I just realized that our website is kind of common to Tico Travel, a travel company for Costa Ricans and Costa Rica. Hence, the name Tico. B and I went to Costa Rica for 8-9 nights in the fall of 2008; and we really loved it. We have been to many other places since; but Costa Rica held a great spot as far as one of our best travels. From driving the wrong way back and forth in the middle of the night through downtown San Jose, to getting stuck for an hour waiting for our turn on a bridge while driving south close to the Panama border on our way to Manuel Antonio, and almost running into a mouse-sized dog who got out of the fence when we were driving in the dusk through muddy rain in the hills of Monteverde to get to La Fortuna. Bryan almost got mobbed by a dozen taxi drivers who are eager to take him to wherever. He also almost got in trouble with the armed security guard inside a bank in Canas, which is a seedy looking city mid-point on our way to Tamarindo from La Fortuna. A second after we got out of our car in Jaco, after driving from Tamarindo, we were approached by a curly american tween boy and said "got weed?" - which means he's got some to sell to us. We politely said no. There's also the confusion of being in San Ramon, San Jose, versus San Ramon the city itself.
We had a cheapie rental car and I think it was called AVEO, or ALTO; and its wheels were as thick as the regular bikes'. It was definitely a fun trip, and we often laugh about it. We bartered our way to almost all of the hotels we stayed at - from grand Gran Hotel in San Jose, to wonderful views in luxurious Parador in Manuel Antonio, to heavenly Tabacon Resorts in La Fortuna; and on to cheap hotels like Tropicana Hotel ($40) in Tamarindo, to La Posada ($40) in San Ramon, and another one in Jaco, but our favorite is this small outfit hotel just outside of La Fortuna, which cost us $40, and it's colored orange and blue. One of my favorite photos of B was taken from that hotel because of its beautiful color inside and out of the hotel, in the middle of the rainforest paradise.
Anyhoo, when we got a dog, I knew I was going to call him Tico. B wanted to call him Enzo, so I told him we'll use it as his middle name instead. People have had a hard time trying to pronounce his name, and we only had one or two people actually recognize his name as what it was...Tico means a male Costa Rican native in Costa Rica. A female counterpart is Tica. If we do get another dog, it will be likely another German Shepherd male; and this time, his name will be Enzo. For now, we'll concentrate on Tico, and give him the best adventure for the next 10 or so more years that he'll be around us.
I guess the point of this blog post is that, we are not related to Tico Travel. So I changed it to Tico the large GSD dog's travels and adventures. The blogspot address is another story - - because I want it to be a memorable address, but it's an improvement in positioning ourselves from the Tico Travel website.
But no matter what, if Tico Travel customers do come across our website, welcome! And happy travels! But if you are really looking for Tico's Travels, the blog for all things related to our dog Tico's adventure as a large German Shepherd dog trying to make it in/around LA and hopefully across the continental US, welcome! Either way, happy travels!
And have a great new year! Welcome to bigger and better things in 2011!
B and I had a night out at Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant at The Grove, which is on 3rd and Fairfax near Beverly Hills. The Grove is empty, and it's too pretty to see without the usual crowd. It looked like a magical wonderland, with the waterfalls, the christmas decoarations, the large trees, and beautiful shops and stores. A few of the restaurants had NYE dinner prix fixe menu, but we didn't have the funds to spend, and used one of the gift cards we received from the wedding to go to Maggiano's. We then watched "Little Fockers" the movie at the Pacific Theatres, and walked over to the Farmer's Bar around the corner from the farmer's market. The bar/patio area was a bust, and they played 70's music the entire time, so with 20 minutes to spare, we walked back to The Grove and entered Cheesecake Factory, which gave out free champagnes, New Year hats and noisemakers. I got a seat at the bar, and watched Ryan Seacrest, Jenny McCarthy and Dick Clarke countdown the New Year's Eve Ball drop. We rushed home afterwards to get to Tico within the first hour of 2011. We would not miss our first hour of 2011 without our dog to celebrate with. He was there with us in Napa last year when we got engaged - - we weren't going to break that tradition.
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