Dec. 24: San Alfonso Del Mar: The biggest swimming pool in the world! Unfortunately, their coastal summers are a lot like San Francisco and it was cold and foggy!
We walked over to the indoor part of the pool (the swim caps are a requirement)
Dads photobomb!
And sat in the hot tub for a spell
There was no way our little cheerleader/gymnast was going to skip the trampoline in the water, no matter how cold it was! And you can see who the "good" parent is who joined her!
Dec 25: Punta Arenas: After catching a 5am flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, and before our 5 hour drive up to the National Park, we stopped to see the penguins (little did we know this was the last sunshine we would see for several days)
Can you read the top sign? The Road to the End of the World!
Inside the National Park, just before starting our first hike to our first Refugio
A well-earned dinner in the lodge at the Refugio after hiking 90 minutes in the pouring rain! We were cautiously optimistic that we might wake up to sunshine the next morning...
Dec. 26: Torres Del Paine National Park: Our dreams were crushed when we woke to the sounds of pouring rain outside. It would hardly let up all day, but mercifully did at lunchtime just long enough for us to eat our sandwiches and take a quick group photo
But afforded us beautiful postcard images like this! (At least the snow stayed up in the high altitudes and we were hiking in low altitudes)
We loved the geology of this little mountain chain! What could have created the semi-circle strata? (hopefully you can click to enlarge)
Hooray! After 8 long hours of cold, wet hiking, we made it to our second refugio!
Our "domo" where we spent the second night
Dec. 27: Torres Del Paine National Park: Less rain today! Hurray! And even more beautiful mountain views along the hike!
The kids were usually 1/4 mile to 1/2 mile ahead of us at any given time, so most of our pictures are just us!
They stopped and waited for us every once in a while, but I think they had so much fun together without the adults around
We had to cross lots of bridges, but sometimes we had to make our own way across the smaller streams by hopping on rocks, and sometimes the stream WAS the trail!
Sometimes we encountered other hikers on the trail, but not as many as I thought we would
We walked through a small forest of burnt trees that were really beautiful in a storybook kind of way
I could not be any prouder of our girls! They managed the entire trail with smiles on their faces! I can't say the same for myself!
We were rewarded with blue skies this entire afternoon! What a perfect way to end our hike!
We had stopped at a small tourist trap kind of store on our way into the park and bought these alpaca leg warmers, not realizing at the time they were the best investment we would make in preparation for the hike! This wool is quick drying and super warm! Nature knows what it is doing!
Eating Andes mints in the Andes mountains with A---! Something K. has looking forward to for a long time! We were so glad to get to help her fulfill her dream!
479 representin' in the Chilean Andes!
We took this picture with our own, honest-to-goodness camera! I don't think there is a postcard out there to rival it!
On the last leg of the last day of our hike! We are so close we can taste it, and it's all downhill from here too!!!
Oxford English Dictionary 2013 word of the year: Selfie!
The color of this glacial lake was out of this world! I could not stop looking over at it while we hiked the last couple of miles to our final destination
We made it! Next would be a ferry ride across the lake to our hotel where we would eat delicious food and take a hot shower and sleep in a real bed!!!
Dec. 28: Lago Grey: The rain came back today, but because we didn't have to hike in it, we didn't feel so bad. We took a catamaran out to see the massive and beautiful Grey Glacier
It rained the entire ride out to the glacier from the land, but we were lucky once again as it stopped raining when we reached the glacier and the boat stopped for us to go up on deck and take some pictures.
After the glacier cruise it was time to drive back to Punta Arenas to catch our flight back to Santiago. Seeing this pack of llamas on the drive was the perfect way to say "Adios" to Torres del Paine!
Dec. 29: Santiago, Chile: We spent most of the day just recovering and doing laundry, but the girls took a quick trip to Los Domenicos, a small tourist village, for some souvenir shopping
Dec. 30: Santiago, Chile: From one extreme to the other, we spent a long day of 90 degree heat touring around the capital city. The first stop was the Santa Lucia Fortress
Boys like cannons and forts, but girls just like to wear sundresses and take pictures sitting on pretty tiled benches
Somebody is a big flirt like his dad! We hope they will be friends forever!
We are so happy these kids can still be such good friends, no matter how many miles separate them
To the top of the fort for a bird's eye view of Santiago
"San"hattan (Santiago has twice as many people as New York City) is an interesting mix of old and new. Because of so many earthquakes the city has survived, there is so much old architecture juxtaposed with new. Beautiful old European influenced fountain and buildings sit next to big skyscrapers in the city.
The Presidential Palace (the Chilean "White House")
A quick stop for empanadas, a traditional South American snack
The Mercado Central, one last stop for souvenirs
Dec. 31: Santiago, Chile: We rode the funicular to the top of San Cristobal hill to get a different vantage point of Santiago.
Pondering our amazing trip to South America and our gratitude to have such great friends who are more like family! Thank you, Miller family! We love you to the moon and back!
