We made it

Wow, it just took me 15 min. to figure out how to log on and put in my pass word all in Spanish!
Sorry it's been so long......but there are not computers and phones all over the place!

So, Ill try and start from the beginning.
our friend Diego was indeed waiting at the air port for us with our rental 4x4. He handed us the keys, a Club to keep the car from being stolen and a can of WD40 for all of the squeaky windows and doors. We did ask about any certain road rules we should know about......he said, your in Costa Rica with a laugh! We tried to get an idea of what direction to go out of the airport, but we didn't get very far.
We had NO idea where we were going...and who ever said every one speaks spanish in CR was wrong. We drove in circles for over 2 hours. We finally found a phone card and phone but couldn't get it to work......there e was no push 1 for english! A taxi driver charged us about 5 US dollars to show us the way but stoped short about two km. So we continued doing our best with directions in spanish. So far we knew it was behind a blue gate and that it was on this road somewhere. Of course there were at least 5 blue gates on the road, but we did find it just as it started to pour!
Once there we realized we found a little piece of Paradise in the middle of a busy town. Arilapa. It's a communal type hostel with about 6 rooms and a shared kitchen and bathroom. It sits on a river that flows so hard and so fast you have to raise your voice to hear each other talk, while near it. And the best part......the owner has a 9 year old daughter and twin 5 year old sons. The girls spent the rest of the day playing foot ball, we call it soccor and laughing at each other trying to speak to each other.Skyler found more spanish words then she knew she had, and Sundari stood and watched with her big sister at work! It was great. Play is the universal language.
The next morning we woke to a beautiful breakfast with the host family. SKyler was in the kitchen early, helping with the cooking! WE met two other family this morning who decided to join us on our adventure north to the volcano. So off we went on a three car car/a/van.