Valparaiso November 2009

Valparaiso is one of Chile's oldest cities originally inhabited by indigenous people and then around 1536, the Spanish arrived and named the city -- after a city in Spain. Valparaiso lies on a topography made up of 45 steep hills allowing a spectacular panoramic view of the bay. To accomodate the city being built on this hilly topography, "ascensores" were built to move people as well as cargo.  Colorful murals were found in several locations as we walked this city.

We began our trip with lunch in the Provedencia district of Santiago and toasted Larry's birthday.

We then took a bus to Valparaiso.  Such a different experience here versus the U.S.  I wasn't afraid!! It was a quick 1 1/2 drive -- we do believe we've found our means of transportation to destinations near Santiago.

We had booked room with the help of "Trip Advisor" and chose a hotel called Robinson Crusoe and weren't led astray.  Our room was on the third floor (steps all the way!) with a fantastic view of the bay.  Jorge, the owner, had lived in the U.S. for 35 years and made note of all the little details he valued in a hotel experience and has incorporated them into his establishment in Valparaiso. Larry is standing by the door to our room.

We enjoyed a filling breakfast each morning with a great vista.

That was our room on the top right side.

One of the 15 "ascensores" that move people up and down the hills here in Valparaiso.

And if you'd rather take the stairs -- there are plenty of them.  I counted 110 here. Larry is going to come here to train for his Grand Canyon trips!  Okay, this wasn't the most scenic part of Valparaiso...

We took a break from all the walking to enjoy a glass of wine and enjoy the view -- sitting down.

And then we were out and about again.  As you can tell, I was quite taken with the murals and colorful buildings.

Larry is just a pretty darn good sport to pose for me -- gotta have people in the pictures now and again!

We enjoyed dinner one night at a restaurant near our hotel.  South Americans generally don't go out for dinner until 9 p.m., at the earliest, so we had the place to ourselves from quite some time - ah, the benefits of being gringos! Oh, and we don't dress up either - oops!

We very much enjoyed our trip and look forward to our next visit -- hopefully for New Year's Eve!  It is the place to go in Chile for fireworks to bring in the new year.

After two days, we then jumped on our bus and returned to Santiago where we were again able to meet up with Miguel and Eliana. One of the fellows Larry works, Manuel Chavez, was able to join us as well.

October 2009 Trip to U.S.: Phoenix & Nebraska

It is always a pleasure to go back to the U.S.  I'm not sure I'd be able to say that if I was traveling by myself as the trip requires leaving Calama in the a.m., spending the day in Santiago (as the flight to the U.S. doesn't leave until 10 p.m.), traveling through the night and hopefully we've got exit row seating (think more leg room), and arriving Dallas around 6 a.m.  We walk off the plane and can just feel that you're back in the U.S.  We have a short layover and then onto Phoenix where the adrenalin kicks in and the time back really begins.

Jackie was in town visiting Jim and Liz and Jimmy so were lucky to get to see her for a bit and grab a family photo.  (Jim is obviously a very serious fellow... .)

The next day, the plan was that while Larry took care of business in downtown Phoenix, Sue and I would have lunch with Liz, Jackie and Jimmy with the plan to return to Mesa and golf!  One little problem, I discovered on our way back to Mesa that I didn't have a key to the house.  Luckily Sue is a good conversationalist and we were somehow able to pass a couple hours in the afternoon just catching up waiting for Larry to return.  We did meet a neighbor though! 

Michele and Todd stopped by that night which provided the opportunity for us to enjoy a glass of bubbly with berries.  

The following day we were in the air again heading for Denver.  We rented a car and were on the road to Scottsbluff to see Larry's dad who was in the hospital there and his mom and were able to spend too little amount of time with  Larry's sister and her daughter Karyl and Karyl and Travis' kids!

(l-r, Karyl, me, Kealy in my lap, Brady, Linda with Dawson in her lap and Larry)

One of the very best parts about going back to Nebraska is the opportunity to see Virginia and Dennis.  Virginia and I had a lot of catching up to do too! Dennis is one fine photographer!

And we woke to snow one morning in Harrison -- just the right amount too. 

Larry's dad moved from the hospital in Scottsbluff to the care facility in Crawford to continue his physical therapy closer to Harrison.

 

And to prepare the house for his return, Larry built a wheelchair ramp. I was totally amazed because it only required one trip to Herron Bros. for supplies!  We tested Dorothy to make sure she would be able to push Robert up the ramp -- obviously she is in good shape! And I got to rake although it doesn't look like it.

And then it was time for us to leave but we were treated with this pretty Nebraska sunset as we headed back to Denver.

And we were able to meet up with friends and family one more time before we left the following day to return to Calamaland.

 

October 2009: Salta, Argentina Trip

We had wanted to do a road trip to Salta, Argentina, since we arrived in Chile having heard that it was a beautiful but long drive -- 8 hours across the Andes reaching an altitude above 15,000 ft. It was advised that we arrive at the customs office before the tour buses and transport trucks. We arrived at 7:30 a.m. only to learn that the office didn't open until 8 a.m. We were in line with truck drivers for the most part and watched as more and more people arrived "early" so they too could avoid the problems associated with following tour bus and transport trucks in this climb into the Andes from over 8,000 to 15,000.  Here I captured Larry early in our arrival and wait.

Gosh, and the process!  No such thing as having forms available before you arrived at "the" window.  And then, when the window opened there was quite the jostling for position when it was discovered that a tour bus driver was in line with us and when it was his turn at the windown, suddently there appeared at least 40 people.  The truck drivers didn't like that at all and the fellow at the window wasn't pleased.  We couldn't help wonder, "Hasn't this happened before?!"  The reason for waiting in the first line was to prove that we were in Chile legally and what took time was needing to fill out the form proving that you were in Chile legally in addition to showing your passport.  Then, those driving a private vehicle (that would be us), needed to go stand in another line at another window to prove we were allowed to take the vehicle across the border and then an "inspector" followed us to our vehicle to make sure the vechicle we said we had permission to take across the border was in fact that vehicle. 

We also couldn't help wonder how it was possible that we were probably 7th in line to begin with and by the time we left, there was hardly anyone there -- hmmmm.  We had arrived at 7:30 a.m. and were on the road by -- 9 a.m. Whew!

So off we were for our driving across the Andes adventure.  We left San Pedro de Atacama at an elevation of around 8,000 ft. and within 20 minutes, we were at 15,000 ft. 

This is the back side of the volanco outside of San Pedro de Atacama called Licancabur (which I've featured in a previous blog) where we've just reached 15,000 ft.

We almost immediately came upon herds of llamas -- I love how he posed for me!

I never tire of showing you the nothingness of the Atacama Desert.

We then came upon water! and Guanaco and I've included a link for any of you interested in knowing a tad more about these cool creatures.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanaco

Here I've provided you another picture of the barren landscape we experienced for a large part of our trip across the Andes with the beginnings of a salt flat appearing on the left.

Finally, after approximately two hours of driving, we arrived at the Argentina border and luckily, the border crossing went smooth; however, we essentially went through the same process we had gone through to leave Chile -- just not as many people.

One of the several salt flats we came upon on our trip.

Finally we arrived in Salta -- but it took us a little longer than 8 hours.  We ended up on a road we shouldn't have been on (think curvy and scenic) on the back end of a long drive.  It ended up being an 11 hour drive with that last part being hard on the driver (that would be Larry).  We checked into our hotel and then hit the streets with a recommendation from a hotel employee of a restaurant that served Argentinian beef along with a Argentinian Malbec -- just what we'd been waiting for all day. 

The following day we headed out bright and early to see the sites.  We felt safe walking anywhere we wanted to go day or night while in Salta (but did stay on main roadways) but did find that vehicles definately have the right-of-way! 

We enjoyed the Plaza with its many outdoor eating areas.

Now that's what I call a beer!

And our food of choice?  Tamales and empanadas and Argentinian wine of course!  Muy rico!

We were strolling down a street when we heard familiar music -- music from our Bolivia days!  We encountered this group of people who surely have Bolivian roots as these are the costumes and dance we saw during Carnival in Bolivia.

I suggested Larry go stand by the girls to have his picture taken -- I do believe he was shy?!  I wasn't!

This was a "Chia" where they poor alcohol on the vehicle and confetti to give the vehicle good luck.

Our four day weekend was over in no time and it was time to head back to Chile.  Jim, this is where Larry got your rock -- we're at around 12,000 feet here -- the climb begins!

And what a climb it was -- I was quite happy that we didn't have any buses or trucks behind us or coming towards us either coming or going.  We did come upon bike riders though at around 13,000 ft. -- hardy folk here in South America!

More critters we encountered who were more than willing to pose.

Here we hit our all time high while crossing the Andes.  Yes I was out of breath when I'd jump out to take a photo.

Here we are about an hour from Calama at dusk and it was the prettiest I'd ever seen this area -- that is the volcano Licancabur in the background.

The beauty of dusk in the Atacama was a gift and a wonderful way to end our adventure to Salta.