base of Volcan Arenal by horseback or mountain bike. Either would be less bone-jarring than by truck. There are potholes that could swallow a smaller vehicle. We are driving so slowly the howler monkeys in the trees above have time to accurately aim their insults at the camper’s roof. Still, fresh caught Guapote fish at a campsite all to ourselves is worth the hassle.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Not so grand Playa Grande (Drive Day 89 minus 14 years)
This is possibly the most backpacker touristy spot we’ve hit in Costa Rica. Which is why it’s where we take a hit. In the wallet. Which, stupidly, I left in plain sight in the cab of the truck while we locked it up to go watch surfers and count turtle traps. Funny how thieves can jimmy the lock of a brand new Ford F350 but not the door to the 1968 camper. That would have been worse. But the break-in rattles my nerves and ramps up my ranting. I have to call my aunt back in Oregon to cancel credit cards. Even the monkeys seem to be mocking me now.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Beaches and bums (Drive Day 88 minus 14 years)
I’m aware of the hypocrisy of two travelers complaining about the influx of Northerners. But then again, we’re not laying claim to these glorious beaches and fencing them off. Or making videos about retiring here. Then I check my mother’s journal. This is nothing new.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Liberia (Drive Day 87 minus 14 years)
Soaked through, we descend again toward the coast. Which means driving through the town of Liberia. Barely a dot on the map in 1973, now it has its own airport with flights from Minnesota. We’ve stumbled into a booming expat community. Which means land-owning locals are becoming as endangered as the Costa Rican Quetzal bird. I stop counting the obnoxious private property/keep out signs and pour Gary a stiffer-than-normal G&T when we finally find a beach that allows camping.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Rincon De La Viega National Park (Drive Day 86 minus 14 years)
Costa Rica’s passion for national parks is a major perk for weary road trippers. The campground at Rincon is empty and for a minute it’s hard to fathom why we’re the only ones here. There are warm geothermal waterfalls and bubbling pools of mud, called fuminoles. Paradise. Until the rain starts. And doesn’t stop. By nightfall I’m cold for the first time in almost 3 months.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
Yup, we tried to invade this place too (Drive Day 85 minus 14 years)
We are embarrassed by our DC license plates again when we find out about an American named William Walker. In 1856 he tried to invade this coastal paradise to turn everyone into slaves. Luckily Costa Rica’s president got wind of it, sent troops and wiped out Walker’s mercenaries in a 14 minute battle. Hmm, about as long as the only Confederate battle in my adopted hometown of Beaufort lasted. What tangled webs we weave…
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
First National Park in Costa Rica (Drive Day 84 minus 14 years)
We’re headed for our first national park in Costa Rica, which is also THE first national park in Costa Rica – founded just two years before my first road trip down the Pan-American. But on our way to the peaceful campground at Santa Rosa we take a page out of Nicaraguan history. Camouflaged by jungle overgrowth stretch the remains of a secret landing strip whose very existence is still officially denied. Why? Because it was from this remote spot in supposedly neutral Costa Rica that U.S.-backed Contras dispatched bombing raids on Sandinista targets just across the border. It takes washed-out, river-fording, 4-wheel-drive conditions to find it – the world’s spookiest selfie spot.
Follow this bonus-material blog and ride along on a one-year road trip that inspired the memoir The Drive: Searching for Lost Memories on the Pan American Highway. On sale now. Get yours through the buy-the-book links at the bottom of the landing page on my teresabrucebooks.com website or here or here. Planning a road trip? Buy the audiobook here. Like The Drive’s Facebook page and tweet back at me @writerteresa.
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