When Ray and Alan Visited... 25 - 30 March 2001 It may have been a short visit, but we packed in a lot of activities!

We took a 3 day trip to the northern part of the Lake district, flying about 400 miles to Temuco, where we did some shopping. From there we drove to Villarrica (at right) and then on to Pucón at the other end of the lake, much closer to the the volcano that you can see in the background. The next day we climbed that volcano, although we didn't get up to snow. That would have involved getting up for a tour beginning at 7:30 AM. We were on vacation! We did get up above the clouds. The volcano below is just one of several you can see from that height.

Ray is getting a head start for our climbing hike on the volcano by climbing the sign. "Villarrica National Park. "Wilderness area created for you and your children. Enjoy yourselves and take part in its conservation."

Driving down from the slope of the volcano to the city of Pucón below, we passed through the layer of clouds, creating eerie views as we drove through the tall trees enveloped in mist.

We all shopped for gifts. Alan was the best shopper! He and Margy had fun going into shops while Ray and Artie waited. Once Ray had found some nice gifts, he was done.

Artie couldn't resist this opportunity to take a close up of this sealion in the port city of Valdivia, that we saw for 45 minutes on the way back to the airport.
Both on our trip to the south and when we visited the ski resort near Santiago, it seemed we couldn't go 50 yards without stopping to take another picture. We delighted in sharing some of these photos with Shelley and Darlene by email even on the road to entice them to come the next time.

Fresh fruit anyone? March is still summer in Chile, and that means there is an abundance of yummy fruit.

Best friends for 40 years, these two fellows will never grow up!

Other activities included touring the office, Artie and Ray joining a spinning class on Sunday morning, seeing lapiz jewelry being made (and buying some), exploring the nearby mountains and the ski resort, and enjoying good meals in restaurants, at Mónica's, and at home. Ray made us his famous pizza (Pop's recipe) as an appetizer the night we invited Mónica and Gustavo to join us for a fish dinner of reineta with our special sauce.

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