National Park

We have survived Chile´s premier national park, Torres del Paine. This park is located at the end of a really long dirt road. We rented a tiny car and were assured it could handle the roads of the park. We began driving by delicately picking our way around potholes and boulders, attempting the perfect strategy for washboard, and stopping dead in our tracks to not be enveloped by the huge plumes of dust kicked up by other vehicles. Readers who are experienced off-roaders are of course thinking, "Idiots. Put the pedal to the metal and go!" Eventually we threw caution to the wind and adopted this attitude with our poor little car. It is hard to convey the experience of these roads. Let´s just say that as we rattled along, my face itched. With all this being said, the park was spectacular. Jagged, snow-capped peaks, mountainous glaciers, bluer than blue icebergs, and sweeping falls were all as magnificent as advertised. We even saw the promised creatures of the park, the fox, llama, ostrich, and flamingo. The weather was cold but clear with impressive visibility. It was a grand adventure.

During part of our visit, we stayed at a high-end hotel (similar to, but not as nice as, the Awahnee in Yosemite). The first morning we came to the dining room for the continental breakfast. We helped ourselves to the buffet where the plates were only slightly bigger than a cup coaster. We took our food and beverages, selected a lovely table with a spectacular view, and started eating. (The view was the picture above.) Then we spot a cursed little sign on our table: HAB 36. Oh no! This is a table reserved for the good people in Room 36. We are Room 21! We glance around and realize OUR reserved table was in the other room. These tables are for the people in the UBER-expensive rooms... We figured we had 2 options: move ourselves into the next room (which would include an outrageous number of coaster-sized dishes necessitating 4-5 trips) or switch the room number sign. Like burglars in the night, we switched the signs and ate our meal in fear of being ousted at any moment. Clearly we are representing America admirably in our travels.

In a few days we will head back to Santiago before flying on to New Zealand!