Sunday, March 13, 2016 Zuniga, Chile

I will be brief today because the internet connection is the slowest I have seen in a long time. (The good news is that we do have a connection.) No pictures today because I am afraid they won't be uploaded before we need to pack up.

We left Santiago this morning around 9:30 and shuttled south for about two hours to the Casa Silva winery. While we toured the winery, Juan Pable (“Jata”), Pablito and Santiago set up our bikes, installing our pedals and saddles. Then we cycled the enormous distance of 1.6 km to the “clubhouse” where we had an excellent steak for lunch. All of this before any serious cycling!

There had been a lot of fog during the morning, but it had lifted by the time we finished, lunch, and we hit the road in beautiful sunny weather. Today's ride was a short one (only about 26 miles), and it was mostly flat, but it felt good to be back on a bike after about 10 days off.

We are staying at a pleasant ranch style estate that feels much more like a B&B than a hotel. We will soon be heading off to a nearby restaurant for dinner. (After dinner----) We traveled the two miles or so to dinner by horse drawn wagon. As we were going, we could see the snow-capped Andes behind us and the Coastal Range ahead of us. The venue was an event facility owned by the proprietress of our lodging – a place where they hold weddings and similar special events. They prepared a special dinner for us which was served buffet style – after they lovingly described each dish. Suffice it to say that each one was better than the one before. I even loved the eggplant casserole, and I am no fan of eggplant.

On that note, I will sign off. More riding tomorrow.