The iconic twin headlights of a 1959 Cadillac. South Beach, Miami.
Bullet tail lights and the big fin of a 1959 Cadillac. South Beach, Miami.
Hanging out at the Santiago airport Linda waits for our shuttle bus ride to Portillo.
This was our view from our hotel room in Portillo. Our view looked over Plateau chair, Laguna del Inca, with the Los Tres Hermanos mountains in the background.
The infamous Roca Jack slingshot lift. A five person poma that takes you uphill as fast as you can ski down it. To unload you ski off backwards on a 40 degree avalanche chute. To make it more challenging as a group you needed to navigate through the rocks. If you couldn't ride it you had no business going to the slopes it was taking you to.
To stay in the main lodge at Portillo is an over the top experience. 400 guests with more than 400 staff. The price to ski at Portillo is all inclusive. This was one course of a 4 course lunch of our 4 meals per day. Linda is having the pasta primavera and I am having a lamb shank.
The view from the Las Lomas ski run over looks the infamous yellow Hotel Portillo. You can also see the avalanche chute of Roca Jack and Kilometro Lanzado. It was here that in 1978 Steve McKinney was the first human to break the 200 kph (124 mph) barrier on skis.
Linda skiing Roca Jack, Portillo Chile. With an average steepness of almost 45 degrees it takes focus and concentration on each turn.
The Juncalillo chair returns you to the main ski area. The ride uphill is faster than driving the highway that snakes over the Andes on its was to Argentina.
The view from our deck on the 6th floor of the Hotel Portillo. The best rooms, but not the best place to be after a hard day of skiing because the elevator only goes to the 5th floor.
All that is left of the railroad that used to service Portillo is this tunnel. It was great fun to ski through for it was wired for sound. A steam train would whistle and chug its way with you as you skied through.
Linda enjoying the view from Conejo as we return to the Hotel for a sumptuous lunch.
This is where the apres ski action would happen every afternoon. They roll out the bar and deliver your Pisco Sours right to you in the spa,
Linda and I at Tio Bobs located at the top of Portillo's Plateau Lift. Arguably some of the finest high altitude ski area dining we have ever enjoyed.
Every ski week ends with a torch parade put on by the employees for the enjoyment of the guests.
A surfer finds his ride just inside the reef at Hanga Roa, Easter Island.
A memorial in the Tahai cemetery in Hanga Roa, Easter Island
This horse has it's eys onAhu Ko Te Riku. The most complete Moai and the only moai on Easter Island with eyes.
Linda has found a friend at the archeological site of Ahu Tahai, Easter Island
The archeological site of Ahu Tahai, a short walk from Hanga Roa is THE place to watch the sunset on Easter Island.
The moai's Ahu Vai Urii silhouetted by the sunset , Hanga Roa, Easter Isalnd
Standing alone, the solitary moai Ahu Tahai frames the sunset over the Pacific Ocean on Easter Island.
