Ferry to Tambor
We woke up to gray skies, but the rain had stopped. The day before we had checked on the ferry times, and were told that they ran at 9am and 1pm, and it would take us 4 hours to reach the ferry terminal at Puntarenas. We decided to get an early start, so we packed the car, had breakfast and were on the road by about 7:45am. Randy drove and Dan navigated and we made good time. After about an hour we started to see blue sky ahead and we were very happy. We drove through San Ramon, and onto the PanAmerican Highway (The Bread Highway). We made a quick stop for gas (diesel!), and then continued to Puntarenas. When we arrived at 10:25am we found that the ferry actually left at 10:30 and 3:30. What luck! We quickly bought a ticket and drove onto the ferry, practically without even stopping!
The ferry ride was about an hour and twenty minutes (though it took another twenty minutes to dock once we arrived... not quite sure why). We headed towards Tambor along roads which were not nearly as well maintained as the ones we had been on previously. Once again the 4Runner had no trouble with them, easily passing slower vehicles and gobbling up potholes and bumps. About half an hour later we arrived at Barcelo Playa Tambor, a big 'all-inclusive' resort, right on the water. The place looked really nice, with a big pool and an airy feel. We settled into our rooms and then had some lunch at the buffet.
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New Year's Eve
During lunch we realized that the place was actually very large, and kind of felt like a cruise ship on land. At the pool after lunch we enjoyed the warm sun, even though it was a bit crowded. Afterwards we all took naps to rest up for the evening, when we planned to join in the New Year's festivities. At 8:30 we met up for a cocktail, all dressed up for dinner. At 9pm we got in line at the restaurant, and really started to feel like herded cattle. Fortunately we were seated quickly, since we were hungry. The food was kind of average and it was clear from watching the crowd (and many of the women's big hair and sparkly dresses) that this was not really our kind of New Year's celebration. Once we finished eating we looked in on the festivities and found that Mickey Mouse, Bart Simpson, Barney and Sponge Bob Square Pants were on stage. That's when we decided to resort to plan B...
We went back to the rooms, put on shorts and T-shirts, grabbed a bottle of wine (one that Luis had given us on the flight out) and headed for the main bar. While Randy waited for a mixed drink, the others watched in horror as the stage show in the lobby continued with audience members doing shots, running across the stage and making circles with their heads on a microphone stand. We quickly walked down to the beach where it was much quieter. We dragged four lounge chairs down near the water and settled in. As it was about 10:30, we had decided to celebrate New Year's on Miami time, which was one hour earlier than local time. We watched the stars (they were very bright) and some fireworks going on in the distance around the bay. At 11 we toasted the New Year, best spent with good friends. We continued to talk and laugh, looking at the stars and counting shooting stars. We were having such a good time we ended up celebrating the New Year again at midnight. Afterwards we headed back to our rooms for sleep. Unfortunately the festivities in the lobby were not far from our rooms and went on late into the night. Rick and Randy had earplugs and Ambien to remedy this... 
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