Back In The Barn

I spent Monday and Tuesday keeping half an eye open on the approach road from the town of Colonia Valdense but when GANNET2 finally showed up from the mechanic’s shop on Tuesday afternoon I totally missed it. Adrián knocked on the door of our rental cottage and when I looked out there she was.

Coolant leak fixed, tire pressure warning light fixed, a 2020 Promaster apparently ready to roll, after a $420 check up. It feels liberating to have  a van at our door all ready to go. 

Naturally I got a head cold which keeps me up at night and Layne and I are coughing in harmony as Rusty tries to ignore us by snoring over the top of all this hacking and spluttering noise.

Interestingly our fridge has been running all the time and our batteries have barely noticed the demand from the 12 volt motor. We haven’t driven much and the solar panels have been largely in the shade but our new Victron 540 amp lithium battery bank doesn’t seem to notice the drain. This is quite a change from our original system with 500 amps of Go Power lithium and a 110 volt motor which drained the batteries easily over two days. I am excited to test our new energy independence on the road. This is a system Adrián is putting in a customer’s Sprinter van he is building:

If I had another van built I’d give serious consideration to shipping it to Montevideo 90 minutes from here and have him build it out.

I suspect Rusty may not be too excited to leave this place but we will take good care of him and keep our driving times within his tolerance levels. Besides he like me needs slightly more strenuous walks than gentle ambles round the garden.

Our plan is to drive to the west coast of South America after we take a quick tour of this tiny country. We’ve long wanted to see Bolivia and this might be the moment as the strikes have calmed down, road blockades have been lifted and fuel is said to be available. Plus US passport holders no longer need a visa to visit which was imposed by the old left wing government that had a traditional beef with the US. Getting a visa we found was very difficult. 

Layne has some reservations about visiting high altitude Bolivia in winter but she has come round to the idea this may be the moment to get there so we will drive cautiously to Paraguay ready to change plans at any time.

Paraguay and Bolivia share a border in a wilderness region known as the “Chaco,” which has been populated by Mennonites whose main town is called Filadelfia which I’m sure looks nothing like Pennsylvania…especially as the Chaco jungle is also known as the “Green Hell.” So the journey to Bolivia may end up being more interesting than necessary. The area sounds a bit…rugged but nothing daunted we have an excellently appointed home refurbishment to put to the test.  

Team Lost will have ample opportunity to do what it does best and mangle all travel plans should that become necessary or desirable. Departure day is tentatively set for Sunday, time to heal, to do laundry, to pack and to grill some meat on Saturday. We shall see.