New visions

Hi all.
A new plan for the rest of our trip is emerging, and we feel good about it. Together with our friend LJ, we have decided to load El Furgon with supplies and head to a few of the smaller towns along the coast that we became acquainted with on the way down here. We have a few contacts--both with local people we previously met, and with organizations that are working down here--which will be helpful when we get over there. Our intention is to help in whatever way we can.
Right now, we are back in Pucon. We returned here to pick up LJ and get everything squared away. Yesterday we built a rack inside El Furgon, so we will have more space for materials. We have heard the most useful items are water, non-perishable foods, etc., so that is what we will be gathering today. Our goal is to leave Pucon this afternoon, drive north a bit, and then head out to the coast, via Chillan, to Cobquecura and Buchupureo.
We will do our best to keep in touch, but it may be difficult once we are there. Please know that we are being cautious and planful, and that we have chosen to help in these places because they are full of kind-hearted, peaceful people.
We love you and are grateful for your love and support.
Jess & Ryan

The story continues to unfold

Hi everyone.
Wow. Our blog has suddenly attracted a lot of ¨regulars.¨ We love your comments, and appreciate all of your thoughts.
As I said in the last entry, it would be interesting to see what we find as we continue our travels. What we have found has been interesting, and ¨sobering.¨ We had definitely underestimated the effects of this earthquake. First, let me say that we are completely safe and healthy, even finding ways to enjoy ourselves. Chile, on the other hand, is definitely in a state of disarray. The information we have been gathering is probably similar to what you might be seeing on the news. In the north, there is much damage to infrastructure: roads are broken, the airport is closed, trucking is suspended, people have been displaced from their homes, or worse.
We are currently in Valdivia, which is a university/tourist/river town tucked in back from the ocean approximately 15 km. In these bigger towns in the south there are long lines for gasoline; the supermarkets´stocks are low; some ATMs are working, and many aren´t; the beginning of the school year (usually March 1) has been delayed by a week; some of the summer´s last vacationers are still stuck here because they can´t get back to Santiago and other cities north of here; there is some damage to a few buildings, but the roads are clear and people are generally going about their business. The rural areas seem largely unaffected.
How this all affects us? So far, minimally (I am hesitant to even mention it, compared to the grave effects suffered by others). We are dragging our heels a bit, here in the south, because going north doesn´t seem like a smart choice. We will have to alter our course for the rest of the trip, because the surf towns we were planning to visit next were basically at the epicenter of the quake, and have suffered a lot of damage (especially to their waterfronts). It´s crazy, even as I sit here, Ryan is researching the damage to some of the towns we passed through on our way south, which we were planning to revisit in this next month. What we are finding is that those towns are a mess. Some completely leveled. It looks like, in the next few days, we will be revising our vision for the rest of the trip, based on all this new info.
For obvious reasons, we have no complaints about any of this. We feel lucky for a thousand reasons: we were in the safest imaginable place during the quake; we are mostly self-sufficient in El Furgón; we don´t have a flight to catch, don´t have an immediate schedule. We have many options. The coast, here, is beautiful. The mountains are beautiful. We may even be able to find ways to help... We´ll be looking.
We will, as always, keep you posted on our whereabouts.
With love and deep, deep gratitude,
Jess and Ryan

Shaken, not stirred....

Hi everyone. Thank you for your concern regarding our wellbeing. We are better than good, with stories to tell.
When the earth began it´s trembling, the night before last, we were snuggled into El Furgòn at our friend´s land outside Pucón. When I first awoke, my groggy mind thought, ¨someone is shaking the van!?¨Then I awoke Ryan, thinking, ¨maybe a big bear is shaking the van!?¨Neither of those first two were logical explanations, so we slowly realized that what we were feeling was a real-live earthquake. El Furgón was vigorously shaking and rocking on her suspension.
We began assessing our situation. With our heads raised off our pillows, we were looking out the open back door of the van at the surrounding landscape. The big tree in our view was shaking and bending as if moved by a strong wind, but the trees near us were small and unthreatening. We were near the river, but far enough away and on high enough ground that we felt safe. We were basically parked in the middle of a wide, flat meadow, immediately surrounded by immature trees. We couldn´t have been in a safer place. Realizing this, we were able to actually enjoy and marvel at the movements of the earth´s crust. Holy shit! It was amazing. The ground shook vigorously for a few minutes. That´s a long time. The trees were swaying and bending like they´d been in training for such a challenge. El Furgón heaved and rocked, jolted and swayed. Every bird and dog in the countryside was cawing or barking, and we just felt, watched, listened, awestruck, until it subsided.

This is where we were parked during El Terremoto.

There were many after-shocks, too. I didn´t fall back to sleep until hours afterward. It was just so interesting!

My sketch from the middle of the night, of the experience.

On our way back to town, we were more aware of the smoking volcano than we were before.

The story continued to unfold throughout the day. When we returned to town in the morning, we were curious about what we would find. We didn´t know if it was a big earthquake or a small one. We didn´t know anything except our experience.

Pucón appeared to be unscathed, despite a lack of electricity. Many of the Chileans, however, were pretty rattled. A lot of the people who vacation here come from the region around Concepción, which was the epicenter, from what I understand. We found out that we had experienced a 7.0 earthquake here, and that it was an 8.5 at the center. Almost unbelievable. Most of the businesses stayed closed. People were rapidly leaving town, despite it being Saturday morning. The lines for gas ultimately made us decide to stay in Pucón another day, rather than heading south toward the coast, which had been our plan.

The amazing thing is that we had a wonderful day. Our friends who work on the river didn´t have to work (oddly, it had a ¨snow-day¨vibe). The weather was as clear and warm and calm as it has been (all summer, according to them). By the end of the day, we were referring to it as ¨Earth Day¨because the earth had, once again, stopped us all in our tracks and reminded us to appreciate her beauty, and her power.

Hanging out on Lago Villarica with the kayaking boys. There´s LJ!

As you can see, we are better than good down here in Pucón. The internet is working again. We have a full tank of diesel that we didn´t have to wait in line for.

Last night we camped on slightly higher ground, with this view of the volcano. It was glowing orange at the top all night long. My attempts to capture it on film failed, but use your imagination. It was AMAZING!
Our plan has been to head farther south, for a while, before working our way back north along the coast. From what we have heard, this is still a really good plan, because most of the damage is north of here. It will be interesting to see what we find when we leave here. We will keep you posted.

Again, thank you all for your concern. Know that we are doing extremely well, that we are on a great adventure, and that we are making memories that we hope to share with you.

Dancing with the earth,
Jess & Ryan