Friday Favorites

On Wednesday I shared that I spent last week in Costa Rica. I couldn’t condense eight days in a gorgeous rain forest to one post, so today I’m linking up with A Little Bit of Everything and Momfessionals and sharing my favorites from my trip. Get some pineapple and an umbrella cause it’s about to get damp.

My number one favorite from the trip would have to be zip-lining. I’d never been before, and now I can never go again because nothing will ever compare. It rained without stopping for two days, and this was day two. Earlier in the day I had already gotten lost in the rain forest on a hike and then walked across eight suspension bridges. I thought, “I can’t get any wetter. Let’s zip-line.” I was literally sailing on top of the rain forest canopy. It was a God and bird’s eye view, and I’ll never forget it. I’ll also never forget the times that I got stuck on the lines because I ran out of momentum and Costa Rican men clipped on to the line. Shimmied out to me. Then wrapped their legs around me and pulled me to the end. They didn’t even buy me dinner first.

Fresh pineapple. I have never and will likely never have pineapple as delicious as I did there. We went to a pineapple farm and got to hear from a very passionate farmer named Danny about the process. It was honestly really fascinating. One of my favorite things I learned was that they plant the pineapples extremely close together because they have weak roots, but they can support the weight of the other plants when they are that close. Let’s be like pineapples, friends and hold one another up.

Igneous rocks and barely visible volcanoes are a favorite. They are made of igneous rocks, right? Kim C, correct me if I’m wrong.

Seeing this sign on a run was a favorite. It stayed a favorite because I didn’t actually encounter Pumba. Do you know who voiced Pumba in the original (we don’t talk about the live action. That was trash). Leon Carosi from Saved by the Bell. Does that blow your mind? Because it did mine.

At one of the farms we visited, we got to plant trees. There is a tree in Costa Rica that I placed in the ground with my own two hands. How cool is that? I named it Freddie MercurTREE because #me.

Hot springs with new friends was a favorite.

Seeing how coffee and chocolate are made was a favorite. I had a student in the past call me “Caffeine Stewart” instead of “Kathleen Stewart”. She wasn’t wrong.

Getting lost in the rain forest during a downpour wasn’t really a favorite at the time, BUT while we were wandering around I said, “We are going to laugh about this tonight at dinner.” A lady in my group said, “Maybe tomorrow at breakfast.” We were definitely laughing about it that night, and it’s a great memory from the trip.

These suspension bridges were a favorite. Now I’ve jumped out of a plane and had no problem being tethered to a wire going over these trees, but there was something about these bridges that really made me need a Xanax. BUT I’d love to do it again sans the rain.

Foliage. Much to my mother’s chagrin, I know nothing about plants, but I can appreciate beauty when it’s this close.

Happy Friday! I start back to work on Monday, so I’m going to get some pineapple and pretend I’m still on vacation. You should do the same!