Home again, home again

The siblings and I made it safely back to the states on Friday night. Since then, I've been packing, satisfying a month long craving for peanut butter, French toast, and ketchup, and battling an annoying head cold that caught up with me. Today I drive to Yellowstone and jump right into work tomorrow. I'll post some pics of the trip when I get settled into the new job.

The Armpit of Chile

So, if you ever decide that a slow paced wander up the coast of Chile toward Valapraiso sounds like a good idea don´t start your voyage in Cartegena. The guide book claimed that Cartagena had a special ¨soul.¨ I think they meant ¨sole¨as in the sole of my shoe afer I just took a run through a dog park. Seriously, don´t go to Cartagena.* Why you ask?
1. The town hobby seems to be rubbernecking at tourists, especially blonde and red haired ones.
2. The restuarant promoters are far more persistent even though their establishments are more shabby.
3. The town is small, but packed with taxis constantly honking at you in hopes you want to go somewhere.
4. The populace seems unable to understand simple directions, such as ¨dos noches.¨
5. The whole town has a feel like and X-files episode where the outward look is a facade to cover up some devlish cult that will eventually entrap you in order to use your body to incubate their alien overlord.

I could go on, but I won´t. The one day we spent near Cartagena was a few miles north in Isla Negra at the home of Pablo Neruda. This town had a great vibe. Our arrival today at Vina Del Mar has been a relief, even the weather is better. Our taxi cab driver gave us a discount and the hotel guy spoke slow enough so we could understand what he was saying for a change.**


*Cartagena is in no way representative of the rest of Chile. In fact it seems to be the exception to the rule that the Chilean people are welcoming, friendly, and the country is a pleasure to travel in.
** He informed us that people named ¨Mateo,¨in Chile, the Spanish version of Matt which I quite like, are nerds and when asked to go out and party say that they have too study.

A bit more relaxation

So the volcano climb went well, especially since our guide Klaus the German was quite a character. I think the ride up to the volcano in his white van was more dangerous than anything on the volcano. There was no liquid magma, just a lot of noxious smoke. We also did some good old fashioned relaxing in Pucon, where the volcano was. Fortunately it is offseason here, so happy hour at some places runs from 7:00-1:00am. The best deal going is the 2 for 1 ¨schop grande¨or big draught beer. Plus I enjoyed some of my first pisco, which is an alcohol made from grapes that tastes somewhat less sweet than rum, but without the bite of whiskey. The drink of choice is the pisco sour, but with its high price, the piscola (not pronounced piss cola, but with a long ï¨I found out) is a better option. Yesterday, B and I headed north for the next leg of our journey. We spent 9 hours in a bus, and were eventually just let out on the side of the interstate at our scheduled stop. Apparently it was not a scheduled stop at an actual bus station. We eventually found our way to the bus station and caught another bus to the coast. This bus was packed, and I had to stand for part of the trip. Fortunately there were TVs that played Ël Mariachi¨and some kickin´Buce Springsteen live performances. He really hit his stride with ¨Born in the USA.¨ We arrived in Pitchelemu at 10:45 and found a place to stay. We are right near the beach, which is great. We surfed for 2 hours today. I should say that I tried to surf. I did get up on the board once or twice, but as B put it ït´s all survival surfing for us.¨ Most of the time I spent trying to avoid getting thrashed by waves. It was fun, though because it is so novel. Plus we plan on drinking 40´s on the beach this evening, and the thrashing from surfing will make the beer taste better. And more relaxing is on the way in the upcoming week. I´ve been extremely happy with the first month of my 29th year on this planet spent traveling, but I´m feeling my age a bit. I think I´ll be able to predict the weather with my right knee when I get back. Sweet.

I can´t resist

I just can´t resist, it is chilly in Chile. At least down south. The bro and I are in a town called Pucon. It´s kind of the epicenter for outdoor pursuits. Almost every business in town is a combination Internet cafe and guide service. Most of the guided trips are for fishing, climbing, rafting, hot springs, biking, caving, and my personal favorite the ¨hidrospeed.¨ The hidrospeed is described as a ¨water sleigh¨that you ride down churning rivers. Basically it is a foam board of sorts three or four feet long and a couple wide that you lay on with your upper body. Your lower body hangs off the back and you wear fins. You then ride this thing down rapids. We are actively looking into going on this guided trip if for no other reason that it sounds so random and I want to say that I´ve been on a ¨water sleigh.¨ We are also planning on ascending to the top of the local volcano Villarico with Klaus the German. We´ve heard that there may be liquid hot magma at the top. Fishing may also be on the docket.

The first 10 days here have been good. The main event was our 8 day trek in Torres del Paine national park. We attempted to do a trail called the ¨Circuit.¨ The trail was officially closed, but that doesn´t really mean much around here. We got three days into it but were then unable to make it over the pass to the other part of the trail. The snow was waist deep, it was raining, and our progress was so slow that we had to turn back. Fortunately we found a shack at one of the closed campground with a fireplace in it made out of an old 55 gallon drum. We managed to put the chimney back together and light a fire so that we could dry out in relative comfort rather than be in the tent. We then headed the 2 days back toward the trailhead and did a great day hike on day 7 to the Towers, or Torres. There was apparently a flash flood in the lower part of the park while we were attempting to cross the pass. So, we had to cross lots of engorged streams that had washed out their small foot bridges. We made if over these with little problem outside of wet boots. Overall we accomlished our goal of getting out for a good backpacking trip and having a true Patagonian experience (meaning intense weather of all sorts...lots of rain, snow, sleet, really strong winds, and a little sun)

The old and the new

As I type, it is the calm before the storm. I'm enjoying some CO sunshine on the back porch of my and and uncle's house in D-town. The birds are chirping and the trees are budding. I'm packed and ready to head to Chile. I've made my list and checked it more than twice. If I've forgotten anything it must be an insubstantial item like toothpaste. Tomorrow the storm starts. I fly out at 3ish to Atlanta from whence I depart overnight to Santiago. From there the trip continues south for several more hours on a plane and finally a bus to end the trip approximately 28 hours after I left. That thought is a little overwhelming.

A couple good distractions have kept my mind from the upcoming marathon of travel. One is new and one is old.

The New: The Raconteurs just released a new album called Consolers of the Lonely. Jack White continues to be his versatile, eclectic musical self and the album has some good new songs. There are a few grating moments that I think will grow in appeal over time as good music often does. The i-pod is getting rested up for a marathon as well.

The Old: Star Wars Episodes V and VI were on the TV last night. It has been some time since I've had the pleasure of sitting down and watching them. Once again they proved to weather the test of time and leave me appreciating their greatness. Han Solo is still a badass, Luke still manages to make you like him despite is wining, Lando is still the smoothest operator around, Chewie still makes a great sidekick, and Leia's hair still rocks. Quality story and believable acting...what a novel combination.

Off I go to a land far, far away...

Egad

I've finally managed to muster the gumption to make a blog post and upload some pics to flickr. Finally. I'm crediting the emergence of spring's rejuvenating warmth and cheer as the goad that has awoke me from blogging hibernation. The last few weeks have been full.

I finished my volunteer time at Mt. Rushmore to great thanks and appreciative murmurs from supervisors and colleagues. I believe that the decision to volunteer has paid off and will continue to do so. The big wigs at Mt. R. were very supportive of my efforts and pledged to help throw their weight behind my attempts to break into permanent status. I even received a medal of sorts from the biggest of the big wigs.

Despite the accolades from the many bosses I had at Mt. R., the best confirmation of the benefits of volunteering I had came in the form of a job offer from none other than Yellowstone National Park. The position is seasonal still, but it is based in Mammoth Hot Springs at the northern entrance to the park. The combination of Yellowstone and Mammoth is basically my career version of a wet dream so I'm quite happy to be making it a reality. It could only be one-upped by a permanent job there. I'll be leading guided hikes, giving talks, and working at the visitor center. I have a growing list in my head of all the hikes I want to do and hatches that I want to fish. And there's a certain place called the K-Bar that has a pool table that is calling my name.

I'm in Denver as I write this post, holding the fort down at an aunt and uncle's house while they travel abroad. Their house is a convenient embarking point for several upcoming journeys. Tomorrow I am heading to Moab, Utah for some sun and biking. Upon my return to Denver I am preparing for my departure to Chile on the 14. I also just returned from a visit to cousins M and G in Seattle. G and I made a backcountry ski trip into the Cascades. The trip featured great scenery, great snow and weather conditions, a long trudge into camp pulling a sled, and gourmet eating backcountry style made possible by the sled. I was also given a fantastic tour of Seattle that included gourmet cupcakes, the San Juan islands, sushi, the Pike Place Market, Ballard, and of course some good coffee. As Another Kind of Nerd put it "Washington's cool."

I'll now return to planning and looking forward to Chile.

Flying time

Time has really been flying around here lately. All of a sudden it's March and I only have one month of work and permanent SD residence left. How did that happen? I've spent a lot of energy trying to think of ways to occupy my time until the festivities and adventures of spring travel and summer (paid) work come along. Well, apparently thinking of things to do has taken up a fair bit of my "doing" time. But, in between the creation of to do lists, pro and con lists, and flow charts I have managed to do a few fun things. I've found two, count 'em two, sushi places in RC that have surprisingly good sushi given the proximity of an ocean. I became a beer-pong champion and subsequently convinced myself that I not only could, but should sing The Righteous Brother's "Unchained Melody" for karaoke. I've become a member of Netflix and watched a lot of DVDs on my computer. Who knows, I might even get rid of my VCR and buy a DVD player. I've applied for shit tons of seasonal jobs and received some attractive offers. The Chile trip prohibits me from taking most of them, but Yellowstone and the Tower are still on the list of possibilities. I've assisted in brewing a batch of "Belgian Tripel" - review to come in three more weeks of fermentation.

From here on out to the end of March there promises to be more planning as I'm squeezing in a backcountry snowboard trip for the first week of April and then Chile will be looming. At least travel planning is fun.