Driving East

 You would think after two long days of driving we’d be lounging on a beach. Actually I am writing this in a truck stop two hours west of Curitiba in the State of Paraná still several hours from the Atlantic Ocean.

Brazil Highway 277 is a smooth well maintained toll road driving through tidy farmland dotted with hedges and copses and occasional buildings. It’s quite pretty in a tidy suburban properly farmed sort of way. Layne says we spent eleven bucks on tolls yesterday. And slowed down for numerous unstaffed Highway Patrol checkpoints. The good news is there were no speed bumps so it was all quite civilized. 

It was all quite civilized certainly compared to northern Brazil. We are trying to do fewer miles with more stops to let Rusty out to rest more as at his age he needs the breaks. I wish he would lie down on his bed or our bed or on the floor but he insists on standing up front on his cushion in front of Layne. She uses an oven glove in turn to cushion her knee against the door. Travel is compromise. 

The idea is to drive east, find a campsite on the beach, and we have a few candidates  in iOverlander, our travel app and slowly make our way south to Uruguay and the German workshop TerraVentura where we plan to have them install a Victron IP43 dual voltage battery charger  ( for those that care about the details). Till then we rely on our solar panels and second alternator  to keep our batteries fully charged…

Our rooftop air conditioner and Starlink and the fridge have been running since we stopped driving twelve hours ago and we have used 40% of our 500 amp battery bank. When the sun comes up if it is a cloudless day our solar panels will gather more energy than we are using. I find it astonishing. But of course today we continue to drive so the engine will have us fully charged in three hours or so. Can you tell I’m happy with the new system? 

Five point three reals to the dollar. G is 93 octane gasoline with 30% ethanol required by law which is what I buy. E is 100% ethanol. And D is obviously not good for a gasoline engine. They refuse to believe a van owner who requires gasoline. Yesterday the attendant (it’s all full service in South America) sniffed the cap to make sure I hadn’t lost my mind. No diesel for a gringo van I tell them…

I’ve been reading about the controversy in Old Town Key West and the decision to allow rainbow fences since the governor of the free state of Florida decided to ban rainbow crosswalks. its mot an issue in Brazil apparently. 

I’ve also read about the new surveillance state being approved by Florida lawmakers.

As you can see being a tourist in South America is a very low key life with very little drama. 

Layne did show me a comment yesterday from a traveler riding a big BMW motorcycle out of Buenos Aires the capital of Argentina who was car jacked by two armed thugs. They surrendered their motorcycle to the armed robber and walked away.  Shit does happen.  

Our days are less dramatic. We stop at truck stops and buy dinner for five bucks at the buffet restaurant attached to the gas station. 

Then after Rusty gets his walk if he wants one we all retire to watch tv and in our well insulated van with the a/c hissing overhead we hear very little noise from outside. Besides most trucks in South America stop for the night.  

In the morning we get up late as Layne usually gets her best sleep between five and nine so unless there is a compelling reason we don’t get on the road too early. 

I use the early morning to have time to myself and walk Rusty and drink tea and write a post if I was too tired the night before. Starlink on the roof helps as it’s nice to have a strong signal to upload photos. 

Then eventually I pull down the blackout curtain after we are washed and dressed and off we go. People passing who see us living in our van if they show any interest at all, are merely curious or maybe even appreciative. There is quite a lot of summer RVing in Brazil Argentina Chile and Uruguay but not many full timers like us. In the US as I understand it van life is starting to be considered a scourge as more people feel forced to live on the streets driven by poverty. That negativity toward alternative living is nowhere to be found here, at least not towards us as we pass through. 

I miss proper rest areas to be able to stop in briefly for lunch or to walk Rusty easily. I miss having the public lands for public recreation and camping which don’t exist here, but I don’t miss the negativity and anger  of Up North. I remember getting yelled at by a maintenance worker in an empty South Dakota rest area because we had overstayed our three hour limit  (we had spent the night). It will be interesting to see how it feels when we get back in a couple of years. Meanwhile here we are. On the Araucária Highway, a toll road named for the monkey puzzle tree:

The sign above is advertising the presence of an emergency services center along the highway with ambulances and tow trucks which offer free rescue services (paid by our tolls). 

Monkey puzzle trees at 2500 feet above sea level. 

Downhill driving in a traffic jam caused by roadworks. Manual first gear to save the brakes.  

If your brakes fail use the escape “box”…

Neat and tidy all day long. No ranching instead it’s corn and soybeans, nowadays bound for China since Trump imposed tariffs. I can’t for the life of me understand what’s going on in the world. It’s like we feel the need after decades of doing fine to shoot ourselves in the  face. 

Brazil is also self sufficient in oil with its massive ethanol production. The Straits of Hormuz don’t affect them. 

We are flighty visitors but I feel privileged to be here at the moment. 

Storm clouds merely presage rain.