After we successfully made it to 2013, we took another short trip with the whole Zenteno clan before they headed back to the states. We headed South through Wine-country, and although not much about the trip went according to plan, we had a great time.
We stopped in Santa Cruz to visit the Colchague Museum, which was one of the best museums I have ever been to. It was full of history about not only Chile, but many ancient civilizations, and it also included a new exhibit dedicated to the Chilean Miner Rescue in 2010. This museum is a definite must-see if you are ever in the area.
We planned to visit a vineyard, but apparently you needed a reservation. Oops. I took this picture in the parking lot. We'll save the tour for another time.
We made our way down to Constitucion, whose name you may recognize from the huge earthquake a couple years ago. Constitucion suffered the most damage since it was close to the epicenter. We stayed the evening in a recently built (post earthquake) cabin with a lovely view OUT of Tsunami range. Unfortunately the night in this cabin left me with a whole hot mess of bug bites that still haven't completely disappeared.
Constitucion isn't a huge tourist destination, but the following morning we did make our way to the coast to see where the fresh water river meets ocean, and massive rock formations.
Footprints in the sand
Because apparently a dead bird carcass that is stinking up the beach says "Come closer to me!"
That is some COLD water.
All of the Zenteno's like to pose with dead things.
Piedra Elefante
When we returned to Santiago, we took Tommy to his first "Hash"which happened to be in the small Beach town of El Quisco. All of the hashers traveled together by bus to "the house with the best view in El Quisco" for a run through the woods, along the beach, and a "polar bear swim" in which a bunch of Gringos ran at the ice cold water while dodging the stares and beach umbrellas of the confused Chileans.
Brotherly love.
The following morning, at stupid o'clock, for whatever reason, we thought it would be a good idea to go hiking. It wasn't. It was hot, we were tired from the running and shenanigans the night before, and we didn't REALLY know where we were going (as we were at the mercy of a certain father-in-law, who said he knew they way). :). We never made it to the House of Rocks, but we did get decent views of Santiago, rip holes in our shorts, draw blood, and almost fall of the non-trails multiple times. As a person who normally enjoys this type of thing, I believe my direct quote to those who asked how it went was, "I don't know that I could have enjoyed anything less." While looking back, that may have been a little dramatic, I doubt that is something I will do again, and we made Blas buy beer... lots of beer.
Pretending to have fun...
Not pretending to have fun..
It was a great visit from the Zenteno's and we miss them dearly since their departure. We definitely enjoyed the little taste of home before embarking on the rest of our time here in Chile.
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