Way Down in Costa Rica

Decided to cruise through San Jose and take the Pan Am Highway through most of Costa Rica to the Panamanian border, rather than take the secondary roads along the coast.  This is an amazing road that takes one from the sea to 10,994 feet in three hours through jaw dropping scenery.  After stopping for lunch in San Ignacio el General, we decided to avoid the hectic Pan Am border crossing and try a little  used and obscure crossing to the north.  We prefer chickens to coyotes.  So we veered off the Pan Am and had a delightful ride past vast pineapple fields, back into the mountains and the sticks of the outback...we are just blown away how beautiful this country is.  As we passed one of the ubiquitous little independent auto mechanic shops, "tallers" in Spanish, Jim remembered that we had tail lights out.  Wanting to avioid any incidents with the local authorities, we decided to replace it.  The owner, Roberto was more than happy to address our problems, and was facinated by the description of our destination.  He and his crew of four quickly addressed the problem, and sent us on our way without charge.  Hold off on those drones, Barak, these people are awfully nice!  We stopped near the town of San Vito as it was getting dark and are tucked away in a clean, rustic shack for 30 bucks.  Ten miles from the border, we are now starting to be concerned about just how we are going to ship the Little Red Truck around the Darian Gap...hmmmm.