Our Family Time Out: Catching Up on Chile

Next day, we set off south on the road, after what can only in Chile be considered an early breakfast at 9am. The trip was smooth. My parents, Yo and I listened to Tina Fey’s Bossypants, and we stopped for an excellent lunch literally a few feet away from the Panamericana – it was an interesting experience to be eating a fancy steak sandwich at an outdoor café only fifteen or so feet from the passing traffic. We drove all day to the town of Bulnes, which doesn’t have much going on. We stayed at a quirkly old farmhouse with the puzzling name of “La Casa de Adobe Natural y Mas.” Still wondering about what the “Mas” is all about…maybe the pool?

The next day, we drove on for another six or so ours to Pucon, a lakeside resort town in the Chilean Lakes District, sort of reminiscent of Colorado. The house I had rented online was a bit difficult to find and not quite as nice as I had hoped, but we all settled in for a couple of nice days there together. I grilled steak that night, and we all spent our last day together at an upscale hot spring along a beautiful river bank.

View of Villarrica from our house - yes we climbed it!

At the hot springs - very upscale

Farewell to M&D at the Temuco Airport

After we dropped my parents off at the airport, we got right back into our travel routine of homework, cooking in and not doing all that much. We relocated to a cabin overlooking Lake Villarrica, just outside the town, and spent a couple of days enjoying the view. We had written off climbing Volcan Villarrica, which overlooks the town, due to the fact that Ruby was too young to come along with one of the guided trips. But we persisted in asking around, and eventually found an agency that would take an 11-year old. Glad we did it, because the trip was one of the highlights, as Ruby blogged about here. Truth is, it wasn’t that hard a hike – just a long one.