Trip up to Antofagasta

Upon leaving Temuco, we drove 8 hours to Santiago, arriving after midnight. We stayed at the GMSA apartment/office building in Ñuñoa. After a good night's rest, I (David) met the moving truck the next day at the Bible Camp to oversee the unloading of a portion of our belongings. The truck was on time and the unload was uneventful. The truck driver confirmed his arrival date in Antofagasta for the following Sunday. Our family decided to stay in Santiago a few extra days, since we would beat the truck to Antofagasta and the truck couldn't be unloaded until Monday afternoon, due to our apartment building regulations.

The next few days in Santiago were a God send. We needed rest after weeks of craziness. It was nice to just DO NOTHING for a change. We did visit our co-workers, Jonnie & Carolina Rea (from N. Ireland) as well as Sharon Bisbee (from NJ) during our stay in Santiago.

On Sat. night, April 30th, we left Santiago around 9:30 pm to drive the l-o-n-g trip to Antofagasta. We wanted to leave at night in order to arrive in Antofagasta later the next day so that we all could just go right to sleep (instead of arriving in the morning, kids bouncing off the walls, while the parents are dog tired).

We made good time up to La Serena, where we had planned to stop at a gas station to sleep for a few hours. Upon stopping, all the kids woke up and Lukas (especially) didn't want to go back to sleep. Kristi and I tried to catch some shut-eye, but little Luke Skywalker didn't let us. So we pressed on up the road with Coke in hand.

Around an hour before Copiapó (6:30 am), we ran into some thick fog that forms in the desert valleys at night. It was incredibly thick and slowed us down quite a bit. Passing large semi-trucks and overnight buses was impossible and dangerous. We eventually made it to Copiapó, around 8 am and stopped to get gas and have some breakfast. It was a brisk morning, since Copiapó is a desert city that's away from the coast.

After that needed stop in Copiapó, we started on the LAST stretch up to Antofagasta. Of course, that last stretch seemed to go on and on forever. The sun was HOT. The landscape all looked the same...dust, sand, and rocks all with a hue of light yellow due to the beating sun.

Kristi and I took turns driving for sanity and sleepiness sake.

Typical desert scene in northern Chile.

Ok, you definately can tell it was hot in the van, since both Jordan and Ben had their shirts off.

Finally, we arrived in Antofagasta!! Our friends, Dr. Daniel & Milagros gave us our apartment keys, fed us, and we all got a good night's sleep.

Thanks for your prayers for our long trip. We praise God for His protection on the road and for His leading us here to Antofagasta.