Playa Junquillal

Our bikes got us all the way to Junquillal today. Jordan, as usual, was NOT going. No way no how. But we made her. It was a long ride from Playa Avellanas but well worth the trip to see another view of Costa Rica. The road was freshly grated to we had a smooth ride. Playa Junquillal is a sleepy, sleepy town. If you can even call it a town. There are a few hotels, rentals, lots of quaint homes on the beach. But no one was around. Its was so quiet and nothing was going on. The ocean was not swimmer friendly so we didn't get in. The currant was extreme and we didn't even chance that. The girls were such troopers and we ended up trying to have lunch at Mary's Place in Negra but they were closed. We rode down to the beach to the Playa Negra Hotel and had lunch and watched the waves and swam in the pool. It was such a great way to get re-fueled before we rode back. We ended up the day at the beach and didn't go in because it stormed so hard here last night and there was so much muck, scum, whatever in the ocean. When it storms hard here the locals stay out of the water. It's usually a good thing because if you have cuts, they can get infected, ears get infected. I certainly didn't want to chance it with my ear healing finally. We got to the house and rinsed off and that pool never felt so good. I was so happy to cool off again after a 5 hour outing with my family. The girls continue to amaze me with their attitude. It was hard to get Jordan going but once she knew she had no choice she decided to have fun. We sang 99 bottles of pop on the wall, twice. The ants go marching, and the many Glee songs we love. It was fun.
We have seen so much more riding our bikes. When you're in a car, we never seem to slow down to enjoy the view. Plus riding bikes enables us to hear the things we wouldn't in a car. It's fun to hear someones music blaring as they are out in their yard cutting it away with a machete. The roosters are always cockadoodledoing. Kid are playing and waving and saying things in Spanish. I took a picture of this old man, after I asked his permission, riding along with a machete attached to his belt. The small church we passed was all locked up and we got off our bikes and I took a picture of the inside through the gate. The dead Iguana's we pass and the lizards we see and the monkeys we hear talking to us overhead when we ride under them. Hannah fell off her bike. Literally just fell in slow motion and had to take a picture of her laying there in total shock. Our first pit stop was at this little store where we bought some cokes and the bakery truck pulled in. He opened up the back and it was stocked full of fresh baked goods. Cakes, donuts, eclairs, bread. He had it all. So we bought some donuts to go with the coke. Power food.
The day was great. We got some serious exercise.