Early morning at the guest house

This is Jim.  Day one:  We awoke to a chorus of roosters each trying to be the first to announce the arrival of the sun rise.  Some were in very good voice, the first however, must have been a beginner and really struggled through his "sqakaer errr...screcher doodle doo".  Also trying to out do the others, decided that 2:30 would be an appropriate time to start.
Early rising was worth it, the view from the guest house deck was unbelievable, the sun lite up the hillside. The surrounding hills cast shadows showing the spectacular geography of the region.  Rising high above the hills was the smothering volcano "Turrialba" the owner told us that it has been smoking for three months and they had to move the live stock from the leeward side of the mountain.  The valley was echoing with the sounds of the jungle, birds were everywhere.
The owners in a sincere effort to make the gringos feel welcome served us delightful cheeseburgers for breakfast along with a spectacular array of local fruits and Costa Rican coffee.  Ok I'm good right now!
Today was to be our vacation sight seeing day, we would visit the town of Cartago (the colonial capital of Cost Rica circa 1492), drive to the top of volcano Irazu elev. 3,292 meters, have lunch in the city and visit the ruins of the twice destroyed cathedral Santiago Apostol.
Our ride rumbled up our road and struggled to climb to our little guest house...