The special from San Rafael to Santa Rosa was the last real opportunity for racers to strike and shake up the overall standings.  The two front-runners are battling it out, only a couple of minutes separate them.

The drive from the province of Mendoza to Santa Rosa was amazing.  Driving through wine country, seeing all the beautiful bodegas.  That quickly stopped and the flat land came.  The drive became long and boring after that.  Having to listen to Kyle’s iPod for another drive was brutal.

We said farewell to Chile today as the caravan of race and support vehicles made their way back to Argentina.  We are in the home stretch towards Buenos Aires with tough terrain and stages still to come.

The Copiapo-La Serena Special marked the last day that the Dakar Rally competitors would race on the Atacama Deserts.  The special was shortened due to expected bad weather the day before.  The Special looped around the west side of Copiapo heading towards La Serena/Santiago.  After the special was done the competitors had to travel on a long liaison of 300 plus kilometers of highway driving to the La Serena Bivouac.

Today we made our way back to Copiapo from Antofagasta.  When we arrived in Antofagasta days earlier we spotted a Mc Donald’s!  Our plan this morning leaving the Bivouac was to stop by Mc Donald’s on our way back to Copiapo.  We parked the car and headed into the restaurant.  To our big disappointment the breakfast menu was tiny croissants, a ham and cheese sandwich and a ham and Avocado sandwich.  That was it, no Mc Muffins! No Big Breakfasts! No Hash browns! I miss Los Angeles.