Back Home Again

I arrived back home on Thursday around noon from a two week plus two day trekking holiday with #1 son. Came home tired, grubby, and with a cold that has been slowing me down. Lots of the tiredness came from the fact that I was three hours ahead of the local time. The plan had been to hang out in the airport until 6 p.m., when I would be picked up and taken to a rehearsal of Mozart's Requiem, a final rehearsal. A few days before the holiday ended, I realized the cold was bad enough that I had to cancel that arrangement. Instead the Dear One came and picked me up that morning. How happy I was to see him!!!

I have lots of notes taken day by day during our trip and lots of pictures, but they all have to be sorted and "edited" before they're ready for posting. But I'll just begin a little here today.

March 22, Tuesday

There's been snow falling since Sunday noon, and Tuesday morning brought white-out conditions. We left quite early for the airport, though my plane doesn't leave until 4 p.m. Better to arrive early and spend time reading than to do a nail-biter and maybe not make it.

Said goodbye to Jim at the dropoff for departures. Checked my backpack in and went through security. Then had lots of time to grab a bowl of soup and an iced cappuccino from Tim Horton's and sit down to read "Second Glance" by Jodi Picoult. It's not grabbing me, but that's what I have along.

Get to Toronto on time and go for a long hike through the airport to the gate for the flight to Santiago. My backpack, fortunately, is checked right through, so I don't have to pick it up for a transfer.

DS#1 is already at the gate and we're happy to see each other. He had a horrendous time getting to the airport in San Francisco because of a massive snowstorm through the mountains on Sunday, but he did make it, thank goodness!

The Air Canada flight to Santiago is about half empty, it seems, and it's a great, huge plane. As soon as we take off people grab the rows of empty seats, as this is an overnight flight. We have three seats for the two of us, and after eating a good meal served by the staff, we settle down. I'm surprised at how well I sleep on the plane.

March 23, Wednesday

Morning comes with breakfast served, again, a good meal. We land and deplane. There's our backpacks on the carousel, and there's the taxi from the hotel, holding up my name. We're all set.

Santiago reminds me very much of Phoenix, Arizona. Same type of dry surroundings, mountains shrouded by smog and lots and lots of traffic. We zip along and soon arrive at Hotel Plaza Londres, where we have reservations for two nights.

We're here!!! And we both wish we could go directly to the Torres Del Paine National Park, instead of spending time along the way. We made plans that include lots of transitional time, but now we are both anxious to begin the trek.

However, the weather is warm and lovely, and we have a good room with two beds and a private bathroom. So we settle in.