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<\/a><\/p>\nOur first stop was San Juan del Sur, specifically El Madera, a beach with some surfing a bit North. Good times. From there we decided to cross over to Costa Rica where we’d hang for a bit before dropping Chip off at the airport near San Juan for his return voyage.<\/p>\n Both the Costa Rican border and the Panamanian border were unique in the amount of ink they required be stamped on various forms in order for one to enter. It was a governmental stampathon, practically a stamping festivus. I was trying to imagine how such a ridiculous, convoluted, and poorly organized system could have evolved, and I imagined it went a little something like this:<\/p>\n “Hey there cousin who happens to work at the border, I need a job. Can you help me out?” Who knows, but it was fun having Chip along for a crossing even if it was one of the more bureaucratic ones.<\/p>\n In Coasta Rica we stopped for a night in Liberia before gaining quite a bit of elevation and arriving in Monte Verde. Once there, we wasted no time signing up for one of the famed zip line canopy tours that included a rope jump at the end! Considering all of the jumps we had set up together over the years we were both amused to find ourselves in Central America with an opportunity to jump one we had nothing to do with!<\/p>\n Much to both Chip’s and my surprise, we were fortunate enough (after literally years of watching and waiting) to see Niccole actually huck herself into space! After soaring over the canopy of the cloud forest on several long zip lines hundreds of feet above the ground (really not scary, just fun and beautiful views), came what the tour operators dubbed The Tarzan Swing. Chip and I sized it up pretty quickly as about a 100 foot rope swing. It was surprisingly similar to some of the smaller ones we had set up in the past. So Chip and I were waiting in line when up comes Niccole… with her harness still on!<\/p>\n The nice thing about the tour operators is that they rig you up, open the gate, and if after a second or two you don’t jump they just push you. Lucky them, I’ve wanted to give Niccole that little nudge many times – the ultimate helping hand! Really, who hasn’t wanted to push their wife off a cliff… AND have it result in awesome? Anyways, in a matter of a few seconds I suddenly hear Niccole shrieking as she goes flying through the air on her first rope jump ever! Congrats Niccole! She’ll be doing gainers at Freemont next summer no doubt!<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n
\n“No problem! We have an empty office in a building a few blocks from here. Just stop by the rubber stamp store and get yourself one, you’ll definitely need one of those. We’ll put the word out that your initials are now on the ‘official’ required list.”
\n“Perfect! … the office has air conditioning and internet right?”
\n“Of course.”<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>