Still Not Going

Updates: Rusty is fine, weak in the hind legs but perky, alert, eating and enjoying life.

GANNET2 still has a tiny leak and is scheduled to spend the day at Emiliano’s shop getting a proctological exam. I’m glad to see an in-depth inspection of our 130,000 mile cooling system as I’d rather do it here than on the road somewhere desolate and desolation is in our plans. 

We went into town yesterday, Rusty refused to join us voluntarily, and filled up with gas, and boy howdy, prices have gone up again. This pump shows 17.3 gallons for $152.

Let me spare you the math…divide 6100 pesos by 40 ( the exchange rate) and divide  65.3 liters by 3.78 (liters to the gallon) and you will get $8:83 per gallon. As Layne put it “worse than Europe.”  No wonder there’s so little traffic on the roads. Luckily Uruguay is so small.

These prices make electric cars a good alternative and the Chinese JAC, Chery and BYD brands are everywhere  and they aren’t expensive at least by our standards. Housing is surprisingly affordable from the perspective of a US visitor. You can rent a nice apartment with full appliances and two bedrooms for a thousand bucks a month in a nice neighborhood, often with views for some upper middle class living. Liquor is cheap weirdly enough though grocery shopping is not but food quality is high. Meats are tender and delicious, from grass fed animals with no industrialization. Egg yolks are a deep rich orange…How Uruguayans cope I’m not sure but for us it’s quite bearable.

We haven’t beaten out but three times in seven weeks as restaurants are not cheap. Many don’t even open for lunch to allow staff to have a day job and the costs are prohibitive even for relatively inexpensive eateries. In Peru we can have a cheap lunch for less than five bucks each and it’s delicious though not fancy. Here lunch a forty dollar affair and the cooking may well be mediocre  so Layne prefers to cook.

We haven’t put our new electrical system to the test but the removal of the second alternator has been excellent. The engine runs quietly and there are no more squealing belts and we still get 50 amps charging. The fridge is on all the time with the new Argentine 12 volt motor and the short rides and limited sunshine we get on our solar panels Uber the tress seems to be enough to keep up with the electrical demand. The new gasoline cabin heater is strong enough to warm the van in ten minutes in the coldest nights. Because our air fryer is 110 volts we have to use it aboard GANNET2 and when Layne goes out to cook in the coldest nights even she is happy with the heat output.

It’s plumbed to the main gas tank but fuel consumption is minimal and it doesn’t use much electricity either.  Long may it last. Photo below crossing a river in Brazil’s Amazon jungle last September, a period of heat and excessive humidity unlike Uruguay in winter.

A French couple showed up in a huge expedition truck, hoping Adrián could fix their propane gas regulator problem that had defied mechanics everywhere as they tried to solve the issue. Adrián fixed it in ten minutes.

Adrián said whoever installed a new South American regulator in the gas line forgot to remove the European regulator and between the two of them they blocked the flow of gas. I shocked the French by greeting them in their own language when they arrived but by the time we got back from shopping they had left. Oh well, life in the road. And if you think a giant expedition truck is desirable look at what they had to do to get in:

I used to drive semis for a living in California but I’d hate to do it for recreation in places like this. A lot of times people looking to buy travel vehicles for overlanding never consider height restrictions. At 8’9” (2.75 meters) I feel like we’re too tall but a full sized truck would be a huge pain in the ass. 

Pork chops and eggplant for dinner on a freezing cold night by the fire listening to Rusty snore. We can get through this stationary life. 

Leaks And Fixes

I have regained my zen after a difficult weekend casting around for a sensible way forward. Rusty is doing fine so let’s get that out of the way but I was twisting and turning wondering what to do. The dilemma is not easy to explain but I’ll try.

Above you see GANNET2 parked for the night on West Summerland Key just twenty minutes from home in 2021 as we practiced camping in our retirement vehicle. Last time I was in the Keys the people in power had blocked off access for vehicles on the waterfront so I am quite fond of that wild camp memory.

I have to go a long way back in my archive to find photos of GANNET2 at home in the Keys  and I will confess I’ve been feeling a bit homesick. It’s an odd feeling for me as I rarely suffer from the malady on the road not least because home has often been a nebulous concept for me, raised by a family that didn’t want me and struggling to figure out where I’d like to live. Key West solved that one for me and this weekend Layne spoke with four friends from Florida and it hit me how much I wanted to be home and see people. Thanksgiving 2020 practicing wild camping in Osceola National Forest Florida:

For a while here in Uruguay we had the company of a solo American overlander Robert who left to go to Buenos Aires. He came round for dinner, we talked as his electrical system got an upgrade from Adrián and we noticed his absence after he left.

As Layne put we had a good time just being around someone who yes, shared our values, but who also had the same background and cultural markers. After he left we shared the workshop/campground with some very unpleasant European travelers who were bossy and inconsiderate. They drove Adrián mad but he had to bottle it as they were clients. We bonded a bit more as he vented to me about them. Adrián and Maria- Jose and their rescue cats:

We also met a nice guy Juan, an English speaking retired businessman from Panama struggling with family obligations and a desire to drive the continent. Like me he wanted to replicate the motorcycle adventures of his youth but unlike me he has a wife who is not enthusiastic about RV life. He was off to meet his wife at the airport. 

Exchanging phone numbers on the universal WhatsApp communication method in Latin America. It’s web based and you use your phone number to make free calls so everyone uses it. 

Juan’s van below, which he bought in Europe and took home to Panama, a Fiat Ducato the diesel powered van on which the Promaster is based.   

Then there has been Adrián’s rather odd behavior. For some time we had a couple of jobs we wanted to get done, after he had installed the massive electrical overhaul but he would never get round to doing them. So we waited. And waited. And then Rusty got sick and I was in despair. And then Rusty miraculously recovered and I wanted the jobs done. It was always tomorrow, “mañana” the Mexican joke when tomorrow never comes.

Rusty loves living in a house but we do have to travel. However one of the jobs was fixing a small, tiny, fluid leak from the engine cooling system. I’d noticed a tendency for the fluid level to drop below minimum which it never normally does. We could drive GANNET2 but every so often I had to add coolant, which I carry because it’s particular (OAT - organic acid technology- if that matters to you, available from Jeep dealers everywhere). I knew there was a problem and I wanted Adrián to take a look because I trust his mechanical instincts.

For some reason he kept putting it off. In these situations I have a terrible tendency to personalize things. So I went into a funk with the “why me?” routine.  Finally Layne and I decided we’d pack up drive to Montevideo and look for a mechanic. I felt like Adrián was holding us hostage and I was losing my mind. I was bottling up some anger inside. Finally yesterday I said to Layne I was going to have it out with Adrián. However before I lost my head I realized what was going on.  Adrián is lonely. It’s not me as usual in these situations, it’s him. These two met on a dating app and have been together eleven years after he retired from the Argentine Air Force.  

Maria-Jose’s mother has her birthday next weekend and she has left for a couple of weeks with her family 400 miles away in Argentina. I got the crazy idea he wanted to keep us here by not finishing up GANNET2 and before you accuse me of being a paranoid nincompoop wait and see what happened next. I called over to Adrián yesterday and told him I needed his help. He was directing the builders constructing his new rental unit and new campground bathroom block for campers:

I explained to him that I needed my van to be running right and I’m stressed by the mysterious coolant leak. I also came out and said out loud the thing that had been bothering me and I added that we wanted to stay two more weeks until Maria- Jose got back because we didn’t want to see him alone all that time. We’d be there if he needed help or anything. Suddenly GANNET2 got fixed.

Adrián couldn’t find the leak but he called in his buddy Emiliano a full time auto mechanic and sure enough a tiny purge valve, used to bleed air out of the pressurized coolant system when needed was leaking tiny amounts of fluid and breaking the pressure.

He drove back to his shop where miraculously he found a replacement. All seems to be well but he wants us to drive around a bit to make sure that is the problem. Then we’ll go to his shop and pay his bill. I was elated. Plus the electrical installation seems to be working well but we haven’t really put it to the test yet. The removal of the second alternator has been excellent with a quiet stress free, noise free engine as one result. 

Up next Adrián is going to build some improved drains to clear rainwater that accumulates under the windshield and can drip on the engine. And we aren’t going anywhere to two weeks.

Layne is frustrated by the delay but in speaking to a friend on the phone and lamenting my strategy to keep Adrián happy Kathy told her to ponder the value of two weeks delay against the lack of deadlines in our life. And I actually like Adrián and I am glad to help him out in some small way. He’s a good man, a first rate mechanic especially on electrical stuff and a terrible communicator. 

I have regained my equilibrium and mental tranquility, GANNET2 is apparently fixed and Rusty is enjoying life. We are inseparable. 

And that is the story of how  you get tangled up in situations that don’t usually occur in the US when you go to Jiffy Lube for a quick oil change and continue on your merry way. I miss that simplicity of life but I’m in South America for good or ill and things work a little differently here.

Construction

GANNET2 has sprung a small coolant leak. The mechanic in Brasilia tightened up the hose clamps after he noticed it but now the coolant level drops below minimum when the engine is cold. It’s not severe and I have plenty with me to fill it up but I’d like to get it sorted and Adrián is the conscientious guy to do it. However he is waiting for delivery of a couple of heavy duty ramps to lift the front end. Supposedly arriving yesterday, they may arrive Monday. The usual foggy deadlines. Meanwhile construction is underway at the workshop.

Adrián took a hand with the jackhammer to tear up the old cement floor in what will become a communal bathhouse at one end for campers and a second apartment to rent up travelers at the other end of the construction.

He is nothing if not ambitious  with plans to build a storage shed for RVs as Uruguay allows you to park a foreign registered vehicle up to a year so European travelers like to leave their campers here during the Austral winter and spend summer with their families in the European summer. And Adrián is well placed to serve them as he’s 45 minutes from the ferry to Buenos Aires where flights are significantly cheaper than in Uruguay.

We had a massive rain storm Thursday night with wind slashing rain across the windows but Friday dawned sunny and warmer and turned into a beautiful day. Rusty got a clean bill of health Thursday at his last vet visit and she advised walking him as much as possible and he likes walking around town. Indeed after the vet visit he took off on his leash walking with lots of energy, a little weak in the hind legs it’s true but ready to explore the town of Colonia Valdense. 

Thursday before the storm it was obvious rain was coming with threatening dark clouds in all sides but Friday was lovely and sunny and bright and inviting. 

Great I thought, I’ll take Rusty into town for a walk. It’s only five minutes away and I could buy a couple of things while there and justify the drive. 

Rusty was having none of it. I put his collar on and he knew it was time for a ride aboard GANNET2 and he dug his heels in. He stiff by the front door of the cottage  announcing his revision at the idea of a ride. I folded like a cheap suit. 

I got my book, my camp chair and found a patch of sunshine and read about the first American to explore Afghanistan in the 1820s. It’s actually a pretty good story and Rusty agreed to sit next to me so all was well with the world. I tried to walk but failure was my portion.

And yet he enjoys wandering the town. 

On the subject of van electricity the system seems to work. We only have the fridge on all the time as Layne stores some food in it but the solar panels are mostly shaded during the day so they don’t produce much. My occasional short drives don’t add much either but the system seems to promise easy living when we get off grid again. 

One thing I have noticed is the departure of the second alternator has been wonderful. The main serpentine belt no longer squeaks on start up and all the noises produced by the second alternator are gone and the worry has gone with it. And the DC-DC charging system puts CB out fifty steady silent amps half of the old system but preferable in every way. I’m very happy. 

Now I have to get Rusty used up the idea of life back aboard the van. I fear he won’t be excited to leave the cottage. 

Dinner time gets his attention. 

Source of heat, I am constantly walking wood into the house and it feels very 19th century. 

The brat, at home:

Time Forgot

Every Saturday I used to look forward to the words “It’s been a quiet week in Lake Woebegone…” and now I feel like I’m living it as the days in Uruguay drift on by. 

We went to the beach yesterday, a sunny afternoon showing 55 degrees and a frigid north wind. There was a police checkpoint where they peered with curiosity at my Florida driver license and weird floppy piece of registration paper and we chatted about the weather as you do.

He pointed out it’s a damp cold which feels colder than it should and he added you haven’t seen anything yet, it’s not properly winter for a few more weeks.

Layne did some cleaning while I went out into the breeze and walked a surprisingly energetic formerly dying dog. Today he gets another vet visit and I hope clearance to travel.

It was let’s face it a cold mid week winter afternoon not ideal beach weather but Rusty trotted off down the strand with me in ambling pursuit. We had it to ourselves except for one Chilean registered camper van parked up the road.  

I was chatting with Adrián’s girlfriend Maria José and the subject of building homes came up. She was astonished to learn that in the US it is illegal most places to live in your camper on your own land. 

It didn’t help when I explained you had to have permission to build a house. Permission from whom she asked. She thought I was joking. 

Their friend Luis had brought his Mercedes camper by, the vehicle built by Adrián and sold to Luis years ago. Now Luis, divorced, wants to buy some land in the hills in the interior and build a tiny house and Adrián is selling the camper on consignment for him.  

I’m not ready to settle down just yet but imagine building what you feel like on land you own with no one around to tell you no. It might be a concept worth remembering, in the land where the women are strong, the men are good looking and all the children are above average.