Not the smoothest day in Costa Rica

So we all had a good night sleep after a long day getting out of Panama.  We were ready for the day, but Jada's bike wouldn't start, so we tried to push start it in the gravel parking lot.  Nope, didn't work. So we took it to the highway to push start it.  Success!  Then Jada's bike quit entirely on the highway, so Karen and I ran after her to push start again. Failure!  We tried again and it would not keep going,  the battery was completely dead and the alternator was not giving enough to keep it going.  We had a car put his hazards on to help divert traffic, which was really nice though. And he knew of a motorcycle shop that he lead me to.

I got Jada's battery on charge and headed back to go for breakfast.  It sure was nice to have coffee in the morning!  After breakfast, I went back and got the battery, put it in Jada's bike and we were off.  The mechanic had a Kawasaki alternator, so we drove there with Jada's bike and tried it out, but it did not give enough charge back to keep the bike running.  So off we went, However, we didn't know how long her battery would hold out.  So after about 3 hours, we filled up with gas and her battery was completely dead again.

We swapped out Jada and Karen's batteries, so Karen's bike could charge the dead battery while Jada's bike discharged the full one.  This got us just enough time to get close to San Jose where we can hopefully find a new or rebuilt alternator that will do the trick.  Lots of small alternators but none with the oomph we need (lots of small bikes in Central America but not many big ones like ours).  My Phone doesn't work here so I lost the address of the bike shop I was aiming for, but remembered the general area of San Jose, so I headed in that direction, but we were all tired, hungry and thirsty, so I pulled us over to a mini super store to ask about a hotel.  They directed me to one about a 2 minute drive away down a crappy road.  

We pulled into a house to ask for directions to the hotel, but the house was actually the hotel.  Awesome!  A place to stay and for only $40 too.  The owner's husband is from the states and gave me a ride in his car to get water and food.  Double awesome!!  He is taking me to the parts shop,that should have an alternator.  Triple awesome!!!  I might even get Karen's fuel pump for just in case while I am there (and gas tank gasket - does not help if I cause a leak right above her motor fixing the fuel pump).  We will see tomorrow. 

One final thing on our "hotel". We couldn't find a sign for it, because it is a rendezvous hotel for local shenanigans of unfaithful spouses!  They did let us put our bikes tucked in beside the room, in the back on the sidewalk.  I don't think it is the safest area, but it will do for the night.

Remember to enjoy your journey,

Stew.