Sort Of Repaired

Friday afternoon our parts arrived. Saturday morning the engine mount was installed.

We have a new water pump, new serpentine belt and rollers and no obvious coolant leaks. We take a test drive today and make sure. That’s the good news.

The bad news is there seems to be no way to make the inverter low voltage light turn off. I’m half inclined to put a piece of tape over it and move on.

But my wife who is the brains of the outfit thinks we should get it taken care of in case it gets worse and starts shutting down our inverter, source of 110 volt power in our home. She’s right of course so this week we drive back to Uruguay, across flatland Argentina to the cold. Fabulous.

Chris has done everything humanly possible but I fear our brand new $3,000 inverter may be toast. Warranty time is fun time. 

Rudy speaks only German and as he is Austrian he gets made fun of for his accent but really he is an electronic genius and though he cannot speak English or Spanish he built his own batteries in his Mitsubishi box truck home. 

His polyglot girlfriend is spending summer back home in Austria so he hangs out with the German speaking contingent in Caacupé. Even he shook his head in despair with Chris as they tried to make the inverter happy. 

I’ve contacted Adrián in Uruguay and he will prepare the importer for our return. I hate warranty claims as one feels so helpless but let’s hope Victron really is backing their products.

How many men does it take to seat the bead of a tractor tire? Three it turns out, which was a welcome comedy break from the irritation of the inverter. 

The photo above is of a Brazilian 1000cc Suzuki motorcycle packaged for a flight to Spain. A Brazilian RVer we met on the beach earlier this year sent me the picture of his daughter’s motorcycle as she prepares for a five month tour of Europe with her husband which I think is really cool.

There’s more of this kind of travel going on than you might realize and Jean-Chretien’s note was a healthy reminder.

Robert the American (above) is enjoying life in Asunción and the two German women in the big bad expedition truck left last week.

Birgitte is 63 and as she said goodbye for now she also added we were an inspiration as she and Gertraut are wondering how long they can keep traveling as they age. Their adult children are settled and for now they are enjoying South America. We’ve got used to that comment from the younger crowd who compare us to their sedentary grandparents but this one came as a surprise. 

A Brazilian mother and daughter stopped by to see Chris and his campground. 

Caroline and her daughter Maria own a campground in southern Brazil and it gets rave reviews in iOverlander so Layne put it on the list for when we go back to Brazil next year.

They are on a two week vacation traveling in their pick up and they only stopped by for an hour. Claudia and Armin also left. 

They were nice neighbors and we can’t forget easily who they are.

Armin used to be a truck driver and he says that’s what they do in Germany, put their names in the windshield. 

I wonder if the menagerie will miss us when eventually we leave for the cold southern regions.

Rusty is coming with us of course and I think he too is ready for travel. I wondered after he had his stroke but he is very alert and interested in life which is good for my morale. 

Customs

The menagerie at Pequeña Baviera camping outside Caacupé in Paraguay: 

Loki the pain in the ass Capuchin monkey rescued by Chris and Astrid from a cage. Not as fierce as he looks luckily. 

The frustration level is rising a bit as Chris the German mechanic received word the bulk of our parts are stuck in customs at Asunción and there is nothing we can do but wait. One package has been delivered and three are “being processed.” 

The only real hassle is we want to be in Arequipa Peru to meet a friend from Florida at the beginning of September and it’s quite the drive including a 15,900 foot pass (Paso de Jama) across the Andes in what is now midwinter. 

There is nothing we can do but wait. And eat the cookies Astrid made to help make the wait more bearable.

We have some German neighbors coming, getting stuff fixed and leaving. We wait, in comfort but still I’d rather be driving.

He is in excellent health:

Rusty’s been doing a decent job of keeping cats and ostriches at bay.

Horses get a free pass. 

Loki likes to say hi to me but as much as he annoys Rusty, my elderly dog can’t catch him when the monkey jumps down from around my neck. 

Robert the American is gone to Argentina worse luck and life trundles on. Could be worse I keep repeating to myself while I drink tea and read Herman Wouk.

Tuesday Pizza

The German contingent in the campground has thinned out with two overlanders leaving. They waved in friendly fashion when we walked by but there was no interest in conversing so I never got their stories.

Two German women showed up in a strange boxy machine that apparently runs on Iveco parts and are looking for Chris to replace some transmission seals. They chatted with us a bit so I hope we will get to hear more. Our first package has arrived and more are supposed to follow on soon, so that is some good news.

We went out for pizza us four English speakers  and we met some authentic Italian speakers, so I obliged my wife and admitted my ancestry to them. We talked Italian.  

The pizza was Ca pretty good too:

We had a pretty well lubricated evening too and the Argentine wine was pretty good also.

And then when Monica our Brazilian waitress asked if we needed another bottle who were we to say no? 

And after the pizza and wine they brought fresh glasses…

…and with those glasses we tackled limoncello, original and creamy.

I’m pleased to report the campground was quiet next morning but I wasn’t hung over. Robert had some story about genetic predispositions to hang overs but I’m not buying.

Layne made breakfast for lunch a robust egg in the hold using the bread baked by Astrid right here at Pequeña Baviera:

I’m a third of the way through Winds of War, the weather has turned cool and overcast so I’ve been drinking more tea and that in turn requires more walking to go pee.

Life drifts along here though Layne is anxious for our parts to arrive and get going and I don’t blame her but I’m trying to stay zen as this is South America.

Chris came by after picking up the first of our packages from the States. The parts aren’t anything we can install by themselves so we need a few more of the four boxes to show up. Meanwhile Chris is fixing a Ditch Land Cruiser and then Robert has a water leak in his kitchen and then we hope to get out of here by the weekend.

That would be nice to be on our way, possibly after one last pizza visit. It was that good.