Buenos Aires

We ended our glorious trip in the European-vibe city of BA. While it is one of the world’s great cities, with fashion and cuisine galore, it is still just that, a city. And when you’re coming from unadulterated creation, it is somewhat shocking to fly into a place where as far as the eye can see, from a puny plane window, is building upon building. And when we were brought to street level, we witnessed grafitti, noise pollution and litter such as we hadn’t seen in the previous 10 days. Again, shocking to the system.



However, there were some highlights. First of all, our hotel 248 Finisterra was such a treat, we loved it. The surrounding neighborhood was enjoyable too. And we got to connect with our friends Marla and Justin there. Justin’s a pilot in our squadron, about to move to Florida. And Marla was in our wedding, she’s completing med. school at U. of Kentucky now. They are global travelers too, and were beginning their trip as we were ending ours. Joel found the six of us a great restaurant that first night, MOTT, which was reviewed by the New York Times, our news source of choice☺

The first half of Sunday was a great time, as we went to their famous San Telmo Antiques Market. I’ve never seen such a big antiques district. Carlos and I bargained with the locals and bought some killer silver candelabras which look great in our formal dining room. I have wanted some like this ever since I saw my friends the Cummins’ with similar ones. They are legit and make me feel like a grownup! Joel and Cara found some amazing artwork and bought one of the most creative paintings I have ever seen. At home, they’re amassing a cool collection of works from different continents.




The latter half of Sunday however, was a waste. We were duped into this “historical” tour that ended up being nothing more a “sewer tour” of BA’s old aqueducts. Ridiculous. Then we went to a half-bizarre/half-disturbing art museum. The night was topped off by my trying certain parts of cow I will never ever try again (intestines, blood sausage, etc.) Oh well. You gotta try everything at least once.

Monday was silly as well, as our book made a day trip to Uruguay sound pretty interesting and historical. I am learning to have a yellow caution flag raise in my mind when I read the word historical. Suffice to say, we were left wanting more.

Tuesday, however was a good last day. The Flory’s picked up some cool wardrobe pieces and we got a chandelier from a local artist that we’re in love with. Trying to pack that was a little interesting. But it made the intercontinental flights and is now hanging in our bedroom and looks great.

By the end of our trip we were missing our dogs and the comforts of home, two weeks was plenty abroad. If we were to do the trip again, I would have added a day in wine country and subtracted a city day. All in all, however, the trip was pretty great. Full of experiences and stories we’ll remember. It was our first time ever traveling with others, and I’m glad to have found the Flory’s are super easy to travel with! I wouldn’t be surprised if we traversed the wilds with them again in the future. As ready as I was to go home by the end, I found myself missing our friends after we parted ways. So thank you, Joel and Cara, for sharing life with us. Joel, thanks for doing all the driving, that was such a huge gift. Thanks as well for taking all the amazing photos we’ll have now to remember the beauty we saw. And Cara, thanks for sharing your beautiful heart with us and letting us walk alongside you in your grief. Your strength is remarkable. We love you and can’t wait to live in the same state as you some day to have more frequent reunions (and Settlers matches). Looking forward☺

Glacier Perito Moreno

I am not ashamed to say I found something that makes me squeal like a little kid- I am in love with this glacier. First of all, I have never seen something so amazing in my life. 5 stories tall, miles deep, fed from multiple directions, it is gigantic! And other-worldly blue! And, oh, the noises it makes! These HUGE crashing sounds that reverberate off all the surroundings… Unbelieveable. I could’ve looked at it all day long if my hubby/friends would let me. When big chunks fell off and went hurling down into the sea below, I jumped up and down like an 8 year old full of glee. We all need things in our lives that make us do that!

This pic of Los is kind of symbolic of saying goodbye to Patagonia (for now)...

Computer Sensei

I love El Calafate, Argentina. After our awful experience at the Estancia Maipu, walking into the Miyazato Inn here was so restorative. The charming hostess graciously ushered us in, showed us our immaculate, serene (bug free to boot!) rooms, and then offered us yummy caramel apple cake and jasmine (Japanese) tea at no cost, just to welcome us.

It was quite amusing to hear her and her husband (both Japanese) speaking fluent Spanish. She said there is only 8 Japanese people (including their family of four) in the town of 18,000. Joel was asking her about wi-fi in the B+B, and she said she wasn’t sure how to set up the modem, etc. When he quickly diagnosed and fixed the problem (ridiculously easy for him, though impossible for her), she deemed him her Computer Sensei.




This town has exploded in the past decade, in 2001 there was only 6,000 people, it has tripled in 6 years. There’s one street (Av. Libertador) full of shops and elegant restaurants (the trio of Casimiro places are fantastic). But beyond the façade of Libertador, the rest of the town is haphazard dirt roads without signs, containing a random assortment of homes and businesses. Outside of our B+B I can hear roosters crowing, birds chirping, dogs meandering and this morning I saw an old car drive by slowly on our dirt road, while the passenger held on to a lead for a horse that was trotting beside the car… You know you’re in a ‘third-world’ town when…

It reminds me of my time in Kyrgyzstan, a lot of raw, unpretensious beauty without development. It’s good times. There is a gigantic glacier here, called Perito Moreno, that we are going to visit. There are options to hike on it, sail up to it, or just to drive as close as possible to check it out. We’ve talked about fly-fishing, horseback riding, or other options for our two days here, so we’ll see what we choose.

Beetles and Bags of Tea

We finally were on the road to our Estancia, La Maipu. Argentina is famous for its’ ranches (estancias), and we were so stoked to stay in the same place for two nights, and to experience a working ranch. We were excited to go horseback riding again, to possibly shear some sheep, and to hike around the gorgeous terrain. So stoked that we made the effort to drive down a desolate road along 3 lakes, 70+ miles each way, to go to this particular Estancia.


On the internet it seemed like a great deal. Some of the all-inclusive Estanicas we really wanted to go to (like Helsingfors- $440/night) were priced steeply, whereas Maipu presented at only $140/night… But shortly after we got there, we realized we were gravely mistaken. We were shocked to learn that dinner (which was not included) turned out to be $25/person. Not the world’s biggest deal, but unfortunate considering that there was nowhere else to eat, and all they took was cash (a hot commodity considering the closest ATM was 4 hours away!) and it was frustrating that we were uninformed of the discrepancy. We then quickly learned that the activities were also not included in the price we’d pre-paid to be there. Horseback rides were going to be $50, no matter whether they were for 1 or 8 hours, etc.

Because we hadn’t seen this coming and were low on cash (from buying gas, and El Chalten) we took a while deliberating what to do. It was then that the hostess realized she was not going to be making much money from us and got disdainful toward us. In Spanish, she made rude remarks that implied we were wasting her time. Considering that we four were half of her guests, I was shocked by how off-putting she was.

It got worse. That evening, the Flory’s counted over 50 (cinquenta!!) bugs they killed in their room, no, in their BEDS; needless to say, their sleep was a little rough. I am sorry, but that is just unacceptable when we are paying $140/night. The next morning, when I tried to tell the hostess about that problem, she brushed it off, saying that bugs are normal (en serio?!). Unbelievable.
Being too disgusted to continue engaging that conversation, I switched the subject to ask what was included in breakfast. The night before we’d discovered the outrageous price of tea during dinner (6 US Dollars per bag!), but the tea was now on the table with other breakfast items that were free. So I asked simply if tea was included with breakfast, or if it still was $6?

This apparently put Ms. Maipu over the edge, because she then began berating me in Spanish. As I’ve said, my 15 years studying the language hasn’t brought me close to fluent, but I know enough to pick out phrases like: I’m not trying to rob you, I don’t care about 6 dollars more or 6 dollars less, if you guys don’t want to follow my rules, go stay somewhere else, I’ve been doing this for 7 years and have never had any problems with any guests until you…

Right. Didn’t see that coming. And the funny part was she never answered my question, so I responded to her tirade with, “…so, is the tea included with breakfast or not?” When the Flory’s joined us, she said it would be better for her and better for us if we left that morning. Intense. And just for good measure, she yelled at Joel for putting their nasty, beetle-ridden blankets on the ground in their room.

She was super sketchy, and the least hospitable person we’d ever met. She lied to a couple who left before us, saying the estancia had no gas, and their generator was out. Promptly after they left, the lights ‘curiously’ came back on… Joel wrote the Estancia booking company saying that in the 35 countries he’s been to so far, he’s never had this poor of service. Ah, the power of the internet. We’ll make sure anyone we can reach knows not to stay here. Compliments go far, but complaints go farther, and when your business is hospitality, being hospitable, I would argue, is a key component of one’s job.

Gas is Brains

A famous saying along Ruta Cuarenta (Route 40) is “gas is brains.” This is no joke; if you haven’t noticed from Joel’s photos by now, this place is not developed hardly at all. It is breathtakingly beautiful for a reason- it is raw nature! So all guide books say to fill up with gas every chance you get, since you JUST DON’T KNOW when you’ll come across gas again! We were smart and had our rental agency mark on our map every place there was a diesel fill up station. Some times it was as ghetto as this picture of a little hut; but beggars aren’t choosers, we were grateful! Getting gas that day was hilarious, Carlos had to go walking around their dirt-road ‘town’ to find the gas person, knocking on doors of multiple homes. That situation was classic in a way that makes me cringe.

One time we stopped at a station to find out they were “out” of gas until Saturday at the soonest- problematic since it was Tuesday! We tucked our tails between our legs and drove 100+ extra miles back to the last place we knew (or rather, hoped) there was gas. Fortuitously, it ended up not being a problem for us. However, friends we met from Chicago, Michael and Alicia were counting on there to be gas at that station; we never found out what happened to them… Hopefully they won’t show up on the side of a milk carton or in those things we get in junk mail some day as missing persons- they were nice.

Settlers of Catan

Our trip was just over two weeks long. We had it packed full of natural beauty in 3 countries. Yet SOMEHOW we managed to fit in 11 games of Catan; what can I say, it’s just that fun… Final scores: Joel- 4 wins, Los-3, Case and Cara- 2. It sounds silly, but I had never thought of having a strategy until I played Joel Flory; man, did he teach me a thing or five, I will never be the same!

You know you’re a diehard when: the lights at one of our ghetto places turned off at midnight; so the Flory’s busted out their head lamps (awesome, I want one) and we collected candles, so we could play in the dark until 1:30 in our room. We rearranged our furniture and everything to make space for a table and chairs in that teeny room. Hard core. I will chuckle every time I pull that sweet memory out of my memory bank. I would share more, but those details are Joel’s to share if he so inclines. Good times, they make me smile.

and p.s. Los and I have played the 6 person version twice now, can I just say I love open-trading and building! Revolutionary! I will never be the same. Okay, enough geekiness...

Animales Part II: Sheep- Leaving the Many for the One

The animal we have seen the most of are sheep (ovejas en Espanol). We have frequently seen a couple of men on horseback (though one guy was on a dirtbike, awesome) moving large packs of sheep to one place or another.
But one time sticks out to me the most. As we were driving in the park, Cara (with her eagle-eyes) spotted a sheep crossing the road, and took a photo of it. I made the requisite joke, why did the sheep cross the road? I wasn’t trying to anthropomorphize, but as we passed, the sheep seemed frantic, worried, or upset by something. Dismissing that as my imagination, we drove along… and about two miles later we came across the hugest herd we’ve seen our entire time in S. America (on in my entire life, really). Hundreds, thousands of sheep were moving en masse along with at least 10 herding dogs and lots of men.

That’s when I realized that the one sheep we’d seen before made sense to me. I have never really understood the Biblical story of the ‘lost sheep’ (Matthew 18) before, and this vivid image got me thinking. Why would the ovejadors go back for that one sheep, when they had so many with them? That wouldn’t make sense, it would almost seem like a waste of their time, not worth the effort.

But on the contrary, Jesus isn’t like that. For whatever reason, we inevitably get distracted from our goals from time to time (e.g. my blog about the hike). We get lost, we stray. We may think one path is right for us, but we’re really deceived and blinded from the truth. At times we have tunnel-vision, and by the time we take a breath and bring our head up to look around, we are in unfamiliar, maybe dangerous terrain. We are independent, stubborn and don’t want to ask for guidance. Yet, we can’t always find the way on our own.

And Jesus says he leaves the 99 for the 1 who was lost. We may feel far from him, but could it be that at that very time, we could also be as close to him as ever? He pursues us. We are worth the effort to him. We are valued, not a waste of his time. In a new and profound way, that makes me overwhelmed with gratitude, because I know what it is to be lost. And how good it is to be found.



My husband likes to run, apparently:)

Animales Part I: Foxes, Horses and Llamas- oh my!

I’ve never been one to crave going on an African safari, but I think this park has changed my mind. Seeing the Guanacos (who look like llamas) in their natural habitat was amazing. Cara spotted the first two, as they ran down a hill in front of our car and were fighting with each other. They bounded away with surprising speed, we later learned they are a relative of the horse, so their galloping became less shocking. As we drove through the park we saw huge herds, mamas and babies. So cute!

Torres del Paine Part IV: Cussing and Praying- One Dot at a Time

Sunday morning I was really excited when we woke up for the 11-mile hike. Growing up in California, near Yosemite, I thought I was prepared to conquer any terrain with ease. Not so. At the end of 5 miles to the base of the Torres del Paine (pronounced Pie-nay) is a ½ mile vertical pile of rocks, which we were supposed to climb up. It was described in our Chile book as “knee-popping” boulders of all shapes and sizes. Super. Need I mention that from years of soccer, my left knee is less than optimal? And unlike popular trails in the US, there is no clear way up, just intermittent orange circles spray-painted on rocks.


Cara and Joel flew up to the top (though she says it was tough, I don’t buy it) whereas I had the hardest time. I encouraged Los to go on ahead, while I stayed below. Apparently we have different views of quitting. It was snowing on us, because of this people coming down the mountain said there wasn’t even good visibility at the top. Seriously? What is the point, I ask you! I was so fatigued that at some point I started crying. Rarely do I get to a ‘breaking point,’ but that was it…
After a while of feeling miserable and sorry for myself, I realized that no matter how many times I cussed, prayed (yes in that order, unfortunately) or craned my neck to see if Cara and Joel were descending the boulders, I wasn’t going to see them. Then Los encouraged me instead of looking at the whole mountain and getting overwhelmed, just to take it ‘one (orange) dot at a time.’ That became our mantra until we conquered the towers of pain.


Finishing this, I thought about the parallels and how many times in life people get paralyzed with fear or inability to digest complex situations we face on earth. Tragedy happens, our workload is increased, or maybe there are too many questions and unknowns for the future; and rather than doing what we can, to take care of ourselves for the day, we feel like giving up. I know I am prone to that response rather than focusing on ‘one dot at a time;’ but I would like that to change. Life will never stop giving us boulders to overcome, but we can change our responses to them, rather than be overwhelmed. That’s my aim, even if I throw in some praying and cussing for good measure.

Torres del Paine Part III: Violation Station

We stayed two nights in the park at the foot of the famous Towers for which the park is named. If it had been warmer, maybe we could have camped for pretty cheap. Instead, we did one night at the great Albergue after one at the overpriced Hosteria, which was $280/night. Cara and I did get awesome massages there, but that’s another story, ask us about how differently they roll in S. America- can you say violation station? I’ll spare the details for the whole blogosphere, but trust us, it was an eye-opening experience. Yet awesome. We rested at the hosteria and soaked up the idyllic pastoral beauty before our big hike.

Here are some pics from the drive...

Torres del Paine Part II: Envy

Back to our South America saga (I've got to finish these up!)



Our first evening in the park, we stayed in the cheapest inn possible (only $110/night). It was bearable, but nothing picturesque. However, the most expensive place in the park was only 25 minutes away, so we decided to go there for a gourmet prix-fixe dinner. To stay at Hotel Explora, the packages were something like $5000-$10,000. It is an all-inclusive, with great food/service, built next to a waterfall, with an inexplicably perfect setting (turquoise river and soaring ice-capped peaks). Joel took some sweet photos of it and we are hoping that the company will pick he and Cara up to be their photographers (they also have sweet properties on Easter Island, and elsewhere in S. America- Google them, prepare to be amazed). If I were rich and famous, I would be down here for tranquility all the time.

Torres del Paine (Pie-nay) Part I: Awe

This national park is maybe the most amazing in the world. Hard to say, I don’t know if there’s a competition like that? But I have NEVER seen glacial waters so azure and clean. Joel’s photos will speak to a lot of the ineffable majesty we witnessed. It was breath-taking at every turn, to be honest. Our first afternoon we did a 3 hour horseback ride, looking at the Cuernos, a gorgeous range of glacier-filled mountains. Sometimes, though, it was hard to tell which took our breath away more, the beauty, or the intense wind? I’ll let the photos speak for themselves. My horse was being a brat, but it was amazing to watch Joel, Los and Cara canter away into an Ansel Adams-esque landscape… one of those times you are so filled with joy you want to pinch yourself to make sure what you’re experiencing is real.