Geo: 48.2016, -114.315 Our six month adventure begins with one really slow drive to Phoenix. Slow because we're sidetracking--instead of running straight south to Arizona we're heading southeast through a tip of Wyoming, then South Dakota, Iowa, & Illinois, then south through Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma & Texas, and finally directly west at San Antonio to skirt along the New Mexico/Mexico border until we can head north to Phoenix--where we park for 2 months. We drove through some really beautiful country, some of the most surprising to me was southeast Montana. Broadus, which was always a little too cowboy for even the cowboy country of Miles City as far as I was concerned, earned points for an adorable pink eatery you really shouldn't miss, should you ever find yourself nearby and hungry. Even a little bit hungry. ... read more

Geo: -51.7325, -72.5051Welcome to Chilean Patagonia, but what else can you expect from an area that gets 8 METERS of rain a year? Eight meters is 26.246719160104988 feet which is about 319 inches.You have to rain nearly every minute of every day to do that, so if you're planning to hike in this country, be forewarned. You're going to get wet. But luckily the wind blows hard enough to dry you off--should you be holding tightly to a tree and not blown into Argentina, that is.This is hard country and the goat carrier turned passenger ship we sailed on had done it many times.I don't have much good to say about Navimag--the company doing these trips. After being 7 hours late taking off from Puerto Montt the steward greeted us with, "Welcome to Navimag. We did ... read more

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448We're off to a new adventure. It's always exciting, but leaving Serena was sad because we'd come to love our family so much. Last night they fixed a special dinner for us of our favorites: ceviche, lasagna and strawberries. Then this morning, today being our anniversary, they gave us gifts and a special breakfast. It was very touching. Tere drove us to the bus terminal and wow it's a good thing because remember the trouble we had with buses last year in Bariloche? Well here we'd bought a ticket for a Pullman bus but actually rode in an Elqui Bus. We'd have never figured it out on our own. Tere explained: Pullman has purchased a bunch of smaller bus companies so when you buy a ticket, you never know which bus you'll be on. ... read more

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448This little man really touched my heart. He's probably 40 or so--a little short guy with flat eyes a body quick and sharp.I heard his clap clapping to the music a block before I saw them. He dancing and slapping two seas shells to the drum beat of a happy song, his sister standing...watching fondly. She was coating his face with sun block when we walked up and her tenderness towards him drew me to them. I asked if I could take some pictures, Bob tossed in some coins, and I sat on a street side planter to catch the show.There are a dozen street performers here every day--with drums, flutes, dancing puppets, tambourines, sometimes a whole band, but none of them reached into my heart like this sweet little man and his sister. ... read more

Geo: -29.9008, -71.2448Our friend in Santiago said we had to try pastel de choclo, a dish made of fresh corn layered with meat and baked in the oven. It sounded enough like humitas, my all time Argentine favorite, that when Carmila and Tere said they'd make it I jumped in and asked if I could help.There are so many steps to this dish it's a good thing there were three of us. With the Beatles cranked up and Bob hiding out in the back room, we went after it. First you have to husk the corn. Well that's after you go to the farmer's and buy the corn. Most of the new words I don't remember, but "pelo de choclo", hair of the corn, sticks. You can see it, can't you?Then we cut the corn off ... read more