Another Active Volcano

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Another Active Volcano Fortuna, Costa Rica

Fortuna, Costa Rica

Jene and I escape the city, heading for Lake and Volcano Arenal. We have heard about this place and want to get in one last adventure before our flight back to the US. We get out of town without too much traffic and find our way on the back-roads towards Arenal. This is beautiful country and great riding. We stop in a small town with a unique town square, could be Zarcero or Quesada. The square as in all of these towns is in front of the church. This quaint little square has a maze of evergreens that are manicured into arches and some into animal shapes. The square is busy on this Sunday and music and singing is coming from the open doors of the church. Perfect! We stop for a walk around the square and a cold drink, as always we draw a crowd. This time it is a biker crowd as the Motorcycle Club Coyote is trickling into town. We make quick friends. The town of Fortuna is a busy tourist stop and is filled with Americans on tours. We check out a few places to stay and find the Arenal Inn up a very steep hill and overlooking the lake and volcano. As we make final arrangements to stay here we ask if they have Supperbowl coverage. What!!! Off we go down the hill to the sports bar back in town. We make a detour to visit the Volcano National Park and find the best viewing for the night fireworks of the natural wonder. We find the San Bosco and it is within walking distance of a great sports bar and restaurant. We settle down and get ready for Kickoff. I decide to take off to view the volcano when it gets dark. The road is dirt and potholed like none other we have encountered. The bike without the heavy bags is a different handling machine. I am able to fly over the bump and pass all of the tourist buses and cars putting and swerving to get out to the bridge. I arrive and stake out a seat on the bridge where I watch as lava, glowing gold and red roll in boulders down the steep slopes. As the molten rocks hit other rocks they explode into red sparks showering the slopes with color. I stay for over an hour, meeting others who are patiently waiting for another molten rock to come out of the cloud covering the top and into our view. We wait and don’t mind a bit. The next morning the volcano is in full view, right to the top! It is covered with a light cloud seeming to shroud it like a new bride behind a veil. We could easily spend a few days exploring this area. But off we go needing to get back to the city to store the bikes. The ride back by a different route is just as beautiful as the way in. The weather is perfect and as we ride through the cloud forest it stays clear and cool. We are enjoying the sharp corners and suddenly on a sharp left with nothing but mountain on the inside and air on the outside of the corner, discover that our lane is gone! Yup, gone! sluffed away in the earthquake of three weeks ago. The 6.2 trembler has damaged roads, clogged rivers and washed out bridges. Now our lane is gone with no warning but some yellow tape at the gap in the road. We are able to go into the other lane as nothing was coming our direction. Cheated Death Again!! We hired a cab to lead us to the storage facility and find it with no problem. The staff is very nice and the storage warehouse is as modern as any we have here. I take off the positive battery terminal, run out the gas, and kiss the bike a fond good by. I notice that the odometer says 8,650 miles! I started at 3,618. Five Thousand miles without difficulty! But with plenty of adventure, just what I wanted! I lived the dream! or at least phase I.

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