First we had to drive through the airport tunnel, yuk, then we drove past a very nice golf course and I realized that I didn't bring the iPad to take fotos with. It takes such better fotos than my camera or my phone. By the time I got the phone turned on and ready, we were past most of the course.
As you can see, it is an overcast day. Then we had to go through a mountain, another tunnel!
At least we didn't have a train or other cars driving on top of us, just a mountain! We came out into a valley that was very dry with lots of cactus. The farms and housing were poor and not well cared for. Then we went through another mountain (This country just loves living underground)
We came out of the tunnel into a beautiful valley
filled with vineyards and fields and farms
We just tried to snap photos as we drove along hoping that some of them turned out.
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We even saw some corn being chopped for silage. We hadn't expected this kind of scenery on our way to the ocean. This valley was beautiful and very prosperous.
We are driving on a freeway and this is the speed limit, in kilometers. It is about 60 miles per hour.
As it is still summer break, the traffic was heavy with everyone heading to the beach for the weekend.
Some of the poor homes as we entered the town of Valparaiso
Valparaiso was called the "Pearl of the Pacific" because before the construction of the Panama Canal in the early 1900's ships rounding Cape Horn saw only darkness until they finally saw the lights of Valparaiso. Sir Francis Drake sacked it many times for gold.
I know some of the photos are not too good so you won't appreciate them but we will remember the actual site as we view the photos so I am including even some of the bad ones. Boy how I wish I had the iPad!
We drove into Valparaiso and the town ferria was right in the center of town.
The first few blocks looked just like a big yard sale
The people were all bundled up, we didn't think it was cold at all
This town has a real mixture of old and new
A few rain drops have begun to fall
Old electric buses
Valparaiso is known for its street art. In order to paint, it is necessary to own the building, have permission from your neighbors, or get permission from city officials if it is a public building.
We will stop on our way home if they are still open for some fruits and veggies.
carrots and the big red pile are beans, like green beans only red
We drove on to Vina Del Mar
As we turned a corner, we saw this flower clock that actually was working
I was just taking snapshots to try to get a good foto of the clock and when I looked at the pictures I had a foto of Donald Duck. I didn't even see him before.
We have arrived at the ocean
A castle
We sure look like tourists!
The Hughes', Thompsons, Wallaces
The trams will take people up the hills from one house to another
The houses/apartments are built straight up the hill
You can see the stairs going up and the tram is right beside it
This town is a very popular tourist attraction. There were people everywhere at about 2 but we were here early so we had the beaches to ourselves for a few hours.
Ships in the ocean
This seaweed is what we found at the ferria for sale. They use it in soups and salads.
We drove on down the coast to Concon and had lunch
The coast line
There is a man on the white rock fishing with only a line
This bird stood on one leg for at least 15 minutes without moving
As we ate lunch, the birds filled these rocks.
As we drove back through Vina Del Mar, the people were starting to fill up the beaches
We decided to stop and walk along the beach but a parking place was hard to come by. Elder Hughes was directed to a spot where he had to parallel park. We knew he wouldn't be able to fit but the attendant directed him.
We were shocked when we got out of the car and saw how close we were to the other two cars. We are the dark one.
Best parallel parking I have ever witnessed!
horse and buggie rides
easier to see the ships in the ocean cause the weather has cleared up
one of the many hotels in the area
street entertainers started to show up. This saxophonist was really good. We stopped at the ferria on our way home. We picked up some fresh corn on the cob. It is very good. We had a wonderful time with great people today. We didn't get home until 8:30pm and had to stop at the store for some ice cream to take to the dinner tomorrow.
We went to the Temple apartments and had lunch with the temple missionaries to celebrate Sister Isaacson's birthday. We are eating in the hall between their apartments.
The 18th of February, wow, where does the time go? We showed our cleaning power point this morning to the new arrivals and their companions. Then we headed out and inspected a couple of the homes that our contractors have painted and repaired to make sure they are ready for the new missionaries in March. We spent Tuesday in the office but left early to go grocery shopping. We hadn't been for about 3 weeks and the cupboards were getting kind of bare. We stop at a little market on our way home for bread and eggs but when we run out of milk it is time for the big store. We buy the milk in the case like we did in Central America that has a shelf life of months.
Wednesday we put in another 6 ojo majico's, only 15 more to go. It is good to get back to these homes and see if the missionaries are cleaning and maintaining them. We usually have a few things to repair when we are there. We are thrilled that the missionaries seem to be getting better at cleaning. They are even asking questions about what to do about cleaning certain things.
Thursday and Friday were Zone Conferences at the Mission Office. After their conference, the missionaries always come into the office to tell us about the problems in their pensions so we like to be there, but it can really get noise as 20 - 30 young missionaries swarm in on us.
These are the sister missionaries from Las Condes, Puente Alto and Javiera Carrera Zones with Sister Hughes and myself.
Friday evening we headed out for our date night with the Hughes. It was our turn to choose so I found a place that served Arepas and other Venezuelan foods but it was not a "sit down" restaurant so we didn't go there. The next one on the web was the Garage. It sounded intriguing so we went there. We had no idea what kind of food it served and were sure surprised that it was another Venezuelan restaurant so we had Arepas after all.
The owner with us. We were the only customers as it is too early for the natives to eat. It is about 6 and they don't start filling up the restaurants till about 8. The TV in the background was tuned into the special concert to raise money for the people in Venezuela. The owner had a hard time staying focused on us as she was enjoying the concert so much.
Well, it has been a busy week and it went by really fast.
The temple reopened this week but we didn't have a chance to get there. We hope next week will slow down enough for us to do so. We are being watched over by angels and know that we are here to accomplish an important work. We are so thankful for you and your prayers in our behalf. Our Heavenly Father loves us, knows us, and wants us to return to live with Him someday. May God bless you with a wonderful week full of family and friends and blessings is our prayer. We send our love.
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