A few more from Tulipanes del Lago

We love the dogs here at Tulipanes del Lago.  This dog (Bella) hung out with us at the beach in the morning.  Allison was doing some rock stacking.  She was very interested and observant.  After a while she went out in the lake, dunked her head under the water for about 20 seconds, and brought Allison a large rock in her mouth.  Dropped it at her feet.  And went back for another.  She repeated this three or four times - bringing Allison rocks for her stack!

Tulipanes del Lago

Ready to go

We made it! Three flights, too many hours in airports and far too little sleep but we are here.

Apprehensive Otis part deux

Can we please have just ONE smiling photo?

Layover lounging

No. We cannot have just one smiling photo.

It may be tiny, but it's still wine.

John loving his airplane food

Our cabin

We arrived in Puerto Montt, Chile. From there we rented a car and drove to Puerto Varas. Luckily, our host at Tulipanes del Lago gave us excellent directions ("Turn left on a gravel road. It's not marked but this is a highway") and the drive was short. It was a little rainy and cloudy but this place is beautiful. Tulipanes del Lago  is the creation of Pamela, along with her mother and daughter. I spent a lot of time looking at photos and reading reviews, hopeful that once we got here it would be as beautiful as it looked and sounded. It's actually even better. Definitely look at their Facebook page linked above.

We drove into town for groceries and dinner and then came back home and went to sleep. We were all incredibly tired and ready for bed. We slept for about 14 hours and woke up to a beautiful sunny day.

We had breakfast on the porch and watched as the clouds moved to reveal Volcán Orsono. Then we couldn't look away. I won't post all the photos but you can trust that we took about a bajillion. Here is a small selection from the day:

El Volcán Orsono

Two of the Tulipanes dogs in residence, Brownie and Bella.
Chiquita didn't join us for breakfast.

Taking the dogs for a swim

NOT posing for a "looking into the distance" shot

Heading back up

In the afternoon, we drove into Puerto Varas (about ten minutes) to look around. It's a busy time of year in town as it's a destination for Chilean tourists. We walked along the lakeshore and enjoyed the scene.

Volcano selfie

Beach in Puerto Varas

Puerto Varas food truck scene

We are having a great time but we are also missing everyone at home (I'm looking at you, Otis). Thanks for checking in!

As Allison says, Bon Voy-wedgie!

Close to home

If you are reading this, thank you. It means you are family or a close friend and, most of all, that you care about us and what we are up to. We love you, too :)

One week from today, we will begin a trip around the world. The idea has been brewing since before we had kids and has been in the works for about a year and a half. We will be gone from January 11 until May 31. Our trip will look something like this:

Chile, Ecuador (including Galapagos), back to Chile (including Easter Island), Bora Bora, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, UAE (Dubai), England, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Portugal and finally, back home again.

Words fail to capture the magnitude of our gratitude and excitement as we prepare to leave.

Apprehensive Otis

Otis isn't too sure if we should be leaving him. We all wish he could come along. But he will be happy at home with Chelsea and Greg and we will all be together again at the end of May.

Hopefully you'll find something new here at least a few times a week. We would love to hear from you!