CHILEAN LAUGHTER TOUR DAY 9

On the ninth day of our laughter tour, we had a low-key schedule so we slept in a bit, then enjoyed breakfast at our hotel in Los Angeles, Chile. As you can see in the photo below Alejandra wasn't yet awake even though breakfast was late.

William was taking a photo of the corridor of our hotel when the maid stepped into the frame. They both got a great laugh out of that.

When we went out to the parking lot, we saw that the hotel hangs the sheets on a line instead of using a dryer. We watched the hotel employee quickly pull a whole group of sheets off the line, throw them around his neck and head back to the hotel. Here is is in all his sheets.

Here's one of the many stray dogs of Los Angeles.

A shot from Los Angeles.

This flag vendor was giving us directions. Because it just two days before the fiestas patrias (literally "patriotic parties") to celebrate the Chilean Independence.Celebrations of all things Chilean center on their independence day so we saw many flag vendors.

Some lovely spring tree blossoms in Los Angeles.

More random scenes from Los Angeles.

Before we left town, we stopped at the bus station so Alejandra could purchase her bus ticket. We had determined she would depart from Pucon separately so she could get back to Santiago in time to fly north for her big laughter job in the copper mines.

This guy didn't even see me take his photo as we drove by.

We saw many street vendors selling kites in Chile. It is a favorite pastime and since it is a coastal country, there is generally plenty of wind for kite flying.

More aromos trees. Everyone told us how lucky we were to be in Chile during the very small window of tim when these gorgeous trees are in their full spring bloom.

Here we are going through another toll. There were many of them along the highway.

This is a bridge on way from Los Angeles to Temuco.

Here is a church in the city of Temuco.

This is the Chinese restaurant in Temuco where we ate lunch.

Here in Chile, it's Coke Light, not Diet Coke and it tastes slightly different than the formula used for Diet Coke in the states.

Tosha contemplating her lunch.

Mmmm...this is the lovely coffee drink I had for dessert.

Here is the sign in front of the restaurant. While lunch was good, we decided that Chinese food in the United States is a bit better than in Chile.

Here's a scene I photographed in Temuco.

A beautiful home with a Mapuche sculpture in Temuco.

More scenes along the way.

Our gas guys!

Faintly in the background you can see a volcano. This was our first glimpse of the famous Villarrica Volcano situated near Pucon, our destination city.

Now here is a closer view of Villarrica Volcano.

As you can see by the photos, I was very impressed (if not obsessed) with the giant volcano. I was proud of myself for capturing these shots with a zoom lens from a moving vehicle.

You can see how it dominates over the landscape. It is breathtaking.

When the sunset tinted the volcano pink, I demanded Tosha pull over so I could get an adequate shot of it. It was simply magnificent.

Then we went to an open air market to get some groceries to bring to Nicole's house. Here are some of the lovely items they had for sale.

Then we dropped Alejandra off at her daughter's house. Here you can see the very happy reunion of Alejandra and her granddaughter, Antonia.

We arrived at Nicole's house. This is Nicole and Felipe. Tosha has long been friends with Nicole's mother and so we were invited to come stay at her home. She's an America but has been living in Chile most of her adult life.

They took us for a walk down by the beach on Pucon's lake.  There we got a spectacular view of the stars—including the Southern Cross, which is easily visible in the Southern Hemisphere. This was the first time William and I had ever seen it. Here are some shots along the walkway where we strolled.

After a nice visit with Nicole and Felipe, we enjoyed a night's rest.