The Costa Rica Trip

Costa Rica was added to my bucket list back in October 2006. Yamaha was doing a big press event in Costa Rica to announce their new off road dirt bikes, which I was eagerly anticipating. They had invited all of the big magazines and dealers down to Costa Rica to check out the new machines and post up their reviews. I ended up staring at pictures of my future dirt bike sitting on the beach of Costa Rica for 7 months before I finally got the deal done. I swore that I’d make it to Costa Rica one day and put some tracks down on the beach. (Cont. below)  

So now the secret is out. This isn’t actually a family vacation, it’s a cover for planning the future dirt bike expedition.

I briefly entertained doing some moto during this trip, but it turns out the logistics of combining a cross-country family adventure with off-roading is harder than I thought. We are going to be moving all over the country during the next two weeks. Hauling an additional four massive gear bags down the Pacuare River was going to be really difficult! Finding kid friendly machines was also proving to be a challenge, although Clay maintains he’s ready for a full size dirt bike. (Keep dreamin’ man!) Michelle even offered to let me ditch the family in Costa Rica for a few days and live the dream, but I’m still wondering if that was one of those relationship litmus test questions where your wife finds out just how screwed up your priorities really are!

So if anyone knows me, they know when it comes to research and planning, my OCD is beyond comparison.  I’ve heard that a countdown for a moon launch starts at 30 days prior. Hah! I started mine at 60! I have checklists for my checklists. I’m on a first name basis with the folks on the Costa Rica TripAdvisor forum. We’ve forgone any travel agencies, tour groups, guides, etc. in favor of striking out on our own. Hopefully all of this translates into a great trip.

I'm hoping to post regularly to the Blog for the trip. Also check the Find Me Spot link in the top right to see where we are in the country and where we have been.