We finished off the scrambled eggs, washed the dishes, put leftover iced-tea into leftover water bottles while the kids played with my Spanish app, and the shuttle arrived to take us back to the lobby. Shortly after we reached the bottom and had transferred our luggage into the long-distance van, far nicer than our first, a uniformed lady hurried over, saying someone had left a jacket in the villa. "Whoever's jacket it is," said Sister, "has to buy the first round of drinks." But then she said, "Oh, wait, crap, it's probably mine."

Purple jacket acquired.

Our driver introduced himself as Fernando and told us that we were his boss. Well, his second boss. We correctly guessed that his first boss was "su esposa." He then got in the car and told us that he was the second best driver in Costa Rica. We asked what happened the best, playing along. He mumbled something with the word "hospital" and turned on the van.

This van was larger and had room in the back for all our luggage (no more roof dependence). It also had Wifi and good working air conditioning. As we curved up hilly roads, Mom plugged in her iPod and we rocked out to Green Day, the Beatles and Dave Matthews, and performed a Tom Petty sing-along. Wonder what Fernando thought of us all going, "Won't back down, no we won't.... back down" in our off-tune singing voices.

We stopped for a restroom break and snack at what appeared to be the official "take tourists here to get coffee and pastries" store. We were a little disappointed, actually, because if we were going to get pastries, we'd have preferred to go to the German Bakery we saw a half dozen signs for in the Mt. Arenal area. I craved salt instead and found a bag of chips in the adjacent restaurant. Brother and Brother-in-law wandered up the street and found more chips, munchies, and soda (ahem beer) for the road. We finally got to use some colones! So far, it's been all dollars.

Salty food and moving to a seat closer to the front eased my curvy-road dizziness.

The houses along the way were quite nice, though every so often, a shack went by with the word "SODA" written on it, and nothing else. We later learned that such buildings are convenience stores. That sell more than pop.

The road became dirt and gravel as we approached the protected reserve. After some bumps, the road paved out again and a smattering of buildings welcomed us to the small mountain town that serves as a gateway. A few turns later we arrived at our lodge.

The lady at the front desk spoke English with nearly no accent, then threw in random Spanish words as if she knew we were practicing. After we checked in, a man arrived with nine glasses of fresh guava juice on a tray. Yum. While we waited for our (count 'em four) rooms to be ready, we had Costa Rican sandwiches for lunch. Delicious. At full tourist prices, even higher than our pricy hometown meals, but tasty!

Once we settled in, we explored the grounds. It was AWESOME. I know what you're thinking: are these places paying me to advertise? No, I promise. We either chose some lucky hotels or Costa Rica knows how to do a nice resort. My favorite aspect of both was not so much the rooms and amenities (which were great) but the sense of Freedom To Wander. New discoveries around every bend. The kids could go wherever and we'd lose sight of them, but it was okay because they couldn't really get lost.

We explored...

...where we appreciated the difficulty of observing wildlife. Luckily, we were guaranteed to see some fluttering natives in the...

...where we found a mariposa that matched the poster! We thought, anyway. It was humid in there, whew, let's go back outside and jump in the...

...where we did handstand contests and wore ourselves out.

Once or twice, while we were outside, fast-moving white clouds came through like smoke, covering the sky, then vanishing back to blue as quickly as they came. The hint of moisture reminded us that we were, indeed, in the cloud forest. We called it a "drive-by misting."

We dried off in the...

...where we relaxed until it was time for...

...where we ordered tropical beverages (Tico Sours and all manner of fruit smoothies, paid for by Sister), talked and laughed, and gazed at the escaped butterfly above the fireplace.

Over and above, my favorite part of Monteverde Lodge & Gardens...

...were the signs.

With the above comment about the plastics industry, along with the solar hot water and paper straws, you know this is an eco-friendly place. Sister said: "The only time I've ever tried to wash shoes in a hotel sink... and they have special washcloths for it!"

Unbeknownst to us, while we enjoyed our drinks, the hotel staff were personally delivering sweets, fresh juice, cookies, and shots of baileys to each room. Nightcap, anyone? It is, after all, dark now. (Happy hour at 5, dark by 6.) Mom and Dad's room 303 became the official after-party room. We sat outside, gazed at the stars and enjoyed watching "rave star" Jupiter glowing alternately red and blue while lightning flashed on the horizon.

Our exceptional breakfast at 6:30am included warm milk with our tea (why didn't I know about this?) and my new favorite food in Costa Rica: fried plantains. Nope, that is not bacon. Brother-in-law got a Spanish menu because he looks the most local, but ironically knows the least Spanish. After we ate, we gathered in the lobby at 7:15. Our driver was early (as they have been fairly consistently) and we piled in the van. Fifteen minutes later, we were at the entrance to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.

The weather was cool and humid. Clouds misted above us. We brought our raingear, tied around our waists, and wore longer clothes to avoid bugs. Tourists gathered for morning tours, but it wasn't packed - no long lines for the restrooms or ticket booth.

Juan, our guide, gathered the whole family together. Right at the beginning, the trail forked into several paths. We took the right one and were soon on our own. It thought about raining... but then decided not to.

After an hour or so of hiking, we returned and went up another fork from the entrance for the opportunity to glimpse whatever colorful tropical bird that is below on the left. It was mating season and we saw male and female birds (okay, that's what the guide told us) flitting from branch to branch. Twenty people stood along the path, whispering, pointing, and aiming for a photo. Our guide offered us a view through his telescope.

Back at the complex of buildings at the entrance, the hummingbirds buzzed everywhere, attracted by multiple feeders and easier to photograph. The little critter on the right is the equivalent of a raccoon I think. All the tourists were falling over themselves to get a photo as the furry creature scurried around. The locals thought we were silly.

And that was Monteverde! We returned from our tour, watched some monkeys hanging out outside our rooms under the restaurant (they missed us!), and the packed into our next van that would take us full circle! It was 11am.

This time, our driver José did not say he was the second best driver in Costa Rica. He happily blasted our iPod music, asked me lots of questions since I sat up front (I got solid Spanish practice - with some translation help from Sister), and managed to only avoid the first iguana that crossed the road. (Sob.)

The drive down reminded me a lot like driving from east to west Oregon: you come out of mountains into flat plains (with the ocean in the far distance.)

Our driver said he was from Philadelphia. And we were like, "Wha...? So are some of us!" And then he corrected. "Nope, Filadelfia. In Costa Rica." Yes, it's a real place, I Googled it.

He then took us...

...to the same supermarket in Liberia that our first driver did!

He said something like it was the "American corner" and I believe it. It might explain why all the drivers keep taking us there. And why it is huge. And expensive.

At the store, along with our liquor purchases--wherein we learned that rum in Spanish is "ron" which adds a different dimension to the Harry Potter character--we bought a flat of 30 eggs. Dad, who hates eggs (but likes math), insisted we calculate how many eggs we each have to eat per day in order not to waste any eggs. Ten eggs a day for the 6-8 of us who actually like eggs?

No problem, we said.

Did we eat all the eggs? Keep reading to find out...