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.