Dec, 19, north to Santiago

     We got a late start this morning due to a flat tire!  Luckily we spotted it just as we were packed up and ready to head off.  Antonio had a cigarette lighter compressor that did a good job of inflating the tire, but we stopped at the nearest "vulcanization" spot to have it checked.  We watched it all the way to Santiago, but it seems to be OK.   We were hoping to stop at a different winery on the way north, but found many of them are not giving tours any more and those that do don't necessarily have a restaurant.  We had really enjoyed Miguel Torres on the way south, so stopped again for a 4 star meal.  We also visited their wine shop and did a little shopping.  We arrived  at the Holiday Inn Express at 7pm, settled in, drank some of our new wine and then called Beverly and Antonio's daughter, Carolina who lives very close to here for a dinner recommendation.  She sent us to a great little Italian restaurant called TiraMisu.  We were amazed how reasonable the meal was and how good.  We haven't planned tomorrow, so we'll just see what manana brings. Ciao!

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~~~_/)~~~D&M

Before we left the farm this morning, Dan took a few pictures of Trieles, a very noisy and dumb bird that hangs out all around the area. They lay their eggs just about anywhere in the grass and often lose them!

We stopped at Miguel Torres vineyard and restaurant again on the way north, but this time we stopped at the wine shop for some goodies. The Andes somehow seemed closer on the trip north than they did on the way south. Still seeing lots of vineyards.

Friday, the 18th, or last day in the south

     Not a good picture day.  A little gray and cold.  The guys all spent the morning helping Patrick remove the sides of his cattle moving truck so that he could load a large tractor and some more farm equipment to move said to his farm in Renaico.  The girls drove about 40 minutes into the town of Chillan for a last shot at shopping. Chillan is located near Ruta 5, the PanAmerican Highway and also right in the middle of good farmland, so its market place is quite extensive.  We enjoyed the sights and sounds, and smells of the produce market and then moved on the the artisan area and enjoyed it even more.  We had some success and headed home after a quick lunch as a Chilean equivalent of a fast food stop, complete with a playground.
     By the time the girls returned, the guys had gotten Patrick loaded and on his way.  We girls were sorry not to have a chance to say goodby, as he will not be back before we leave tomorrow morning on our way north toward Santiago.  We all spent the afternoon relaxing and reading in the irenic setting in the back yard.  We enjoyed empanitas for cocktails and then has a Chilean staple, Pastel de Choclos for dinner.  Emapanitas are mini empanadas (meat pies) and pastel de choclos is meat (a mixture of chicken and beef in this case) topped with a specially prepared creamed corn and baked.  As usual there were several bottles of Chilean wine, especially Carmenere, served with dinner!  We will hate to leave here tomorrow!   Ciao

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~~~_/)~~~D&M

Life on the farm is idyllic. We are split between the two houses top left, but all the activity is at Beverly and Antonio's house, bottom left. Note the stars of the families, Nala who blends in with the couch bottom right and Uma, asleep in her bed behind the couch.

The girls' shopping trip to Chillan took them throught Viejo Chillan
(Old Chillan) with stately trees forming a canopy over the road.

Dec.17, trip to Saltos del Laja and fishing trip

Today was very warm. We went into the town of Cabrero (about 10 minutes away from the farm) to pick up a few things and to visit a Wifi spot to finally send the last two blog entries. After lunch (another amazing fresh spread by Beverly) Rose (who came for the day only) took us all to see the Saltos del Laja, a famous waterfall. We first viewed it from the bridge across the stream below the falls, then split up. Jay and Pegg adventured up the right (south) side, Rose and Tia Peddie stayed on the bridge and Dan and Martha went down the right side. The water, recently arrived from the melting snow in the Andes, was quite cool, so the closer we got to the falls the cooler it felt. The whole trip only took about an hour, so we all rested under the fruit trees in the yard at the farm and waited until evening to send the guys off on a fishing trip.
Needless to say dinner was late! They finally rolled in around 9 pm and we enjoyed another feast on the patio, WITHOUT any fish! Luckily Antonio had been roasting two chickens on the grill, just in case. David, Patrick's son, who is a doctor working about 30 minutes from here, came to have dinner with us. We finally finished dinner around 10:30pm ....well past Jay and Pegg's bedtime, but they didn't seem to mind. Nitey nite. Bliss clan.

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~~~_/)~~~D&M

The trip to Salto del Laja was cool and refreshing on a very hot day. I particularly liked the sign that read (my translation) "this zone is not adapted for swimming" NO DUH!

Off they went to fish, with all the best gear and intentions. (Note: the middle left picture shows Patrick trying to retreive Dan's only "hit" ...the bottom) Luckily the "catch" was at home all the time, slowly rotating on Antonio's grill. (FYI - you can click on the pictures to open them larger, sorry to only be telling you this now!)

Wednesday, 12-16 trip to Antuco and Laguna Laja

When we returned this afternoon at 5pm, I loaded over 200 pictures on the computer! What an incredible trip. Once again, with Patrick as our guide, we headed off, leaving Tia Peddie to relax with Joan, Beverly and Antonio. We drove east toward the Andes and toward the Laguna Laja, a lake situated just below two volcanic peaks. The lake provides the water to produce electricity for a good portion of Chile. The drive through the valley was pleasant and familiar with lots of farmland and forests, we finally spotted an oxcart, but it was actually drivng through a town, rather than on a farm road or something. We started climbing after we left the town of Antuco as we approached the national park that surrounds the lake. The two volcanic peaks, Antuco (2,900 meters) and Sierra Velluda (3,400 meters) are the highest in this region. The side of Antuco exploded about a million years ago and so the soil around it and all the way back to Cabrero (over 75km) is gray sandy volcanic soil.

One of the objectives today was to see Shangri La a cabin that Joan's family had owned back in the 50's. Jay had visited there often. We found it on our way east and stopped in to see if it was still a restaurant as had been reported by family members. It was, so we made a reservation for 2:30 for lunch hand headed off up the steep barren slopes surrounding the Laja. We felt like we were driving on the moon, ...the landscape was so desolate and gray. BUT the vistas were out of this world. I'm not sure how to pare down the pictures and make them manageable. When we finally reached the Laja we got out to "wet a hook" but only caught one small brown trout. We were glad we had a good lunch to look forward to.

Lunch, served in the living room that both Jay and Patrick remembered was quite good and very large. The girls did a bit of napping on the drive back down. Dinner awaited us here on the farm where Beverly had made hamburgers (and I mean made, she ground the meat and all!) She also made homemade hamburger rolls and TiaPeddie and Joan had made an apricot cobbler that was delicious. We aren't coming home thinner, that's for sure! Off to bed. The Blisses

~~~_/)~~~D&M

It didn't take long for Bliss boys to jump right in and help Patrick get an old tractor running when we reached the farm. Patrick also worked on spraying his cattle to help keep the flies off. Dan is surveying the framework for Patrick's proposed barn. Patrick is quite the farmer, with land here in Cabrero and Renaico and herds in both places.

Only four of the 107 pictures we took of the two volcanos that surround the Laguna Laja, The rugged one is called Sierra Velluda (3,400m) and the more volcanic looking one is called Antuco(2,900). The day was beautiful and the gorse (the yellow bushes) were in full bloom.

These oxcarts were everywhere in the 1950's, so far, we've only seen two.
The Laguna Laja isn't exactly a crater lake because it is beside the volcanos, but it certainly had the feel of being inside a crater, or maybe on the moon. It was calm when we arrived, so the surrounding slopes were reflected in the bluegreen water. We tried our hand at fishing with no luck.

The rivers are not as Dan and Jay remembered them because so much water is diverted to various hydroelectric plants. There still seemed to be plenty of water flowing.

We stopped for lunch at a house remembered as Shangri La, which was formerly a part of Joan's family. We were well fed by the current residents who have turned it into a restaurant. Truly a family style meal! Patrick lamented the loss of the river that ran just below the house - - - now just an empty riverbed due to the diversion of the water to the hydroelectric plants.

Monday and Tuesday, the 14th and 15th

Hardly a picture taken on Monday, too busy shopping! Tia Peddie and
Joan had planned to visit the jewelry store downtown where Tia Peddie
had bought a diamond ring years ago, so Martha and Pegg joined them.
The owner's granddaughter waited on Tia Peddie and took care of
cleaning her ring for her. The ladies then had tea while Pegg and
Martha adventured around downtown. We headed home for lunch and then
Pauline (Patrick's daughter) took Pegg and Martha into Concepcion to
look for more Chilean crafts and the like. We were pretty successful!
We then headed south about 10 miles to visit Joan's cousin, Doreen
McDonald whose brother John had been a friend of Jay's. We wanted to
take everyone out for dinner after the visit, but found that Monday is
not a good night for finding a restaurant open We finally ended up at
the Latitud Sur Microbrewery for a late supper. We finished dinner
around 11 PM.
Tueday morning we all packed up and left Concepcion behind as we
headed to Cabrero where the Clemo farm is located. It had been in
Joan's family for years and now her children each own a part of the
property. There are two houses on the farm, one owned by Maureen and
the other by Beverly. Patrick and Jackie each own parcelas, or pieces
of land. There are enough beds between the two houses for all of us.
Patrick rode with Jay, Pegg, Dan and Martha and arrived in time for a
late lunch. (Rose is still working as school isn't out for a few more
days.) Beverly and Antonio brought Tia Peddie and Joan later in the
afternoon. We spent the afternoon adventuring around the property and
took a long walk to the vegetable garden to pick new potatoes for
dinner. They were delicious - - -served with fresh peas also from the
garden. Days are very long, so we were still sitting around the
dinner table on the porch at 9:30 pm.

~~~_/)~~~D&M

Yesterday, (Monday, 12/14) we spent most of the day shopping but did have time to make a few visits. The first was to Fluffety Grimstich (aka Katherine Knight) the widow of the former headmaster of St. John's school. An amazingly very proper English lady. Second visit was to Joan's younger cousin, Doreen McDonald whose brother was a good friend of Jay's. The flora is in Doreen's garden and is a pomegranate.

Tuesday we headed toward Cabrero, the town where the Clemo family had a very large fundo (until it was confisgated by Allende in the 70s.) We drove past the house that the Bliss family used to visit in the 50's, but it isn't in the family anymore.

One of Patrick's horses foaled last night (the grey one.) The other foal was born three days ago; she belongs to Caco, the man who takes care of the farm when the Clemos are away.

Election Day! Sunday, Dec. 13

Beverly had to leave early to go to the Red Cross where she volunteers. The Red Cross had to supply medical assistance at all 25 polling places in Concepcion. The day started with a great commotion when a voter collapsed and had to be rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately he didn't survive. Things calmed down after that, but she was gone until 5 PM. Patrick and Rose had organized a trip around the area to visit places that the Bliss crew would remember, so we loaded the van and headed to San Pedro to see the Laguna Grande. We are told that it is always windy in San Pedro and today was no exception. The wind was really quite strong and chilly. We did get to watch a Snipe sailing on the lake before heading back across the BioBio to visit the steel mill where Grandpa John had worked. Tia Peddie didn't recognize the new entrance, but as we toured the plant she recognized some of the older buildings.

We had hoped to have lunch in Lenga, but found that all the restaurants were closed due to the election, so we headed back to Patrick and Roses and had another 3 pm lunch, it seems common especially with the days being so long. After lunch and some of Jackie's cake, Dan and Martha dropped Barb off to finish packing and came up the hill to Beverly and Antonio's to wait for news about the election. Antonio took Barb and Carolina (their daughter) to catch the same plane to Santiago.

The polls closed at 5 pm and results began pouring in by 7! Pinera seems to have a good lead, but probably not a majority, so there will probably be a run-off between the top two in February. Turn out is high, because if you don't vote, you get a fine!! All ballots are paper and all the counting of ballots is public. You also get your thumb printed to prevent fraud. Sounds like a good system! Manana, D,M,J,P & Tia P

~~~_/)~~~D&M

We started our day's adventure with a visit to Laguna San Pedro Grande where the Bliss and Clemo families had many picnics. The lake is the same, but the area around it has grown up a lot.

Next stop CAP (Compania Acero Pacifico) where Grandpa John Bliss worked for 7 years. We made Tia Peddie pose in front of the sign while Patrick's daughter, Pauline went in to see if she could arrange a tour. She was successful, so we picked up a guide and were allowed in, but we were told NO PHOTOS and no one could get out of the car. We drove around the whole plant and were glad to see how much recycling they were doing of scrap metal. The CAP plant is in Huachipato, between Concepcion and Talcahuano.

Next we headed for Lenga, the beach area on San Vicente Bay, where we hoped to get lunch and sample one of Christopher's D'FRUT smoothies. We found all the restaurants closed due to the national election today and Christopher had just arrived and was not set up yet. Time to head home for lunch.

Just when you think things really aren't that different here, you drive past a caballero heading down the road.

Lunch was topped off with the choice of one of Jackie's cakes. YUMMY!

Saturday, Dec. 12, Concepcion and environs

Jay and Pegg were off on their own adventure when we left for our shopping trip and Dan and Antonio had headed to the liquor store and hardware store, so it was just Tia Peddie and Martha that accompanied Carolina and Andrea to the gigantic super store called Lider. Tia Peddie needed a few things, including wanting a curling iron. We were unsuccessful in finding her one, so we decided to set her up at the beauty shop to get her hair done while we shopped. I was worried about her doing a lot of walking at the store, so it "killed two birds with one stone" to have her get her hair done. Andrea says that saying translates into Spanish. After shopping, we drove Andrea home and then drove past the new St. John's School which is not located across the river in San Pedro. It is one of several British schools in Concepcion. All Clemo and Bliss children have attended St. John's, but none in the new location.

We came back to Beverly's for a late lunch and then headed to the beach to give Uma, the Pizarro's boxer a chance to run on the beach. The wind was really strong so there were several kite boarders on the sheltered side of the spit. We walked on the windward side for a while then drove up to the top to get a better view.

It was after seven when we returned, but the sun was still high in the sky. There was a flurry of activity here while Beverly and Carolina did most of the work preparing yet another feast. The fresh produce is plentiful and inexpensive, so we have been indulging regularly, I think I average 1 1/2 avocados(paltas) a day. My birthday cake was a tres leches cake. You bake a yellow cake then pour a combination of sweetened condensed milk, cream and evaporated milk over the layers. Then ice it with fresh whipped cream and top with strawberries. Que bueno!! I received a jar or Nescafe Decaf for my birthday! No one drinks decaf here and also almost everyone drinks instant! I had my first cup of coffee after dinner! Tomorrow is the presidential election. Everyone we have talked to believe Pinera will be the best. Here's hoping. Buenos noches.
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~~~_/)~~~D&M

Carolina, Andrea and Martha picked up Barb and Tia Peddie at Joan's house Saturday morning for a trip to the Lider store (recently bought by WalMart) to shop for tonight's dinner.

After our shopping trip we crossed the BioBio to the town of San Pedro to drop Andrea off at her house. We took the opportunity to drive by the new St. John's School. Both Rose and Maureen work there and all the children attended St. John's, but at its old location just a block from Joan's house. Jay, Dan and Barbie also attended at the old location while they lived here. A whole community has built up around the school, so families can live close to their children's school.

After lunch and a short siesta, we headed for the desembocadura (delta) of the BioBio to let Uma, Beverly and Antonio's boxer, go for a run on the black sand beach. Tia Peddie and Barb watched from the car as it was quite windy. We drove to the bluff above the beach to get a good view back toward Concepcion. We saw a quique(sp?) up on top of the bluff. They are in the raptor family.

We all gathered at Beverly and Antonio's house for a celebration of Martha's cumpleanos and a farewell to Barbie who leaves tomorrow. (L to R) Beverly, Jay , Joan, Barbie(below), Martha, Dan, Tia Peddie, Pegg and Patrick.

I thought you should see where I suffer so while writing the blog. What an incredible view out the triangular window at the top of Beverly and Antonio's house where we are staying! All of Concepcion and the Rio BioBio are right there.