Travel stories and other writing from the journey of life.

Last night a few of us girls got together to take Bill out for his birthday.  We were supposed to meet at my place to carpool to Marazul and then come back to Queen Anne to enjoy some live music at Paragon.  Well, one bottle of wine turned into three at the condo.  We even opened the 'Bitch' wine in honor of the fact that Bill was out with his 'bitches'.   I can't remember when he started calling us that but I think it relates back to Hood to Coast and our team's words of encouragement to each other in screaming 'Run Bitch Run'!

We got so caught up in our wine drinking that we didn't get to Marazul until almost 10!  Happy hour starts at 10 but we were more intrigued by the dinner menu (which we were supposed to have there anyway) so we ordered a bit of both.  The drinks were fruity and good and the food was tasty Asian fusion and made me feel like I was in Hawaii.  The rhum bar was swanky and cool and reminded me a little of rumjungle at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.  Sadly, the 'bitches' were a little too drunk and tired to continue partying at Paragon, but judging from my hangover and sleepiness today, I think it's good we kept ourselves from getting into more trouble!

I'm way behind in blogging, but Memorial Weekend (May 25-29) Richard and I took Tapas on his first flight.  Traveling with a dog requires some extra planning and considerations, but our little one was a dream.  We kept him busy with a bully stick (don't ask) and he didn't make a peep during the 2 hour flight.  The smoky dog treat and flying seemed to make him quite thirsty so next trip we may try a different approach. 

The trips was a jam packed weekend, but a terrific one.  We flew into Orange Country so Richard and I could bring out our inner child at Disneyland.  Disneyland has a kennel club where pets can be boarded for the day for just $15.  They put food and water in the kennel (in paper dog dishes almost the size of Tapas!) and you can visit as often as you want.  Richard and I dropped Tapas off, hit Adventureland for several rides and met up with Tony and Andrea to enjoy the rest of the day.  Disneyland is so much fun as an adult and way more fun with friends!  After an exhausting day, we turned back into adults for a wonderful gourmet dinner at Napa Rose in the Grand Californian. 

The next day we drove out to La Quinta to spend a couple days at my parents house in La Quinta.  There Tapas took his first swim.  He's a natural but doesn't seem to like the water!  Richard and I enjoyed time at the pool, caught up on our reading and some work and spent evenings enjoying grilled dinners and wine with mom and dad.  It was a fun and relaxing weekend but we were on our flight back home and to the weekly routine far too quickly. 

Over the weekend we rode in the Skagit Spring Classic, sponsored by the Skagit Bicycle Club.  STP is only a couple months away and I've done very little to prepare, so when this ride came up I decided I needed the challenge of extending the distance beyond my comfort zone and it would be best to do this on an organized ride.  I'm proud to say I successfully completed my first 62 mile bike ride!  I have to admit, one of the things I'm enjoying about cycling is having 'firsts' again.  I've been running for so long, my first 15 or 20 miler was years ago, so I had forgotten the excitement of meeting new physical challenges.

The ride was beautiful as we basically biked through Skagit farm country, then up to Bellingham on Chuckanaut Drive (hilly but the water views made it worth it) and back down into Skagit with a section along the water before we finished.  It was also a very well supported ride with 3 rest stops complete with fruit, snacks and COOKIES and a spaghetti dinner at the end.  The start/finish/dinner were at an elementary school so we were served in plastic school lunch trays that brought back memories of our childhood!  Our group also completed the ride w/o incident (good thing since Rachele and Jim both had bike crashes last week), except for me falling over at the finish.  Those darn clip in pedals! 

Yesterday, April 26, was Tapas' first birthday.  A first birthday deserves to be recognized, so Richard and I decided to have a little party for Tapas.  Fortunately, Rachele and Bill were on hand to join us in a celebratory drink.  I picked up some special treats for Tapas, a party hat and puppy cake making supplies at this terrific new pet store on Queen Anne called Mes Amis.  They've only been open a couple months but we've made several trips already!  The cake was made of ingredients that could have been consumed by people, but we only tried the frosting - a blend of cream cheese, banana, honey and cinnamon.  Tapas seemed to like his cake once he figured out it was for him.  He did not, however, like his party hat!

I decided to head to Mendoza when my organized tour ended.  I was drawn by the wine (the region produces 70% of Argentina´s wine) but a fellow traveler mentioned she planned to visit Mendoza a few days and stayed a week so I figured it would be the right place to relax.  The bus journey from Santiago is only 7 hours and I read it was beautiful so I decided to bus to Mendoza and fly back to Santiago to catch my flight home.  I was a little nervous about venturing out on my own after the ease of traveling with a guide but managed to purchase my ticket and get myself on the bus without incident.  However, when we came to the border of Chile and Argentina, I got worried.  Then we passed the ´Bienvenidos a Argentina´sign, a guard waved us by and I thought we were free.  Then 20Ks later or so we stopped at this giant covered area.  Some people were getting off the bus but not everyone so I started to panic as I wasn´t sure what to do and I have this huge fear that the bus will leave without me. One other thing about South America is that there is very little English spoken so I felt very lost.  Fortunately, the ´bus attendant´herded us all into the line to do the paperwork to leave Chile and a 2nd line to enter Argentina.  But then I saw people doing something with bags and panic set in again as I imagined doing nothing and my bag being left at the top of the Andes.  Have no fear, the baggage handlers checked bags that were under the bus, and they lined us up and asked us to quickly open our carry on luggage and peeked in.  With that, we were herded back on the bus and on our way to Mendoza and my rucksack made it to the other end!

Even with the minor stress of the bus border crossing, I highly recommend the bus journey between Santiago and Mendoza, even if you have the money to fly.  The bus snakes up into the Andes where you´re among the snowcapped peaks.  There is even a point where a chairlift even crosses the highway (as you can see from my photo through the dirty bus window)!   Coming back down the other side and into Mendoza is also beautiful as vineyards and sunshine surround you.  I hear the pass is closed frequently in winter, however, so that´s something to pay attention to.

I will admit that part of my draw to Argentina and Chile was wine, so I had planned to spend some time at the end of my adventure through the Lake District to enjoy the vineyards in the area.  I convinced a couple fellow travelers to join me on a wine tasting tour and we were not disappointed.  There were five of us with private transport and a slightly crazy tour guide.  (She lived in the US for years though her English was terrible, her laugh was a cackle and she kept giving us useless information like 'there´s the grocery store, you buy groceries there').  Fortunately, she added some entertainment to our tour.  Our first vineyard stop was Conch y Toro, which is the largest exporter of wine in Chile.  We´d been drinking Casillero del Diablo (one of their brands) since arriving in Chile so it was cool to visit the winery and learn the story behind the Devil´s Cellar.  We tasted 2 wines - a Carmeniere (unique to Chile) and a well aged Cabernet Sauvignon.  The contrast of the wines was unique and I was happy to put my tasting skills (found at Whole Foods at a wine tasting class with Richard and Schelley) to the test!

 

After lunch in the area, we set out for the second vineyard.  This was a local, small vineyard that only produces 200,000 bottles of wine/yr.  They don´t sell to stores, only directly to clients.  Everything is done very manually (see the wine press), even the labels are put on by hand.  The owner was from Spain and wine making had been in his family for generations.  His wines were an excellent value.  We tasted an unoaked and oaked chardonnay, a rose (making a comeback!), a light cab made for fish, a bold cab and a muscat.  The experience reminded me of a trip to France´s Loire Valley with my mom and I wish I could have brought home a whole case at $6/bottle.  I bought one but now that we can´t carry wine on the plane, we´ll see how it makes it in my checked luggage.  My rucksack could become a mess of wine.

The day was a nice contrast of a commercial winery with a small, family run business and a good mix of wine.  I look forward to comparing this to Argentine wines. 

 

After a night bus from Pucon (about 11 hours), we arrived in Santiago early Easter morning.  A few of us wanted to go to church, so after a run along the river, we went off to the cathedral for 12:00 mass.  Those of you that know me know that I respect and value my catholic upbringing, but mass isn´t normally a part of my weekly routine.  But since I was in a country that is more than 90% catholic, it was something I wanted to do, especially on Easter. (I am a C&E catholic after all, what would happen if i missed the E?!)   The cathedral was beautiful and the sight and emotion of the day nearly brought tears to my eyes.  Easter has never been a big holiday in my family and I´ve been out of the country for the holiday before, but I think part of the emotion was missing this celebration with loved ones.  In any case, mass flew by even though it was in spanish and we were off to explore the city.

We tried to find a restaurant in Barrio Brasil and while it was closed, we stumbled upon a hidden gem of an area that gave us the feeling we were wandering in Spain.  Plan B was another restaurant nearby known for it´s seafood.  Lunch was such a treat as we had our own private room upstairs and we felt like we sat down to lunch in someone´s home - perfect for a holiday.   My meal was amazing too-tuna over a shrimp risotto.  They say seafood is to Chile what beef is to Argentina and they are right!

I spent the rest of the day wandering the city and exchanging my bus ticket to Mendoza.  I bought it for the wrong day but fortunately was able to change it fairly easily given my lack of Spanish!  We ended the day in Barrio Bellavista in a restaurant that even featured a table made out of a bed.  It was our last night as a group, so much of the gang partied into the wee hours.  I guess I´m getting older (or maybe that night bus got to me) because I made it home by midnight.

All in all, it was a great Easter and a special memory to have spent it in Santiago.

 

 

Pucon is an outdoor enthusiasts dream town.  The town is made up of mostly tour operators, hotels and restaurants so there's not much to do if you're not interested in getting out of town and into the mountains.  One of the big attractions is the climb up the Villarrica Volcano.  Half our group did that, but I opted for a more relaxed day and later start time and did a hike in the Huerquehue National Park.  The trails in the park were surprisingly well maintained and we enjoyed a couple hours of wandering before relaxing over lunch next to one of the lakes.  Later that night we ventured out to some natural hot springs to help relax our aching muscles.  I've been to several hot springs in the northwest but these were among the nicest I've seen and again surprisingly well maintained with a changing room that even had stairs directly down into the springs.   The rest of my time in Pucon I've spent relaxing at the beach and catching up on the internet.  I went 4 days without touching a computer (probably a record for me in my adult life!) and I have to say, it was just what I needed to recharge from the daily grind of life at home. I think we all need to disconnect like that every once in a while.