Greetings from Futrono, Chile!

Greetings from Futrono, Chile!

Futrono sits on the Ranco Lake in the middle of the Los Lagos region of Chile's northern Patagonia. The grass is never not green, the lakes are sapphire blue, and the trees on the mountains always just have the barest dusting of snow...and we spent three days of our week in the hospital. All is well but more on that in a bit...

We arrived on last Saturday evening via bus from Bariloche, riding up through the snow covered Andes. We stayed our first night in a cabana, which is like a very nice condo in Colorado. The next morning Rodrigo met us and took us to the Bravo's "cabin". The "cabin", as it was described to us, was a huge understatement. Their vacation home is a huge, four-bedroom house that is modern, clean, and comfortable.  It's well equipped for anything and everything you might need for a relaxing and enjoyable stay. But the best part is the location. It sits on the side of the hill overlooking the gorgeous Lago Ranco. The house has huge windows and a massive deck that provide excellent views of the lovely lake, forests, and surrounding mountains. It's Autumn here so the trees are beautiful yellows and oranges against the evergreen firs and the bright green fields. The neighborhood is well situated so that there aren't any houses to block the stunning view. There isn't electricity run to this area yet but in the day, the sunlight filters through the clouds and mist and into the windows and the large generator in the Bravo's barn powered our evenings. And the mornings found us snuggled on the couch, with a hot cup of coffee, watching the sun rise over the mountains, with the warm fire in the wood stove. 

enjoying his "bus snack"!

bad picture but lots of snow coming over the Andes

border crossing

hot coffee with a straw!

snow and sunshine

Argentine border

beautiful mountain lakes

sleepy baby

our first view of the beautiful lake

"Mrs. Pia's birds!"

Spanish children's stories

"Mr. Rodrigo" and Gabe

salmon from the nearby Puerto Montt

Michael discovered his love for photography...

coffee on the porch

cloudy days call for tomato soup and corncakes

a sunny day!

cowboys!

This region is famous for its mysterious Valdivian forests so a few afternoons were spent driving around the nearby national parks to explore their depths. The enormous trunks are covered with moss and the sunlight barely reaches the ground through the tree canopy. Tiny yellow birds hop from branch to branch, chirping, and it seemed like around every bend was another hidden stream, rushing down from the Andes. It was a fairy tale and easy to see why these forests are some of the most popular destinations in South America. 

Los Lagos is also known for its artisan woolen products so I spent a few mornings shopping for gifts. The sheep dot the countryside so it's easy to find handmade blankets, felt crafts, and wool winter-wear. I'd post a picture but a few readers are receiving them for Christmas so I'll just leave you with the $3 handmade wool hats I found for the boys! 

Another couple of days were spent just enjoying the beautiful lake and countryside. We drove around the Lake route and let the boys throw rocks in on the pretty days and enjoy the mist and clouds on the foggy days. Then we hopped back in the car and enjoyed piping hot empanadas as we continued around the lake. We got home one day to a few pigs stealing these delicious nuts that taste like a coconut! The boys loved chasing them away with sticks!

On Father's Day Sunday, the boys and I made an omelet-bacon-hot coffee-and fresh toast-breakfast-in-bed for Daddy. Rodrigo returned in the midday for homemade pisco sours and a big pasta bolognese and chocolate cake dinner for the two dads we were celebrating. The boys just love "Mr. Rodrigo" so it was lovely to get to spend a whole day with him!

But back to that hospital bit...Gabe decided it would be a nice time to pick up a mild case of viral pneumonia and after an early morning trip to the urgent clinic in Futrono, we took our first ambulance ride (he had to stay on oxygen) to the hospital in Valdivia, about an hour away. Mike and the boys followed us in the car and stayed in a nearby hotel. After an x-ray, the pneumonia was enough to keep us admitted but it was mild enough to take him off oxygen. So Gabe and I spent some quality time in the pediatric ward and in only two days he had improved enough to go home! We thanked our Lord for the wonderful news and spent the remainder of our week resting. 

the boys stayed in a room over a little cafe and enjoyed lomitas every morning before coming to the hospital

we treated ourselves to a mix of US and Chilean candies when Gabe got home!

so happy to have our boy back!

We journeyed back to Bariloche on Monday and flew to Buenos Aires on Tuesday. It was an amazing week in Futrono and we are so grateful to the Bravo's for lending us their home. We can't wait to host them in Texas sometime in the future. The boys will miss Mr. Rodrigo and we will return to this wonderful family as soon as we can!