Sarah Who Wanders...

 We did a surprise (to the kids) family trip to Costa Rica in late 2019 just after Christmas and over New Year's. I celebrated my 38th birthday in the rainforest, which was incredible.  We began the journey by flying into one of the two main airports in Costa Rica, Liberia. From there we got a rental car and drove (what felt like a never-ending 3-4 hours) to the area of La Fortuna which is an area in Costa Rica that is known for Arenal, an active volcano. Now mind you, active means the last time it actually erupted was 2010. You can still see it smoking though.  The area is a tropical rainforest and is teeming with flora and fauna unlike we had ever seen before. There were coatimundi, red-eyed tree frogs, toucans, sloths, macaws, snakes, giant beetles, walking sticks, leaf-cutter ants, and yes scary Brazilian wandering spiders and orb-weavers (I am just SOOOOOOOOOOO glad I did not cross paths with a tarantula. I just can't.). The lodge in the rainforest was so much fun with sus

 I wanted to review the state of Alaska fresh from our recent visit to Fairbanks. We visited Alaska as a family a number of years ago in June and saw Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali National Park, Seward, Kenai Peninsula and Whittier. Alaska in the summertime was GLORIOUS. The temperature was between 60-75 degrees and the sun stayed up where we were until 1130 PM. We took a glacier cruise, did some nature walks, visited with sled dogs in their "off" season, and ate dinner at all hours (because, you know, sunlight). We saw moose multiple times and were in awe. A float plane adventure took us over Talkeetna area and we saw a family of grizzlies. I was in LOVE with the scenery (though not the giant mosquitoes! haha!), and told Barrett "I could live here." It is wild and free, scenic, and just has so much space. We joked for years that I had seen it in the summer though, so not a fair representation.  So....Barrett had a wish for his 40th bday. This hardworking husband of