Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, rain...WIND.

Roger Fricke and Will--probably talking about the Florida primary with Blackie (part dog, part giant beast) in the background.

Lush, verdant, pristine: Adjectives and superlatives rush to mind as I think of Pucon. I find myself reluctant to leave, but am delighted to know that we may return on our way back to Santiago. Our first afternoon was partly cloudy. Great cumulus clouds skirted the rounded pinnacles which resembled Thai karst formations and we drank beers on the patio with Roger and Caren Fricke and their wonderful helper and friend, Sigfredo. Rain threatened, so Will and I quickly finished our libations so we could have a chance to hike to a set of waterfalls in the valley below the house. The downpour came sooner than anticipated and though we were drenched by the icy rain and turbid river water, we happily scrambled and scampered about the black volcanic boulders and ribbons of gray igneous rock. Apparently there is a volcano, but even the nearby mountains were well shrouded in fog.



My dream come true: A wood fired grill and brick oven. Not to mention, the view....

Every dinner at the Fricke's is an event worth remembering thanks to Caren's phenomenal cooking. A 16 pound rib roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, fried noodles with cabbage and pork chops, pumpkin pie with a lard crust, avocado laden salads, and lots of delicious red wine. Heaven! Not to mention Norma's tender ginger cookies.... Dinner for this family is more than fulfilling the requirements of subsistence, and I value that.



Frisky kitten thinks she is a dog. She enjoyed tramping about the property with me as I documented the picturesque landscape.

Well...the rain kept coming. And coming. For the next two days the sky sobbed, sometimes raining down and sometimes raining sideways. When there was a brief lull, Will and I headed up the mountain, but disturbed a hornets nest and Will was stung 8 times, including on his head, leaving him with a throbbing headache and little inclination to forge ahead through the freezing rain. We had lost the trail anyway, and stood in an endless, chokingly thick bamboo thicket that required us to crawl. We lost the trail at a downed tree and saw some pink markers thinking that was the new way around. Turns out, those markers are actually for a native tree seed experiment run by one of the Fricke's sons!