Torture by Potato Chips

Our friend Jhan is a self-proclaimed potato chip junkie. If his wife Tiffany would let him, he would probably eat Doritos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That being said, there are always bags of chips around when Jhan is road tripping. Luckily for the rest of us, he is also very good at sharing. After the group polished off a huge bag of Cheesey Poofs one particularly satisfying afternoon, Tara declared, "That's IT! Not another chip will touch my lips for the rest of this trip!" She stuck to her statement throughout dinner, when the rest of us were enjoying corn chips with fresh guac. The next day, though, she found herself squished into the backseat with Brett and Jhan for a fairly long leg of the journey. You can imagine the big-brother like teasing that ensued. Here is a photo of Brett and Jhan torturing Tara by devouring several bags of potato chips right next to her. When you're looking at the photo, be sure to imagine all the comments they were making like, "Mmmmmmmmmm, these are the best chips I have ever tasted...they're so crunchy!" Nice pinky lift, Jhan...how refined.

Los Lagos

Brett and Tiff cooling off from the hot springs in the icy cold river

While I was all blissed out on the beach in Pichilemu, Brett bussed down to the Lakes District to meet up with our friends, Jhan and Tiffany, who are also teachers at Nido. When I got back from Pichi, I flew down to meet up (along with another friend, Tara) and the 5 of us had a ridiculously silly week, road tripping through the Lakes District and laughing our heads off most of the time. We camped every night and swam in the crystal clear water by day. I can't think of the last time I felt about 12 years old and so carefree! Jhan and Tiff had already been on the road for a month and a half straight, camping every night in an effort to see the southern part of the country. Their car was loaded down with gear, gear, and more gear. Add to that 3 bikes and 5 people, and you're talking a pretty tight squeeze! I think we weighed down the car a bit more than we realized, which eventually led to a disasterous creek crossing, followed by some time spent at a dusty mechanic shop. They patched us up with what was essentially a rubber band and told us that we "should probably be fine to try to make it back to Sangiago...maybe". We're here now, which means we obviously made it back in one piece. We returned just in time for Jhan and Tiffany to spend one night at home before heading back out to climb El Plomo, a nearby peak which towers somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 feet. Brett and I came back to Santiago to meet up with our friends from Carbondale, Dave & Shannon and their 2 kids.

The Sweet Spot

During our travels in the Lakes District we hopped around, camping each night at a different lake. There was one however, that outshone the rest. The campsite was ideal--there were shady spots to hang the hammock, our own private beach to lounge on, and a lake that was the perfect temperature for swimming. We came out of the lake pretty much only to eat, read, and nap. It made for a very relaxing few days. The only problem occurred when I realized the necklace Brett always wears was missing. It was a handmade gift from our friends in Hawaii, Eldred and Ancelyn, so it has a lot of sentimental value. Tara and I decided to go on a quest to find goggles in the tiny little town nearby and start searching for the necklace on the bottom of the lake. Growing up in the Midwest, I was used to lakes that are murky and mucky and where you're lucky if you can see your hand in front of your face. I felt certain that since this lake was so clear, we would find the necklace if we just looked long enough. But alas, after much searching, it was given up for lost. I did include a photo of Tara in the very stylish goggles, though. They have since been retired to the Halloween costume box.

The Sweet Spot also came with a little stray kitty that we managed to tame with some warm milk and late night cans of tuna. McFriskers, as our camp mascot became affectionately known, almost found himself traveling back to Santiago to make a new life in our apartment. We figured this beach bum kitty would be terribly upset with us if we moved him into an apartment in the city, so he's still roaming the beaches, searching for sucker Gringo tourists like us who feed him whatever he wants.