Toconao and Miner's Day

June and July were surely quiet months for us here in Calamaland but the action has picked up. Odessa suggested we go on an outing and sounded great to me, so with Odessa's friend Betsy accompanying us, we skipped our normal morning routine of going to the gym and headed out on our excursion to Toconao (sounds like: Toe-co-no) located southeast of Calama and San Pedro de Atacama. Betsy is from Toconao and celebrates her 27th birthday tomorrow 08/12. Larry and I had driven by the "structure" seen below on our several trips to San Pedro de Atacama and surrounding area locations but had never investigated. Odessa obliged and what we discovered was a sculpture constructed in 2004 and called "Ancient Language." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Rogers_(sculptor) I googled the artists name and was directed to this link -- interesting. The picture of the plaque below is what the sculpture would look like from above -- interesting.

Again, Larry and I have driven through this area, in the midst of the Valle de la Luna, many times but we've never taken the time to stop and take a picture. The area is so visually interesting and changes as the day continues due to shadows.

Odessa took us on a little hike to see this big hole which she said she has been told people believe was created from a meteor --we're not sure but weren't able to come up with an explanation for it either -- anyone have any ideas?

We arrived in Toconao and Betsy directed us to the Quebrada de Jere. Translation of "quebrada" is gorge and the "river" that flows through it has the same name. Betsy explained that people from the town of Toconao have owned and utilized this land for a long, long time and the land is passed down to family members. It is known for its fruit trees. Quite the canal system has been devised to irrigate these small orchards which were all fenced individually with padlocked gates (some quite simple and made of sticks to sturdy ones made of iron.) This view has us looking west.

This view has us looking east. Amazing to find this little oasis in the midst of the dry Atacama Desert.

Toconao (around 8,000 ft.) is a colonial town which is said to be completely built with "liparitas" stone of volcanic origin which is mined from a quarry by Quebrada de Jere. The word "Toconao" is said to come from the pre-Inca language of cunzo and Betsy explained that "toco" means "stone".

I located a Web site that explained that the main source of work of its inhabitants is based in the agricultural and artisan activities that are made in the volcanic stone quarry.

The Torre Campanario (Bell Tower) and the town's church is said to their origins as far back as 1750.

Another great Atacama Desert excursion.

Miner's Day was celebrated here in the Condominiums on Saturday, August 8. It seemed to me to be the coldest day we've experienced so far this winter. The fellows hung out by the "parilla" keeping warm by drinking beer and the women and children stayed inside the pergola. Larry is third from the left. FYI: the tall fellow in the middle is from the U.S.

Larry came and collected the camera as he wanted a photo of Claudio warming up the wine on the grill....

There weren't a lot of us but we sure enjoyed the food, company and of course, Chilean wine.

Next post: hopefully a trip to Salta, Argentina, at the end of the month.

Tocopilla.Antofagasta Coastal Trip

Following our return from the May trip to the U.S., we didn't do any traveling until a couple of weekends ago. We traveled 2 hours west to the coastal community of Tocopilla and then south down the coast to Antofagasta. We didn't see much in the form of vegetation nor people. We stayed at a Radisson on the coast in Antofagasta for an amazing $82. Had another great ocean view from our room. After making a quick stop at the grocery store (Jumbo) in Antofagasta the following morning, we headed southeast on a quest to locate a sculpture of a hand that we had heard about. Its purpose is to great the travelers coming to and leaving Antofagasta -- pretty interesting!

My translation of the sign at the site was that it is either called the Hand of the Desert or Desert Hand? Anyway, it was constructed by a Chilean scupture (Mario Irarrazabal) from iron and cement to greet travelers coming to and from Antofagasta.

FYI: Double click on the collage to see the pictures better. Next post: We had a visitor in Calama!

Chiu Chiu Fieldtrip

The expat students attend Chilean school half day and the "international" school the other half. The four students have three instructors. These instructors recently planned a field trip to the small, historical village near Calama (Chiu-Chiu) and invited the moms and me. We had lunch at a local restaurant before visiting the sites. Larry and I had previously visited Chiu-Chiu when we took Flat Stanley on a tour but we didn't walk around the back side of the San Francisco Church which is where we found a small cemetery. Upon leaving Chiu-Chiu we drove to the Laguna Inca Coya. Legend has it that a local girl fell in love with a Inca noble and had a son. The Inca noble traveled north with the promise that he would return. When the young woman learned he had married a princess, she threw herself and child into the lagoon. The name, Inca Coya evidently means "Inca Bride." That is San Pedro and San Pablo in the background. I spotted this little fellow and loved mom's means of helping him learn to walk. The valley where Chiu-Chiu lies is perfect for growing carrots. Here the carrots are being washed before going to the "feria."

June 2009 U.S. Trip

Our trip back to the U.S. began with a visit to friends in Hill City. Brad (left), Larry, Brett, and Dan (right) were college buddies and manage to get together at least once a year.

We've been documenting the fellows getting together for several years now and decided we need to start doing the same with the wives. Miss (on the left and married to Brett), Ann (second from left and married to Brad) and Diane (right and married to Dan.)

We then headed to Angostura for our annual one-night visit with Virginia and Dennis -- always enjoyable. Virginia is second from left with her friend Barb from Rapid City behind her. The young lady to the far left was visiting with Dennis' son and the young lady to the right was visiting with Virginia's son Jesse and Mia (in the middle) is her daughter.

Was able to gather for lunch with Chadron buddies: Vicki, Virginia, Virginia's mom Mardra and Cherri. Back in the day, Cherri, Virginia and I played volleyball together.

My return trip to Harrison I couldn't pass up photographing the area between Crawford and Ft. Robinson.

I like this picture of the lone tree along the road on the way back to Harrison.

Ah, the lilacs were in bloom so I picked a bouquet for Robert and Dorothy.

Can't you just smell them!

Okay, this might be a strange one but I couldn't pass it up.

We arrived back in Phoenix and the following day, the fellows headed to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon (without a camera) and Sue, Marla and I headed for the North Rim. We hit this Starbucks in Flagstaff.

The Vermilion Cliffs on the way to the North Rim.

We arrived and are so happy there is porter service available. We had a lot of stuff!

We settled in and could now enjoy a glass of champagne on the porch of our cabin overlooking the Grand Canyon and thanking the fellows for making this trip happen for us each year. Here is to the guys!

Our view from the porch of our cabin. Thanks Mikey!!! for making these reservations far enough in advance to secure a cabin with a rim view.

The following day, the fellows had begun their 22-mile trek across the canyon and we three were well into our 10-mile round trip hike to Roaring Springs.

We were nearly to Roaring Springs and all I could think about was that I had to go back up and that my backpack didn't fit me well!

Had to capture this Century plant blooming.

Ah, we arrived. Stopped for a bite to eat and then began the process of climbing out -- how do the fellows do this?

It had warmed up and guess it must not have been too difficult getting out since we had smiles on our faces!

We completed our 10-round trip hike to Roaring Springs in 7 1/2 hours. The fellows completed their 22-mile hike in 9 hours and 15 minutes. What can I say. Here they are coming out.

Here we were early morning the next day enjoying the view with our coffee.

We took a 5-mile round trip hike later in the day and brought along umbrellas -- just in case. The front moved in quickly and it wasn't rain but actually hail and sleet -- we were chilly but was a neat experience nonetheless -- especially knowing we could return to our cabin with the gas fireplace!

Here the fellows are (Mike in the middle and his brother Steve to the right) at 4:30 a.m. the next day as they began the return trip to the South Rim.

We were reluctant to leave that morning so weren't moving in high gear.

And guess what? The fellows beat us to the South Rim by 40 minutes! They completed this portion of the trip in 9 hours and 40 minutes. We had a 5 hour drive.

Marla discovered on our hike to Roaring Springs that Sue's boots were coming apart and we insisted she retire them so we left them here, overlooking the South Rim. I do believe we'll return next year and find that a tradition has been started and that there will be a line of other people's retired boots along with Sue's.

So, we returned from out Grand Canyon trip and headed to Safford as Larry had business which gave me an opportunity to visit the ladies at Eastern Arizona College Records and Registration.

Larry had business in Silver City so we traveled from Safford to Silver where we were able to see Kathy and Terry -- we had met them here in Calama.

We traveled from Silver City to Prescott -- another long day of driving. We were able to stay at Laurie (and Mike's) beautiful home they've built at Talking Rock. (We met Laurie and Mike during our Peru days.) Tom, our buddy from Phoenix, was able to join us for golf at Talking Rock.

We returned from Prescott and were able to see Jimmy again and my brother Jim.

Allison and Brian had several of us over for a wonderful dinner. Mike had an accident with his wine glass.

So here we end our trip back to the U.S. with a girl group photo. Allison to the left, Michelle, and Sue -- my champagne buddies.

Thanks to all of you who contributed to a really nice trip back to the U.S. -- until next time...