"I wanna see it turn on"

I cannot get over where I was and what I did this past weekend. It was unreal.

Our excursion started with a waterfall...La Fortuna, straight out of a movie--insanely beautiful. Getting there wasn't all that easy though. We climbed down at least 400 steep steps just to get close to the waterfall. Once we took a few pictures in front of it, we had to maneuver around these slippery black rocks in order to get into the water, just a warm 60 degrees. Ha! People were calling it refreshing. Numbing was more like it. But with water that gorgeous, temperature didn't matter. I could have stayed in that waterfall for the rest of the weekend. Especially if that meant not hiking back up those 400 steps. Talk about exercise--talk about refreshing.

The weekend only got better. We were told that we'd be lucky to see Arenal Volcano. Most of the time it's too cloudy, too foggy, too rainy, etc. They were right about the rain, but it cleared up and we got the most amazing view of Arenal for the rest of the trip. Not to mention our hotel was right at the base of it. It couldn't have been more perfect.

Los Lagos is an amazing resort! Our rooms were awesome with front and back patios, therefore views all around. It had three major pools all equipped with water slides and 4 private hot springs that we all took advantage of at night. One of the coolest parts of this hotel was its landscaping. All different types of plants and flowers covered the resort. I can't even describe the work that must have gone into making that place look the way it does. A specific area of the hotel was dedicated to the butterfly garden and ant farm. But along the way you could find insane plant life, colorful frogs, turtles, iguanas, and crocodiles. We saw some pretty cool looking things in there. The baby crocodile was my favorite and the ants were pretty sweet too. (You can see them carrying the green leaves up the tree branch on the left). And okay, the best part of the hotel was, of course, the spa. I took full advantage of that within the first three hours we were there. First I got to take an amazing shower, solely based on the fact that it was warm 100 percent of the time. Then I laid down in this incredibly peaceful room that looked straight out into a jungle. Yes, a jungle. Words can't describe.

After a fun night of drinking and relaxing in the hot springs, we woke up bright and early Sunday morning for our "canyoning" tour. I was so excited about this, but I honestly hadn't put that much thought into the process. At least not until we were strapped into a harness, clipped to a wire and standing on the top of a cliff staring down at a 200-foot waterfall. (No, I did not have a panic attack for those of you who are wondering. Brittney, Lauren, and Cassidy) It was pretty incredible to repel down 5 different waterfalls on a rope backwards. I would easily do it again. It's a must for anyone that has the opportunity! The end of tour was met with, yet again, another exhausting hike up a mountain. What goes down must come up? Har, har, har.

There were two downsides to this excursion. One, that no picture does this place justice. And two, it was way too short of a trip. A day and a half just didn't cut it. But the time that I did spend there was incredible. I am so thankful.