Very cool trip PhillyB. I traveled with my family to Quepos (very touristy, my parents are older folk, non-adventurous), as well as the capital San Jose. My mother and I ventured into the village and had a blast talking with the locals with language barrier. Reminded me of that episode of Louie when he visits China looking for the Yangtze River. It gave me great perspective on life. I was 19 at the time. We were in Quepos when a hurricane hit. The levee broke, drove a car blasting Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Break's" trying to get out of Quepos to the nearest airport with major flooding.
I quoted that passage because I wanted some advice about my road trip coming up in a couple of months since you are a traveler of sorts. Have you ever traveled across America? I'm planning a cross country trip from NC to Cali. I've been debating the southern or northern route with my friends. I have a friend in Montana and one in Western Texas. I'm leaning towards the northern route through parts of Wyoming, Montana, then down through Oregon. I think it would be the most scenic route as opposed to the southern route through Texas. What do ya think?
I took 40 to Cali once through Tennessee, Ark, Okl, Tex, NM, Ariz. once you get through Tenn (which is basically the same as NC), you have flat farmlands then desert. The desert was actually pretty cool because I have never been in that region, but Arkansas through Texas was brutal. I would recommend the Northern route hands down.
