Z Pack

Azithromycin!! After seeing a doctor in Palm Springs the first day back and determining I had a sever bronchial infection I took the above medication and now feel like a million bucks! the chicken soup did not hurt either. Now we are into our "get in shape" phase and joining a gym for the next 6 weeks. Walking the dog four times a day won't hurt either. Lilly is quickly realizing there is a new act in her regimen each day. So far so good; she has taken to us pretty well. this is a wonderful place to plan our next venture which is a transatlantic cruise stopping in Bermuda, the Azores, Lisbon, Seville, Granada, and Barcelona. It is very pleasant homework and I recommend it for all. Our trip cost 450 each with a 100 offset for gratuities for a 14 day trip!!! that's cheaper than staying home. Cruises have become much better over the years and now the entertainment is so outstanding you really have something to look forward to each night. the people you meet on the cruises are terrific, and why not...your all on vacation! But we have been extremely fortunate in the people we have met on the last two cruises. So many interesting backgrounds, so many accomplished careers and proud parents and grandparents. It is always great to get another person's point of view on life, travel, etc. so we look forward to the next portion of our journey. We have decided that the nomadic life suits us fine so we have extended the lease of our wonderful tenants who will be back in September for another year!! So if Deanne's fingers hold up you will have plenty to read in the future! In the meantime we will continue to shed light on the fun and the foibles of travel. A new addition to necessary items for the next part of the trip is....Z PACK!!!!!!
Enjoy!!
Mike

Sometimes only your own bed will do

We love this little lodge in the Chilean wine country, but as wonderful as it is, it's not home. Mike's cough that won't quit is hanging on, so we have changed our plans. We are flying home tonight instead of Friday night. Even though we don't really have our own bed for him to crawl into (given that it is rented along with the house until mid May) we have a bed waiting for us in Palm Springs. A mother-in-law's guest bed will just have to do. He misses being able to have chicken soup and hot tea when he wants- things you can't do as easily when you are staying in a remote country lodge. Last night when we explained to the manager here that we were leaving early to have more familiar surrounding for Mike to get well in, she went into the kitchen and asked the chef to whip up some homemade chicken noodle soup for him. He looked like an ecstatic little boy tucking into that wonderful soup. It is the first thing he has eaten in days. He forecasts that once he is home for a day or two nothing will satisfy him as much as a wonderful IN AND OUT burger.

Today is another gorgeous warm sunny day here and we are set to enjoy it as much as we can. We will set out mid-day to make the three hour trek to the Santiago airport. All of the flights from here to the US fly out in the late evening, so we don't take off until just before midnight. We fly all night and arrive in Dallas ten hours later, with the time change at 6:30 AM. Then, one more flight and we're back to Southern California. I know my mother is frantic with last minute house selling and six-week-trip-packing so I am hopeful she will accept our help with things and not be burdened with our early arrival.

I will continue writing in the blog for a bit when we get to Palm Springs and let you know how it is back in the USA. It may get boring reading about us worshipping the washer and dryer, the huge goregeous aisles of the grocery store, the marvelous stacks of books (in English!) at the library and the friendly chit chat in ENGLISH with strangers we meet. If you tune out to reading while we are in California we will understand. Log back in during April though so you can read about the transAtlantic cruise and Northern Spain, our destination after Palm Springs.

Deanne

Not Another Wine Tour!

You have to feel sorry for us...we are negotiating with each other about whether or not we can take on another wine tour. Apparently the Chilean wineries don't really host wine tastings at the wineries like they do in Napa, they arrange tours with tastings that follow. You must book ahead to make sure there is room in the group and an English speaking guide. We have done two Chilean wine tours, one that we arranged in advance after learning the ropes and another that we accidently happened to arrive at the winery just as an English language tour with room was starting out. Due to Mike's illness we didn't go on any in Argentina. In New Zealand we stopped at a few wineries for tastings but not tours. The most recent tour included a horse drawn wagon ride through the vineyards before stopping at the production facitilies for the tour, then a ride back to the tasting room. Charming.

So, now we have heard about the most prstigious winery in the area. Owned by one of the French family that makes Grand Marnier. Beautiful winery up on a hill with supposedly stunning wines. However this place charges $40 US for the tour instead of the typical $10 or so. Our big dilema is to tour or not to tour. After the last one we had decided we were finished. That was before hearing about this winery. Check out there website http://www.closapalta.cl and cast your vote here. Another wine tour or not?

Our lodge is full this weekend for the first time since we have been here. There is a group of about ten Americans here on some organized trip that involved leaving here at 8:30 this morning on bikes for some horrendously long bike ride, followed by showers somewhere, then lunch and a bus trip back. Several planes landed in the landing strip in front of the lodge yesterday, so we suppose they avoided the three hour drive here from Santiago by flying in. We overheard them talking about the river rapids trip they were taking when they get to Mendoza, Argentina. It made us feel like slackers, but happy ones. Sure glad we don't have to do anything today but decide whether or not to do another wine tour some other day in the future.

Resting quite comfortably in Chile,
Deanne

The Party's Over

You know that vacation must be coming to an end when you start to think about all of things you have to do. Mike paid bills today (he does that about once a week using our bank's on-line check paying service) and I exchanged e-mails with my sister about arrangements for our arrival back in California next week. We will be dog sitting for five weeks when we get to Palm Springs while my mother and sister go on a cruise through Asia. They are packing and getting ready and if that wasn't enough, my mother sold the family homestead this month and is closing escrow at the end of this week. She is packing her clothes for the trip and twenty-five years worth of accumulated belongings that are going to the new house where we will be staying. Originally the house was closing after her return and we were going to help pack, but it got moved up and she is doing it as she prepares for the trip.

There are certain things you can't do from the road no matter how helpful friends and family are. Our daughter-in-law, Dana has been opening our mail and sending us notes about our bills which has allowed us to keep up with them on the road. Things that haven't been possible:

1) the car came up for re-registration which requires a Washington exhaust emission test. The car is in Palm Springs awaiting our arrival. It will have expired tabs by the time we get it back up to Seattle for that emissions test. Let's hope we don't get pulled over.

2) the IRS sent a letter saying I goofed on the 2006 return and owe more money. I'm saving that little mess to untangle when we get home. Not to mention the 2007 tax return I get to screw up in the next month.

3) Mike has another trip to the doctor and pharmacy when we get back. We planned touchdowns in the US for every three months in order to refill the heart transplant medicines.

4) Working out is probably possible when you are on a six month round-the-world trip, however in our case it was unlikely. We needed our merciless trainer, Rose around to keep us on track when we lacked self discipline. We need to restart our workouts when we get back.

This morning we woke up with the thought that it is our last Saturday on the road for awhile (assuming that dog sitting in Palm Springs is not really on the road albeit it is not at home). What a Saturday it has been though! Warm and sunny. After breakfast of a fruit plate (sandia/watermelon; peach and something we could not identify) and two fried eggs with dark rich coffee con leche we sat out by the pool and read for awhile. Then we drove into town where a little town fair was going on. We went to three prospective ATMs before we found one that would replenish our meager cash funds. Then we walked around the little booths of crafts and barbequing meat. We had lunch at our little Peruvian restaurant where the entire staff came out to greet us. An hour nap, a little internet, some more pool time and then dinner. Life is good. Even if it is the last Saturday before we leave South America.

Deanne

Final Stop- Valentine's Day in Chile's Wine Country

As we checked out of the Hyatt we were reminded why we didn't stay at such hotels this trip....while wonderful, it was a very expensive two day stay. Our three day stay in the country helped to balance the price, and since we didn't eat anything except crackers and cheese from the supermercado while we were there that was the cheap part of our Argentina stay.

We had a 1:00 flight which went over the Andes to Santiago in half an hour. After clearing customs in Chile for the third time this trip, we rented our car and headed out on the drive to the wine country. The Avis folks helped us with a shortcut to the highway that allowed us to skip downtown Santiago...that was a treat after driving through it so many times on the last trip here.

We got to the Inn at about 4:45 where the kind staff made us feel like long lost frineds. It is 5:30 and we are enjoying our free internet out on the back deck. It is probably about 80 depgrees and clear and beautiful. With the exception of Rio, we have had exceptionally beautiful weather. It is good to be back at this wonderful part of Chile that we enjoyed so much on the last visit.

We have CNN again. Mike is a happy political junkie once again.

Deanne

Don't cry for me Argentina

Today is our final day in Argentina. We have loved Argentina and the people we have met. Unforutnately we did not get to explore Mendoza like we would have liked due to the bug that laid Mike up, but we have definately put a return trip on our list of things to accomplish in the future. This is a beautiful place and the prices are so reasonable that another trip to Argentina is a sure thing. We want to take Spanish classes at home to imrpove our ability to communciate with these friendly people. As in Europe, the children are all learning to speak English in the schools, but it would be nice to try and meet people in their own language.

Tomorrow we take off for Chile. When we planned this trip months ago we could only get a roundtrip ticket into and out of Santiago, Chile with our frequent flyer points. So, we started and end our South American trip in Chile. Although there are lots of places that remain to be seen in Chile, we so enjoyed the Central Valley wine country that we have booked our final week in the same place we stayed a week in January. I think the manager of the place was surprised to have us back so soon, but it seemed to be a happy surprise.

After that week we are off to Palm Springs until April 11 for our house/dogsitting adventure. It will be nice to be in the US for awhile to take care of the things we have not been able to do while we have been gone...doctor's visits, pharmacy, car emissions testing, tax returns, etc.

We are off to take a walk. Later,
Deanne

Mixing Politics and Rest

Everyone who knows Mike knows how much he loves politics. If ever there was a time for him to be down with a cold/flu, it is during elections when he can stay tuned to the election results. This only works if there is CNN or an equivalent available. Our country hacienda had CNN, so for the three days we were there recuperating from the bug that got him, he watched election returns. I am amazed at the number of television hours that can be dedicated to election returns and the analysis provided by various pundits. We watched it all, and there is no greater expert on the elections after imposed television watching than Mike.

Today we took a remi (like a taxi) to downtown Mendoza and checked back into the Hyatt. For the first time in several days, Mike felt hungry so we had a nice lunch. The last few days we have been eating bread, cheese and almonds washed down with bottled water and Sprite Zero, which represented the best I could find in the Supermercado in town. As much as we enjoyed our picnic dinners in Europe, there was nothing like it to be found in this little town.

The prices in Argentina are so reasonable. We were in the cab for about twenty minutes or so and the fare was $20 Argentina pesos, or $7 US. Lunch at the Hyatt with ridiculous hotel pricing for two three course meals (appetizer, grilled steak, dessert, wine and bottled water) was $50 US. My grocery shopping trips were always less than ten dollars for half a dozen bottled drinks and our sick house rations.

The weather is beautiful- warm but not hot. We spent awhile out by the pool just relaxing while our room was being made up.

Today is Potomic Super Tuesday and we just found out there is no English version of CNN here. We will have to use the internet to track election results.

Later, Deanne