Recent Adventures and new life goals

Hello to all, I hope you all had a wonderful, merry and cold Christmas. I never realized how important cold weather for Christmas was for me until this year, when I spent it wearing a t-shirt. At the root of it all being with your family and friends is really the most important, and I was fortunate enough to have that for the most part. My parents came down to visit and spend a week traveling down South with me and my friend Allysons family. Being down South felt more appropriate for the season since it is cooler, and we lucked out with sunshine and warmth for the most part, very unusual.
We started our trip out in Puerto Varas staying a lovely inn called the Guest House, it looked just like a bed and breakfast that you would find in the Northeast. The next day we took a chairlift ride up Volcan Osorno; just so you know the hike takes all day and cost about 250 USD, we decided the chairlift was a nice compromise at a mere 12 luca. The view from the top of the second lift was breathtaking. You could see all of Lago Llanquihue, which is a gigantic lake. To celebrate the season we built a snowman with pieces of volcanic rock for eyes, nose and buttons. Pictures to come later.
The next day we woke up early to meet the Howes at the rafting place. I did a good job of getting my parents on "Chilean time" and we were a timely fifteen minutes late. Unfortunately, the tour agencies tend to be one time since they are catering to cultures that value being on time...que lastima. We then rafted down the Petrohue river with a nice couple from Boston who designed and own a software programing company that does work for political campaigns, mostly determining voter demographic and initiating voter contact. I stand by my earlier statement that rafting down a river is by far the best way to see the countryside in a short amount of time, especially in the south of Chile where it rains a lot. Youre going to get wet either way rafting, might as well be in the rain. My mom used her safety skills learned during the brief orientation when she fell out of the boat, almost dragging Eleanor, Allysons mom, down with her. Let the gringo adventure begin.
We then started the drive down to Cochamo. let me tell you. This place is literally, literally the most beautiful place I have ever seen and I sincerely hope it stays as untouched by human hands as it is right now. Very few people in Chile have heard of it, which was a little surprising to me, though not extremely unusual. We stayed with Campo Aventura that is run by a couple that lived in Johannesburg for 11 years working for the Boston Globe and decided to buy this place and move to Chile. We rode on horseback into the centre of the valley the next morning, led by a funny German guy named Daniel. As I was bumping along on the dirt road in the middle of pure farm land and I realized that at some point in my life, for a least a little while, I want to live like this. To live off the land, live in silence, away from technology. To live in a place that people take a 45 minute horse ride just to say hello to their neighbor. Where the value of human relations is high and wealth is not. Of course, I say this all on my online blog with my electricity. But its something to consider.
We emerged into the valley mid afternoon surrounded by huge, granite mountains, the sun beating down on our backs. We were greated by a Chilean couple who owns the lodge/farm we stayed at and our new friend, Steve. Steve was our hiking guide for the trip and is a straight from the wilderness of Michigan man. After some onces he successfully convinced me to slide down a rock slide-waterfull made from glacial run off in order to celebrate my birthday. Being a year older and not any wiser I agreed. Fortunately I dragged Allyson down with me. The water was just as numbing as expected, but well worth the ride down. I finally convinced my father, with the assurance I would revive his frozen body, to take a slide down as well.
The next day we hiked up a "cerro" called Trinidad, by cerro they meant to say tiny Everest. However, the view was incredible and the trek was well worth the mud slopes we braved. It was really nice to be able to see the valley from up above, and feel like you were standing with giants at the top of a granite ocean.
After riding horses back out of the valley, we put our bruised deriers in the cars and headed down to the island of Chiloe. First stop, Chepu. We stayed at this really cool place run by a couple from Santiago who decided that they were tired of the city life, and after both getting fired from their jobs heading to Chepu to build their own, sustainable home, without spending a single peso. One day, when they had finished the house they wanted to go kayaking, but found that carrying the kayaks down the hill from their house was more effort than they wanted. So they built a smaller house down at the bottom of the hill to store the kayaks. After meeting a French guy on the move, who ended up staying with them for 6 months they started to expand their new property and began renting kayaks. Everything they have built has been from suggestions of passers by and it is all green energy. It was really interesting to hear their story.
Allyson, my parents and I then embarked on an unexpectedly long kayak ride down the river. Bursting with energy and enthusiasm we paddled quickly downstream with the wind at our backs. 1 hour later we decided to turn around, now heading into the current and voracious wind. It took about 2 hours to get back to the cabañas. However, it was a nice paddle and we saw some lovely egrets and it was nice to be outside on a such a beautiful day. our paddles even had little mitts on them to keep your fingers warm, which mom really appreciated.
TERRIBLE UPDATE THE CAT DIED! this is not good.