A fall trip into wine country

We're sad to see Dan's mom, Jackie, leave us tomorrow. We have had a great visit. But we figure we better let her recuperate as the kids have had her playing games, I have had her taking walks with me, helping me cook and pick up kids, and in general giving me extra company in the day and then Dan wants to visit at night. She probably needs a vacation after this visit!






Jackie did some of her own exploring in Santiago and surrounding areas. She does quite well in Spanish and she took advantage of Chile's awesome bus system.

Then this last weekend, we rented a car and headed south of Santiago. We drove through the Central Valley - known for its cowboys, rodeos and wine. We passed vineyard after vineyard - all alight in soft fall hues. It was a beautiful drive.

We stayed in the town of Curicó and did a day trip to the Siete Tazas (seven cups) National Park. Its named for its series of waterfalls and subsequent pools. You can see the kids playing on the rocks as the river is quite low in the fall.

We also sampled some tasty wine, took turns luxuriating in a bathtub at the hotel (we just have a shower at our place), and had several little adventures; such as coming to a dead stop on the road as a herd of around 50 horses occupied both lanes ahead of us! Yeehaw. Finally, we had "onces" (tea time) with my mosaic teacher's parents, who are from Curicó. So we enjoyed some great southern hospitality as they treated us to local chesnuts and homemade blackberry jam. Yum.

Mostly, we just enjoyed taking in a little fall color in another part of the country and having Jackie along was a real treat.

-Laura