Chapter One: 11 months of planning In January of 2008, at an annual Flying Pie meeting, we decided to use the money we’d saved up for a big adventure: we decided to go to Costa Rica and to aim for a trip in January of 2009. Reba bravely took the task of Project Leader, and she and Howard commenced the 11 months of planning. Countless tiny details and decisions had to be made, including over half of our travelers getting their passports for the first time. The folks at the Post Office noticed the increased number of excited first time passport recipients and started asking people if they worked at Flying Pie. In September we invited the US Postal workers to play our “It’s Your Wednesday” game and a few of them brought passport applications with them because they knew about our trip and knew we would need the applications.
It was important that, in addition to our customers knowing that we would be closed for a week, that they be invited to celebrate this cool thing with us. In November of 2008 we put an article on our website and signs in our stores announcing that we were closing… for a week! We shared our suggestions on how to survive a week where Flying Pie is closed (a four-part recipe: growlers, home cook pizzas, pizza instruction book and doughballs). We put an automated countdown timer on our website and as well as one in-store. During the last week we were open, we also put up a countdown on our reader board signs. It was extremely encouraging to have received this email from a customer, letting us know that we were on the right track: I love that in your efforts to notify people of your upcoming trip, instead of apologizing for the absence, you’ve put it forth as a cause for celebration and invited all your friends to be happy for you. Have a wonderful time on your much deserved vacation! Thanks for all you do,On January 8th, 2009 (five days before we were to depart) there was a 6.1 earthquake that rocked Costa Rica. In addition to other structural damage, it wiped out the roads to La Paz Waterfall Gardens, which was to be our first stop. Reba and the travel agent quickly came up with a Plan B: the Hanging Bridges at Volcano Arenal. One newspaper reporter couldn’t quite believe that that was our Plan B. Incredulously she said, “There was an earthquake. And you’re going to hanging bridges!?” We discussed the ways we could help the people in Costa Rica who were dealing with this disaster. One of the main sources of income for Costa Rica is from tourism; just keeping our travel plans was one great way for us to help. And sharing our story to bring positive exposure is another way.
Within a few days of departure, we had the “Boise pieces” of the trip planned out: we figured out what to do with the food that wouldn’t keep until we returned (we donated it to the Boise Rescue Mission), we let our vendors know to skip the normal deliveries that week, we even took care of a customer who orders pizza, salad and wine almost every day. Chapter Two: Seven days in Costa Rica On Tuesday, January
17th, at 5:00 AM, sixty-two Flying Pie-ers arrived at the Boise Airport.
We all went through the routine of checking in and going through
security. As Joe was making his way through the airport, one of the US
Air workers approached Joe with a grave look. “Are you one of the owners?”
she asked.
At 7:00 AM USAir
Flight 634 departed Boise with a sold-out flight, half of which were Flying
Pie-ers starting the Costa Rica adventure. After deicing the wings, our
plane took off from Boise, on time! Later that day, several flights leaving
Boise were canceled due to the weather.
The next morning,
Wednesday, January 14th, after an excellent breakfast at the hotel (including
outstanding
coffee and our first dose of Gallo Pinto, the ever-present and absolutely
delicious black bean and rice dish), we drove from San Jose through beautiful
countryside to La Fortuna and Arenal. Along the way we saw plantains, sugarcane,
and coffee plantations. Both of our guides, Herson and Jeff were extremely
knowledgeable and the bus trips were narrated enjoyable guided tours of
the history, culture, economy and ecology of Costa Rica. The average speed
of travel was about 50 KPH (everything is metric). Some of our travelers
were too motion sick to enjoy much of this ride… We stopped in Zarcero
to stretch our legs, admire the view, and buy some local wares (including
Dramamine).
The busses we used for the whole week of traveling were top-notch—one was even a Mercedes Benz! Our drivers were very skilled at navigating the narrow, curvy roads that were packed with cars, trucks, and bicyclists. The ebb and flow of traffic was quite impressive. Small cars and motorcycles would be heading right at the bus and the drivers would slow down, move over, or speed up to accommodate. It was like an underwater dance!
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The
number of details that needed to be settled was astounding. Details about
closing the restaurants for a week, getting to Costa Rica, being there,
getting back, and opening the restaurants again. Ric got us in contact
with two travel agents in Costa Rica, both of whom offered viable plans.
His friend said that Yadyra was the best travel agent in Costa Rica and
she’s the one we worked with who set us up with the folks at Journey’s
International, the travel company we used. We found plane tickets, planned
for the layovers, chose a tour package, figured out sleeping arrangements
in the hotels. At one of the two all-passenger meetings, we settled what
kind of travelers we wanted to be. Looking back at the amount of planning,
it’s clear that 18 months would have been a more reasonable amount of time,
but we did an excellent job with only 12 months.
The
week before our trip was a very busy one for us! In addition to making
sure we had our stores ready to close for a week and ready to open afterwards,
the press finally got wind of our amazing adventure. We made the decision
early on to not seek publicity ahead of time, as that would detract our
focus from where we needed it to be, and also would be celebrating an effort,
rather than a result.
