Category Archives: Countries

Impressions of Santiago, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar & Riñaca

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

We spent our first month in Chile in Santiago and the Valparaiso areas. In general, Chile is a fully developed economy. There is very, very little that is available in the U.S. or Europe that isn’t available here or won’t …

Green – Green – Green

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

In NASCAR parlance, we’ve come off the red and out of the yellow. We are Green – Green – Green. Currently south of Santiago about 100 miles, camped for the night. We are on our way to Ushuaia, Argentina – …

The Next Sunday

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

One week ago, our rig came off the ship damaged. We didn’t know if it was destroyed or not. One week ago, a couple of kids playing with matches started a brush fire that became a wind driven firestorm that …

The Inferno of La Cruz

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

Thursday, 17 January, 2008 Our rig came off the ship at 6:20AM on Sunday, 14 January. We had a chance to partially inspect the rig later that day and knew it was damaged, perhaps destroyed. We sold our house to …

Mystery of the Universe

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

File this one under: Mystery of the Universe When we opened up the camper on the docks here in Valparaiso only one thing was out of place. Our wine opener, a heavy, boxed SrewPull, was on the floor. The door …

Fuso vs. Valparaiso Dock Crew – Part 2

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

We returned to the docks on Wednesday, 16 January, 2008. We were scheduled for an inspection meeting involving three of the parties that operate on the docks: MARVAL, the overall operating company; TPS, the German company that operates the portion …

Fuso vs. Valparaiso Dock Crew

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

  The ship carrying our Fuso, Seaboard’s Thor Nectar, arrived late morning on Saturday, 12 January. Thor Nectar  

The Long, Dark, Dead End Alley

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

  Have you ever been in a new city, in a new country and done something that broke every safe traveling rule you’ve ever been told or learned? Have you ever been in a new city, a gritty port city, …

Blowing the Glass Balloon

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

While we were in Lincoln City, Oregon, Steph arranged for us to learn how to blow glass at the Jennifer L. Sears Glass Studio. I’ve been interested in learning more about glass blowing for years, so this was a chance to finally …

The Dorymen

Posted ago by Douglas Hackney

In the first light of day, before even the dawn, they come. Down to the base of the dune cliffs, down to the sea’s edge, they come. . They come as men have always come, to go down to the …