Tuesday May 17, 2016, 254 miles (409 km) – Total so far: 17,442 miles (28,070 km)

May 14, 2016 Total combined miles 21,191 (34,103 km). We got an early start out of Copiapo and climbed several miles out of the valley before settling down in a series of ups and downs. The riding was easy and we stopped at a highway rest stop to make tuna and avocado tortillas for lunch. There were even restrooms complete with potable water so we refilled all our containers before continuing south. Around 6 we started looking for a camp site but since it was mostly fenced we saw only one gate that had a rancho private property sign on it.

We soon came to a posada (inn) and asked inside if we could camp there. The owner immediately invited us into his courtyard and said to put our tent there. We sent up camp then enjoyed a fine meal and another beautiful Chilean sunset before crawling into the tent. This is a truck stop that closed at 11 so we heard many trucks coming and going. It was a fine place to sleep as we also got a good breakfast. This posada has been in operation serving truckers and cars since 1903. Their history was hung on the walls. Throughout the night there was a heavy mist, almost rain so we packed up everything wet. Once again we had a nice early start and made it to the next town of Vallenar by 3. We found a cheap hostel with a sunny courtyard and hung out our tent to dry. We also washed all our clothes and hung them out to dry on our portable clothes line. Today was such a treat as by 4 we were strolling through the town in the daylight with leisure time enjoying the local beer. It seems that since the entire time in Chile we always arrive somewhere late near or after dark. So today was a nice afternoon break.

May 17, 2016 Little did we know that the time changed here last night by one hour! What a treat as the sun now rises at 7 am so we get an earlier start. Our end of the day is also an hour earlier. We are now in the southern Atacama Desert Mountains where there is lots more climbing. We spent the last two nights camping in the desert and back on the coast. Yesterday after lots of climbing and headwinds the fog rolled in from the coast, which was our goal for the day. However, the sun went down and the fog thickened so we decided to pull off the road and find a place to camp. We set up camp off the main road and behind piles of rocks. On a hill overlooking us we saw several people watching us from their homes but since we are used to this we didn’t think nothing of this. The next part is scary though. After I took a picture of our camp we saw three highway workers approach us. They immediately told us that we should leave this space. We acted like we didn’t know what they were talking about as we did not want to leave due to the heavy winds, fog, and the sun was gone. Eventually we figured out they were trying to warn us to leave. “The families up the hill are very dangerous and will rob you,” they said as they slashed a finger across their throats and motioned with their hand as a gun. At this we were shocked and didn’t know what to say. They were not there to tell us to leave of some regulation but because of the dangerous people living up the hill behind us. They also said that “the police will not come here”. At this we didn’t know what to do or say but knew that we had to leave. It was dark and foggy and then they said we could load our bikes and tent onto their truck and they would take us to a safe beach. Our original goal was the beach at another 5 miles through another mountain pass so we took them up on their offer and loaded all our stuff. They took us to a beautiful beach where no one else was and we set up camp for the second time this evening. It was a great spot where once again we were lulled to sleep with the waves crashing on the shore. What a nice trio of guys. Why else would they stop and assist us if they didn’t know we were next to a dangerous gang?

This morning we enjoyed the beach and breakfast before continuing south to the coastal town of La Serena, Chile. We found a nice cabana on the beach on a very cold and windy coast for a very cheap price of $40. Tomorrow we continue south along the rocky coastline.