November 18th

He made it through the night! Although, in the morning he was missing a few more feathers on his shoulders and on the back of his head and neck. Kendra put some aloe vera lotion on the spots, though I'm not sure if that was a good idea. We fed him some more sugar water throughout the morning as we made breakfast (cereal and cake. we're kids) and we got ready to go to the hot springs (day off!!) Glenn came by to pick us up at about 10am, and he dropped us off at Tico Tabacon while he went to La Fortuna to do some errands. We went down to the river, which passes under the road and over these deep black rocks. it was so amazing to step into warm bath tub water! We have one of those ridiculous water "heaters" on our shower, but we haven't really felt warm water in a while. it was like heaven stepping into the river. it's fairly fast, but its only about knee deep at the most. the rocks are pretty smooth but they aren't slick. We crossed the river next to the road bridge and took the path through the forest to the right along the water. Then we put our clothes in a plastic bag and hopped in! Steam rose, especially when the rain started to pour. We both had our water proof sandals on, which made picking our way through the river much easier since the force of the water was enough to knock you off balance when you're climbing up river. there were a few small falls (~2 ft tall) that we sat under and next to. We didn't get out of the water for two hours, and since it was a week day there was NO ONE there. it was so magical in the hot water with the cool rain falling! Way better than if it had been a nice day. We explored up river a bit too, to where the cold stream meets and cools the hot river. The cold stream was a shock after getting so warmed up. The rain mixed the water a bit so it turned kind of brown, but we stayed in anyways. By the time Glenn picked us up we were both so wrinkly it was funny. Glenn's car was so full of stuff that I had to sit on Grant's lap in the front seat on the way home. Glenn took us up to the dam because we can't see it from El Castillo. I wish I had my camera for this day. We also saw the turn off for the hanging bridges, though it's a little ways away. We drove back to El Castillo, and as we got out of the car Glenn asked us to his house for dinner. We went inside and had lunch, then went up to get Goldi for a walk. It started to rain almost as soon as we started so we didn't get very far though. Grant didnt get wet though, since the giant Tabacon resort umbrella he found kept him more than covered, but I was soaked since I had the dog and my tiny umbrella. We showered after the walk to warm up, then we headed up to Glenn's. He gave us each a nice glass of wine, then set Grant to work at the grill right away while Glenn gave me a bag of raw meat so I could "train Goldi". Odd timing. Luckily, I'm not squeamish about raw meat. I worked with Goldi fast so I could get rid of the meat. There was another guest also, a friend of Glenn's named Frank Wisconsin. He has lived in Alajuela for about 5 years, but he's originally from New Mexico. He farms tomatoes and bananas, and Grant thought he was the most boring man he had ever met. He was a slow talker, that's for sure. I didn't mind him other than that though. We spoke English mostly, which I felt bad about since Ana only understands but has a hard time speaking. Same with me in Spanish. it's tough, though she and I did have a short conversation in spanish about the hot springs before dinner. Dinner was good (ate only a little tortilla and veggies since the rest of it was meat). We had a great dessert though - we each had a bit of the chocolate cake that we made, and a scoop of ice cream with caramel and a banana from a new kind that Frank is growing. the bananas are apple flavored! After dessert and conversation about movies, we headed home to read for the rest of the evening.