Coasting in Costa Rica

The detour from the PanAmerican Highway Countryside
Tourists blocking traffic
The Brits coming through the palm plantation
Arrival at Brunka Lodge

After a weekend off the bikes we traveled to the BMW dealer in San Jose to pick up some spare parts and get Sean's tire fixed. Lou discussed his battery troubles with the service manager and decided to return first thing Tuesday morning and start with a fresh battery. The dealer was kind enough to find us a cheap hotel for the night near the dealership, so we ended the day after a whopping 6.5 miles.

Tuesday we left the dealership with one of the managers leading us to the city limits. We headed off after he kindly paid our toll and went back to the store. Those guys surely went above and beyond! As we started to climb into the mountains on the Pan American Highway we were told that a section of the road no longer existed and it would be 3 or 4 days until it would reopen. Just then, another officer drove up and told the other he would take us to a detour we could take and continue on. What a ride! The 45 minute detour had exhilarating vistas, white knuckle turns, rock strewn incline and impatient Costa Rican drivers thrown in for good measure. After we got back to the PanAm we made our way to the top of the "Mountain of Death" (Costa Rica's name, not ours) to 48 degree(f) temps and rain. As we approached the Pacific, the temperatures went up to the 90's and the clouds parted. We took a little side road looking for a hotel, wound up driving through a palm plantation and banana farm and ended up in the Brunka Lodge in Palmar Norte for the night. Tomorrow we head for Panama.