Distance to Date: 3142 km , 1948 miles

We continued north on Ruta 5 from Temuco and had mostly good riding days. It was overcast and grey in the beginning; therefore, it was difficult for us to see well. We took our time and kept safety as top priority. North of Los Angeles, we stayed at a Terpel gas station for two nights because of rain. (Note: We gave that gas station 5-Stars for having free Wi-Fi, outlets, clean restrooms, showers, a soft lawn to pitch our tent, a decent store with goodies, and great customer service.)

We did have a day or two of sunshine, which enabled us to churn the cranks and ride metric centuries (100 kms). Our legs are feeling strong now that we are able to ride without having to deal with issues/problems ...like skipping gears, ripios (gravel roads), headwind, rain, etc... For the time being, we are excited to make it to Santiago, the end of Stage 1 of our 6-stage journey. Santiago is only about 200 kms away!

Ruta 5 from Temuco passes through Los Angeles, Chillan, Talca and Curico, and it continues to Santiago. Passing through Chillan, known for its longanizas (sausages), we pick up a couple for dinner. The red sausage-looking thing above "Chillan" took a couple of views to figure out what it was! After more than 1700 miles, we finally get our first flat. Tauru checks out the trailer tire for sharp objects. We ran over something that cut a hole all the way through the tire. Trouble. A tire with a hole somewhere out in nowhere-land. What to do? What to do? We have some sheets of plastic, and so it's time to be creative. The piece of plastic held until we passed through a town big enough to have a bike shop where we bought a new tire. Fortunately, these 16" tires are common since they are used for kids' bikes. We continue northward, and the weather changes back to grey, dreariness. Monochromatic grey is not visually good for us. Christi eats lunch in a bus stand and wonders when sunshine will come back. For the two of us, we use a 4-person tent. The extra weight is well-worth it for the spacious room inside. Candle-light at night with hot drinks makes "home" really cozy ...even when camping at truck stops with roaring 18-wheelers and cars whizzing by outside. And sunshine does come. The day we rode into Curico (yesterday), we take a break at a truck stop for lunch. We'll continue north to Rancagua and then to Santiago (200 kms away).