Blue Ridge Mountains - October 2008

Last year, I toured a little of the Blue Ridge Parkway during a business trip. It was beautiful. I decided to make a vacation of driving its entire length, hoping to see some nice fall colors. I was a little early for the colors, but it was a very pretty drive.

It's a fer piece to the south end of the Parkway in North Carolina. It was especially fer because I went straight south, un-cutting the hypotenuse, and without the interstates, all the way to Georgia - through corn, cotton and kudzu...



..and through Superman's home town, Metropolis, Illinois.


I moseyed my way over to Atlanta, to see my sweet 'sister' Jain and family, through Kentucky and Tennessee.




This is near the ancient center of the Cherokee nation. It was like their Washington D.C.


(The lower reflection is from the top of my car)

I entered the kudzu zone. A local man told me that someone is farming the stuff for export to Japan. They think it makes an attractive and tasty garnish.


The highest point in Georgia is Brasstown Bald. The views were amazingly symmetrical that day.





From Atlanta, Jain and I took a day trip to Toccoa Falls and Helen's Octoberfest.


Mica floats in the water and lines the shores at the Falls.


Sweet Jain


In 1977, a dam broke and destroyed the little Christian college town that contains Toccoa Falls. It wiped out this bridge too.


Oktoberfest in Helen


Contented and contentious country cows by a gazebo grazing green grass



I entered the Parkway's southern end. The mountain views seemed more accessible and spectacular here.










Sometimes the road went through the mountains, instead of over or around.





There are many dozens of overviews along the Parkway. Some have exhibits and pretty little trails for walking. They are a nice break from the twisty road.




The mountain views became more impressive again toward the Parkway's northern end in Virginia...



...and I finally saw some fall colors.



I didn't drive all of the Parkway. About 20 miles were closed because of rockfalls. One detour led me on a 3 hour tour through mountain roads with endless turns and climbs and dives. Lodging on the Parkway is expensive and always booked. You have to find an exit to a nearby town and hope to find something that doesn't smell like cigars and hunting dogs.

I finished it in 4 days, but I had to hurry too much. Many beautiful looping trails tempted me (1/2 to 4 hours walk). I criss-crossed the great 2175-mile Appalachian trail over and over. Now there's a hike!

(Blue Ridge Mountains - October 2008)

Congordito

I read Condorito comics to practice my Spanish and have some laughs. He's like a Chilean version of Donald Duck, except he also smokes, drinks, chases women; and of course, he only speaks Chilean Spanish. I shopped the cover of his 1st edition (1955) as a joke to share with friends (way) down south. I put a lot of hours into this thing, so I thought I might as well share it with some more northerly Americans too.



Some of the gags might need a little explanation . . . Gordito means “rather fat” or “little fat guy” . . . LAN is the Chilean national airlines . . . The tree on the tee is an araucaria. It's on a lot of Chilean tourist goods . . . and . . . My camera was snatched on my last visit!

Here's the original cover...

Chile - February 2008

Again, Glowby and Chispa united in Chile for 2 wonderful weeks of vacation. And again, we encountered beautiful weather, scenery, and people; and countless moments of unforgettable fun and relaxation.

Sadly, in the final hours of our trip, my camera was stolen, and with it about 200 pictures of our adventures. So now, I am also a thief. I stole most of this post's pictures from other vacationers who posted their pictures in Google Earth.

If you recognize a picture here as yours, I will remove it if you ask. But I ask for your sympathy with this. (BTW: OUR weather was MUCH nicer, MY pictures were MUCH better, and I fixed your tilted horizons!)

Happily, Chispa took a few excellent shots. Enjoy!


THE BIG PICTURE

Here's a satellite's-eye view of the area we toured...




HORNOPIREN
Where the Rio Negro meets the ocean, on a bay within a bay within a bay, and deeply sheltered by islands and mist-shrouded mountains of rain-forests, is Hornopiren. It's a cool and serene sanctuary for man and beast.


The fastest way to Hornopiren is by ferry. We drove the road to it 3 times! (We had to return to Puerto Montt for more gas.)


The ferry ride was beautiful!


We had amazing views from our cabin! It's typically rainy here, but we had only 1 day of it ... all day. But it was a glorious day!

(Photo by Chispa!)

Usually, it looked more like this...

The Rio Negro rushes noisily into the bay for much of the day, except when the incoming tides almost halted it.

We saw a couple of Andean condors on a huge rock near this place. One of them posed for us, with his great wings opening (while he took a shit!)


We toured a private park at the edge of town that was still being built.


This water wheel rests within the park's jungle, with no apparent source to make it turn.


(Photo by Chispa!)

Our guide led us up a trail through the ferns, along railings of rope stretched between mossy trees, to this lookout.


(Photos by Chispa!)

Hornopiren's central plaza...

...it's a short walk to this little park on the shore

See the horses? Animals roamed freely all around the town: horses, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats. Outside, we all shared the streets, sidewalks, parks, beaches, and especially the plains of lush grass where the ocean's tides met the river.


It's fun to dream!

(Vende = for sale)


FRUTILLAR ALTO

We returned to Temuco from Hornopiren via scenic overland roads, bordered by blackberry vines and seaside salmon farms. We arrived in Frutillar Alto for Valentine's Day. ("El dia de los enamorados"/"The day of the Lovers")





QUEULE

Before I arrived, I had already admired the view . . .


It is a very quiet town...

...except on Saturday night, with music and dance at that college down there


We enjoyed lots of fresh fish - right off the boats...

...and some perfectly delicious meals by family in town!

We walked the hot sand and icy water of this beautiful beach


To get to the other, very secluded beach, you must take a 2-car ferry...


...to this!




VALDIVIA

On the way back to Temuco from Queule, we lunched in Valdivia, and walked around a bit. The market was quite amazing.


These sea lions waited for hand-outs. Sometimes they competed with the sea gulls for food.


There is a nice little park near the bridge to the island



ICALMA

By a fluke, we again found a perfect place in Icalma ... with clear views of mountain forests, Lake Icalma's beach, and the moon! (Its full eclipse happened there - on Chispa's birthday!)



Happily, Chispa took a few beautiful pictures here




We rode horses into the mountains, up to the border with Argentina (the yellow line on the satellite photo)


The mountains were covered with magnificent araucaria trees. Here's one on the road into town...


This road led to a peninsula on the lake


Sunset from Icalma's beach