After wrapping up our time in the 7 lakes region, we crossed the border back into Chile, the last one on the trip, hooray! and made our way to Pucón for lunch followed by a night in Villarrica. Pucón was super busy. February is the month everyone takes a month long vacation from the heat in Santiago and it seems the entire city heads south in search of cooler temperatures and lake or ocean time. Pucón felt like it was bursting at the seams, probably for that reason. Villarrica was a bit better, probably because it is slightly less popular than Pucón. But, we found a free place to park at the local theater which was right by a little beach that had all these interesting clay mounds around that made a super fun playground of little pools and channels. The boys had a great time here; I'd come back to this spot again for sure.
On Saturday we drove several hours north up to a campground east of Los Angeles called Camping Los Notros. We were meeting another family there, one of Drew's hiking Dad friends and his 4 kids, ages 13, 12, 9, and 3. We had a ton of fun together. The kids are all very sweet, and the older ones don't have cell phones, so all the kids were playing together the whole time. The Mom of this family is a higher up at the German Embassy, so unfortunately, she had to work and couldn't join us. The family really is impressive though. They move with the Mom's job every 3-4 years, so they've lived in Brazil, Germany, India, Mozambique, and now Chile. The Dad is French Canadian, so the kids speak French with Dad and German amongst themselves. And the Mom also speaks Portuguese and is now learning Spanish. So 5 languages for her and counting. Wow.
The campsite had really nice shade structures for us, so even though it was hot and dry, we had enough shade to stay comfortable.
The kids had fun playing Pass the Ace, a card game that's fun for all ages. Grandma and Grandpa taught the boys this game early in the trip, and it quickly became a favorite.
The highlight of the campground is it is on a section of river right before a dam, so it was very wide and calm. Our friends brought two paddle boards, and Avery made it his mission to learn how to master it. By the end, he was a bonafide paddle board taxi driver, giving trip after trip to anyone who'd join him.
Emerson also enjoyed figuring out the paddle board, but his true love was the single person kayaks that the campground had available to use. He zipped all over the place in that thing. The river was perfect for the boys. In many sections it was so shallow that they could get out and stand up if they wanted to.
When we weren't at the beach, there were plenty of other things to do. Grandma and Grandpa found a patch of wild blackberries, so all the kids went berry picking and got a whole box for us. This was a nice full circle moment for us, because at the start of the trip, in Frutillar actually, we passed lots of berry bushes but they were just flowering. And each place we went, because we were going south where the weather was chillier and chillier, we kept being a few weeks ahead of berry season. But the timing finally aligned in our last stop, and we took full advantage!
Sand castle building.
Soccer playing.
Child launching.
And finally, volleyball lessons.
On Wednesday, Feb. 25th, we packed up and drove the 8 hours or so back to Santiago, arriving around 6pm without any issues. The trip is officially complete! Overall, we covered more than 3,500 miles in driving, and that's a very conservative estimate. We forgot to track it using the odometer in the van, so that is simply the mileage on google maps from Santiago to Puerto Natales and back. We did lots of cruising around exploring other places, so I wouldn't be surprised if the total was closer to 4,000 miles. To put this in perspective, when Grandma and Grandpa drive from MI to Alaska, that's just shy of 4,000 miles one way. And they go out and back again on their trips! Wowzer! But, if you ask G&G about differences in that kind of driving and the driving we did, their first answer will be the road conditions. Lack of research on my part maybe, but we were not expecting the amount of grave roads we would be driving on. Basically from Cerro Castillo southwards on the Carreterra Austral, it's gravel more often than not. And while one upbeat cycler once shared that all the gravel keeps the number of tourists down, it certainly made for a slow, bumpy ride at times. But, if you know it's coming and can set expectations accordingly, it wouldn't be too bad.
I want to spend a few minutes writing up the pros and cons of van life, as we had never done this to this extent before, as well as takeaways from the trip overall. First, the amount of quality time we got with the boys was priceless. Every morning, once the boys woke up (which was almost never with an alarm), they'd come up from their bed and cuddle with us in the "big bed" for at least 30 minutes. It was a lovely way to start the day. Then Drew would hop down and start putting the boys' bed away and make coffee while I read to the boys. We made it through the first three Harry Potter books twice! (we were also listening to the audio books on the drives), and are soon to start the Redwall Series. So alot of times we wouldn't open the van door to greet the world until 9:30am or 10am. So early risers we were not, but the slow pace of life was something I really liked. No manic rushing around to "get it all done." I will say this slow pace did incite a bit of laziness in Drew and me from a workout perspective. We had every intention to workout regularly during the trip, but that motivation seemed to fade as our pace of life slowed. That is something we would like to change for next time. How do we keep the slow pace of van life but still add a dash more routine to keep us in better shape? Gotta be a balance there somewhere.
Bedtimes were arguably not as fun. The boys slept head to toe in a small space, so if they were overtired (or under tired from a longer driving day!) there was lots of kicking and shoving as they tried to quiet down. Many times I had to go lie between them just to create a physical separation so they could quiet their bodies and fall asleep. So next time we need a different system. Maybe one boy gets the privilege of falling asleep in the big bed while the other falls asleep in their bed, and then we move the other boy down once we're ready for bed. Many times we also went to bed basically at the same time as the boys, partly because of what I was just describing, but also because it's very difficult to physically get into our bed once the boys are asleep in their beds. But if we tried the new method, we could crawl over their bed without smashing anyone, meaning we could stay around the campfire a bit later and have more adult only time, which would be nice. But our bed in the van was amazingly comfortable, so we were getting good sleep the majority of the time. Unfortunately, I'm not sure G&G had the same experience, but for Drew and me, sleep deprivation was not a factor, as it can be in extended camping situations. Poor sleep is one of the things about normal camping that I don't enjoy. After several days of that, I feel awful, tantrums (both the boys' and mine!) become more frequent, and the experience overall becomes less enjoyable. But, because we were getting good sleep in the van, it felt much more doable long term.
As far as meals go, the cooking prep we did was super valuable. Cooking complicated meals in the van is difficult, so Drew and Brian cooked a bunch at home before we left and froze the meals in flat packs that were very easy to thaw and then reheat on the road, a system we learned from the Heebees at Burning Man! And every time we stopped at an Airbnb, we would restock and do the same thing with a proper kitchen. At times it was a bit of a game trying to finish the meals before crossing the border, but the Customs officials on either side never actually opened the freezer coolers we had, so we probably wouldn't have had any problems if we had risked it. And we never had trouble finding fresh fruits and vegetables on the road. So we ate really well, which always makes a trip more enjoyable.
The boys loved the freedom they got of constantly playing out in nature. We brought a bag of toys with us for rainy days, but the amount of times they actually played with said toys was very few. Most of the time they were building river dams or forts or sand slides or collecting firewood. They learned to whittle! They ran a massage parlor business, charging us 300 pesos for a half hour of back rubs. They befriended street dogs and local kids. It was fun to watch.
Having two vans instead of one was a blessing and a curse. Curse because there are twice as many things to break, but to be fair, the amount of issues we had were really few and far between, mainly due to the preparation done by Brian and Drew. Never were we broken down on the side of the road, which I am so thankful for. Blessing because we could split up the packing between the two vans, so our van wasn't quite so loaded down and heavy. Going solo would require a bit more organization to keep our total weight in check. Blessing because a second van meant G&G could come! It was so nice to have them on the trip. Drew and I were able to do some bigger hikes we could not have done with the boys in tow, and they got some quality grandkid time. Having 4 adults to split the work of cooking and cleaning each day was also very helpful. Plus, we have fun together and enjoy each other's company, so win win for all. Thank you G&G! Trip of a lifetime.
We definitely got lucky with the weather. The end of December was certainly rainy, but once we got into January, we were able to dodge most of the bad weather systems and never was there a place we went where we weren't able to see it fully because of bad weather. It was definitely chilly more often than not, but the van is well insulated enough that we were never truly cold at night, and I'd always prefer a cool van than a hot and stuffy one.
The natural beauty of Patagonia itself was beyond belief. I felt like a record on repeat while writing these blogs: this is the most beautiful place I've ever seen.... No, this one! No, this one! This one is the most beautiful! And it just kept getting better. I personally loved the water. Every river or lake we'd pass was stunningly clear and pristine. It felt very untouched by humanity, which is hard to find in this day and age. We loved it so much that our plan is to go back and do it all again next summer. We will avoid, however, driving on Ruta 40 in Argentina for several reasons. One, the pampa is boring. The wildlife is nice, but it doesn't outweigh the drudgery. The road in sections is so rough it becomes a game of chance to see if you'll escape with everything intact on your vehicle. And the wind. The wind! Patagonia is known for being windy, but the Argentinian side seemed WAY worse than the Chilean side. At least on the Chilean side there are trees and things to hide behind. Argentina was like the worst parts of Wyoming, so if we can avoid it next time, we will.
So overall, van life for extended periods of time was great, much better than I anticipated, but I can be Negative Nancy sometimes, or as I like to think about it Realistic Rhonda. I think the boys are at the perfect age for van life; old enough to sit still and read for long periods of time, but small enough that we can all fit inside if needed. Once they get to stinky teenager size, they'd have to sleep outside in a tent; we just wouldn't all fit. The freedom and flexibility you get in a van is worth the price of admission. We could pack up and be ready to hit the road in about 20 minutes flat. Not having to pack and unpack, pack and unpack was priceless. Having a real bed was priceless. Having Starlink was very helpful; we were never going to be stranded and helpless on the side of the road. We watched the Winter Olympics during our journey! It was the best of both worlds. Disconnected as much as we wanted to be from the mania, but not disconnected from family and friends. Things I was looking forward to at home: a scalding hot shower with unlimited water and pressure like a firehose. Not having to shit in a bag; although, to be fair, we only actually had to do that like a third of the time. Not having sand constantly in my bed. Seeing friends. Would I do it again? Yes! Will we do it again? That's the plan!
