This day was important for a number of reasons, most of which i'll be figuring out over the next few months, if not years. i decided to go back to Valparaiso on my own on Monday afternoon. Partially, I had promised one of my church members that I would look for the grave marker for the sailors from the first USS Essex, which engaged two British ships in the bay at Valparaiso and lost 89 of the 255 crewmen on board in a battle in March of 1814, during the War of 1812. Partially, I needed to go because I needed to prove to myself that I was able to DO that -- on my own, without any help from anyone ... and get there and back ... and it went perfectly well. This shot was from the bus on the way over -- vineyards between Santiago and Valparaiso.