Stories from two women we met at the Hot Springs!

I saw two women across from a pool I was getting into and later I saw them at the pool-side bar as Barbara and I were going to have a BB&C.  That is Baileys, Banana and Coconut Syrup made in a blender.  

As we were enjoying our drinks, one gal, Lisa, asked where I was from.  I said, "San Francisco!"  She said, "That figures!"  I asked where she was from, Berkley of course.  I said, "That figures!"  We laughed.  She does body work (therapy), and her girl friend, Jen, is from the north bay and is going to medical school to become a doctor.  

They said they were friends with Alex, a judge on the Ninth District Court of Appeals and I told them Jeff Fisher is a lawyer for the judges and a friend of mine I met in Turkey and I live only two blocks from the court house.  A small world.  They had two great stories about their trip so far.  Read on.  

First story:  They asked if we knew about the bridge on the back side of the volcano?  We said yes, we were there the night before around 11 PM watching the eruption!  I said the bridge was dangerous as it is five miles from anything and it is so dark at night. The bridge runs over a river with lots of sharp rocks in it and the steel railing on the bridge is missing in the middle.  Easy to fall off into the river.  So Jen said they took their rented car out there and decided to sit on the bridge and hang their feet over the edge and swing them around while watching the lava flows or lack of!  Jen decides to edge over closer to her friend and as she got nearer, Lisa said, "I didn't hear that sound, did I?"  Yes she did.  Jen had placed the keys on the concrete between them and as she edged closer, the keys went in the drink!  Mon dieu!   What to do!   A car came by, two newly weds from Texas and they drove the girls home.  The next day they called the auto rental and they said they would be out later in the morning.  Nothing.  They called again and were told the auto rental would be out later.  No dice.  Then they told the girls to go and stand by the car all day and maybe they would come. Yes, of course, stand in 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity all day, just in case they come!  I don't think so.  The third day the girls decided to take a bus to town and have breakfast.  What else to do?  They came back on the bus a few hours later and thought that was their car in the hotel lot!  Maybe!  Well the owner of the hotel, got her husband to go with her to the bridge and they stood in the middle where the keys might have fallen off the bridge.  He got into the river and searched around for the keys and found them!  Then they drove both cars back to the hotel.  Talk about nice people.  I told the girls they owed the hotel owners big time and they agreed!

Second story:  They flew down from LAX also and sat in the row and center seat.  A man sat in the window seat. They talked with him, he seemed nice and after they landed in San Jose Costa Rica, Lisa went to get some money from her billfold.  No money!  She said she had it in her backpack and it was under the seat in front of her.  She and Jen got up and used the bathroom and stood for a while.  Can you believe it, while they were up, the man got into the backpack and opened the wallet and stole the money.  Talk about gall!  Lisa said if she got a hold of him she would twist his balls off!  She said she did have several $100 bills hidden in a zippered pocket in the wallet.  She asked Jen to cash one in a casino.  So off Jen went and she got mad.  The man said she had to gamble some money or no exchange.  So she said she put in the smallest coin she was given and suddenly, won $300.   She went back to her friend smiling and Lisa wondered what was up!   Jen said hold out your hand and counted out the money, the same amount that Lisa had stolen from her on the airplane!

So you have to admit, they had two good stories to tell so far in their Costa Rica trip!   It sounds like they love to travel as much as Barbara and I do!