Impatience

 There is some impatience to get going.  GANNET2 is at the mechanics shop getting the coolant leak checked and Emiliano is giving our van a look over to see if anything else needs to be taken care of before we leave.

Layne is buried much of the time in one of two activities, cooking as she feels eating out isn’t worth it in this expensive country, and route planning as she is ready to be on the road.

I get grumpy if you interrupt me while I’m writing these posts and Layne gets grumpy if you interrupt her in the kitchen, so I stay out. “I want my microwave,” she announces to the four walls from time to time. Or substitute “air fryer” tools that run off 110 volts and can’t be plugged in to Uruguay’s 220 volt network.  And the van, our source of 110 volts is now in the shop. When it was parked here she would do half the meal onboard GANNET2 and take advantage of our 12 volt fridge for extra storage space. We both hope GANNET2 will be back tonight or tomorrow at the very latest. 

And then we will start a slow process of reloading our home, tossing out stuff we don’t use and trying to question every packing decision. With luck we hope to be on the road this week. Maria-José is expected back at the weekend from Argentina so if we left Thursday it would be close enough, Layne is climbing the walls. 

Rusty is healed and these days I think he suffers more from arthritic cold and old age more than anything else. We want to tour Uruguay a little more then drive west to Argentina. Our goal is to be in Arequipa Perú by August though how we get there is uncertain. On the map below we have two possible routes, we will have a better idea which way to go when we are on the road.  

We have run out of time to visit Brazil as we have used up our six months and Bolivia is still uncertain even though the post election rioting and road blockades have died down. Also most of the country is over 12,000 feet so winter cold is a factor. 

At any rate the urge to move is upon us. This living in one place is wearing us out. 

Two Old Dogs At The Beach

Layne stayed aboard and cleaned our storage lockers with the cabin heater roaring. I braved the cold north wind with Rusty who ran like a puppy and I tried to do the same. A great afternoon in Uruguay.

The River Plate is fresh water to my taste, I stuck my finger in, but it’s tidal here, complete with sandbars. 

All this 10 minutes from the workshop. 

As we left the cottage I had to get Rusty the Mistrustful into his collar and attach a leash so he would come quietly and board GANNET2. 

He perked up when he realized the destination was the beach and not the vet.  

You can much I enjoyed watching my dog prancing around having fun. His hind legs are a bit weak but we’re all feeling the cold in our arthritic bones.

We were alone on our piece of beach but in the distance there were Others.  

It was windy. Later I saw a kite surfer pounding through the waves all by themself.  

No camping allowed on the beach but parking is wide open and free.  

GANNET2 is in the mechanic’s shop for the weekend getting a thorough check to clear up the minor coolant leak and anything rise that might need attention. Getting ready to drive and go west across the Andes in winter to the Pacific Coast. Can’t wait. 

Rusty took an hour to walk back and forth and here and there and I was glad to see him so energetic and happy. 

Pretty nice houses lining the beach, most of them empty for the winter.

There’s a dog in there either lying in wait or resting in the grass: 

I think he was resting.

When we got home he sat out for a bit then ate a huge dinner of chicken and kibbles and then he passed out and started snoring so I rate this a successful day.

Do we have to go home? 

Old Cars

 

It is said no news is good news but  GANNET2 has not gone to the shop and there is no news when this pesky coolant leak will be attended to.  Thus frustration is building and I must struggle to not yield to the desire to stamp my foot and have a gringo moment. I must be more like Rusty who has spent his life teaching me how to deal with adversity.

Three old cars showed up at Adrián’s place for a social call. A 1930 Ford sedan and a 1929 Ford pick up.

Both cars have been in the same family since new and according to the grandson of the purchaser the pick up started life as a sedan but his grandfather decided to convert it with wooden buckboards. 

The cars even come with windows, currently plastic awaiting glass panes as the restoration continues. 

The cars start run and stop no problem. I was told the foot pedal accelerator is a bit weak so it’s easier to use the hand throttle for big changes in speed…

The really indispensable accessory is a maté kit to refresh the driver.

No speedometer…those were the days.  

The crew:

That was pretty cool checking out these hundred year old cars but for me the belle was the perfectly restored, to my eye, 1962 VW Bug accompanying the oldsters.

My first wife had an identical VW when I married her in 1983.  It was green not red but it was the sane car.  I’ve never owned a 1929 car so there is that.  This VW is an original 1200cc according to the owner with electronic ignition and an alternator (for those who care about such trivia):

My wife and I took our honeymoon in her VW driving from Santa Cruz California to Glacier National Park on the Canadian border.

I was waiting for my green card so we couldn’t cross to Canada as I wasn’t allowed to leave the country but there was lots to see. We drive that VW Bug to Denver and flew to Philadelphia to meet her family. That went as badly as you might imagine but I can’t blame the car for that. It was a great car, not easy to lock as it got stolen one day but we did get it back as the felons weren’t that smart.

My buddy Giovanni who died in Italy two years ago had an orange bug after he graduated high school. We drove it all over the place but the fuel consumption was too much for us and he sold it on. 

A cop at the Key West police department had a similar vintage VW in turquoise also perfectly restored. Eric Biskup let me take it for a drive a few months before he died of cancer. I thought he was one of the nicest most interesting cops in the department. 

So many stories and so many memories just from seeing this car. 

In Chile we saw some Colombians overlanding in one. They were asleep when I walked Rusty past them in Puerto Varas so I never met them, just the car:

And in the World Cup Uruguay is not doing so well but the flags are still out.