We are at the beaches of Chile! They are incredible! In good news, the Octoodyssey staff has a new kitchen! They are very talented chefs! We are very happy to be here in Chile 🇨🇱.

Concepcion, Chile, is where we are located today for a nonriding day. Concepcion appears to be a beautiful city on the Pacific Ocean with the river Biobío running through it. It is the third largest population area in Chile, with 1,500,000 people in the greater Concepcion area. Getting here was fascinating as the last part was on the Autopista and then on to a very rough and busy four-lane road into the city center. The Autopista had a nice wide shoulder, but the truck traffic was extremely heavy. We had only gotten a few kilometers on the Autopista when the emergency service vehicle stopped us and indicated that we could not ride on the highway. Of course, with my very poor and limited Spanish, we did not seem to be making much progress, with them telling us we had to call a tow truck to take us and the bikes off the road. Just then, the van pulls up, and we find out we can ride on the shoulder if the van follows behind with the flashers on. Okay, good; nonetheless, the two ladies decided it was safer, and they got in the van while I continued on my bike. Surprisingly, we got a lot of waves and toots from passing motorists. Once in the city, it was ordinary city riding.

Yesterday was the first day since leaving Santiago that it was warm enough to shed some layers of clothing. Today, I am searching for warmer clothes as I suspect the cool to cold spring weather will continue with accompanying solid headwinds as we push further south.