Thursday, March 24, 2011

Costa Rica...Amazing Trip Part III

Thursday:
Dad went for an hour walk in the morning.  After breakfast, we were picked up in the same Prada and drove the two hours (only one potty break) to the Palo Verde National Forest for a one and half hour boat ride down the river.  We spotted lots of wildlife with the help of our guide Pablo and the boat driver.  We saw crocodiles, iguanas and lots of different birds.  After the boat ride, we ate lunch at the home of the tour boat ride owner's home.  The tour was run by a local Eco-tourism company. 






We then went to the best site of the trip.  A 30 meter waterfalls with a pool basin at the bottom.  The freshwater was clear and warm.  Ashley and Dad swam to the waterfalls and actually went behind it from both sides (the left entry was much easier).  Tori liked playing in the warm water where there a huge number of little minnows.  There was fool's gold (little specks of gold colored dust) all around the tidal basin. 












Friday:
Woke up to news of the 8.9 earthquake in Japan with Tsunami warnings for Hawaii.  We spent our final day around the pool enjoying the warm toasty sun and talking about how we would love to come back to explore more of Costa Rica.






 








Costa Rica...Amazing Trip Part II

Tuesday:
Mike and I did the mega zip tour with Geovaney as aur private guide. We drove 1 1/2 hours to the Rincon Park at the base of the Rincon volcano.  We saw king vulture, howler monkeys, toucans, a mother sloth with her baby and tropical birds. We climbed a really high hill and zip lined down.  Then we walked back up and came down the 1000 ft concrete narrow waterside which was very fast and rough and cold.  Next we had lunch, an authentic Costa Rican lunch of meat, rice, beans, and veggies.  Then we went horseback riding to the spa where we went into the sauna, the rubbed volcanic mud all over us and soaked in three natural hot spring bathes (pools).  Ashley and Tori spent the day at the pool...Tori continued to get her swimming fix!





We Skyped Nick to hear about his game and we heard the great news that he pitched a complete game (7 innings) shutout with 14 strikeouts, 1 walk and 2 hits!!!  A great game and win 2-0!!!

Wednesday:
We started the morning on the beach, Tori and Ashley played in the water where the fish swarmed them.  Mom and Dad hung out on the shore watching.  Mom and Ashley went to Cocoa Beach for shopping while Dad and Tori hung out at the beach for a while longer.






Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Costa Rica...Amazing Trip Part I

We spent a week in Costa Rica at the Riu Guanacaste...Nick stayed home to play baseball, so Mike, Ashley, Tori and I made the journey.  The weather was absolutely perfect everyday and we split our time poolside and exploring Costa Rica. 


We arrived on Saturday:
Drove to the RIU resort from the Liberia airport. The airport is very old and had no air conditioining. After checking in we walked around hotel and on the beach, Tori went in the ocean with her clothes on. We saw that they had about 15 fenced-in turtle egg sites on the beach.





Sunday:
Mostly a pool day and we checked out the tour options.




Monday:
Dad and Ashley went ATVing.  They rode for about two hours through the hills, off road and through streams.  They rode the ATVs right up to the Paragon Adventures for our Zip Lining where they went on 11 zip lines high above the ground in the canapy of the trees. Some zip lines were really long and some were fairly short.  Ashley and I actually did one zip line upside down. Mom and Tori hung out at the pool.  Tori just loves swimming everyday!  That is all she wants to do.





Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Nick Nagowski: Athlete of the Week for March 16 Fayetteville Observer

 Posted in the Fayetteville Observer:

Nick Nagowski: Athlete of the Week for March 16

School: Jack Britt

Class: Senior

Sport: Baseball

Accomplishment: Nagowski pitched a two-hit shutout and struck out 14 batters in the Buccaneers' 2-0 win against Cape Fear. Later in the week, he had three hits as Jack Britt defeated Hoke County, 6-1.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Nick Pitched His Best Game....So far! 14 Strike Outs in 7 Innings!

Last Tuesday, Nick pitched for his high school game during their first conference game.  Nick beat his personal best record with 14 Strike Outs in 7 innings!  His team won the game 2-0.  We are so proud of him, yet sad that we missed seeing him pitch so well since we were in Costa Rica and he stayed back home to play baseball.  His commitment to his team payed off and he pitched the game of his life.  Good thing we had all the parents cheering for him in our absence.  Congrats Nick!