Super enjoyable weekend

Fernando and Eva left on the 27th for a 3 day conference in Ohio and WE got to stay with Leo!  WE got the better deal!
So we planned a fun trip to do with him.  Originally we had planned on taking him to Fredericksburg, TX and maybe visit Enchanted Rock but a doctor appointment was remembered at the last minute so we had to come up with a trip to some place closer.  We chose New Braunfels and we are so glad for that change of plans.  New Braunfels is actually a really nice place - we had no idea.

Guillermo took Fernando and Eva to the airport early on Wednesday the 27th and when he got back, we packed up the car and took off in two cars because we had to drop the other car off at the shop since the check engine light had been on for a while.  We took the long way out to New Braunfels, hoping to see lots of bluebonnets but unfortunately we didn't see much until we got pretty close to New Braunfels.  The first thing we did when we got there was head straight to the McKenna Children's Museum.  Leo had lots of fun there.  His favorite places were the tubes that run balls through on air, the outside water play area and he also loved the Space Walk.  At first he was very leery of the Space Walk because it was SO dark in there we absolutely had to hold on to the rails to make our way through.  But it was comforting to him to know there was a little light at the other end showing the way out so he went through.  It was like being in outer space.  He actually enjoyed it so much that he wanted to go BACK through it.  No pictures in that place for sure.

We had lunch there, then Leo played some more and then we left to go check into our hotel.  He was so excited to be going to a hotel!

We check in and the first thing he wants to do is go down to the pool.  So we change and go down.  But the air is a little too cool and the water in the pool was cold.  So we basically just stood around splashing in the shallowest parts.  Such a disappointment.  But he had fun anyway.

Then it was time for a nap!

That evening we went into the center of New Braunfels and had dinner at an absolutely delicious German restaurant called Alpine Haus.  

The next day, Thursday, we took a quick trip to Landa Park before Guillermo had to take off to San Antonio for his doctor appointment.  Leo loved it so much in this park that we promised we'd come back in the late afternoon, have a picnic dinner and then he could play again.  He was so happy to hear that.

When Guillermo left, Leo and I hung around the hotel.  We had lunch on the balcony, tried the pool again (still too cold for more than just putting our feet in) and then it was nap time.

That evening we stopped by Rudy's and picked up some good brisket sandwiches and some drinks and took them to Landa park.

While we set up our table to eat, Leo played a little while.  He had so much fun and even made a friend there.  We left the same time the friend did so that worked out.  We left a lot later than we had planned, but the two were having so much fun!

This was Leo's favorite thing to do on the playground!

Well, all good things come to an end.  Friday was our day to pack up and head back to San Antonio.  We thought of doing one more thing in New Braunfels but decided against it and just drove home.  Fortunately Leo had this "slime" to play with while we packed.  It kept him occupied the entire time.

The next day, Saturday, we drove to Mom's house and had lunch with her and Linda at Lubys.  

Then, later that evening we drove to the airport to pick up Fernando and Eva.  Leo was very happy and excited to see them.  It was a good four days with our sweet grandson!

Our latest South America trip

Plenty of pictures to get on here.
Our flight to Santiago, Chile was good - if not long.  Fortunately we gambled with our seats - picking both aisle seats in the middle section of 3 seats across.  Our hope was that no one would eventually take the center seat.  No one did so we were able to stretch out.  That's still uncomfortable but it's a whole lot better than sitting upright for 10 hours!  After a good meal, and a movie (Crazy Rich Asians) it was stretching out time and the next thing we know we have arrived.  Of course it's always a crazy long line to go through customs.  Then we get our taxi and are on our way to the Airbnb that we rented for 3 nights.  The guy had told us that check-in was strictly 3pm, even though we asked for earlier check in since we would be arriving exhausted at 10 in the morning.  We finally got to the apartment at around noon and thankfully, thankfully, the guy let us in and after unloading our stuff we all crashed for a couple of hours.

The view from our balcony.  Not sure how I got a picture with the street so empty since there was constant LOUD traffic down there even into the wee hours of the morning!

Looking into the apartment

Guillermo and John relaxing on the couch.  

One morning Guillermo and I went down the street to have breakfast at a little outdoor cafe.

Just had to get a picture of this in a shop window.

We took cable cars on this hill called San Cristobal.  Even though, there were still lots of stairs.

A partial view of Santiago.  There was a lot of smog every day.

From Santiago, we took a flight to Valdivia, Chile.  It was nice to be in clean air again.  We liked Valdivia.  Even though it was summertime, it was a little chilly there.

Such a nice place to walk along the river.  There were always lots of people walking.

This part of the walk along the river was right by our hostal.  Following that path took you to the center of town - a nice easy walk.

There's the center of town.  We are looking at it from the middle of a bridge.

The view from our hotel room.  That's a Monkey Puzzle tree right outside our window.

One day we took a drive to take a Ferry across to Corral.

Once in Corral we continued driving along the coastline until we got to Chaiwin.

Back in Corral we visited a small fort there.  If you look carefully, there in the center you can see a snow covered volcano in the distance.

On the ferry going back to Valdivia

Next place we went to was Villarica and Pucon

This is in the town of Pucon, we could see the Villarica Volcano from the streets of the town.

We visited 3 waterfalls, which involved a long walk on very dusty trails.

Driving to the Villarica Volcano.  As you can see, it's active!

Back on the river in Valdivia

These pictures are taken in Bariloche, Argentina.  We took a bus from Valdivia, Chile, to Bariloche, Argentina.  It was about 8 hours long but it was broken up by a border crossing.  

Where we are sitting here is on Lake Nahuel Huapi, down a short walk from our hotel.

That's our hotel, the small one on the left.

Lake Nahuel Huapi

The breakfast room of our hotel.

Close to Bariloche is an area called Llao LLao.  It was simply beautiful.

Here is a view of the Lanin Volcano.

We had a wild picnic at Tromen Lake by this volcano simply because the wind was blowing so much it was hard to keep our food from just taking off into the air!

Beautiful Monkey Puzzle trees around Lanin Park.

I might have a smile on my face here by one of those trees but my mind was on all that dust in the background being stirred up by a car driving by.  Lots of dusty days on this trip!

  

Another day we went to the other side and saw the volcano from a different angle.

This picture is from San Martin de los Andes.  That was one of my favorite towns.  The main plaza there was always busy with families hanging around, maybe a concert going on. etc.  It just seemed to be an enjoyable place to live.  

So, Guillermo has been talking for 11 years about taking me to the Arayanes Trail because he thinks it is a really great trail.  He just LOVED doing it with Fernando back in 2008.  Well, he finally got his wish.  Although we didn't do the entire trail like he and Fernando did, we did walk on it a little and it felt good to finally do the thing that Guillermo has been wanting to do for so many years!

Unlike 2008, when Fernando and Guillermo WALKED the entire trail, we took this boat to the end of the trail, walked back UP it a little and then had a little tea and pastry at the tea house there.  The trail is actually 12 kilometers long - about 8 miles.

This view is from the boardwalk part of the trail.  There were many beautiful views along this boardwalk, which is why Guillermo wanted me to walk the whole trail.  He said there were many beautiful views along the whole trail and that it was a great walk.

Beautiful flowers along the trail.\