Hola, Costa Rica!

By Peter BodoPublished February 13, 2008

Tourist visiting Poas National Park look at the main crater of the Poas volcano, 37 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of San Jose, Costa Rica, Tuesday, July 2, 2002. Environmental specialists from Latin America are meeting this week in Costa Rica to determine how to best preserve Latin America's plants and wildlife. Costa Rica has become a world leader in conservation, with 25 percent of its territory held in national parks and protected areas. (AP Photo/Kent Gilbert) — © ASSOCIATED PRESS

Just days ago, I was up at the farm in game-rich Andes, astride the Bombardier ATV, towing a plastic decoy sled with Cowboy Luke aboard across fields covered in six inches of fresh powder snow on a 18-degree day. This was mortifying to my wife, Lisa, who thought it far too redneck a thing to do. Luke loved it, though, and insisted that we do a few laps of the big meadows before the cold finally got to him.

By this time tomorrow, though, we'll have touched down in Liberia, Costa Rica, for our winter vacation. Last I checked, it was a balmy 95-degrees there. We had such a good time in Belize last year that Costa Rica was a natural choice. We're only doing a few days at the beach; most of the time we'll be driving the country and staying in small cabins at various places in the highlands - where it will be much cooler. We'll be doing some (horseback) riding and plan to visit the volcanoes and "cloud forest."

I will be gone until Monday the 25th, but you'll have plenty of new posts from a host of contributors, and you'll be able to discuss all the tennis action every day. And we'll have Heidi's Deuce Club OT post on Thursday. I also left ESPN a post to run for this Friday, about Shakespeare.

I'll miss you all, so play nice while I'm gone (of course, the Mod Squad will be ever vigilant), and if you want to talk about your own winter vacation, this is the ideal place to do it. I'll miss you all!