And Our Chilean Adventure Comes to an End...

The time has come to end our Chilean blog.  We’ve moved back to the U.S.   Our Chilean adventure lasted from October 2008 until May 2011.  The adventure did not end by our choice.  My health was the driver. 

I began experiencing respiratory issues noticeably in January and attributed it to the climate we lived in – the Atacama Desert with a mine spewing whatever just outside of town.  I was persuaded by a new expat (who just happens to be an emergency room nurse) to see a doctor in Santiago in March versus waiting to see one on a planned trip in May. 

The Santiago pulmonologist confirmed my diagnosis – asthma – and prescribed a treatment of inhalers with a follow-up appointment a month later.  I followed the inhaler treatment and returned to see the doctor just before our planned trip back to the U.S.   My appointment was for a Thursday and we were to leave for the U.S. on Saturday.  So, I made a day trip to Santiago.  The doctor ended up ordering a CT scan which changed the original diagnosis – significantly.  The CT scan showed a tumor in the lower lobe of my left lung which was interfering with air flow which was what had been causing the wheezing I had been experiencing.

We returned to the U.S. and passed a month with appointments and tests (and our annual trip to the Grand Canyon for Larry’s hike) to prepare me for the required surgery to remove the lower lobe.  Surgery was scheduled at the Mayo Hospital for Monday, June 13.  The stay lasted longer than the planned 5-7 days due to complications associated with the dreaded intestines.  Larry brought me “home” 14 days after having been admitted.  The surgery went well.  The surgeon was able to save the upper lobe.  However, biopsy of surrounding lymph glands demonstrated that the cancer had spread so I was referred to an oncologist – Dr. Parapati at the Mayo Clinic.  Further tests showed that the lung carcinoid tumor cells had metastasized to the liver. 

In the meantime, Freeport has been a phenomenal company regarding allowing Larry to be with me for nearly all tests and appointments.  Furthermore, he now works out of the corporate office here in Phoenix – Manager of Process  Improvement?  We’ve bought a home in Carefree – a community of 2500 inhabitants just a tad north of Scottsdale.  We’re at a little higher elevation so experience somewhat cooler temperatures (okay, it is still pretty darn warm) and are enjoying the peacefulness of living in a small community on the outskirts of this huge city.  It is the first time in our married life that we’ve lived in a city. 

I began chemotherapy Monday, August 15.  The planned schedule is that I’ll receive chemo on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and follow with 2 ½ weeks off.  Dr. Parapati is planning on 4 – 6 sessions of this schedule. 

Therefore, this will be my last post to this blog.  I’ve appreciated the technology allowing me to record all we’ve done while living in Chile – it was a grand experience.  I’ll start a new blog.  I had trouble coming up with a name but Larry helped me – we’re going to call it Living Carefree…which you’ll find at: http://larryjaynecarefree.blogspot.com.

May 2011 Annual Grand Canyon Trip

So, Mike and Sue had left, leaving us with a week in Calama before we climbed aboard a plane once again but this time heading back to the U.S.!  It had been almost nine months since we'd been back.  Not to say we haven't had a multitude of opportunities to escape Calama and travel -- but I must say -- there is such a pleasure in returning to the U.S.  All travel went smoothly for our return arriving in Phoenix on Sunday, May 8, eagerly anticipating our annual trip to the Grand Canyon -- whoo hoo!  The fellows were once again blessed with great weather for their hike from the South Rim to the North Rim and Sue and I were once again blessed with an ever-changing scenic drive from Phoenix to the North Rim.  But get this, upon Sue and my arrival at the North Rim, checking into our rooms, unpacking the car, preparing a cooler and then heading to the North Kaibab trailhead, there Mike and Larry were, waiting in the sleet.  Steve got tired of waiting and hitch-hiked to the lodge.  They just keep getting faster or perhaps next time we need to be better prepared and not stop and grocery shop in Flagstaff....

I will never tire of the vistas we are awarded on our yearly trips to the Grand Canyon.  This day we sat on the lodge deck and watched clouds form....

Weird to not have a photo of the guys as they came out so I'll settle for this shot of Mike with Marla and Sue.  Marla and her family had driven up separately -- the plan -- Sue and Marla were going to hike the North Rim to the South Rim.

So, we enjoyed our time at the North Rim and then it was time to send Marla and Sue off on their adventure.  They left at 5:30 a.m. arriving on the South Rim -- gosh, I think it was 9 hours later.  What women!!  Great accomplishment!

Steve and Mike slept in that morning and followed Marla and Sue two hours later.  Wonderful Larry gave up his return portion of the hike to drive back with me.



Here Larry is with a totally different view, for him, of the Colorado -- near Lee's Ferry.

Following a drive through Oak Creek Canyon and an overnight in Sedona and a stop in Prescott, we arrived back in Phoenix and the following day we took nephew Jimmy (he really would prefer I call him Jim) to the Desert Botanical Gardens.

Gosh, guess the kid is growing up....

So, another great Grand Canyon trip.  Next post...what we've been doing since the G.C.

Mike & Sue Visit Chile

A definate highlight of our time in Chile will be Mike and Sue's visit.  They were troopers regarding the travel bumps they encountered on their way to visit us as well as the travel we subjected them to. 

Their flight was cancelled out of Dallas due to mechanical problems, resulting in them leaving 12 hours later.  Larry and I couldn't help but wonder why this never happens to us when we are returning to Chile?  They arrived in Santiago that night but had missed their flight to Calama.  After moving through immigration and customs and then arranging for their flight out the following morning at 4:55 a.m., it was around 11 p.m. so they decided to just hang out in the airport.  They arrived in Calama at 7 a.m. the following morning with smiles on their faces and just happy to have arrived at their destination. 

Larry was able to get away from work early that evening so collected us and took us out of town to watch an Andes sunset while sippping a Chilean malbec.

The following morning, Larry headed off to work and we headed for downtown Calama.

We returned to the house after a full day to sit on the back porch and sip some Chilean red.

On Wednesday of their arrival week, we arranged for a taxi to take us to the village of Chiu Chiu (featured in a earlier post probably in 2009?).  The taxi driver showed us the conflux of the El Rio Salado (on the right in this picture) and El Rio Loa.  Hard to imagine El Rio Loa having the ability to provide hydroelectric power eh?!

*El Rio Loa is the longest river in Chile, it rises in the Andes at the base of Miño Volcano, near the Bolivian border, and flows southwest through the mountains, emerging at the oasis of Calama; it then veers westward and northward across the Atacama Desert. About 45 miles (70 km) north of Tocopilla it turns westward again, crosses the coastal mountain range, and empties into the Pacific Ocean after a course of 275 miles (about 440 km). Before it receives the runoff of the Saládo River, its waters irrigate Calama and other oases, provide drinking water, and are used to generate hydroelectric power for nearby copper and nitrate mines. I pulled this information from the Britannica Encylopedia.)



Former priests of this church in Chiu Chiu are buried here.

After visiting inside the church where Sue had me take pictures of the statues of Jesus dressed in a skirt (all of which were blurry), we then headed to the Pukara de Lasana (featured in our Flat Stanley post in 2009?) a pre-Inca fortress.

We returned home to once again sit on the patio and sip on Chilean wine.



The following day, Larry had meetings in town so we had access to his truck and headed for La Laguna Chaxa where we would see flamingos, and then we back-tracked to San Pedro de Atacama allowing Sue some shopping time as well as lunch (empanadas), and then we headed for La Valle de la Luna (The Valley of the Moon or Moon Valley?)  We returned to Calama in time for Julie (from Copiapo) to stop by.  She had returned to Calama for a visit, and stopped by for a Pisco and to meet Mike and Sue.  We ended the day packing for our trip the following morning for Los Geisers del Tatio and then onto Salta, Argentina.   



The following morning, we headed out for the Geisers at 5:30 a.m. for the two hour trip to arrive before dawn to experience the best effects of the steam plumes.  We're thankful to Mike and Sue for coming this way which allowed us a reason to see the Geisers again -- as Sue said, it was magical.

We then headed for immigration in San Pedro de Atacama allowing us to cross into Argentina.  Below is a photo of Mike abd Sue at the highest elevation we reach while making this trip to Salta.

The trip to Salta across the Andes provides for all types of scenery.  This is one of the two salt flats we crossed.


We arrived in Salta just after dark after having left Calama at 5:30 a.m. -- long, long day for Larry -- he did all of the driving.  We got settled into our hotel and headed out for the Plaza for a sip or two of some fine Argentina malbec.  The following morning we headed out to see the sites and happened upon the changing of the guard in the Plaza.  Parts of the event were viewed from a street-side table sipping on a Argentinian brew.

We couldn't help making Larry and Mike stand by the small cars we came upon.

Much of our time in Salta was spent sitting at street-side tables enjoying wine, beer, and food.

Our Salta hotel.

After a relaxing two days in Salta, we reversed the trip returning to Calama.  The following morning, Mike and Sue said good-bye to Calama and we all boarded a plane -- destination: Santiago.  We rented a car and headed south for the Colchagua Valley wine region for a one night stay.  Fall (in April!) in the wine region was beautiful as were the many fruit stands we came upon enroute to Santa Cruz.

Following a stop at the Montes and MontGras wineries, we headed for our hotel where we were greeted with a complimentary bottle of wine which we enjoyed on the porch this beautiful late afternoon fall day.

We woke the folowing morning to fog as we began our journey south on Ruta 5 Sur -- destination: Pucon/Villarrica.  We encountered rain for probably half of the trip. 

Upon arrival to our cabin, we headed into Pucon for dinner.  I'll have to get a copy of Sue's pictures because you have to see the steaks the guys had to believe how big they were.  The following morning, we woke to clear skies allowing us to enjoy a great hike with beautiful vistas.



We came upon this fellow and his girls along the trail.  He looked big enough to eat us.....

We returned to Pucon for some shopping while the fellows enjoyed a brew at a street-side table and then we headed up to the Villarrica Volcano for a sunset view.

The Villarrica Volcano is an active volcano and a ski area --- hmmmmm.  That is steam coming from the volcano.  We were told we should only worry if the color turns from white to black -- hmmmmm.



We had to leave the following morning for our return journey to Santiago (minus the lay-over in Santa Cruz) but had to capture the setting of where we stayed before we left for future reference.

So, we returned to Santiago and the following morning we took Mike and Sue, via the Metro, to downtown, historic Santiago. 

 

And then, it was time to deliver them to the airport for their return trip to the U.S.  They were great visitors in that they never complained about the long hours required to travel to the destinations we chose (perhaps because there was always wine at the end of the road?)  We're glad they enjoyed the experience and we enjoyed being able to share what we know of Chile (as well as some new experiences for us) with them.

I had to hurry this blog as we are leaving only six days afer having ended this trip with Mike and Sue.  We head for the U.S.  Our first trip back since August!  We're ready for a U.S. fix.  We'll be back for three weeks.  During that time, we'll be traveling to the Grand Canyon for the guys annual rim-to-rim-to-rim hike.  We return to Calama on May 29 -- until then....