Elephant rocks, bug bites, and the House of Rocks

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. 

Lucky 2013

New Year's, for some reason, is one of my favorite celebrations.  Something about the sense of ending and beginning, fresh starts, nostalgia, glitter, glasses shaped like numbers, and champagne (which I normally dislike). Strangers and friends all have the idea in common that the past year should not only end with a bang,  but the coming year should start that way.  2012 was such a crazy and far from boring year for us.  We rang in 2012 with friends in Midland for the first time in years, as the both of us normally made a point to travel for the New Year even before we were "we".  That was a perfect start to our non-normal year.  

Highlights of 2012: (A year in mostly cellphone  pictures, and things we forgot to document)

A  Color Run with way more mud than color.  It was also more of a trudge than a run per-say.

A family wedding within hours of said "Color mud run trudge"

We got "god children" in the form of two beyond precious Garza twins.  

The kids got a Sweepstakes!!

Michael went on his first band trip... also I made a t-shirt for the kids that said "#bandswag".

I quit my job of 5 years because we decided to move to Chile.  I said goodbye to my co-workers.  Michael quit his job a couple months later.  

We watched a lot of baseball... 

We celebrated 2 years of marriage with Daffy and Knights.

Michael wore this shirt for the 4th of July... because it was decreed that this shirt has no business existing any other day of the year.  

We moved out of our house and put everything we own in a storage unit. 

We spent the summer hanging out with these guys and their parents.  I willed them to crawl before we left, but  obviously they hit that developmental stride about two days after we left.  

There were many other events in the first half of 2012, most of which involved working too much and then watching the Olympics in August when we were no longer working.  Mainly 2012 was the year where we made the decision to go a new direction for awhile.  We left our  first home, and then they rented it for literally 3 times the amount we were paying monthly. You can pick up on the other highlights of 2012 by flipping backwards in the blog.  Also, there is this picture of my sister:

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You're welcome.

Ringing in 2013 with the family in the "party area" between the houses was perfect.  The weather was warm, the wine flowing, and the cumbias blaring.  We ended our "non-normal" year in fantastic fashion, with great people... and there were masks and weird glasses that we bought from the girl selling them in front of her house down the street (talk about service).  

There was dancing....

                                     

There was hugging...

There were masks, wigs, and party favors....

There was vino....

There was Isabella falling out of a chair... 

                                   

And there was family...complete with the crazy cat in this picture.

Last year we sent "New Year's Cards" wishing everyone a Leapy Leap year... mainly because I doubt I'll ever get it together enough to send Christmas cards out on time.  Consider this our New Year's Card wishing you a Lucky 2013!  

Love, Meghann and Michael

Coastal Bliss

Between Christmas and the New Year, we took a tour o f some coastal towns with the whole Zenteno clan.  This is one of those posts where the pictures can do most of the talking.   

Our First stop was the Port in San Antonio, where we fed fish heads to sea lions, which actually meant we fed fish heads to the creepy Pelicans-- turns out those fellows are much faster than their "Lobo Marino" (sea wolf) friends.

We stopped off at the "Tomb of the Poet" in Cartagena for a short hike in flip flops (for me at least... Thanks Blas) and a great view.  

We continued North towards Isla Negra, where we visited one of Pablo Neruda's houses.  The house had beautiful views along with interesting knick knacks from Neruda's collection.  After the tour, we played on the beach rocks, Tommy hunting for crabs.

With Neruda's head.

We made our way to Valparaiso for the night.  We stayed in a cute German hostel atop Cerro Alegre, which offered the first "hostel" experience to some of the family and a great view of the port (especially at night).   It seems like everywhere along Chile's coast offers "great views", the hills probably help. 

The following day we visited another of Pablo Neruda's houses in Valpo.  San Sebastiana, you guessed it, gave us a stunning view of the eccentricities of colored houses, windy streets, and cargo ships.  The house is 5 stories high, the top floor serving as Neruda's study.  There certainly was no lack of inspiration from picture he saw outside of his window. 

Not the best translation work guys...

We walked through the Museo Abierto made up of beautiful street art, both officially a part of the "museum" and added at leisure.  Since Valparaiso is positioned on coastal cliffs, we definitely got our exercise, and through our struggled breathing, we came to the conclusion that no fat people live there... none.
Everything is a piece of art in the streets of Valparaiso, and although it is a little "down and dirty", I find it beyond charming.

After being on the coast, yet NOT playing on the beach, we made our way up to Con Con, where we enjoyed a seafood lunch, and hung out on Playa Negra for awhile.  Notice how it just never gets ugly... sigh.

Isabella nailing Michael with mud.

Ahh sunshine, water and family.  It was a great (and new) way to spend that week between Christmas and New Year's which is normally spent locked in the house recovering from the past semester.