Birdland - Oct 8-10, 2015

Chiloe Island is viewed as a cultural heartland of Chile, preserving traditional beliefs and ways of life. It is also a refuge for a large variety of exotic birds.

Under the Volcano - Oct 6-8, 2015

Though a source of contention between Argentina and Chile that is still not completely settled, their mutual border is generally taken to be the continental divide along the Andes Mountains. So to get from Argentina to Chile, one must cross the Andes, and we did this by bus on a day that provided particularly spectacular scenery. Settling in Puerto Varas on Chilean side, we found a land of lakes, volcanos, and enchanting people.

Lake District - Oct 3-5, 2015

Bariloche is not a name familiar to most U.S. tourists; in fact few of the stops on our tour of Patagonia would be, but it is a place of stunning beauty and fascinating culture. Looking back, it’s hard to believe the variety of experiences we had there.

Good Air - Oct 1-2, 2015

After a fascinating visit to Easter Island, our tour group arrived back in Santiago, Chile, just to spend the night, before flying on to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Easter Island had been an optional pre-trip; Buenos Aires was our staging area for the main tour covering Patagonia. While Buenos Aires is not in Patagonia, we couldn’t miss an opportunity to experience this bustling city and urban Argentine culture.

Go On, Get a Big Head - Sept 27-30, 2015

It’s said to be the most isolated place in the world - further from the next civilized place than anywhere else in the world. It’s a five hour flight due west from Santiago, Chile. Locals call it Rapa Nui, but most Westerners know it as Easter Island.

September Spring - Sept. 25 - 26, 2015

In February of 2015, I got an invitation from my cousin Tom to join him, his wife Kathy, and a few other of their traveling friends on a trip to South America. I leaped at the chance, and after a lot of planning and anticipation, on September 25th, I got on a flight headed for Santiago, Chile.

Oh The Places I've Been

I know, I know, there hasn’t been a new entry here since last August, and even then I was blogging about things that had happened in March. I hope this post marks a new beginning and a rededication of my time to keeping this blog current. It seems the further I got behind, the weaker the motivation was to reach back to events several months old. So, beginning with the next post, I’ll catch up on a relatively recent trip, and I have the best intentions not to get more than a couple weeks behind - at most - after that. My actual goal is to blog on the day or the day after I’ve visited each interesting sight. But fear not, I still want to share the great adventures I’ve had since last March, and intend to fill in those posts as time permits. (One thing that finally gave me the impetus to make this leap forward is that I learned how to post entries in the order they happened, rather that the order I write them.)

As I write this, the previous entry is about the Builtmore Mansion, but over time you should see entries fill in the gap between then and now, as well as new contemporary entries proceed forward from here. Just to give you a taste, here’s a list of highlights from my travels since March 2015: Blue Ridge Parkway, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, New York City, Cape Cod, Boston, Lake Placid, Mt. Washington, Portland Maine, The Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Niagra Falls, Colonal Williamsburg and Jamestown, the South Dakota Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower, the Great Sand Dunes of Colorado, the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Mesa Verde, and Canyon de Chelly. After that, I returned to my home base in San Diego in early August of 2015, but soon took off on another loop to the northwest that included: the California and Oregon coasts, Victoria B.C., Flaming Gorge, Dinosaur National Park, Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Bryce, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and Zion National Park. When I returned to San Diego in mid-September, I’d put over 35,000 miles on my RV in less than a year. Yes, I know it sounds like a staggering number of places to visit in a year, but it’s been fantastic, and I’ve got photos to document it all.

But I wasn’t done. In late September, I took off on perhaps the greatest adventure of the year. That will occupy the next few posts of this rejuvenated blog.