manuel antonio costa rica -- After three days in the clouds at 4,600 feet along the Continental Divide, we jostled our way down the side of the mountain from the lush Monteverde Cloud Forest, my husband artfully dodging potholes big enough to swallow the tires of our four-wheel-drive vehicle.About an hour down the hillside, the washboard road smoothed to two-lane blacktop, a luxury for experiencing the hairpin turns and spectacularly beautiful views as we dropped to sea level. It was smooth sailing after we reached the coastal highway that runs through gently rolling hills parallel to the Pacific Ocean.