Back in Eugene

Just a quick note to let you know that we have arrived back in Eugene, after 27 hours of airport travel. It was a smooth trip, followed by a good night's sleep, and we are now ready to re-enter English-speaking society. We are soooo excited to catch up with all of you, and will be in touch.

Stay tuned for more blog reflections....

Love,

Jess & Ryan

Wrapping it up in Santiago

Hi everyone.
The previous post, of our final days at the beach (below) is much more exciting. This is just a note to tell you all that we are finally, really, heading home TONIGHT!!! We have spent the last few days here in Santiago dealing with the business of selling El Furgon. While parting with our home on wheels was slightly sad, we are, of course, thrilled to have sold it without difficulty. It worked out just how we had hoped. We have had some time here, also, to enjoy the sites in Santiago. My personal highlights have included art museums, running a part of the Santiago marathon, and conversations with Chileans along the way. The city is much much more bustling now than it was back in February, so we are pretty ready to leave the hustle.
We are currently anticipating a smooth 26 hours of travel, back to Eugene, and will be sure to be in touch with all ya´ll when we arrive.
Don´t worry, I have some follow-up blogging to do when we get home. This is not the final entry (ha, ha, HA!).
Love to you all.
Jess and Ryan

Leaving the Playa

Waves, waves, waves, waves, waves...

Our final days on the coast, here in Chile, were powerful indeed. We visited a wave that Ryan had heard about, and the surfing exceeded his expectations by a lot. The scenery exceeded our expectations as well; it was relatively near Santiago, but still very remote. The hike to reach the wave was pretty intense, so we got a lot of exercise each day. We were lucky to befriend a local surfer who was willing to give us rides down the road to the beach, which happened to be one of the most intense four-wheel-drive roads we had ever experienced.

For El Furgon, the road stopped here. The surf wave breaks off that point, so you can see it was quite a hike in.

Horses work better than Furgones on this road. They are transporting dried, packaged seaweed, called "Cochayuyos," which Chileans like to eat.

So, we are glad to report that our final days on the coast in Chile were fulfilling in many ways. There, we began to embrace the reality of leaving, and to enjoy feelings of anticipation about coming home, while also enjoying more of Chile´s beautiful Pacific coast.

Hiking out with a big smile, after a great surf session.