After we left Valpraiso , we drove through Vina Del Mar. We aren’t big city people and decided to go to a smaller area for our last night before going back into the city. We had very little data left on our phone, but I was able to look up some hotels on Booking.com. A resort in Olmue popped up and it looked really nice, so we decided to go for it!

Driving backwards on the freeway

I have to mention that the funniest thing happened on our drive to Olmue. We missed the turnoff on the freeway and our little mistake was going to add an extra 1 1/2 hours to the drive because there was an accident or construction up ahead.

We started seeing multiple cars driving in reverse back to the turn off to avoid waiting, so Brandon figured he could do it, too. We were laughing so hard all while hoping we weren’t going to crash or get in trouble for driving probably a good 2 miles backwards to the turn off. All the cars were doing it, so we felt safe, but it was still not something we could ever get away with in the states. When in Chile….do as the Chileans.

The Resort

Once we got onto the right road, we drove through vineyards and small towns to get to to Olmue. We were really hoping the resort existed because it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. Half the fun was that we had never heard about this from anyone else, but decided to go off the beaten path. When we pulled up to the resort, the employees were all wondering how we heard about this place since they only get Chileans who visit.

Las Montanas reminded us of Midway, Utah’s The Homestead, Chilean version. The resort was super family-friendly, nestled right up in the mountains. There was a fun pool with water slides and kids area, a free dinner and breakfast buffet, and lots of activities to do.

We spent most of our time in the pool and then dashed over to the buffet before the restaurant closed for the night. The buffet was slim-pickings as in boiled hot dogs, hamburgers and a rendition of pizza and lemonade.

Oliver was so tired, he climbed into the stroller at dinner and fell asleep in just a few minutes.

Tender Mercy

After our gourmet dinner, haha, we were still craving a little something more. We hopped in our van and drove back towards town to find a treat. On the way, we ran into missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints walking on the side of the road. We pulled over and talked to them for a little while. They told us there was branch of our Church here in Olmue that was just a few minutes away. We had planned to drive to Limache, a town about 20 minutes away. However, we’re so grateful we  saw them. We didn’t have any data left on our phones, so we didn’t know there was a church so close to us. We ended up oversleeping the next morning. Had we had to drive all the way to Limache, we would have missed the Sacrament. Going to the Olmue church was a shorter drive and we literally walked in right as they were about to start the Sacrament.

We continued on into town and found a supermarket. I ran in while Brandon circled the town square. Another miracle– there was a fresh churro con chocolate stand right outside the market. That was the treat I was craving the most, so I was pretty happy to find it. I grabbed groceries and food for Sunday so we wouldn’t have to shop on Sunday, a bunch of churros for the family and then Brandon picked me up.

After churros, our children got their extra wiggles out at the park before bed. They have loved playing on these exercise toys that are everywhere! Then it was warm showers- hooray! and then bed time.