Finally made it out of Valparaiso and on to our first overnight stop. Santa Cruz.
This is Pepe, he owns Hostal Del Centro.
He wrote over email that he loves motorcycles
and would let us park in the lobby/garage.
He inherited a S.A.N. sticker of approval.
(zoom in or wait, there will be plenty more)
Had a delicious meal at a nearby restaurant, Social Club.
Then back to the hostal to dial in the bike a bit more.
The next day we headed to Chillan.
Stopped for lunch at the Gran Hotel.
It's pink. No photo of the hotel but I discovered on the prix fixe menu....
Chile has their own version of a poutine.
French Fries, grilled onions, all kinds of meats chopped up
and a light gravy of peppers.
Voila!
We got to sit in an Air Conditioned room and boy did we like it.
My Cafe came in this fun cup that has a motorcycle rider
and his passenger in a side car.
This sweet thing loved my bike.
I asked him to pose for a photo.
Then on to another little town.
Have no idea what the name was.
But went into a Helado shop and met these two sweet ladies.
They too inherited a S.A.N. sticker of approval.
Made it to a famous waterfall outside of town and
found what is quite possibly the worst camp site ever.
The night brought all kinds of drama.
Lightening.
Thunder.
Serious thunder but no rain.
Just a little sprinkle in the morning.
My tent is the dry one in the back on the right.
Spring water fed pools glowed green.
This made me think of what a Turkish prison outhouse must look (and smell like).
There was hot water through (between the critical hours of 7-9pm)
Just close your eyes and imagine you are somewhere else.
Here is the waterfalls, sans mobs of tourists in the morning.
Another little town.
Hot hot hot.
Chile looks so much like California.
Last stop. Pucon and our first lake.
Rented this nifty cabin up on the hill.
My room.
Downstairs.
Under Dan's room and his super creaky bed.
Didn't hear it the first night.
Wished I would have worn ear plugs the second night.
Kitchen. Cooked scrambled eggs.
Rode up to the volcano.
It was puffing out smoke.
I was playfully mimicking an eruption.
Well 2 days later....it did erupt.
These 2 guys headed right up it.
The deck on the right also inherited a sticker.
Literally living within stone's throw of volcano.
Next day took off around yet another lake.
Stopped at a gas station and fascinated a few people on a bus.
Took a photo with one lady, she got a S.A.N. card with my email.
Hope she sends the photo.
Gorgeous volcano's everywhere.
Shortly after this rode a little bit of unexpected dirt.
Yep another paved road on the map.
It was easy dirt....well at the time it didn't feel that way.
But compared to the gravel road from hell later, it was.
On to Valdivia where we met this nice guy from Australia that needed motorcycle parts.
I had read that this city was settled mostly by Germans.
So I expected to be able to find some decent German food.
Hausmann.
Ordered these massive ham hock pieces.
Fed me for a couple of days they did.
This was after the gravel road from hell.
The "mapo" said pavmiento.
Pulled into Fortuno.
We spent a little more time there than we planned.
But then again, almost nothing goes according to plan.
Cool bar inside.
Super, duper comfy bed.
That is until about 11 pm when I heard a champagne cork from the next room.
Then some thump, thump, thump.
At least it drowned out the dogs barking all night.
The nice lady did my laundry.
After 2 dirt roads my black gear was disgusting.
When she gave it to me the next morning, she commented about how heavy it was.
And THAT'S not even with the survival and personal gear attached.
We took off and when we pulled to the side of the road,
this hawk was pretty close and maybe a bit hungry.
Well the next episode has us going to the Suzuki dealer in Orsorno so Dan could get lower footpegs.
Imagine sitting at a kindergarden desk all day, that's how his original ones felt.
And Doug, well he needed a part that they didn't have.
Ate next door and ordered a whole chicken to go.
Turns out at lunch, Doug realized he didn't have his neck pouch with his passport and money.
Back to Furtono (I think I've spelled it wrong again)
Went back to the hotel, no luck.
Went to the police station and filled out a report.
This sweet carabineros (police officer) took a sticker too.
He loved my horns.
Then headed to the other side of the lake where as it turns out was a summer party that night.
Complete with fireworks...
It was tricky getting up the steep, uneven, rough driveway.
But what a VIEW.
Inside of cabin.
This bunk was mine.
Pretty sure there were bugs.
Kept feeling biting all night.
Yuck.
And expensive.
The party was a live band on the water front.
This guy was super funny.
Really took pride in his skewers.
We call Dan, the delicate flower yet he braved street food.
Empanada's baking.
This man was so adorable.
Selling his little bag of nuts.
Walked around the next morning....
This guy looks like a descendant of the kiwi.
They were walking around, pushing their long beaks into the soft ground.
And this lovely girl.
Her tail started thumping as soon as I neared.
Headed to the next lake.
Fishery.
And up and up and up to another volcano.
This time the Orsorno.
This fox came out after everyone else left looking for food.
Gorgeous, twisty roads.
Rode the lift.
It was eerie with the clouds and fog.
Knowing that we were spitting distance to yet another active volcano.
It was pretty cold so stopped for some hot chocolate.
Next it was time for lunch. Puerto Varas.
Rain started. Just a light sprinkle.
I didn't look upon it with dread as I usually do.
Luke mailed the excellent rain gear I bought in Bulgaria for a lot of money.
Rode in the rain (light) twice now and not a drop gets in.
This is the restaurant.
Some kind of pork ribs in sauce with apples.
And oh my gosh, what is that????
Vegetables?
What? No potatoes?
No french fries?
Real, veggies!
The food was delicious.
We were burning daylight (meaning running out of time to get to our final destination of Ancud) but this very helpful lady at the restaurant made numerous calls and checked many websites trying to help us locate a place to stay near the Penguin area with a safe place to park the bikes.
She was just AWESOME.
Started riding down the toll freeway south and met up with this guy.
He and his lady were returning from a motorcycle rally similar to Sturgis.
They made sure the ferry operator didn't rip us off.
He tried to charge me $12K (that's about $20 US)
But it was only $7K.
The ferry inherited a S.A.N. sticker.
(which we saw on the way back)
My room.
And Doug futsing with his bike again.
Its like how I love to putter.
Picked it up from dad.
Putterer!
Backed the bikes into the garage.
This is where we started to discover how places turn off the wifi at 10pm!
But on to Penguin Porn.
A man with a mini van picked us up.
Good thing too as we didn't know the road there,
nor did we want to leave the bike unattended.
It was light rain in the morning but cleared up.
That's me at the prow of the ship.
The islands are protected reserve.
The lady with us lives right there and is 5th generation.
That's our boat.
Penguins falling into water.
And frolicking.
These buggers were cute as heck.
These were some cool birds.
Well that's it for now.
Let's see.
We HATE the interstates....toll, toll, blink blink, oh wait anther toll.
Chile turns off the internet at night wherever you go.
There is no trash on the side of the road, very clean.
The people seem very honest but let me tell you, not one of them speaks English.
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