Its More Chile in Bolivia than on the Coast

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Santiago
Our spectacular bus trip through the Andes brought us down to the smoggy Chilean capital of Santiago, situated in a deep valley. Most backpackers in Santiago have either just arrived or about to leave the continent and don´t really stay long, but we again had some local hosts to show us around. I had met a group of local girls while travelling in Central America and they had given us the tip to stay at a relaxed hostel in the lively suburb of Bella Vista. The rooftop bar was perfect for drinking our precious bottle of Argentinian Torrontes wine (we just couldn´t tell the locals it was Argentinian, due to their big rivalry). The girls met us that night and we caught up over some Pisc-ola´s (the national grape spirit- Pisco, and cola) and we went a funky local club.

Jimmy and I spent the following day touring the downtown area, museums, and galleries, as well as observing the heavy police presence everywhere, in preparation for an annual protest day. In the afternoon, we took the ´fenicular´ up the steep Cerro San Cristobal hill behind us to view the city at sunset and its snowy peaks in the distance, barely visible though the haze.

The next morning we took a bus out through a major wine-producing valley to Valparaiso, the charming port city. It was great to spend a few hours getting lost in the colourful, winding back streets, with views over The Pacific. We came back to the big smoke and went one of the girls friend´s house party where we struggled to keep up with the rapid Chilean Spanish being spoken.

The next day, Jimmy and I were watching the scenery in the movie ´7 Years in Tibet´ (filmed where we had just been at Mt Aconagua) when the girls came by. They took us to the park next to the Bellas Artes gallery, where an interesting cross-section of Santiago society gathers every Sunday afternoon. When we turned up there was a band playing on stage which was keeping the gothic kids entertained. Scattered around on the ground were hundreds of rugs with people selling anything and everything they owned, almost like a central trash and treasure market. Another group of ´circus people´ were having juggling competitions with all manner of equipment, while elderly people walked amongst the crowd with their dogs. It was fascinating people watching, and even more interesting when we had to record a sample of ´park sounds´ for one of the girl´s uni assignments.

San Pedro
The next day I woke early to discover I had somehow been the only one out of a group of 6 from the hostel who had eaten pizza the night before to contract ´The Chilean Churn´. To make matters much worse, Jimmy and I were about to get a 26 hour bus to the north of the country, through the driest desert in the world, The Atacama Desert (parts of which haven´t ever had any recorded rain). I felt just as dry as I wasn´t even able to ingest water because my head and stomach aches were so bad. When we were delayed by several hours and had to change buses in the middle of the night due to brake problems, I wanted to die. Add to this was the most annoying tourist we´ve ever come across. The elderly American woman (clearly a few sandwiches short of a picnic) wouldn´t shut up the entire trip, complaining about everything from her bag getting dirty underneath the bus to wanting to change her seat. It later turned out we weren´t the only ones to have had a run in with Eva. In the weeks to follow, we discovered she had become somewhat of a legend (or common nightmare) on the South American ´Gringo Trail´.

We made it to the desert tourist town of San Pedro de Atacama and found a hostel, successfully shaking Eva in the process. Another girl there heard her voice coming and quickly hid herself. It turned out she had run into her in Ushuaia- in the far south of the continent and never wanted to see her again.

I stuck to a diet of rice, bread and imodium tablets as we organised our trip into Bolivia for the following day. We booked into an afternoon trip out to the Valle de la Luna, just outside of town, where one of the mars rovers was tested, due to its challenging terrain. There we visited strange rock formations, carved by the wind and crawled through a tight cave system that may be been created by rivers long ago. In time for sunset, we hiked to the top of a large sand dune and watched the fading light over the spectacular lunar-like landscape.

Bolivia Crossing
The next morning we boarded a bus for the trip to the border of Bolivia, quickly climbing from 2,000m to up to over 4,000m. As soon as we got out of the bus, we felt light-headed and dizzy. We met ´Jose´, our guide and 4WD driver for the next 3 days, and soon took off in a Land Cruiser convoy of 8. With plumes of dust kicking up behind us, it looked like some sort of Toyota ad. Luckily for us, we had arranged for our group of Dutch, English and Aussies had organised to get one of the English speaking guides, and he turned out to be a champion.

Our first stop was at the mirror-like ´Laguna Blanca´ (White Lagoon) where we had breakfast and coca tea, which helped our altitude headaches. From there we passed the ´Laguna Verde´ (Green) and further along ´The Dali Rocks´, the strange rocks standing in the middle of a desert that inspired a famous Salvador Dali painting. Jose was not only the fastest driver, but he also knew all the short-cuts, meaning the other vehicles were always following our dust trail. We stopped to have a soak in a hot thermal spa and were told to enjoy it since there would be no such warmth that night. From there, we climbed up to 5,000m where the trusty Land Cruiser was struggling for air as much as we were. We quickly looked at some steaming geysers, before continuing to reach our basic hut accommodation for the night on the edge of ´Lugana Roja´ (Red), so called due to the bright red algae present. We walked over to watch the high altitude flamingos in the lake, before walking back into the freezing wind, with snow now falling. That night will be remembered as the coldest and most sleepless of our lives. Despite wearing as many clothes as physically possible, the 6 of us all pushed our beds together in a bid to generate some heat. It didn´t help much and there was no problem getting up the following morning since we were all still wide awake.

That day we visited interesting rock formations such as ´The Rock Tree´ carved by strong winds, as well as more stunning lakes with 4 kinds of flamingos in them. Continuing after lunch at a farming town, the scenery changed into a lush river-bed with llamas grazing close by. We stopped to stretch our legs at an ex-railway workshop town, now mostly deserted. After a few more hours, we came into view of the famous ´Salar de Uyuni´ (Uyuni Salt Flats) and checked into our place on the edge of it. Jose took us out to watch the sunset over the surreal, solid white sea before returning for a much appreciated hot shower. The following morning we started with a candle-lit breakfast, before heading back out into the middle of the salt flat before dawn. With only 1 other Land Cruiser in the far distance, we watched the sun´s rays slowly creep above the horizon and turn the ground from a dull grey back into brilliant white. Looking out of place in the middle of the white sea is Isla Incahaus, a cacti covered island. Its also the only thing that provides a reference point in the otherwise white world. After exploring the island and watching other 4WD drives approach like they boats were coming into dock, we went back out into the middle of nowhere to take what Jose called ¨funny photos¨.

At over 10,000 km² (the world´s largest), when the salt flat is covered in water, it is used for testing and calibrating satellites in orbit, because it acts as a giant mirror. When dry, it plays amazing tricks on your depth perception (as well as a camera´s), which is how the ¨funny photos¨ are created.

Afterwards we briefly visited an abandoned Salt Hotel, built entirely out of (you guessed it) salt and an old locomotive graveyard, before finishing the tour in the unappealing town of Uyuni. The one thing Uyuni does have going for it is a pizza restaurant called ´Minute Man Pizza´, which has to be the tastiest pizzas in South America. An Uynuni girl who went to study in the USA returned with a husband from Boston and they thankfully set up the pizza joint in the town otherwise barren of eating choices. For Bolivia it isn´t cheap, but we didn´t care after eating stale bread for the past few days, and we stuffed ourselves silly.

Potosi
That night we took an uncomfortable bus ride on dirt roads (which make up 95% of Bolivia´s road system) to Potosi. Arriving around 2am, we quickly checked into a cheap hotel (half the price of the pizza) and slept. The next day was Sunday meaning not much was open, but we took the chance to walk around the city famous for being the world´s highest (over 4,000m) and the one-time cash-cow for Spain. Strangely enough, between the city´s interesting back streets, there was a navy post for land-locked Bolivia, meaning its yet another country with a greater naval capacity than New Zealand. The next day we signed up for a tour of ´Cerro Rico´- the underground silver mines where an estimated where 6-8 million miners (mostly slaves) died, making it more than the holocaust! Today they mine a mixture of several metals (zinc, tin, lead, silver) and the life expectancy of the miners is still below 40.

We began with getting our clothes and mining helmet, before visiting the miners market on the way to buy gifts to give to the miners. Soft drink, coca leaves and dynamite were the most valued goods. We also bought a few extra sticks to let off at the end of the tour (hey why not when a stick only costs $3AUD?!). We then went up to the one of the many mines and its entrance at 4,300m. Its already tough to breath at that altitude without going underground into a dusty mine. Like a health and safety professional´s worst nightmare, the tour proceeded into the main working shaft, but was momentarily put on hold and everyone had to hug the walls when one of the swift moving cart passed us.
We ventured on and had to literally crawl on our stomachs to get through the tight passages and down to the lower levels. Our guide (an ex-miner himself) then issued ¨challenges¨ to those who thought themselves good underground navigators. He gave us instructions to make our own way down to the lower levels where he would meet us with the less adventurous tourists. Of course we agreed and after sliding our way down an abandoned shaft, we made it to the meeting point. We eventually made it as far as 35m underground and the breathing was tough! We observed a group of miners filling a winch scoop and gave them our gifts. Our guide said when he was working there it was all carried out on their backs in the same crawl spaces we came down- usually the same amount as their body weight (45kgs)!

The miners only eat before and after their 8 hour shifts and suppress their hunger with cricket ball-sized chews of coca leaves in between. On leaving, we were stopped by another tour group saying there was about to be some dynamite blasts. 3 blasts then exploded and shook the mine walls moments before big gusts of air rushed passed us like a strong wind. We then made our way back out to the surface and thankfully to some fresh air again. Our 2 hours in the mine had given us just a taste of the harsh life of these workers, and a huge amount of respect. The fun ending to the tour (and another public liability impossibility in most countries) was when the guide lit our remaining sticks of dynamite and handed them over to us, saying ¨ok, take photos now, quickly¨ After a quick few snaps, they took them back off us and ran them over to a nearby clearing to put them in the dirt to explode. They were loud, but not as impressive as hearing it underground. A few months before, a group of young English guys decided to keep an extra stick for themselves, and somehow while drunk at their hostel in Uyuni, managed to light it and partly blow up the building. It apparently cost them each $13,000USD to get out of jail, plus damages to the hostel of around $10,000USD!

We got back into town and took a scenic ´collectivo´ taxi ride to meet back up with Myles, Sarah, Frank and Murial (from the 4WD trip) in the colonial city of Sucre. They had gone ahead to start studying Spanish in a school there and were staying in an apartment above the school with 3 rooms, a kitchen, internet, TV, balcony and most importantly (after crawling through the mines all day), a great shower. We went out with them that night for Myles´ birthday and found possibly the dodgiest karaoke bar in South America. For the next 3 days Jimmy and I took Spanish lessons with the others in the morning, had lunch and walked around the charming city for a few hours before another 2 hours of lessons in the afternoon. The apartment was the perfect set-up for studying, with merely a 10 second walk to class each day, and only cost $8 a night each.

La Paz
Jimmy took a freezing cold bus ride to La Paz, where we were the only passengers not to carrying our own blankets or sleeping bags. We arrived in the early morning to the impressively-set city high in the Andes and checked into the same hostel Luke, Dylan and Bear were staying at. We then walked around bustling city, dodging the chaotic traffic to visit the interesting Coca Museum (which had an underlying go at the Western world for turning what was a natural and beneficial plant into a worldwide drug problem). We also visited the local markets, including ´The Witches Market´ where you can buy every strange item you might need, like stuffed baby jaguars and llamas. The three boys had been out doing The Death Road ride and returned later that night. We all went out for some reunion beers and checked out La Paz´s legendary nightlife until late. The next day Jimmy and I organised our Death Road booking as well as a trip to the Amazon Basin, while the other boys headed north.

Death Road
The road from La Paz to Coroico has been labelled ´Death Road´ because it has held the unfortunate title of the world´s deadliest road for some years (with estimates of 200-300 death each year). Nowadays it is somewhat safer to drive since there is an alternative, paved road for vehicles, while the riders take the original dirt section. In some ways its made it more dangerous to ride down as riders can now go a lot faster around the blind corners without traffic to worry about.

Our morning started with a chilly drive in the support van, with a group of mostly English backpackers, up to the starting point of 4,700m. There we were given our dual suspension, disc-brake bikes to test out for a few minutes. Then we were off, speeding along the start of the 32kms of paved road, where just last week a tourist had his foot severed off when a drunk driver crossed lanes and hit him. We tucked in behind our guide and leaned into the high speed corners, occasionally stopping at scenic points for photos over the foggy valley below. At the end of the paved section there was a brief uphill, which was tough given the altitude, our heavy bikes and the rain which had just started to fall.

After that was when the real fun began- the 31km dirt section. We started cautiously as we rode along, watching the sheer vertical drop (of up to 700m!) in the corner of our eye. The fog and rain meant the spectacular views were hampered, but made the riding more fun as our tyres stuck well to the moist ground. We rode through several waterfalls and across streams, getting even more soaked and cold. We had a snack break in front of a permanent landslide over the road, where we had to push our support van over and then time our pass through ourselves to avoid the rolling rocks. At many corners we passed crosses in the side of the road, and saw several bus and car wrecks lying in the thick jungle at the bottom. One cross read something like ¨here lies Carlos and his 30 passengers¨!

It can be argued that the ride is only as dangerous as you want to make it, and if you want to take it easy, its just like riding to the local shop. On the other hand, however, if you happen to casually fall off to your left, you are faced with a straight drop of up to 700m and a certain death. Nethertheless with confidence in our bikes, Jimmy and I stuck to the guide´s shoulder as we continued to race around blind corners and through the mud, our goggles now useless with fog and dirt. We finally crossed one more stream and finished with a beer to celebrate everyone in our group surviving. Over the 6 hours or so (including several photo and snack breaks) we had descended 3,600m over 63kms and our water bottles had completely compressed themselves with the change in pressure. We had started high in the freezing Andes at 4,700m and ended in the lush, temperate jungle, down at 1,100m.

Part of the tour was to go to a fancy hotel in nearby Coroico to take a shower and smash a big buffet lunch. Jimmy and I farewelled the group heading back to La Paz while we stayed the night in peaceful Coroico. We could only manage a few beers before we crashed out, exhausted from the ride and adrenalin rush of the day.

The next morning we had a taste of the famous Bolivian transport delays when we waited for 5 hours on the side of the road for our bus to arrive from La Paz. By the time it made it, we were not happy campers, being covered in sand-fly bites and had all but given up on making our tour the next morning. Our moods soon changed when we started moving and the road changed back to being a narrow dirt track with blind corners. Sitting on the cliff side of the bus was probably scarier than the ride the day before, as the bus barely had room to keep its wheels on the road. At several points, the assistant had to get out in front of the bus and instruct the driver as to how much room he had from the rock face on his right and the death drop on his left. Anytime there was oncoming traffic, it meant one vehicle had to reverse up to one of the wider areas and wait to be passed. We watched and filmed the action for as long as we could until it was too dark to see, but even then we knew what was only centimetres away.

The Pampas
We woke in the morning to see we were driving along a flat road, made from fertile-brown dirt with thick jungle on either side. Somehow we managed to arrive to the river town of Rurrenbaque in time to make our tour. Our group of 2 other Aussies, a German and a Turk all headed off for the 3 hour drive in one of several 4WD´s. We made stops for lunch as well as an unexpected one when our guide ¨Eagle Eyes Antonio¨ spotted a sloth slowly climbing down a tree (1st animal to tick off our list). We then entered the national park and loaded our gear into the wooden long-boats that would be our sole transportation for the next 3 days. As soon as we headed off up the section of ´The Pampas´ (Bolivian Amazon Basin System), the wildlife started appearing from everywhere. First Pink Dolphins swam nearby, and huge Ibis and Jabaroo birds took off in flight. We could hear the scream of the Red Howler Monkeys long before we could see them high in the trees, while the small and cheeky Cappuccino Monkeys scrambled up to us in the waterfront bushes looking for food. Alligators, Camen and Turtles were all basking in the sun on the river banks, while the strangest animal we saw was a huge rodent, the size of a big wombat, on the shore. The trip to camp took a few hours with all the wildlife stops and a pair of blue Macaws flew overhead just before we made it to our basic camp on the edge of the river. We checked in and went down to a river bar get a beer, fighting off the mosquitoes on the way. We returned at night and picked up the reflection in the gators´ eyes with our torches. Somehow the cooks managed to prepare some great food in the simple kitchen and we had a tasty dinner before an early night.

The next morning we donned a pair of gumboots each and went out to search for the elusive Anaconda. We parked the boats on a muddy bank and went ahead on foot into the jungle. I managed to find a wasp´s sting with the back of my hand, before its friends all decided to join in on the action and swarm our group. Antonio picked a fruit and told us to rub it on our skin, where it would turn bright blue and keep the insects away. What he neglected to tell us was that it would get brighter over the next 3 days and take almost 2 weeks to come off! Ah, the practical joke worked on another group of gringos. It wasn´t so bad for Jimmy and I who had it on our hands and neck, but some of the others had it on their foreheads, meaning they looked pretty stupid when back in La Paz. After several hours of searching in the humid weather, Antonio spotted the tail of an Anaconda in the marshy swamp and started pulling at it. He managed to get it out of the reeds and it soon went into shock and played dead. It wasn´t the human-strangling size we had hoped to see, but we were still lucky to see the shy snake.

We returned for lunch before heading out in the afternoon to swim with the Pink Dolphins. With almost no dorsil fin, the river dolphins looked quite strange, but they were friendly enough. With the ever present alligators and piranhas also in the water, the idea is to let the dolphins come and nibble on your feet. Maybe our toes weren´t appealing enough as they only came with a metre or two of our group. That afternoon the guides gave the gringos a lesson in football on jungle pitches, while the rest of us watched on with a beer, before another early night.

The next morning we headed out before dawn to silently paddle along the river, listening to the music of the jungle and try to spot some Toucans. Apart from the ravenous mosquitoes, it was very relaxing and peaceful. It wasn´t until we were almost back at camp that Antonio spotted a Toucan, then a second (making it Fourcans) in a nearby tree. It was the last remaining animal on our list and we could then pack up and head back, impressed with the variety and abundance of wildlife we´d witnessed. Since we did it in cheap Bolivia, the whole 3 day tour only cost $60. Back in Rurrenabaque, we had elected not to take the windy 18 hour bus ride back to La Paz, instead taking an afternoon 45 minute flight from the dirt strip airport. Because we were taking off close to sea level and heading up to La Paz´s airport at 4,100m, the flight was one continual incline, with views of several Ande Peaks poking through the clouds.

Back in La Paz we checked back into our hostel and headed out for some beers with the friendly Irish owner of another hostel. He told us that a 50 year old American tourist had died on the Death Road ride today with the most reliable tour company. Other riders had watched as he somehow didn´t turn on a corner and went straight off the edge, plumetting to his death!

A girl at our hostel also had another story about Eva. She and her friends had met her at a hostel in B.A. where one of her friends had accidentally left a T-shirt on Eva´s bed. Eva had returned to find it and promptly covered it in liquid soap and left it in the sink, saying nothing.

Arica
Nursing a big hangover and feeling exhausted overall, Jimmy and I took a bus back into Chile. After a long border crossing and some spectacular passing views of snow capped mountains in Parque Nacional Lauca, we descended down into the coastal Atacama Desert plains under the light of the full moon. We had been told of a homely hostel run by a Kiwi guy and his local wife and went straight there from the bus. Kiwi Ross greated us with some juice and bread and showed us around his home/ hostel. It was just what we were looking for to recharge our batteries and enjoy being back down at the temperate coast for a few days. While the hostel set up was a pleasant surprise, the main reason we had detoured back into Chile was for South America´s most dangerous surf break. ´El Gringo´ got its name after some exchange students from California were the first ones to surf it, making headline news of crazy Gringos surfing at the back of the Alacran Island. The setting for El Gringo is quite unique. Fishing boats constantly pass just behind the waves and sea lions pop up in the line-up. On shore, the prominent point of Morro de Arica (and historic location for The War of the Pacific) and its Christ Statue look down on the water. It’s a great place to watch the wave or a sunset from, which we did on a couple of evenings. You can see up into Peru, only 20kms away as well. Last year the world surfing tour held an event here, and even the best surfers in the world were saying how dangerous the place was.

With no real surf rental stores in town, the next day Ross put us in contact with local surfing legend (just ask him) ´YoYo´, who was able to arrange for one of the local bodyboarders to lend me some gear and drive us to the surf each morning. That afternoon, YoYo took us for a drive up the beach and lent me one of his surfboards and we paddled out for some waves at sunset. The next day, ´Popeye´ came past with his mate and took Jimmy and I to ´El Gringo´, otherwise known as ´The Chilean Pipe´. The waves were breaking powerfully, right on the shallow and urchin-covered rock-shelf. The paddle out was through a tiny little channel, with no room for error. I didn´t have much time to get used to the well worn board as I paddled into my first wave. The wave´s bottom quickly drained out from underneath it as I pulled into the barrel. For a few intense moments I sat inside the hollow wave, before escaping into the channel with a huge rush of adrenalin, and grin on my face. All my waves that morning were simlar to that, and I began to think the wave wasn´t so bad after all.... I was wrong. The next day the swell had increased and was had a mixed direction, creating some dangerous conditions. I tried to pull into the barrel on my first wave, but it shut down on me, and held me down on the reef for a few seconds. My second wave did similar and I copped 3 set waves on the head in waist deep water. I then had a new found respect for the wave. Getting back into shore was possibly the sketchiest part of the wave. Having to time it between sets, paddle in, and aim for the small channel with the sun straight in your eyes, was pretty tough. With a solid swell, there is certainly some relief at making it in.

The next day the boys took us to a different spot, with a memorial to a local bodyboarder who died there 2 years ago. While still over a sharp reef, after El Gringos, it felt playful and fun. We surfed the perfect right for a few hours, and returned for a cheap set meal lunch at the local markets. In the afteroon we went to visit the Archealogical Museum and its display of the world´s oldest mummys. The dry desert conditions are perfect for preserving the bodies found in the area and estimated as being as old as 2,000 b.c.

The next day we reluctantly packed up our gear, farewelled Ross and took a collectivo ride across the border with David and Fem from the hostel to Tacna, Peru. While it was far from the most attractive place we´d visited, Arica had been perfect for what we needed. Now we were on our way back to the mountains.

Highlight
The adrenalin adventures of riding down Death Road and surfing at El Gringo´s as well as the wildlife of The Pampas were definitely unforgettable. However, the variety of landscapes we passed through in 4 days between San Pedro de Atacama and Uyuni were out of this world. With the surreal sunset at The Luna Valley, and our 4WD convoy trip into Bolivia, where we passed multi-coloured lakes, complete with flamingos, hot springs and geysers and unique rock formations, it really felt like we were touring other planets. What topped it off were the perception-altering Salar de Uyuni and its cactus island in the middle. It was definitely worth the altitide headaches, freezing cold, sleepless night and stale bread!

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Photos

Andes Crossing
The scenic view of the descent into Chile from our bus

Santiago
Downtown area

Santiago Horizon
The valley layered with smog

Valparaiso Streets
Looking out towards the busy port

The Girls
Some of our guides for Santiago, at the Bellas Artes Park

Valle de la Luna
As the name suggests, looking very moon-like at sunset

4WD Crossing into Bolivia
Above 4,000m already and climbing

Lago Blanco
The first in the multi-coloured lakes on the crossing

Thermal Hot Spring
Jimmy and I relaxing in the high desert spa

Geysers
Jimmy, freezing at 5,000m but unable to get closer to the steaming pits

Rock Tree
One of the unique rock formations carved by the relentless winds

Salt Flats Island
Surrounded by a sea of white salt, makes you want a beer doesn´t it?

Funny Photo
An example of the optical illusion created with the white world of the salt flats

World´s Highest City
Potosi and Cerro Rico (Rich Peak)

Serious Miners
Jimmy and I, with dynamite in hand and ready to work

Sucre Sunset
The picturesque city and great place to study Spanish

Hectic La Paz
The main drag- I can still hear the car horns now

Start of ´Death Road´
Jimmy and I getting ready to stare death in the face

Death Road
Our group goes ahead, while the support crew takes some photos

Death Road Bus Trip
Tailing another bus

Cruising The Amazon
Heading to our camp in the Amazon Basin

Base Camp
Our cabin for 3 days in The Amazon

Taming the Anaconda
It looked bigger on the day- honest

Piranha Fishing
One of the little razor-toothed buggers

Camp Intruder
A friendly gator pays a visit

La Paz at Night
The view from our hostel as the night-owls emerge

Parque Nacional Lauca
Just another spectacular Andes crossing, heading back into Chile

Arica
The port town on the edge of the desert

´El Gringo´
The wave breaking at the back of the island

´El Gringo´ Surf
Me on day 1, trying to avoid the rocks

Arica Mummies
The ancient fishing race´s mummies, preserved with mud and sticks

Comments

[kelly lim]

wow
Hi Tom!!! Your pictures, stories and travels never cease to amaze me. If I can even attempt 1/16 of what you've done in my lifetime, I'll be a happy girl! You have truly seen it ALL. Thanks for taking all of us along with you on your travels thru the blog!!! We miss you in San Diego! Cheers! Kelly