Prelude. This trip makes 25 countries together, and 30 for just me. It’s 24 for #BuddytheBadger this trip. Note: Most people don’t take vacations to other countries, only to camp in a tent on the top of their cars. We are not most people. We trekked our asses across the globe to camp in and around Central Chile, because, why not? Buckle up, here come our adventures, complete with shenanigans!
8/31. Zero hour. The lead up. We both worked at least a half day. Our favorite Wuber driver (Whitney Uber) driver dropped us off at the airport. Our flights and arrival were the most uneventful of all our travels. On the way through Houston, we popped up to the United Club for exactly 19 min, because… we can, and it was close to the gate. We scarfed down some snacks and a few drinks, and off we went to board our aircraft. Being that I hold 1K status with United, we used my plus points to upgrade to Premier Plus seats (the larger seats in the section between first class and coach – where that good air is). This was a game changer! We both managed to get about 4 hours of sleep on the flight. We had also been upgraded on the initial flight out of OKC too, but that’s less exciting, as we usually get the upgrade on the smaller aircrafts. We arrived in Santiago around 630am local time. We collected our luggage and negotiated a taxi at a half price fair. That said, Father Time, our driver, took the slowest, longest, non-toll route to get us to our rental car company. Good thing we weren’t in a rush, as the rental car company didn’t open until 9am.
9/1. Day One. We arrived to pick up our rental SUV with tent on top just before 9am from CoolDrive (Holiday Rent RV). This thing is amazing and very much our style of adventuring. It had three layers of tent: an outside waterproof layer, a middle mesh/air flow layer, and an inside fleece lined layer to keep the warmth in. This tent is super easy to open and close! 4 latches on the corners with a pin to keep them locked while driving, unlatch, pop one side, pop the other, and finish by pulling the ladder from the tent and setting it up. It takes less than five minutes to set up or breakdown. Once we got the walk through, set up and breakdown run throughs, and then making the bed and stashing luggage, it was 1020am when we left to go see some sights.
Our first stop was Cementerio General de Santiago, the largest cemetery in all of Santiago. This was an experience. This place is huuuuuge! We strolled for an hour, looking at all the interesting architecture and graves. Mausoleums are super popular in Santiago and all very different. A few were lower than ground level and had stairs down, basically creating an open pit to fall into. Of course Safety Sally snapped a few pics! We grabbed a quick Italiano and plain hot dog from a nearby food truck to sustain ourselves while we continued our adventures. It was good, nothing spectacular, but would definitely do the trick! Next up we headed towards Cerro San Cristobal – an area that has a large park, zoo, hiking paths, sights, viewpoints, a church, cable cars, and an open air funicular. Of course, we took the funicular and cable car, because best views on a cloudy, overcast day, ha. Once you ride the funicular up, you exit and walk about 200m to the Giant Virgin Mary statue and chapel. There is a short path that leads around to other crosses with different depictions on them, each done in a different style. It was a fun and interesting excursion, especially since there were multiple fun methods of travel. We enjoyed our stroll and then made our way back toward the car.
We then attempted to go to the National Astronomical Observatory, only to find that they required reservations (no research we did provided this information). So, we learned our drive was for nothing other than scenery. From there, we attempted to go to the Templo Baha’i de Sudamérica, however our map directed us down a dirt road to nowhere, and then it was past the time for the temple to close. More time doing a whole lot of nothing. By now we were both frustrated that we missed two great things, but life happens, and we move on. Maybe to try again another day. I was contemplating arguing to stay in a hotel for the night, due to being cold, lack of sleep, and just overall frustration. However, I talked myself out of the funk because this is a camping trip, and I was promised a hot shower at the campground. So off we went.
Getting to the campground, Campground Parque Las Varas, was interesting. Dirt roads, little to no markers, uphill, and at dusk makes it even more interesting. We arrived around 7pm, made quick work of setting the tent up and then headed for that hot shower. Have you ever been cold all day, waiting to warm up with a hot shower that was only an illusion? Well I have. There was about 3 seconds of hot water – enough to lather up with soap, only to freeze during the rinse off. Poor Josh took an icy shower, although he lied and said it was refreshing. We then “cooked” our amazing meal (Chicken Teriyaki and Rice) via boiled water and then consumed it in the tent, each enjoying a Royal Guard beer with our dinner. A little lounging time before brushing our teeth and heading to slumber after a long day of travel. Lights out at 10pm. Snoring by 10:01pm.
9/2. Day Two. We took advantage of a day that was to be filled with driving across the border and slept in a bit – typical for the day after travel. We rearranged our luggage for easier accessibility of our necessary items and hiding everything else to be out of sight while traveling. We enjoyed the campground and its emptiness for breakfast. We had coffee and some cereal, then grabbed a HOT shower (they came and replaced the propane after we discovered the night before that they were out – via that cold shower). That hot shower was the reset that we needed.
Due to the conversation about how to get to the campground and then again with the cold water, the campground manager invited us to the private airport nearby to do some gliding. A few notes here. One, we always, ALWAYS, want to do things with locals, but not often do we get the chance. We heeded this chance and went for it. When a locals invite you to do anything, just say yes! Two, when we went to New Zealand in 2017, we wanted to go gliding, but it was ridiculously expensive and it was the first day of a 14-day trip, so we passed. Big mistake that we have been trying to rectify ever since. Three, today was supposed to be an all-day drive day, so pushing our schedule back wasn’t a big deal, especially since we already had repacked the car, the tent was ready to go for the next night by just popping the latches, so getting to our evening destination a bit later didn’t hinder our decision to give it a go. Off we went, with adventure in mind.
We arrived and watched a few gliders take off before we heard back from our campground manager friend. When he did eventually respond, he said to go to the gate, give his name (Geard), and come on in. The place was small, but large enough that we could stroll around a little inside while we waited for Geard to land – he was the tow pilot for the day. We chatted with a few folks while we waited, and they inquired if we wanted to go for a ride, to which we enthusiastically replied “Yes!” Everyone told us that it wouldn’t be great visibility or a long ride, to which we were okay with, as we were just excited to go. They all said we had to come back in the summer and go for a long ride. When Geard landed, he was happy to see us, and asked if we would be gliding – aka, who would he be pulling next. These gliders are large enough for two people with weight restrictions per passenger. I had no issue with the clearance weight, but I worried about Josh’s beanpole self. He came in just under the restriction and we were both cleared to fly. Josh told me I could go up first, to which I didn’t hesitate. A few minutes later, it was time to go up. Our pilot (same for both of us) was named Bicentè. He’s been a gliding pilot for over 200 flights (this guy is young – like 25 tops). He explained how to sit, where to put my hands and feet, as the controls in the back move (students and instructors use these same gliders for training). I got in and fit with ease, but again, I worried about the giant. Knowing he’d find I way, I sat back and enjoyed the magnificent event that was about to occur. We loaded up in some pics, did a thorough safety check, and then it was go time. Our tow plane lurched forward, and we were off to the races. It took no time to be airborne. We towed up to about 4000’ and then the cable pulled off and we were gliding! Y’all, I have flown on a ridiculous number of commercial flights, jumped out of perfectly good aircraft, off of wonderful mountain attached to someone with a parachute, but I have never experienced the giddiness of going and serenity of the flight that I did today. This was probably one of the most amazing things I have ever gotten to participate in. And to do it unplanned made it that much more enjoyable. I knew Santiago was the capital and large, mostly from driving around in the local traffic, but also from research. I just didn’t realize the sheer magnitude of the size until I was up in the air looking at the city. It was magnificent! I glided for 26 min – again, shorter ride in the winter, but it was enough to know I’ll do it again, 100%. When I landed, I’m sure I had a giant grin pasted from ear to ear. The pilot got the glider towed down the other end of the runway in preparation for Josh’s flight. Watching my husband morph his body into this teeny tiny seat was quite the event, but there was no way he wasn’t going on that flight. This was happening. All strapped in and ready for takeoff, I watch from the sideline as they rolled down the runway. Up they went, and quick too. Josh’s flight was about 10 min shorter than mine because they decided to do some shenanigans, and stalled on an extreme climb just so they could swan dive toward the earth to gain lift and go back up again. Yes, he’s crazy and loves that adrenaline. Bicentè did ask me if I wanted to do any shenanigans and I told him “I just like the view and to save those shenanigans for the next passenger.” Josh’s flight was only 16 min.
Now we both have grins from ear to ear, and Geard had a break for a bit and invited us to go eat at the club restaurant. To which we happily obliged. Again, if a local invites you out, always say YES! Just a note here, we never signed a waiver, gave our passport, nothing pre-flight. They took us at our word and at Geard’s word. Kind of strange, but hey, we’re in Chilè. Then we paid our tab for the flight: $32 each. WHAT?!? Every other time we’ve thought about this it was $250+ each. We got the pilot’s deal. We sure didn’t complain!
We ate and chatted for a good while. He informed us that the passes over the Andes into Argentina were closed – pump the breaks… looks like this is now going to be a Chilean adventure only. Bummer, but you don’t mess with weather. We thanked Geard for all of his kindness, help, and for an amazing morning. Then it was off to plot out our adventures for the next few days.
We decided to head north toward La Serena since we had attractions on the map from an earlier potential route on this trip. We stopped at a few random roadside attractions along the way. A very large (muy grande) excavator bucket on a trailer waiting to be hauled. I can add that to the “things that are bigger than Josh” list. A stop a little fishing village and then a cute beach, before we decided to keep on trucking north.
For those of you just joining, we have a bad tradition of almost running out of gas on vacation. In the Azores it was Christmas, and no stations were open. They only took the local gas card, which we didn’t have. We made it back to our hotel on fumes. In Iceland we were in a whiteout with nothing around for miles, and again, we coasted into the gas station on fumes. Today was no different. We missed the station we had planned to stop at, so we kept on going knowing the next one was in 105km. We had 150km range… but forgot to incorporate the hills for our range. We made it to the gas station with the fuel light on and an estimate of about 25km til dry. At least we’re consistent!
Once the fuel situation was rectified, we began searching for a campground. Fun thing about not being close to fluent in Spanish is most people will not respond to an inquiry in English. And now it was getting dark. We attempted two different places, and no one answered the phone, or they answered heard our question in English and then promptly hung up, or the campground was just closed. We attempted a third place down a very long dirt road, which was very close to our first attraction of the following day. We got to the gate and found it closed. In a last-ditch effort to make this work, I used the fleeting cell signal I had to call the manager of the campground, and holy shit they answered! We had a spot for the night at Viento Sur. This was an astrology campground but it was super cloudy so there was nothing to see. Josh “cooked” our dinner by adding hot water. Tonight, we enjoyed spicy sausage pasta – and I won’t lie, it was quite good. We each had a beer and shared a night cap of rum and punch (rum left from our flight), before we brushed our teeth and off to bed. Tonight, is Chile’s daylight savings, so we will wake up in the future tomorrow.
9/3. Day Three. We woke up before the sun crested over the mountains. It was a bit cool when we opened the tent, but within 30 min the sun popped out and we had coffee, so we warmed up quickly. We ate our granola, packed the tent, got changed for our day.
We took the long dirt road out of the campground and continued to Parque Nacional Bosque Fray Jorge, arriving at 930am with not another soul in sight other than the park rangers. We hiked the Relic Forest Trail around the loop and stopped to take it all in when we came to the last view deck with the ocean in view. While we sat and enjoyed the view, I noticed small white splooshes in the ocean and continued watching until I confirmed my thoughts… what we were seeing were whales migrating! How freaking cool. We finished our hike and headed out of the park. On our way out of the park we came upon a group of wild horses near the entrance road. Of course, we stopped and snapped a few pics… caught a few horses in the act!
Now we had to decide if we would go north to La Serena or start our trek south. We consulted our map of things to do, and decided ultimately to head south, as there were more attractions on our list to do. Once we got to the highway, it was my turn to drive. For those that don’t know, this is our 25th country to visit together, and my 30th overall. I have driven in only New Zealand, and only for 20 min, because I basically tried to kill us (my brain couldn’t compute driving on the opposite side of the road, so the drive was short lived). I drove for a few hours and then it was back to Josh. The early afternoon was filled with random sights and other various things: roadside vendor dulces, a huge roadside shrine to the Virgen Del Carmen de Palo Colorado, and we finished with Punta Pite – a series of stone stairs that go along the shoreline in the big rocks. We found the secret access point and then sat and enjoyed waves crashing, pelicans diving, and starfish, barnacles, and snails in the lagoon areas. It was wondrous! We drove down the coastline, just north of Villa Del Mar and stayed at Posada Del Parque – an ecological park and wetlands area that had camping. Hooray! And even went for an evening hike/walk to the wetlands/beach. This meant crossing a sketchy AF “bridge” to the other side. We crossed that bridge, twice. Fun thing about safety, it’s different in every country and so are their regulations.
It was an enjoyable 1.5-mile wander, that got us ready for what was promised to be a hot shower… got all ready to shower only to find the women’s side icy. Josh got a few seconds of hot water. I ventured to the men’s room to enjoy that hot water, only to get my head wet and the warmth was fleeting. I tried the camper shower theory- off and then on for a quick rinse, but that didn’t help. I got all scrubbed as quick as I could and rinsed off while shrieking as the temperature plummeted. It was refreshing though after that hike. We enjoyed our veggie chili filled with protein (it was ok, but the texture of the tvp was weird). Of course, we had a beer with dinner. We finished the night in the tent, with a shared vodka oj, compliments of our flight here (I might be a hoarder y’all), and some Netflix we downloaded for the trip. Then it was off to slumber for another fun day.
9/4. (Labor Day back home) Day Four. We awoke at 830am to a damp campsite and 52°. We did our normal wake up routine of brushing teeth and hair, packing the tent and car, and changing clothes. Because we didn’t get our free wine (we came back from hiking and they were closed) and the not so hot water got the shower, I asked if we could have some coffee and they were happy to compensate in that fashion. We sipped our coffee and sat out acclimating to the temperature while we planned our stops for the day. We finished up, I brought the tray of coffee supplies back to the main office and purchased a souvenir for a friend. Then we were off on our day. Our first stop was a dune area where we could take our rental 4x4ing, but we had to wait for them to open. Here’s the thing about countries that are near water… in our travels we’ve discovered that the opening/closing times of attractions tend to be more of suggestions, not set in stone. So now we wait and see if they open anywhere close to on time. And of course, they weren’t open by 1020am, so we left, feeling a smidge discouraged. However, after all our travels, we’ve gotten good at just pivoting to something else. Off we went to see some other things.
We headed to Viña Del Mar and Valparaiso (the only section of the country that we were warned about people smashing and dashing windows in cars and to not walk with a cell phone in hand as they are often stolen by locals that grab and run). Our plan was to drive by and see the sights, and one of us go in and see an attraction while the other sat in the car. The town is very run down and has been hit with multiple earthquakes over the past 30 years. It shows. We went did a slow drive by of the flower clock, since we saw a neat on in Switzerland earlier this year it wasn’t necessary to spend much time on this one. We had planned to take the funicular in Valparaiso but changed our plan after we rode the one in Santiago’s few days ago. Good thing too, because like the rest of the town, it was decrepit and non-operational. Even if it was, fat chance getting me to ride that rickety thing. We continued driving through town, observing some street art, sculptures, and people. People watching in other countries is phenomenal! From there, we set out to see the Iglesia de San Francisco, a church built in the early 1800s, that has sustained three fires, an earthquake, and mass amounts of restoration – something to the effect of 4 million dollars in less than 40 years. Not sure about y’all, but if anything catches fire three times, it might be a sign to scrap it and move on. My assumption is that because it is now part of the national monuments of Chile, it must be restored. It stands high on the end of a city street and was once doubled as a lighthouse to help guide ships into the port of Valparaiso. Obviously, it’s still under repair, so we couldn’t go in, but it was neat to see. We ventured to a parking lot that doubled as a view deck and grabbed a few pics of the port down below and observed the murals on a nearby wall – hopefully painted by children. That was enough of Valparaiso for us. Now it was off to see a waterfall and anything else fun along the way.
Parque Comunitario Placilla de Peñuelas, a random community area in the woods where it’s best describe as one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Ordinary trash, recyclables, and various other items come together to make a cute woodsy hangout along the way to Salta de Agua – waterfall. It was a bit of a hike, about 1.5 miles each way. We got lost in conversation and there were zero signs as to where to go, we overshot the viewpoint and hikes to the top of the waterfall. Not the view we were going for, however, it presented us with a glorious sit on top of the waterfall, while we listened and felt the water rush by. We sat for a bit, then hiked to the actual view deck area. We enjoyed that as well. Then it was time to hike back to the car. We ended up getting 3.5 miles in on that hike. Now we needed food. It was roughly 3pm and all we’ve had were snacks and water. We started driving in the direction of our next attraction in hopes of finding food. We scored with a double-decker food truck (seating up top, food truck below). We both got the cheeseburger, because we’ve already had hot dogs twice in this trip. The burger wasn’t the out of this world, but it did fill the void, which is ultimately what we were after. It was different than what we would have expected in the states, as it wasn’t a patty. It was more like a chopped burger. Nonetheless, it did the job, and we were headed south in no time. Off to see a hydroelectric plant and dam next. I won’t lie, when Josh said he wanted to see a fam that was a solo attraction 2+ hours away, I asked him why? We’d seen many other dams, including the Hoover dam, and we got to go inside that one. We could only look at this one. I wasn’t thrilled, but whatever, I compromised and off we went. Then came the traffic of construction shutdowns and big rigs that were slow rolling. Insert frustration. It took us 3 hours to get there. The dam was cool. The generators are on the outside of the dam in the elements, not inside the structure like they are everywhere else we’ve been previously. So that was cool. It also has 6 gates that can open at once and launch water over the spillway. Also, very neat. Then we decided it was close to 6pm, we should find camping for the night. Who knew this would take 3.5 hours to find all the nearby campgrounds were closed. And there were many. Soooo frustrating. We eventually found a bad ass boondock spot. Thanks, ioverlander! Let’s hope we don’t get murdered tonight! Today ended super frustrating but tomorrow’s a new day.
9/5. Day Five. We awoke in the clouds and mist around 745am. Visibility was nil, so we got dressed and exited our tent. We were engulfed in the fog and really couldn’t see much around us. Josh started water for coffee, we brushed our teeth and hair (not that it helps with my mop) and got the tent ready to collapse. We sipped our coffee and watched as the clouds dispersed and gave way for mountainous views. Just as quickly as the fog cleared, it returned. By now we were all finished with coffee and packed to leave. Josh wanted to confirm that we were in fact on top of the hill. So, we went for a little recon mission. Around 6am, while mostly asleep, I swore I heard the whinny of horses very close to our tent but chalked it up to lucid dreams. As we drove to the end of the road at the top of the hill (confirming Josh’s suspicions), we found a few horses in the pasture. I wasn’t dreaming, they probably were right outside our tent! We decided a crappy rain day in wine country could mean only one thing – we were bodega hopping for the day! Which was perfect after the frustrating day we had yesterday. Time to hit the reset button on the trip. But first, breakfast at a cute cafe along the way. I had a latte and an apple tart, and Josh had two donuts and shared my latte. We popped over to the grocery store next to the cafe for some essentials – ice, water, chips, beer, and a bottle of wine. We repacked our cooler and off we went.
Viña Casa Silva bodega was our first stop. A cute bodega that wasn’t far out of the city, but certainly felt like it when we arrived. We tried two Carmenère, one wine like a Pinot Noir, and Cabernet Sauvignon and shared each 1/2 way through. We sat in the tasting room for the first glass and by the second glass we went to wander the bodega grounds. This bodega backs up to the local polo fields, but there was no practicing today, or during the winter really. The bodega also had a restaurant, but we had just eaten breakfast and weren’t in need of lunch quite yet. We finished up walking the grounds, paid our cheap tab ($20 for four glasses of wine), and headed out to find our next stop.
We drove 40km down the road to the Miguel Torres bodega, as I had read outstanding reviews on service and food. This place was the tits. Not just the tasting room (3 glasses of wine free – one like a Pinot Noir, one Carmenère, and one field blend (when they took possession of the bodega, many of the grapes were mixed in the field, thus the name. It’s a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and some others. It is also their only wine that is still, to this day, mashed by hand)), but the restaurant and dinner were top notch. I’m talking top five meals of my life good! Carpaccio, bread and olive oil, pork shank and Oso Bucco. Paired with a Pisco Sour (because you can’t come to Chile and not have a Pisco Sour!) If you’ve never had one, think Margarita flavor, but no tequila, replace it with Pisco instead. It’s a very clean flavored drink that is served ice cold. They came in cute clay cups, which was a different presentation than I’d seen before, but kept the drinks very cold. With dinner we had a bottle of Gran Reserva Carmenère for a mere $11. We only drank 1/2 and took the rest with us to enjoy later. Back home, this meal would have easily set up back $200+, but here it wasn’t even half that.
Now it was close to 5pm and we had to decide if we should camp or stay in a hotel. Only one place had responded to the inquiry if they were open, and it would be a similar situation to our previous night. Basically, boondocking but in a secured area (pay a minimal entrance fee, but no amenities). With the weather not giving up for the day, the decision was made to grab a hotel in Talca for the night. There wasn’t much to choose from, be we found the EcoHotel to have availability for the night. Two double beds, a private bath with all the hot water we could need, and a warm and dry environment were all we needed. It came with a bonus of free breakfast the next morning. My back and body were thankful. I certainly didn’t want to camp in the wet environment, because I know one or both of us would end up sick. We enjoyed hot showers, that bottle and a half of wine, and watching tv in Spanish. Then we retreated to our own beds (felt weird, but we both enjoyed being able to sprawl out – even if the giant didn’t quite fit in his bed, it was more space than he had in the tent). Off to slumber.
9/6. Day Six. Let me tell you how glorious it was to wake up warm and dry after looking outside and seeing it pouring rain. We awoke close to 745am, got dressed and ready for our day, and headed down to breakfast. The meal was nothing spectacular but would do the trick. And hey, Josh didn’t have to boil water today. Winning! Another great thing about the hotel, having a bathroom readily available whenever you needed. After all the wine and food yesterday, that bathroom might have been one of the biggest blessings – not having to use a shovel is a bonus Talk about living it up! We discussed our plan for the day and decided to head towards the mountains and see how far we could get. Maybe we’d get lucky, and it would all be open. Fingers crossed! We checked out of the hotel and headed toward our first stop, El Virgen del Carmen, the patron saint of the Chilean army. We arrived at the hilltop sanctuary ust as the storm broke and blue sky cracked through the clouds, making some fantastic pictures! The Virgen stood 25’ tall with a large rosary extending out from her hand. A small chapel stood behind her, and just up the walk was a Cristo as well. We snapped some pics, learned the history, took in the view, and then headed towards the mountains. We had hoped to do some kayaking this trip and found a nice lake that said they had it, probably only in summer, but we wanted to give it a try. We arrived to find the lake closed for kayaking (not surprising), and three stray puppers, possibly a mom, dad, and son, waiting to great us and see if we had any snacks for them. If you know me, it breaks my heart to see all the strays and I want to bring them all back with me, which obviously I can’t do, so I did the next best thing… I fed them some goldfish. Now I had made friends and built my entourage for the walk near the lake. The lake was murky and muddy. Plus, it was overcast, so it didn’t help the ambience. We finished up around the lake and headed back to the car. I gave my new friends a good head scratch each and more goldfish, and off we went. Today didn’t have much of a plan, other than seeing if we could get up in the mountains, so onward we drove.
It was evident there had been significant flooding recently. The higher into altitude we climbed, the more and more water damage we saw. Washed out bridges, flooded yards, parks, and turbulent rivers were everywhere. We drove through Los Alamos and La Mina before we were met with the dreaded road closure. This is also the same route to get to one of the passes into Argentina. We could go no further due to a washed-out bridge. Quite frankly, the bridge we stopped on wasn’t looking too great either. Both sides had significant washout erosion, and I’d bet it’s only a matter of time before this one washed out too. Water, a definite force to be reckoned with and nothing to mess around with. Slightly disappointed, we turned around and headed back down the mountain. However, we knew the road was closed before we left, we just wanted to see how far we could get into the Andes. Now we knew. Josh splish splashed his way through every puddle he could find on the way down. Yes, he’s like a five-year-old playing in the water. We came down out of the mountains and headed to the ocean.
Funny, in less than four hours you can go from high in the Andes to coastal lands, and it is all magnificent! We hit a few little beach towns and took in all the views they offered. We strolled in the black lava sand beaches, enjoyed looking at fishing boats, and watched some surfers ride the waves. Our last attraction of the day (which was mostly a drive day) was the Arcos de Calán (seaside arches). The entire trip I’ve been telling Josh if we had a clear day, I wanted to stop and enjoy the sunset. After consulting the weather and ioverlander… He doubled down. We decided to free camp on the beach by the arches. What an amazing spot. Sitting in our tent, listening to waves crash is probably one of life’s best anti-anxiety medications. We just sat and enjoyed the sun and waves. When we were researching this trip, one of the camper companies we looked at had some amazing and fun tastefully full nude pics – bits covered of course. We knew what we had to do. We had to wait for a few people to pass by, then it was time to strip down and snap some pics. We chose or set up, propped the camera up, and lost the clothes. Wouldn’t you know, after just 3 pics, a family of elderly folks started the trek up towards us. I’m certain they didn’t see anything, and even if they did, eff em. We scurried to get dressed before they passed. My coat was long enough to cover everything, Josh, not so much. Whatever. Live in the moment folks. Make those core memories. This is one I’ll never forget.
After that, we boiled our water and cooked our bag dinners. Both were quite good this evening. Also, the first time we cooked two – since we ate breakfast and snacks all day, we thought it was needed. We retreated to the tent for eating. After dinner we played magnetic bingo, drank our beers, and enjoyed the ambience of crashing waves. I’d bet we sleep well tonight. We did our nightly routine of brushing teeth, bathroom, and getting clothes out for the next day. Then laid with our heads only out of the tent and stargazed for 30 min. Total serenity! We made a wish in multiple shooting stars as the waves crashed on the shore: Lights out at 1030pm. I couldn’t fall asleep because the freight train sleeping next to me. Finally, after additional sleep meds, I succumbed to slumber around 140am.
9/7. Day Seven. We awoke at 715am, 725am, and finally got up and moving at 740am. Normal stuff: dressed, hair and teeth brushed and coffee water boiling before the sun came up. It was a little cloudy, but the light bouncing off the clouds made some beautiful colors. It was very windy, so we are in the car, just watching the waves. Then the sky broke open and offered up a beautiful rainbow. The colors were so vibrant! We had to get out and admire the sheer beauty. Much to our surprise, the Heavens also doubled down and provided us with a DOUBLE rainbow! How glorious of a morning. What a thing to wake up to. We collapsed the tent, and just in time too. Then came a brief rainstorm as we drank our coffee and ate our granola. The rain stopped and out popped this little fuzzy mama dog who must have just had puppies, as she was engorged. Y’all, I am an animal lover, and this was utterly heartbreaking to me. Josh said she looked mean, I said she looked hungry. I’ll pause to say that I most certainly will die because I pet something that I shouldn’t have. Josh went off to grab some slow-motion wave pics. I set off to feed this pupper some lemon biscuit cookies. She wouldn’t let me pet her, but she certainly took those cookies with a voracious appetite. Poor mama was so hungry and needed to feed those babies. She posed for me while I grabbed some pics. I swear I was seconds away from loading her in the car and taking her with us. We loaded up in the car and headed to the exit. I was sad to leave her. I opened the gate, and she came trotting up the road, following us. And then I lost it. I told Josh to just drive or I was going to load her in the car. We left, I cried.
We drove down the coast a way to our first stop of the day, Iglesia de Piedra, a giant rock with multiple caverns that went all the way through to the other side. The main part was a shrine/chapel build in the rock, basically on the sea. Very cool how there were multiple openings, vents, etc., that allowed water and light to flow through. It was a tad tricky to get to the chapel, as the tide created a river, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. We made it over and went exploring. After this, it was time to continue our trek south, headed to Concepcion.
We drove two hours in the pouring rain, only to arrive and learn one of our attractions was closed indefinitely. We wandered a smidge before the rain came back, the moved the car to a nearby garage and went to find lunch. We went to Drake’s Bar, which was highly reviewed. The food and service were mediocre but would do the trick. My food was ridiculous- hard boiled eggs, hot dogs, chicken, avocado, cheese, and pickled veggies. A little like the kitchen sink. Josh had a tuna sandwich and obviously some of mine as well. So much food! When we were done and couldn’t eat all of it, I scraped the cheese, hot dogs, and chicken off the plate and asked for a to go box – always thinking of my furry friends, this would feed a couple stray dogs we passed along the way. After lunch and consulting the trusty map and Google, we learned there wasn’t much going on in Concepcion, so we headed back NE and went toward our last attraction of the day. Yes, a lot of driving for a little or no reward for that trek, but now we can say we’d been there, and seen that.
The last stop was at St. Charles Borromeo Cathedral, a giant concrete church with interesting design, and windows all along its many arches. This was very different than what we’d seen the entire trip. Most churches here are normal buildings with a cross slapped on top. The parking situation in the town was unclear and not in mass amounts, so Josh dropped me off and I went in and grabbed a few pics while he drove the loop around the block. After this, it was my turn to drive and Josh would hunt for camping for the evening – our last night of camping on this trip, since tomorrow is our anniversary, we would be staying in a hotel our final night.
We made it to San Fernando and secured a camp spot – way less desirable than the previous night’s spot, but that would be very hard to beat. We settled in, cooked our dinner, washed up, and off to slumber by 1030pm. Tomorrow, we celebrate us and the seven years we’ve been married.
9/8 (our 7th anniversary) Day Eight. We awoke much later than we anticipated with logging noise in the adjacent yards. Coffee and breakfast – dessert (chocolate cheesecake- because we’re adults and it’s our anniversary, damn it!) We packed the tent up for the last time, since tonight we were going to live large and stay at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Santiago. We packed up and headed north, back towards the city. We had about 2 hours til Santiago. I remembered reading about one of the wineries around that the location Google maps gave was incorrect and it was about 45 min outside of Santiago. So, I plugged it into the GPS, and off we went. We arrived at Concho Y Toro winery, and we decided to take the tour, as you can’t just have a few glasses.
This place is HUGE! It was reminiscent of the Guinness facility and tour in Dublin. We poked around in the shop while we waited for our 11:40am tour (in English). When it came time for our tour, we met our guide, Felipe, and realized we struck hold – a private tour! I was quick to inform him that it was our anniversary, to which he replied “well, we will be drinking plenty of wine. It’s not mine so we will drink as much as you want!” There were four stops in our tour: the old summer house of the Concho y Toro family, the varietal garden, the tasting, and the cellar. We couldn’t go in the summer house, as it’s a national monument, but we could view it from outside. 22 bedrooms for the 6 children. That seems excessive but what do I know?!? The gardens were pretty, even in winter. Felipe informed us that there was a total of 56 vineyards in Chile for Concho y Toro, and the one we were at had 158 ha of Cabernet Sauvignon! Each vineyard specializes in different wines due to the area, altitude, soil conditions, and a few other factors. I had no idea this place was so huge. Then he informed us that the brand was one of the top ten largest in the world! They have more wineries in Argentina, Brazil, California and a few other places. Here we were thinking let’s just go have a glass or two of wine at a local winery. Felipe took some pics for us, and then we were off to the best part – the tasting! We tried 3 wines – Sauvignon Blanc, Carmenère, and a Cabernet Sauvignon – in that order too. A full pour of the Sauvignon Blanc to start – very citrusy and super refreshing to drink. Then came the dangerous wine, the Carmenère. I had 3 glasses in a short period of time. Damn, it was so good, silky and smooth. A very easy, dangerous wine. Then we finished (sort of) with Cabernet Sauvignon, another very full pour. It was fun trying those three in that order, since it built. I do love a good Cabernet Sauvignon, but it does feel like you’re sucking on saltine crackers in comparison to the others. Now it was time to visit the cellars, but not without a filled glass of Carmenère. Felipe was working extra! We strolled to the cellars to learn the history of the winery, wines, and the story behind the most popular brand in their collection – Casillero del Diablo. The cellars are massive, and you can smell the money that can be made per barrel (roughly $65k PER barrel!) One of the parts of the tour is for the guide to leave you in the cellar, turn the lights down, and a projection video teaches you the history of the brand – short version, workers stole wine, and the devil came to teach them a lesson. Thus, giving the name of the brand. It was interesting to learn about the wine we’ve had many times before but knew little about. From there the tour ended, we tipped Felipe and said our thank yous and goodbyes. Off to the store to purchase some stuff. We wandered trying to figure out what we wanted. It was an easy choice to get the devil’s Pisco and then a bottle of Carmenère – because, when in Rome, drink as the Romans do! We packed up and went to find a place for lunch.
Like we usually do, we went off Google reviews. We chose Almuerzos Donde Oscarito, a small unassuming place. Our waiter was amazing. He had a giant smile, was warm, and came prepared to our table. This was day 8 of our trip and our first time speaking only full Spanish to accomplish our order. They didn’t put tomatoes on my food – so bonus. I did accidentally order liver but ate some of it. It wasn’t terrible, but not was I was thinking I was getting. I I still had plenty to eat with sharing Josh’s meal. He said the liver was overdone as well. It was a great little place and cute atmosphere, so I didn’t mind the meal I got. We paid and headed on our way.
We headed off to see an attraction we tried the to get to the day we arrived, but it was too late in the day to get there. Templo Baha’i de Sudamérica is one of eight Baha’i temples in the world. Let’s stop for a second and address the elephant in the room. The Baha’i faith is considered a cult – but that aligns with my view of organized religion, so it fits. I loved their mission/motto, but also know that’s how they hook you. We listened to what they had to say and then hikes up the stairs to enjoy their temple. The temple is built to mimic a lotus flower. From a far it looks like a flower bud. Inside it was amazing. The simple design really accentuated the natural light, seamless windows, and the view of Santiago down below the hilltop. We sat and enjoyed the quiet of the temple with its immaculate design. Then we decided we should go before they started recruiting, we left and headed towards our hotel for the night.
We arrived at the Ritz-Carlton Santiago at 6pm. I had messaged them before to ask for foam pillows and to inform them that it was our wedding anniversary – hoping it would trigger an upgrade. Boy did it ever! We were upgraded to a junior suite, and they were so nice to set up some red velvet cakes and a bottle of sparkling white wine for us to celebrate. One of the main reasons we chose this hotel was to use points. The other was to use the spa (indoor, rooftop pool, hot tub, sauna, and steam room). I had hoped to squeeze a massage in for my ailing back, but they were full. The rest of the spa would have to do. We checked in, parked the car, got to our room, changed into swimwear, and up to the spa we headed. Can’t forget to mention that our room was NICE! On the 14th floor with city views, and a king bed! When we got to the spa, we learned they were having a sunset celebration and drinks were bogo! Score! The hot tub was divine – especially seeing as our previous trip this year we had 3 hotels with “hot” tubs that were basically lukewarm water swirling around. This one was hot and so needed for our weary traveler bodies. We enjoyed all the amenities of the spa, took in the sunset from the rooftop deck, and then headed down to the room to change and find dinner. We chose the hotel restaurant for sake of ease. The meal was delicious and needed after all that wine and spa drinks. We finished dinner and went back to our room for anniversary celebrations – cake and wine! We called it a night just before midnight.
9/9 (departure day at 930pm) Day Nine. We slept in and didn’t set an alarm as we had to have the car back by 1pm, so no need to rush. We woke up at 915am and then gathered items from the car to start the mission of packing up to head home. The realization that vacation is ending came hard and quick! Packing to come on this trip was eventful, vacuum sealing things so they fit in luggage was entertaining. Packing to go home as more like shove everything in the bag, sit on it to make it fit… just get it home and don’t break anything. Magically, we got everything in the two bags we brought, and quite easily if I don’t say so. Our plan was to depart the hotel and drop our checked luggage at the airport, , return the rental car, then go screw around for a few hours before heading back to the airport for departure. We tried, but our flight wouldn’t accept luggage until 2.5 hours before boarding. So, we lugged our giant bags with us. What a PITA! We decided to take an Uber to a nearby hotel that was a few miles from the airport, hangout for a few hours, have lunch and drinks, and then take the shuttle to the airport. We ate a mediocre lunch, sipped Pisco sours, then cappuccino, and charged any items we didn’t the previous night. We got to the airport right as the luggage drop opened. Having 1K status is nice in many situations, this one included. 16 min to clear bag drop, customs and security. That must be an international traveling record! Now we had 2.5 hours to wait more for our flight. I did some souvenir shopping to kill time and spend the last of the Chilean Pesos we had. We walked the terminal a bit to get some steps in before we settled in for a 10-hour flight to Houston. Cue the boredom!
9/10 (arrival home day) Day Ten. We land in Houston at the ripe hour of 4:45am. Breeze through customs, and then headed to the train (since we were outside of security from clearing customs, we took the tunnel train and popped back up in a terminal security, since they had Pre-check. Then we went to the smaller of the United clubs, but free access for us since we were returning from international travel. We lounged, had a few cappuccinos, and chilled. Then we load up for our final leg home. We were Upgraded to the first class, it’s on a small plane, but it’s still great. Our favorite Wuber was prompt and ready for us to arrive. I was practically tackled upon arrival. We got home and used all that caffeine pumping through our veins to unload suitcases, start 4 loads of laundry, out away suitcases, make the bed (fresh sheets washed the day we departed), run to the grocery store, and basically get life rolling again. Then we ordered some delivery from our favorite Thai place (#Thaiexpress) and melted into the couch.
Food. This section will be in two parts: MREs we brought with us, and other food. The MREs we brought weren’t terrible, some were actually very good, and others equally just as terrible. The first day’s dinner MRE was the Chicken Teriyaki and Rice meal. Maybe it was the circumstances of the day, being extra-long and coming off of travel overnight and this being the first true meal… It wasn’t great. We could have cooked the rice for 20 more minutes and I don’t think it would have helped. We had 3 breakfasts, all granola. One had blueberries, one had strawberries, and one had strawberries and almonds. All were actually very good and easy. The other meals were: Spicy Sausage Pasta, Mountain Chili with TVP, Spaghetti, Chicken Pesto Pasta, Lasagna, and Cajun Smack Chicken and Rice. Notes from the meals. TVP is always weird. Texture is odd and throws it all off. Flavor was pretty good on the chili though. It seems pasta items are the most liked in our house for MRE type. All were notably good, with the Spaghetti being the house favorite. It’s hard to fuck up spaghetti, but it’s even harder to lake and MRE that is notable for being delicious. The Cajun Smack, we let the rice cook for what seemed like an eternity, and you know what? It still wasn’t great! HA! We enjoyed the Dark Chocolate Cheesecake for breakfast on our anniversary. Although good, it was false advertising. This was no cheesecake; more so, it was like a cheesecake flavored pudding. With crumbled cookies on top. It was gluttonous and we enjoyed it very much. The other foods were good, but honestly nothing stood out as memorable for “this food belongs to Chile.” Don’t get me wrong, the meal at Miguel Torres was absolutely top notch, but it wasn’t anything specific to Chile (La Bodeguita). Even the Pisco Sours, are specific to Peru… Not Chile. However, they are delicious and Chile makes a very competitive Pisco Sour. Street hot dogs were different and also delicious. The key is to be open to trying new foods that sound familiar but are very different than what you think as the normal. I have had hot dogs all over the world, and every single one is different! But you know what? I’ll continue trying them, because I love hot dogs J The burger I had from the food truck wasn’t really even a burger, more a chop steak. It was tasty, but I am neither a burger lover, nor was I impressed with their lack of seasoning. All the other foods were less then remarkable and only filled the void; nothing notable to say about those meals.
Weather. The temperatures were great, staying between 41°-65° the entire trip. That said, majority of the trip was very cloudy, making some of our sightseeing challenging. I will say, the first 6 days it was predicted to rain a bunch, and we got lucky with one full day of rain, and a few scattered storms on the other days. We had a few sunny days too, which was a nice balance.
Traffic & Construction. It takes forever to get anywhere because of both traffic and construction. So many big rigs that clog up the road and drive super slowly, making Josh get frustrated. 3 miles in the city can take 30+ minutes. Getting from point A to point B on some days was a struggle and a bit of a time suck.