Amazing Andes

Note: All three of us will be writing about this last weekend. It was that amazing that we have divided it up. Please make sure to read all of them to get a complete picture about what is happening.

Brant promised us a "luxurious" trip on the bus. I will admit (as a veteran greyhound rider) it was pretty lush. The trip took 6.5 hours and during that time different vendors would enter the bus to sell snacks. One woman was selling pastries (which I have a fondness of), but you had to buy 6 of them. At the time it seemed like a smart thing to do, we all enjoyed our variety of sweet, flaky goodness. Later, it turned out to not be such a great choice for me because I started to feel sick. I think it was a shock to my system!! Too much goodness at once!

Once we arrived in La Serena (which I have updated my google map if you want to check it out!! I know my Dad is going to be excited about that), we took a bus for another hour to arrive in Vicuna. This is a small town surrounded by table grape vineyards and a Pisco (this is the local brandy which is made from distilled wine...I have HEARD it packs a punch!) distillary. The following morning we headed to the observatory (which was amazing! but that is not mine to talk about). On the way I snapped this photo of the Andes, which just took my breath away. "I can see for miles and miles, and miles and miles and miles" seems fitting for the sensation (imagine the little tune that goes with that, courtesy of The Who).

After the observatory, we headed to the property which Brant's in-laws are working on (I am assuming he will be telling more about that). Once again, I was taken away by the vastness of this area. We hiked to the top of a nearby "hill" to view the sunset. It was spectacular. This picture is taken toward the west (the ocean side of the country). Even though we were in the middle of "no where," this is where Jennifer and I were very excited to have a WARM place to sleep (nothing is heated here, so you can just leave the windows open, it's the same temp. inside and out) and it was also the hottest shower we had taken (we actually had to use the cold knob) in Chile.

Just before our departure to the 7+ hours bus ride, we had an encounter with my first form of LARGE Chilean wildlife. Rascal, as Brant's father-in-law, Dale, calls her, is a local fox. She is very cautious of us during her breif stay, but after hearing about how fond Dale is of her it was a delight to have an encounter with her.

Well, that sums up my weekend. I am enjoying my time here (eventhough I miss my best friend and husband, Mike, dearly). It is too bad I cannot put ALL of my pictures on here for you to see, but I will add them to my flickr account when I return (I will add that on here when I get back). Don't feel as though you are going to miss out at all!!

For those of you that want to check out the "lay of the land" with google maps. I would suggest zooming out to see our weekend locations (up north).