Hello hello, welcome back to the blog. Another week has gone by here in Costa Rica so lets dive in.
I am starting to wrap up my projects at work which means I have gone away from the days of CAD and prototyping and am working to setup times for testing on the floor with operators to aid in implementation. As a result, much of the week was coordinating with various individuals to set up times. Additionally, my NPI project is still on hold as I await quotes from both the raw material supplier and machine shop. I did, however, get the chance to conduct some preventative maintenance work on one of the laser machines in the cleanroom. These are essential processes conducted on the machines to prevent future, time consuming faults in the machine that may bring down production for days. Afterwards, I was walked through an alignment protocol to ensure the laser and all directional mirrors were configured correctly. This ensures the laser is tracing its path correctly to the workpiece and is one of the checks to ensure parts are being produced in spec, reducing waste in the process.
This was a special week in Costa Rica as they celebrated the region of Guanacaste integrating into the greater Costa Rican country. For this reason, Friday was a holiday for most companies. As a late graduation present, my parents came to visit me and treated me to a 2 night stay at the Tabacon thermal resort and spa just outside of La Fortuna. We traveled up there Friday morning and stopped on the way at the La Paz waterfall. It was pretty astonishing that we could just stop on the side of the road and walk up to this beautiful sight in the middle of the drive. Immediately after arriving to the resort, we had to get ready for the major event of the trip, an ATV tour through the surrounding area and Arenal volcano national forest. It was an amazing experience and a great way to see the natural beauty of the forest. My favorite part of the tour was the final location which included a short hike up to a viewpoint with the whole Arenal volcano in view towering over the landscape. That night we took to the hot springs for some relaxation before dinner.
The next day was a continuation of the night before as we spent most of the day exploring the different areas of the hotsprings. Each spring was built along rivers flowing through the area that have been heated geothermally (and maybe with some heaters). The surroundings really made it feel like a tropical retreat with wildlife like iguanas utilizing the hotsprings for warmth. Dinner that night was something very special as we had a private bungalow dinner and several courses of good food ranging from fresh fish appetizers and starters to steak dinner and pistachio ice cream dessert that blew me away. I never thought I would try such a flavor but I was pleasantly suprised. We finished up late at night and had to sleep early as my parents needed to drive all the way to the caribbean coast to catch a boat for tortuguero island by mid afternoon. It was such a spectacular weekend, however, and is on my list of places to re-visit in the future when I make the trip back to this extraordinary country. See you all next time for the penultimate post. Pura Vida!
