Crossing Uruguay Last Week

Work is underway. 

Meanwhile to pass the time a look back to last week. 

We stopped in the town of Mercedes to spend the night on our way into Uruguay after our struggles at  the border and we saw an illuminated sign on our way to a street camp in town. “Our Country Was Born Here.” 

That statement deserved some investigation. The town was founded in 1788 named the New Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy (mercy is Mercedes in Spanish). The town has a population of 45,000 people and is known for its massive waterfront drive along the Rio Negro which was precisely where we down the night two Sundays ago: 

And the waterfront was where I walked Rusty on Monday morning and where we met the locals: 

The Rio Negro: 

The bank of the Rio Negro:

Rusty on the bank of the Rio Negro: 

Autumn along the Rio Negro. 

Part of the waterfront park along the Rio Negro:

There were a couple of local RVs whose occupants we never saw. 

We had some shopping to do after crossing the border and we wanted to pick up some cash at the ATM. Apparently they had plenty not that we needed that much: 

After the bank got resupplied  with cash we went to the supermarket and got US $100 worth of food, a reminder how expensive Uruguay is compared to other countries hereabouts: 

The quality of the meat is excellent. 

One odd thing about Uruguay is how there aren’t necessarily commercial districts in towns. Businesses sprout up in people’s houses and you have to know where they are especially as most aren’t very good at putting up legible signs. This seems to be a hardware store with a home on top: 

The main supermarket even doesn’t have much in the way of advertising. 

And that was another day in Uruguay.