Down South

For years, I've been going "up north" with the Booths in Michigan.  This trip, we took the Booths "down south" to the beautiful Lakes District near Pucon, Chile.  We had a little cottage on Lake Calafquen near the tiny town of Lincan Ray. With gorgeous views of Vulcan Villarica and the lake, the summer could not have started better. 

We discovered that our Chilean street dog loves to fetch in the water.  Those webbed paws have some purpose.

 Lovely, slow days in our cottage. 

Since I've known him, Paul has loved snorkeling.  Even in this lake where all he saw was a few old tree stumps and some snails - - Paul enjoyed the underwater view.

Julio, however, did not like Paul in his snorkel gear.  He was extremely aggressive toward the masked man in the lake. 

Our bedroom window.  Peace.

This particular foursome did a lot of this particular activity during our time in Lincan Ray.

 No words.

 We headed up to a gorgeous hot spring and had a few refreshments along the way.

Termas Geometricas.  The epitome of relaxation.  This gorgeous plank walkway snaked through a crevice in the mountain overlying hot springs which were channelled into various slate pools.  Amazing.

Spent a morning hiking in the Villarica National Park. This Monkey Maze or Monkey Puzzle tree is a protected species in Chile. I took too many photos to count. They are much more impressive in person, though. 

A bit blurry, but so perfect.

Beach at Lincan Ray

We took a little boat ride around "our" lake.

 

Hydrangeas were in full bloom through southern Chile during this time.  Fantastic display.

Pucon!

These flowers were made of wood.

Back at the cottage, these kids played for hours pretending these two lawn chairs were horses. It's not so much about the boat trips and hikes. I want to remember who they were then.  How their minds worked.  What they thought of all by themselves.  I want to know my children throughout their lives.  What  makes them soar and what breaks them.  I know one day I'll appreciate this memory over something I asked them to do or of a photo for which I asked them to "smile".    

 Our wonderful hosts popped over to our cottage at some point most days.  Dick was once a toy maker, and he unearthed some of his old bubble toys for Greta and Wyatt.  Love meeting good people on the road. 

Speaking of good people, we spent one afternoon with our friends Susanna and Paul and their three children and three dogs.  

They live in Santiago near us, but they have a mountain house near Pucon on this river. 

The fabulous Monkey Maze tree in its infancy.

Phil finally got to do a little fly fishing.

The Pauls!  Our cooks for the evening.

 The next day, we went on a hike near and on Vulcon Villarica.  First we hiked on the old hardened lava at the far base of the Volcano.

Then we got closer.

 And closer.

All the way up to the snowline.

Happiness is discovering new places with the ones you love.  We are grateful for our chances in this life to really LIVE.