I hoped to blog along the way but the camera died about the 3rd day into our trip and the charger is at home. We still had Geoff's camera phone for photos, thank goodness.
I can't keep up with this blog!
Friday, March 29, 2013
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
La Serena to Los Angeles, Chile
March was crazy for Geoff.
Well- it went something like this. Ray Greer came down for the entire month of March or most of it. He and Geoff were all over Chile and Brazil making sales visits so it was a pretty busy month for Geoff. Me and the kids planned a road trip to southern Chile for spring break so we were pretty excited to get Geoff back....for a little while, anyway.
Me and the kids left La Serena and drove to Santiago on Friday where we met up with Geoff. The big news is that we are staying for what looks like another year! Woohoo! So we thought it might be a good idea to get a feel for housing, neighborhoods and church community in Santiago. We think it might be much cheaper. So we spent Fri, Sat and part of Sun in Santiago. We have some mixed feelings about that- but that's for another post.
Sunday after church we left for Los Angeles. Not the Cali kind but the Chile kind. First we had to trade in our rental van. The one we picked up the day before had all kinds of problems and there was no way we were going to travel long distance with it. The battery was going dead- we could hardly get it started, the back seat wouldn't lock down, the side window wouldn't close, the overhead lights wouldn't turn on, there were chunks of tire missing and the doors wouldn't lock!!! So we traded vans. About 3 hours into the trip the rental car company called Geoff and asked where the keys to the other van were. We had them.
Well, about an hour north of LA it starts to get really green and beautiful! So pretty-- but I think next time I would like to just drive through Los Angeles and not make it a stop over! The surrounding area was beautiful. We had not made any hotel reservations because we are winging this whole trip! From Santiago, Los Angeles is about a 5 hour drive. So we get into the city and can't find anything that is available for 6 people or within our budget. Well, we did. I'm going to try to do my best to describe it. I wish we had a photo. It was on a very busy one way road with all kinds of little shops and stores. There was a little sign that said, "hotel". But we didn't know where the hotel was. Between 2 shops there was a doorway that led upstairs to... a hotel. We stayed there. It was mostly a hostel but we ended up with private rooms and did not share a bathroom so ours was a hotel room. We had to get 2 rooms so we had the 3 boys stay in one room. Me, Geoff and Ash stayed in the other. I didn't know until the next morning that somebody staying in the hotel had to go tell my boys to stop being so loud! urggghhh!
Before we could leave the next day we had to send some money to Geoff's guys. Geoff got into the bank and couldn't find his personal bank debit/credit card. We searched EVERYWHERE for it. Still can't find it. I'm really glad we discovered it when we did so we could cancel the card quickly. We used it just the night before to take out cash. Anyway-- what a pain.
Then we had to find a Chile Express to mail back the rental van keys. Finally we were on our way to the next stop-- Pucon.
I just decided that I better break up this spring break into different posts.
The only photo I have is this. Not too interesting but we wanted to show how green it is. This is somewhere between Santiago and Los Angeles.
Well- it went something like this. Ray Greer came down for the entire month of March or most of it. He and Geoff were all over Chile and Brazil making sales visits so it was a pretty busy month for Geoff. Me and the kids planned a road trip to southern Chile for spring break so we were pretty excited to get Geoff back....for a little while, anyway.
Me and the kids left La Serena and drove to Santiago on Friday where we met up with Geoff. The big news is that we are staying for what looks like another year! Woohoo! So we thought it might be a good idea to get a feel for housing, neighborhoods and church community in Santiago. We think it might be much cheaper. So we spent Fri, Sat and part of Sun in Santiago. We have some mixed feelings about that- but that's for another post.
Sunday after church we left for Los Angeles. Not the Cali kind but the Chile kind. First we had to trade in our rental van. The one we picked up the day before had all kinds of problems and there was no way we were going to travel long distance with it. The battery was going dead- we could hardly get it started, the back seat wouldn't lock down, the side window wouldn't close, the overhead lights wouldn't turn on, there were chunks of tire missing and the doors wouldn't lock!!! So we traded vans. About 3 hours into the trip the rental car company called Geoff and asked where the keys to the other van were. We had them.
Well, about an hour north of LA it starts to get really green and beautiful! So pretty-- but I think next time I would like to just drive through Los Angeles and not make it a stop over! The surrounding area was beautiful. We had not made any hotel reservations because we are winging this whole trip! From Santiago, Los Angeles is about a 5 hour drive. So we get into the city and can't find anything that is available for 6 people or within our budget. Well, we did. I'm going to try to do my best to describe it. I wish we had a photo. It was on a very busy one way road with all kinds of little shops and stores. There was a little sign that said, "hotel". But we didn't know where the hotel was. Between 2 shops there was a doorway that led upstairs to... a hotel. We stayed there. It was mostly a hostel but we ended up with private rooms and did not share a bathroom so ours was a hotel room. We had to get 2 rooms so we had the 3 boys stay in one room. Me, Geoff and Ash stayed in the other. I didn't know until the next morning that somebody staying in the hotel had to go tell my boys to stop being so loud! urggghhh!
Before we could leave the next day we had to send some money to Geoff's guys. Geoff got into the bank and couldn't find his personal bank debit/credit card. We searched EVERYWHERE for it. Still can't find it. I'm really glad we discovered it when we did so we could cancel the card quickly. We used it just the night before to take out cash. Anyway-- what a pain.
Then we had to find a Chile Express to mail back the rental van keys. Finally we were on our way to the next stop-- Pucon.
I just decided that I better break up this spring break into different posts.
The only photo I have is this. Not too interesting but we wanted to show how green it is. This is somewhere between Santiago and Los Angeles.
Inthinc in the Community
We are excited and happy to say that Inthinc's first humanitarian efforts in La Serena, Chile were a huge success! Inthinc employees, their families and friends joined efforts to help a children's home in La Serena. We gathered much needed supplies such as hygiene products, all kinds of school supplies, arts and craft supplies and food items and delivered them to the children's home. We had prepared ourselves with projects and fun things to do with the kids during our visit. We had a reading corner, some games to play, a craft project and paper airplanes. The kids just LOVED it! We stayed for about an hour and a half and thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with them. To be honest I was not sure how all of our projects were going to go. The kids couldn't get enough of all of it! I was pleasantly surprised at their interest in the books and the craft project was a huge hit. The boys were amazed at the paper airplanes. Most of all the kids just needed the love and friendship. The hard part was leaving. I knew it would be hard. There were a couple of kids who were crying as we left. We can't wait to return!
Here are a few photos. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside the property for the safety of the children. There were several moments I wish we could have captured!
Here are a few photos. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos inside the property for the safety of the children. There were several moments I wish we could have captured!
Monday, February 18, 2013
Abuelita
Abuelita means little granny. We adopted an abuelita. Her real name is Eleana Gonzalez. She's darling. She lives by herself and gets lonely. We have her over for Sunday almuerzo (lunch) every Sunday. She doesn't speak the tiniest bit of English. The only English words I have heard her say are thank you but they come out as sanku.
This past Sunday we had her over as usual. Geoff made his famous mashed potatoes. He puts about 6 cubes of butter in each batch. I'm not kidding. It's something we fight over.....how much butter to put in the potatoes. They taste amazing. But you really gotta love butter and you can't eat them very often.
So anyway. We all sat down and abuelita piles her plate full of mashed potatoes and after eating her first serving tells Geoff how wonderful they were. She kept talking about how great they were. Then Geoff asked her if she likes butter. She proceeded to tell us that she can't eat butter. In fact it makes her very sick. She has very bad liver issues and dairy is not something she is allowed to eat. On and on she tells us what she can and can't eat and dairy was definitely on the "NO" list!
I was dying!! Seriously! I looked at Geoff and said, "oh my gosh!!! What do we do?" In English, of course because she doesn't have a clue as to what we are talking about.
So I am sweating bullets trying to decide if we tell her, when... she gets up and walks over to the potatoes and mounds her plate up again with another helping!
I just looked at Geoff and asked him if he was going to let her eat them. He said something like...."she already ate a huge helping. If she's going to die it won't be from the second helping."
I myself was dying!!! This poor old lady is going to croak before we can get her home!
I did go to her house today for a visit. She was not dead and didn't say anything about the food. I hope she was not up all night sick!
Abuelita and me working on a project.
This past Sunday we had her over as usual. Geoff made his famous mashed potatoes. He puts about 6 cubes of butter in each batch. I'm not kidding. It's something we fight over.....how much butter to put in the potatoes. They taste amazing. But you really gotta love butter and you can't eat them very often.
So anyway. We all sat down and abuelita piles her plate full of mashed potatoes and after eating her first serving tells Geoff how wonderful they were. She kept talking about how great they were. Then Geoff asked her if she likes butter. She proceeded to tell us that she can't eat butter. In fact it makes her very sick. She has very bad liver issues and dairy is not something she is allowed to eat. On and on she tells us what she can and can't eat and dairy was definitely on the "NO" list!
I was dying!! Seriously! I looked at Geoff and said, "oh my gosh!!! What do we do?" In English, of course because she doesn't have a clue as to what we are talking about.
So I am sweating bullets trying to decide if we tell her, when... she gets up and walks over to the potatoes and mounds her plate up again with another helping!
I just looked at Geoff and asked him if he was going to let her eat them. He said something like...."she already ate a huge helping. If she's going to die it won't be from the second helping."
I myself was dying!!! This poor old lady is going to croak before we can get her home!
I did go to her house today for a visit. She was not dead and didn't say anything about the food. I hope she was not up all night sick!
Abuelita and me working on a project.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Punta Choros
Punta Choros is a tiny little coastal town about an hour north of La Serena. The drive was interesting! We drove for about 30 minutes on the highway and then another 30 minutes on a dirt road out to the town of Punta Choros.
On the way there we saw some guanaco. They looked just like llamas. My dad wanted to see how friendly they were.
Once you arrive in the little town of Punta Choros you board a local fishing boat and the captain takes you out to some islands where there are penguins and tons of other sea wildlife. It was AMAZING! I would highly recommend this trip to anybody! We did arrive early- 9am and we were the first boat out. I think this was a good time. The animals were out for breakfast.
Here we are waiting to board our boat.
And we wondered how they were going to get the boat in the water. All the guys in the town who were awake came over to push the boat down into the water.
At 9 in the morning it was pretty chilly outside. We were so glad we all brought something warm to wear.
And then the fun began! We were right in the middle of hundreds of sea lions and dolphins swimming around us. It was awesome!
And then we got our first sight of the penguins!
They are kindof hard to see but they were everywhere.
A really cool looking star fish
And some darling sea lions
On the way there we saw some guanaco. They looked just like llamas. My dad wanted to see how friendly they were.
Here we are waiting to board our boat.
A really cool looking star fish
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Christmas Break 2012
We finally got Geoff to take a break. My parents came for the Christmas break. They arrived December 26th.
On Christmas day we had a little breakfast, skipped the presents and hit the road for Santiago. We were hoping to have a nice dinner that night in Santiago. We had high hopes that there would be a restaurant open that night. There were a couple.
At 9:30 the next morning my parents arrived and the fun began.
We took them out to see Coquimbo. Here is a photo of one of the streets in Coquimbo. This is a winding walkway up to the houses at the top.
We went to the cross in Coquimbo with my parents. Here is a photo of them at the top of the hill.
We couldn't get the photo at the right time. We all have funny hair.
Here is one with the wind to our faces.
We are a rough looking bunch but look at that beautiful scenery behind us! That is the coast of Coquimbo on top of the hill with the big cross.
On Christmas day we had a little breakfast, skipped the presents and hit the road for Santiago. We were hoping to have a nice dinner that night in Santiago. We had high hopes that there would be a restaurant open that night. There were a couple.
At 9:30 the next morning my parents arrived and the fun began.
We took them out to see Coquimbo. Here is a photo of one of the streets in Coquimbo. This is a winding walkway up to the houses at the top.
We couldn't get the photo at the right time. We all have funny hair.
Monday, January 28, 2013
One more move!
December 15th was our last move day. We left the beautiful beach condo to a lovely house out in the country. We were very pleasantly surprised at the price for the size of property. We searched for quite a while and saw more properties than I can count! We were trying to work within a budget, find something that feels safe, is comfortable, and near the kids friends and our church community. It is very comfortable, the yards are beautiful and it has a pool. It is in a gated community which makes me feel much safer while Geoff is still traveling and leaving home a lot.
It is missing some niceties including furniture! We took some advice from somebody living in La Serena who said that we ought to look for unfurnished houses because they are much cheaper and furniture was cheap. We decided that we didn't need much furniture anyway and this was probably our best option.
So we did find one of the least expensive properties with many more amenities and niceties than any other property we found and finalized a contract.
Here are some photos of the house. The front door is in there somewhere.
You can imagine how fun it was trying to furnish this home in the middle of all the crazy Christmas shoppers!
We are bargain shoppers so of course we couldn't just go to the first store and buy beds and such. After searching through many stores we were a little frustrated to learn that furniture was NOT cheap and a little difficult to find. Very frustrating!
Geoff found beds for the kids. And we found bedding for ourselves. Well, we settled on bedding. I am going to be just fine on an air mattress until April but I'm not sure Geoff is sold on the idea. It was cheap, and to be honest, similar (haha) to our sleep number bed we have at home, right? Those are air mattresses also....pretty much. After buying beds for the kids, a microwave and other kitchen utensils and necessities the budget was spent! We just couldn't afford to buy another bed! They are so darn expensive! I'm not a high maintenance kind of girl but buying a used mattress sounded kind of gross. This will work just fine! .....still trying to convince Geoff of that.
Here is a photo of our bed. You would never know there is an air mattress under those blankets! The camping chair is our end table.
There are ants EVERYWHERE!
Here is a photo of an ant pile we swept up in our bedroom.
We all wake in the middle of the night with ants crawling on us. We have cans of ant spray everywhere including the bathroom. It makes a certain person really mad when he (Wes) mistakenly picks up the can of ant spray and starts using it like hair spray.
I woke up a while ago and said, "dear, this feels like we are camping!" I don't know if it was the ants on me or the air mattress. Could've been the clothes out hanging on the line on the porch. BUT you know what!!! I have a dish washer and that's a TREAT! This may be one of the largest kitchens in all of La Serena too.
It has no dryer- a convenience that I already miss! So our porch ALWAYS has clothes out on the lines we strung up. I did say we are a little (lot) red neck, right?
The yard is beautiful and peaceful and it has a pool for the kids to enjoy. It is beautiful and comfortable- mostly.
Here is a photo of my favorite corner. These are my most favorite flower ever!
We brought in the ping pong table that was outside and we use it for our dining table. It works out great. It's large enough that all the kids are able to get their computers around it for school.
I kindof miss snuggling up into a cozy couch and turning on the tv to just sit and veg. We don't have either- a comfy couch or a tv!
The internet is so darn frustrating!!! I've got to get 4 kids on the internet everyday doing school work. Internet doesn't work throughout the house and it gets extremely slow with all of us on it. That's also a little frustrating. So to do the blog I have to pick a time when nobody else is on the internet or it takes FOREVER!
Ok- it sounds like I am complaining- I am about just a few things. Overall we are happy to be where we are and we are loving the yard and pool. All is well! All is good! This is an adventure we will remember forever!
It is missing some niceties including furniture! We took some advice from somebody living in La Serena who said that we ought to look for unfurnished houses because they are much cheaper and furniture was cheap. We decided that we didn't need much furniture anyway and this was probably our best option.
So we did find one of the least expensive properties with many more amenities and niceties than any other property we found and finalized a contract.
Here are some photos of the house. The front door is in there somewhere.
You can imagine how fun it was trying to furnish this home in the middle of all the crazy Christmas shoppers!
We are bargain shoppers so of course we couldn't just go to the first store and buy beds and such. After searching through many stores we were a little frustrated to learn that furniture was NOT cheap and a little difficult to find. Very frustrating!
Geoff found beds for the kids. And we found bedding for ourselves. Well, we settled on bedding. I am going to be just fine on an air mattress until April but I'm not sure Geoff is sold on the idea. It was cheap, and to be honest, similar (haha) to our sleep number bed we have at home, right? Those are air mattresses also....pretty much. After buying beds for the kids, a microwave and other kitchen utensils and necessities the budget was spent! We just couldn't afford to buy another bed! They are so darn expensive! I'm not a high maintenance kind of girl but buying a used mattress sounded kind of gross. This will work just fine! .....still trying to convince Geoff of that.
Here is a photo of our bed. You would never know there is an air mattress under those blankets! The camping chair is our end table.
There are ants EVERYWHERE!
Here is a photo of an ant pile we swept up in our bedroom.
We all wake in the middle of the night with ants crawling on us. We have cans of ant spray everywhere including the bathroom. It makes a certain person really mad when he (Wes) mistakenly picks up the can of ant spray and starts using it like hair spray.
I woke up a while ago and said, "dear, this feels like we are camping!" I don't know if it was the ants on me or the air mattress. Could've been the clothes out hanging on the line on the porch. BUT you know what!!! I have a dish washer and that's a TREAT! This may be one of the largest kitchens in all of La Serena too.
It has no dryer- a convenience that I already miss! So our porch ALWAYS has clothes out on the lines we strung up. I did say we are a little (lot) red neck, right?
Here is a photo of my favorite corner. These are my most favorite flower ever!
The internet is so darn frustrating!!! I've got to get 4 kids on the internet everyday doing school work. Internet doesn't work throughout the house and it gets extremely slow with all of us on it. That's also a little frustrating. So to do the blog I have to pick a time when nobody else is on the internet or it takes FOREVER!
Ok- it sounds like I am complaining- I am about just a few things. Overall we are happy to be where we are and we are loving the yard and pool. All is well! All is good! This is an adventure we will remember forever!
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