Maria's Guest Appearance on the Slingshot!!!

So Clay and I (Maria) thought it was time for ya'll to see some pictures of the four of us, since we have been doing so much! Enjoy!

Here I am at the Cerro Santa Lucia Park, we climbed to the top and were able to see all of Santiago! It was pretty amazing. What also was pretty amazing was in every direction you saw cranes, building high-rises, I think I counted 12... no economic slow down here.

Another shot of Santiago.

This was the hostel we stayed at in Vina del Mar. Here we are packing up to get on the bus bound for Mendoza, Argentina.

On the bus driving through Chile. Beautiful country side.

Okay... so I'm probably not the best person to write this caption but this is part of the road through the Andes that our double-decker bus climbed. I remember 2 things from this... 1. praying that the crazy bus driver turned the corners and made it up safely. 2. Clay and Kyle talking the ENTIRE time about how they wish they were still on their motorcycles because the twists and turns would have been awesome to ride!!!!

A shot from the Andes. Taking the bus through this mountain range was pretty spectacular. I have never seen anything like it.

Kathryn and I (or should I say Mathryn) having lunch in the middle of the Andes, before crossing into Argentina. 

The double-decker bus we took from Chile to Argentina, an 8 hour ride.

Here is Kathryn and I in Mendoza, as the four of us ventured to the bus station to buy our tickets to Buenos Aires. It was quite the feat being on bikes around such crazy drivers, who don't stay in their lanes!

Clay, Kathryn, Kyle and I at the Plaza Independencia in Mendoza. This park is in the center of the city and we are actually standing on top on a modern art museum located in the park. A funny side note: The dog you see in the back ground has been following us around this city. It seems like where ever we go the dog (Kathryn named it Buddy) just shows up. We have been here 3 days and have seen it every where!

A fountain in the biggest park in Mendoza. It was amazing to ride around here, there was a man-made lake where we saw crewers rowing. Plus everyone was outside running or walking, so there was a real feel of local culture.

Here we are at dinner last night, it was a small wine bar where we had some tapas. Kyle loved this place... I think it reminded him of San Fran a bit. Also, this is the nicest the boys have dressed in the past 2 1/2 months! Pretty sharp!

So this shot of Fernet is for all of Kathryn's and Kyle's friends back in San Francisco. They said you all are obsessed with this stuff and there is TONS of it down here.

Mendoza is know for it's wine, so today we rented bikes and went on a wine tour. It was pretty fun, I think Kathryn and Kyle had a bit more fun because Clay ended up getting 2 flats, so we ended our day a bit earlier. 

Clay in the barrel room at the Wine Museum. 

Here we are on a tour of the Carinae Winery, it was started by a French couple in 2003. They produced their first bottle of Malbec in 2004.

This is an old school grape press dating back to 1910.

Thats all for now folks! Kyle and Kathryn are currently out at some bars and Clay and I are at the hostel. The two of us haven't been feeling well today... I think we picked up some bug. Tomorrow we are off on an 17 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires, which we are all pretty excited about! Until next time!! - Maria