My driver wasn't waiting at the airport for me, holding the sign with my name on it as promised. And dang it all I was really looking forward to that guy with the sign.... And I'd already paid for the ride. So I called the hotel and they sent him right over, so no harm no foul.

His name was Arturo and he speaks more English than he thinks he does (as do most people!) so between my restaurant Spanish, my Italian, and his English we had a nice conversation on the ride to the hotel. He gave me lots of suggestions for food to have while here.

The afternoon rain started during our ride at about 3pm (Mountain Daylight Time) and while I got checked in and found my room a girl was swimming laps in the pool in courtyard around which the Autentico Hotel is built. The rain kept falling and she kept swimming back and forth and I actually had this crazy flash that she was the entertainment... The hotel suggesting that "hey, so what if this is the rainy season, you're in Costa Rica!". She eventually left -- I'll wait to see if she shows up tomorrow.

My hotel is great! The rooms are newly up-fitted. The wifi is strong. The linens are high thread count cotton. There are plenty of electrical outlets (which take American plugs). And there are two English channels (CNN) in the cable TV.