April 26,

I awoke around seven and looked out our bedroom window. Jeff had just got up to start a fire. I was shocked, amazed even… I could see the Volcano!! Yay and YIPPEEE for small miracles!!!😂  I got dressed quickly and went out for a couple of photos. It was sunrise and so beautiful. This was why we had booked this place and it just figures we are leaving today. We video called my mother and her husband. As we were talking with them we saw hummingbirds, buzzing a flowering shrub. We finished up talking, readied and started packing. Our hosts graciously allowed us to stay longer than our 1100 checkout, so we did a Zoom link with our church back home.

We loaded up and left by 1210. Since we could see the volcano we decided to go to the Ski Lodge area and check out the mountain. At 1220, we stopped at Mirador El Bosque for another view of the lake and the mountain. It was a great overview of the lake. We did a quick selfie photo and continued up the mountain. Around 1230, we arrived. They had a running ski lift to get up to a glacier. The Osorno Volcano peeked out of the clouds briefly. I did a Wikipedia on the mountain and the lake: the mountain volcano is 2,652 m (8,700 ft) in height and last erupted in 1869. The Llanquihue Lake is 1,040 ft at its deepest depth and is the second largest in Chile. We walked around a bit and took pics. Then we loaded up to head back down. We were rounding a curve, came to the mirador we were at before, and saw a Chilean Fox!!! So very cool. He stopped at the side of the road as we did. It was as if he were posing (or thinking we may have food). He’s so very small… This surprised me. So now we have seen a fox in Argentina and Chile! But alas, no pumas or deer…still thankful for the foxes! We continued on.

We drove along the lake to Puerto Varas, stopping at the Puerto Varas Mirador to eat a bread and butter snack and get our last look at the volcano, as it peeked out one last time. We saw a couple more hawks. When we finished, we moved on. We arrived in Puerto Montt by 1500. First we went by the airport. Jeff checked on where to leave the car in the morning since it will before six am. That taken care of, we went to our place for the night. We arrived and our host walked us through our cabana. We gave her our parkas, ski pants and gloves. She only spoke minimal English so we used Google Translate, and after a couple of rounds, we think she understood we did not want them back. The first time she replied something about washing them!

We unloaded, then we video chatted with my sister. It’s been a broken up communication day, but it has worked out just the same. After we finished, we set about making supper of soft tacos. That was so good! I guess we have been missing them, because we snarfed them down. Then we redistributed our bags for flying tomorrow. Lastly we were able to video chat with Jeff’s sister and her husband. Bed by 2200.