Return from the South

We are about to return to our lives in the United States. Darn. Back to normal life. It´s been pretty nice to live in this wonderland of Christmas break between semesters of school, traveling to see both family and the wonders of Patagonia.
We had a great day at the Glacier yesterday, albeit different than expected. It was warm and sunny when we left El Calafate but cloudy, rainy and chilly when we arrived. The bus schedule was such that we had about 4 1/2 hours to view the glacier and walk the labrinth of the board walk. It seems as though this would be very enjoyable on a hot, sunny day: sitting on the benches and watching the glacier calve off into the lake. But it wasn´t warm and nice, which also meant the glacier wasn´t very active either. We did see some large chunks of ice fall in and can only imagine the spectacle the forming of a large iceberg would be to see.
I (Colter) am in the lobby of our hostel/hotel as I write this, using the free computer access that they offer. We have 20 minutes until our shuttle to the airport arrives. Our flight from Calafate leaves at 2:30 (or 10:30 Bozeman time) and lands in Buenos Aires around 5:30. Then we leave BA close to 11, flying all night, landing in Dallas, going through the circus of customs before jumping up to Kansas City. We hope to escape the airport a bit with Muna and Dad and then scratch off the last bit of our journey home that evening. We´ll be pooped, but grateful to be home, sleep in our own bed, and see Kyler.
This is not the end of our adventures. No, not in the least. Alli and I are already beginning to plot our next excursions and the things we want to see and experience next. Where, you might ask? Well, you´ll just have to keep in touch and stay tuned...

Back to El Calafate

Hola todos! Hello everybody!
For those of you eagerly awaiting news from our trip, wait no more. We have made it out of Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, took a rest day in Puerto Natales, and then fishing for a day. Now we are back in Argentina for the next couple of days in the city of El Calafate.
We had absolutely amazing weather in the Park while backpacking. We feel so lucky! And we have a ton of pictures to wade through and share in the near future. Highlights of our backpacking trip include a view of Las Torres, a sunny day in the French Valley cirque, hiking high above the Grey Glacier, and views of all the prominent peaks under blue skies with fresh snow on them. Oh yeah, and we road a boat from our last camp within 50 feet of the front of the Glacier and were served drinks chilled with glacier ice. Living in the lap of luxury.
We went fishing with two guides yesterday and I had the most amazing morning of fly fishing Ive ever had! The afternoon wasnt so good but we still had a great time. That was a pretty cool birthday present... The rest of our down time since we came back to civilization has included sleeping in, eating wonderful hostel breakfasts, tasting the local flavor (including an Argentinian twist on classic sushi, gelato ice cream, empanadas, and a sandwich cookie called an alfahore).
Tomorrow we have bus tickets to go to Perito Moreno glacier in Argentinias Glacier National Park. It´s supposed to be one of the most active glaciers in the world, with ice calving off the front of the glacier into the water every 5 minutes. Can´t wait! Then we leave El Calafate on Monday and begin our whirlwind trip home so that I can go to class on Wednesday.
I´m on the hostel computer so no pictures right now, sorry. We´ll get them up soon, promise!