December 13 & 14 2025

Santiago, Chile > Kansas City, MO, USA

Travel Day(s). It all starts with an 08:00 tour of the Maipo Valley. Our flight isn’t until 22:50 tonight so rather than spend the day in the hotel it was decided we should take a day trip to the Maipo Valley. The region is particularly famous for its Cabernet Sauvignon wines, but we aren’t going wine tasting. We are going for the history and apparently stunning scenery in the foothills of the Andes Mountains.

The valley is about an hours drive south of Santiago. Yesterday we went northwest of Santiago so this will allow us to see more of Chile. It is Sunday so there isn’t quite so much traffic. It is also the day of the National election in Chile, although that is difficult to tell. The Chilean’s aren’t allowed to have election signs, demonstrations, or any sign of the election beginning two days before the election. So, unlike the US.

The drive south though the city we got to see several different neighborhoods. Some very wealthy and some not so much. Looks a lot like any city, although not over developed with high rise apartments buildings. There are some but not a lot of them. They have adopted the 1980-90 American theme of malls here, and there are a few very large malls along the way.

The route taken is called Camino Al Volcàn. The ride, once out of the city, is through the beautiful scenic valley of Maipo. We are headed to Embalse El Yeso. The El Yeso is a reservoir located at about 2,500 meters up in the Andes at the end of the Maipo river basin. It took ten years to build the reservoir, 1954 to 1964. El Yeso reservoir, along with nearby Laguna Negra, is a major source of drinking water for Santiago. The reservoir is huge, 250,000,000 m³, or 60,759,572,000 gallons of water.

 We stopped along the way at Pulperia del Arriero (Arriero’s General Store) for a bathroom break. It is located at 2,268 meters above sea level (about 7,500 feet).

On the way up we drove by “Refugios del Yesi” which are the shelters built in the 1950’s to house the workers during the construction of the reservoir. These buildings were also used in the 1980’s during the Beagle Conflict with Argentina by the Chilean Army to protect this water source for the capital. This area is also known for its gypsum mining, which is still going on today.

We stopped at a bakery in El Ingenio which is a “hot” spot for visitors from Santiago who come up here during the summer (January - March). There are multiple hiking trails, rafting experiences on the Maipo River, fishing as well, and even windsurfing on the reservoir. The area, due to the volcanic activity also has a number of hot springs. On the way up we stopped and saw a “scarcity” or group of Condors. While the southern Andes, (Chile, Ecuador, and Peru) have most of the condors there are still only an estimated 2,000 pairs in the world. We are blessed to see nearly fifteen of these large birds flying freely.

We stopped near the El Morado Natural Monument, in Cajón del Maipo for lunch. The monument is a glacial cirque and is part of the El Volcán River basin. It is home to the San Francisco Glacier and Cerro El Morado are favorite places to hike to in Chile. Lunch was at Lodge El Morado. A nice hotel with small huts, in addition to the hotel, for campers.

Lunch as very good. I had the Chilean chicken soup. And Mary chose the Fettuccine Alfredo. As you can see by the photos both were interesting. The chicken soup had corn, well actually, a pice of corn on the cob, potatoes, both white and sweet, and a pice of chicken thigh. The Fettuccine was interesting in that it included small chunks of ham.

We arrived back at the hotel about 16:30. Our ride to the airport is at 19:00. So, we hung out in the lobby and had a late lunch or early dinner at the Atrium lounge. The ride arrived just before 19:00 and we headed to the airport. Susan and Richard took advantage of an upgrade offer and were able to get business class seats near us.

The check-in at the airport was quick and easy. Immigration and security was also fairly quick. We are given access to the Latam Lounge at the airport. So, we had a comfortable and nice place to relax before our flight. We are on United Flight 846 and boarding began at 21:55.

Even this late the wanted to start the flight with a meal. It is a nine-hour flight, and I really just wanted to sleep. I am not sure what others did but as soon as it was possible I put the seat into bed mode, grabbed my blanket and fell asleep. We might have been off the runway by the time I was out.

I woke up about 05:30, or about 02:30 Houston time. I got cleaned up and watched a movie for a little while, then they served breakfast, yuck. Scrabbled eggs, potatoes, and a sausage. It obviously has been “under the lamps” for a while before being served.

We landed in Houston a little before 05:00 Houston time. The airport doesn’t open until 05:00 so we had to wait a little bit for the gate personnel to show up to direct us to the gate. Then it was immigration and customs. Very quick with Global Access. Hurry up and now wait for our bags. We have to claim them go though the agricultural station, two guys watching us walk through, and recheck our bags for Kansas City.

They then directed us back through security. Once through security we took the train to Terminal B. We then made our way to the gate. We were in plenty of time for our flight. The next flight, United 6134, was at 07:20 boarding just before 07:00. It was on time. We both fell asleep once we got on the plane.

We arrived in Kansas City at 09:00. We headed down to baggage claim on the lower level. We were met by our driver from Prestige at the foot of the escalator

on our way to baggage claim. Our bags arrived amazingly quickly. It is probaly the first time that those priority tags on the bags had any advantage. Having claimed our bags, we alkaline outside into the cold Kansas weather. Thankfully the black Escalade was heated to a reasonable 22° C (72° F). Off to the and headed to the Residence Inn by Marriott (4601 Broadway) on the Country Club Plaza. We arrived just about 10:00. Of course, our room wasn’t ready, so we left them our bags and headed to the plaza for breakfast.

We had breakfast at the Classic Cup Café (301 W47th Street). Grace joined us when she finished with her dentist appointment nearby. Mary had the eggs Benedict, and I had the hot cakes. They do a very nice job with breakfast. Grace had hot chocolate and an everything bagel sandwich.

After breakfast we took Grace to the Apple store. She needed a new iPhone because her current iPhone 14 was acting glitchy. A new iPhone, new iPhone case, and an Apple Watch with two different bands later we headed to IV’s house. Merry Christmas Grace!

We went to IV’s house and hung out there until just after 14:30. Borrowed Rochelle’s car and went to the hotel. Just as we pulled into the hotel parking lot when they called us and told us our room was ready. Great timing. We gathered our bags and checked into the room. We have a nice one-bedroom suite. The hotel itself is “dated” but good for us, as we like to have somewhere to make our morning coffee and room to spread out.

I went back to the house and did laundry while Mary unpacked. Then I drove back and picked Mary up, and we drove down to Bo Lings Chinese Restaurant on the plaza and picked up dinner for the family about 18:00. Nothing fancy, jus some soups, white rice, BBQ pork rice, and a couple meat dishes. We joined the family for dinner, after dinner I continued with the laundry and once it was fluffed and folded we headed back to the hotel.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria