and on that note...

dancing the tango in the San Telmo district


Dinner with Emilio and Natalia


Home at long last (well, almost...Vancouver BC!)


Saying goodbye to Marisa - thank you so much!!

Is the day really here? I still haven´t comprehended that we´re actually going home. We´ve been on the road so long that it seems impossible that the trip has come to a close. But here we are, packing up ALL (or at least most) of our stuff that fits infinitely better onto bikes than into boxes suited for loading into a taxi and onto an airplane. Bike tetris! I am really excited to see everyone when we get back (Andy will be the first - thanks for picking us up at the airport tomorrow!), but I´m also sad to be leaving. I have thought about living in Buenos Aires at some point, so it is a bit tough to say goodbye to the city. Plus, we´ll never pack up the bikes again like we have for the last 15 months. I´ll fondly remember our routine that was only ours for this one time in our lives.

A little bit about our stay here in Buenos Aires...I love this city! There is never a shortage of things to do, and a lot of them are free or close to it. A requisite at this point for us :c) We´ve seen a few museums, walked kilometers and kilometers of sidewalk, listened to lots of live music, got free hugs at a street fair, etc. I set out immediately finding a place to learn tango, and on the very first night in the city I took my first lesson. After two classes I went out to a milonga, which is like a tango dance hall, and managed to shuffle my way around the floor a few times. Yay!!! A big thank you to Nicolas for teaching me and to Sandra for always giving me positive reinforcement :c) We also had some down time at ´home´, which brings me to my next paragraph...

BA is a bit too big to be camping in our tent, so we´ve been staying with a family in Quilmes, a smaller suburb to the south of the center. We randomly met Marisa and Carlos earlier in the trip for about 5 minutes and they offered to let us stay with them when we arrived. They are really wonderful people, and we have felt very welcome and comfortable here in their home. Marisa is a librarian in public schools in the area and has been one of the most helpful, sincere people along this whole trip. She is always telling us how to get from point A to B, what to do, what to go see, and helping us out with whatever we need. Carlos has his own manufacturing companies and a fantastic sense of humor. It seems like whenever he´s around the whole world seems a bit lighter! We also got to know Alvar, Marisa´s son. He is a musician, and we had the chance to go and listen to live jazz with him a couple of times as well as see his band in concert. The kid can seriously play! Anyway, suffice it to say that they have all been delightful, and we will miss them.

Two other people that deserve a big shout-out are Emilio and Natalia, two Argentinians that we met in Chile. The did us not only the favor of leaving us food and water along a very lonely stretch of road way back in March, but also picked us up at the port in Buenos Aires and took us to Marisa´s house when we arrived. We met up with them a week later and spent a lovely evening with them walking around some of the neighborhoods in the center, eating pizza, and getting lost on one-way streets. They have some connections to Vancouver BC, so hopefully we´ll get to see them in the NW someday to show them all around Seattle!

As I write Eric is doing sit-ups and push-ups. Belive me when I tell you that we are miserably out of shape! Yeah, we can ride 100 miles on a bike, but when it comes to anything else it is a no-go. So, we´re slowly trying to get a bit stronger so that we can do things like go for a jog when we get home. It´s so hard and involves being sore all the time! OK, complaining over for now.

Thanks to everyone for reading along with us and keeping us company for so long. It was always great to read all the comments, hear about other experiences similar to ours, and in general feel connected to home. Don´t forget to check back for fundraiser info...July 16th potcluck in Vancouver and TBA date silent auction in Seattle. Un gran beso a todos!!!

Holy $·#¡/!!!!!!!!

Claudia, me, Marta, Eric and Ximena


Montevideo cityscape...the one on the left used to be the tallest building in South America back in it`s heyday...like the Smith Tower.


Lue styling with the Mercedes hood ornament and the rope holding the front pannier on for dear life


Eric and Elisa at Estancia Cerro Zarco, a beautiful 17th century hacienda


Lue looking unnaturally short on the walk back to Claudia`s house :c(

This is it folks, the moment we`ve all been waiting for. With great humility, pride, awe and amazement I am here to say that..WE MADE IT!!!! After 15 months, 15 countries, $10,000 worth of penny pinching, even more thousands of kilometers, and more flat tires than we can count, we have arrived at the end of the road. We are broke but exponentially richer than when we first set off from the Californian coast, good bye seeming like the understatement of the year as we rode away from Dad two Februarys ago. We officially rode our bikes from San Diego to Montevideo with only two exceptions: 1) the sailboat crossing between Panama and Colombia because there are no roads connecting the two countries and 2) 100 kilometers by bus on the coast of Peru to avoid being robbed at gunpoint, which seems to happen to cyclists about once every two weeks in that area. I don`t even know what to say...it is an unbelievable, overwhelming, speechless moment for me. I am so proud of us!!!! Hell yeah!!!! But we`re still waiting until Buenos Aires to buy and eat an entire cake in celebration of the achievement :c)

So, if it is a bit surprising to some of you that we are finished, here`s the whole story. We were planning to ride a bit further to Colonia del Sacramento here in Uruguay, but Eric took things into his own hands. We had been staying in Montevideo with another cyclist, Claudia, who is great. She kindly put us up in our very own room with two beds, washed our clothes, gave us free use of her kitchen, and introduced us to several of her lovely friends. She and Ximena decided to ride with us for a bit on our way out of town, so we all left yesterday, a sunny, beautiful morning. A mere kilometer or two from her house a giant pothole/manhole/black hole combo stopped Eric`s bike in its tracks. Actually, judging from the bent spokes it rolled the front rack through three of them before coming to a complete halt. In a spectacular crash Eric flew ¨like a blonde arrow,¨ as Ximena put it, over the handlebars of his now-stationary bike. Luckily the worst that happened to him was a rock in a blood blister in one finger and a goosegg on his hip. Lue, on the other hand, was officially retired. As the fork took all the blow of the crash it was left completely bent and unusable. And where can we find a replacement fork for an ancient, huge Trek with an outdated headset system? That`s right, nowhere. So, we take our bows and have our official curtain call here in Montevideo which is, coincidentally, further away than if we had merely ridden to Buenos Aires, and no one would have known where Colonia is anyway. So there you have it!! Wow.

We still have a bit of traveling to do as well as major culture shock awaiting us back at home, so we`ll be posting a few more times for any of you who still want to read up on our experience.

ALSO, we are hoping to do a couple of fundraisers to benefit the schools that we volunteered for along the way. We have received so much support along the way that the least we can do is try to give back to the communities that received us so beautifully. We are having a potluck BBQ in Vancouver on Saturday July 16th and a silent auction event in Seattle, hopefully sometime in August. Keep your eyes on this page for more info!

safety in Uruguay

It is so ´tranqui´ or chill here in Trinidad, about 200 kilometers away from Montevideo, that the streets are lined with bicycles. I mean just sitting there, propped up on the curbs with their pedals, completely unlocked. Awesome.

More Pics! Be sure to read the blog a couple of posts down!

Yes, careful for these guys when walking through the tall grass of Argentina


If, dear reader, you make it to Argentina; try the Alfajores (from a good bakery highly recommended). You will thank me.


A random guy came up to us and said ¨you have to see my motorcycle and take a picture of you guys on it¨. Sometimes we roll with it.


Likewise, the Chevy Nova did not fare well with Latin American consumers


Ummm, at least there is honesty

Roadside ¨red¨ shrine. Actually dont know what the red means...


Hugo and Blanca


Jorge and Juan and Jorge´s wife (never learned her name...)


Eduardo and Pamela in the Parrilla


Gloria and Teddy with Falucho

Keep on the SunnySide!

Merilee covered in spider webs as we were crossing rivers between Santa Fe and Parana. It was crazy how many of those spider web ballons were out!


Not this again!


Ohh farmland, la la la!


Outside our campsite inside an old barn


Sorghum (spelling?)

Oh my goodness, so we are very close to our final destination! But, the bicycles are keeping Merilee and I on eggshells. This past week my frame broke again! Whoo hoo! We were about 6 kilometers outside of a small town and right next to a house. We walked in hoping to find help but instead a rather persnickity lady greeted us with the words ¨there is nobody here you can talk to¨ and ¨I am working go to the service station¨. Well, Merilee and I were a bit shocked so we walked our loaded bikes into town and started asking around for a place to do the weld. We found our way to a shop that specializes in making internal engine parts for farming equipment. Juan, Jorge and Ariel kindly put my bike back together and with a beautiful coat of black rust resistant paint. (Dad you will have to help me with the name POR 50 or something). Jorge then allowed us to sleep on the shop floor and Ariel invited us to a pizza and milanesa dinner! Tasty! Argentina is perhaps the closest to Italy I have ever felt! There is always an aboundance of olives, mandarines, pizza, salames, and people with Italian last names. Anyhow, my bike is doing well, but I think the next break may be the end for it.

The next day as we were leaving the town where we had my bike fixed, we were stopped by the local television and interviewed! Famous, yes we know. Ironically, it happened right in front of the house where the woman curtly had had nothing to do with us. Of course, one of the questions he asked was ¨how have people treated you guys on the trip¨. Kinda funny. He went on to tell us about rumors that a high up Nazi official lived in that very house during the 50´s.

More bike fun! Merilee´s rear wheel. Not only do about 5 of the spoke holes have cracks on her rim, but there is literally a hole in her rim as well. I mean, it is probably 2 inches long by half an inch wide and the spoke does not stay still unless we gorilla tape it there. Yet, thankfully, it is hanging in there real tough as she has rode the last 2000 plus kilometers on the weakened wheel!

We also have had two lovely experiences with people. The first was we stayed at a small resturant where we asked to put up our tent. Eduardo and Pamela invited us to a small sampling of asado and we ate good! Blood sausage, ribs, intestines filled with yucca...very good. We also tried escarabiches, which are veggies cooked up in vinegar and then kept in oil. All in all, tasty goodness and two good people.

Last night as it was getting dark Merilee and I stopped into a small store to see if they would be willing to put us up for the night. Teddy, yes Teddy, immediatly said yes and decided to cook us dinner because he LOVES to cook. He is a spry guy of 72 who told us all about cooking and his love for meat!! If he is going to eat, it has to have meat he said. So Merilee and I dined on veal and chicken. Pretty good. And hopefully not too awful as he was raising his own cows.

Now, we are in a race to see if we can make it to Montevideo. As long as the bikes hold I think we´ll be alright!

Moving Towards Cordova

We spent the last week riding out of the mountains and into the lowlands of Argentina. The landscape was rather dull with mostly cactus and flat flat scenery.

We spent Easter Sunday with a family in a small community of about 6 houses. They had three kids, tuna plants (cactus fruit), chickens and a house in construction. Martin and Maria were very nice and let us watch television. Nothing like watching an action flick with Jean Claude Van Damme!! There are a few universal truths we have learned on this trip and one is about television; no matter where you are, it is something people are willing to spend money on no matter how poor they may be. Anyhow, we spent a wonderful night chatting, showering and eating some hamburger!

The next day we landed into the outskirts of Cordova. We went in search of some camping in a small suburb town of Cosquin. Since it is the off season and we are going into winter most campgrounds are closed. We finally got some information about one that was still open and headed there. We met a couple taking care of the grounds and almost immediately they said we could just stay for free. Hugo and his wife Blanca, who said she was a bike tourist at heart, were pretty amazing people. They fed us pizza that evening and invited us to stay the next day to have an Argentine asado. Merilee and I agreed!! Why not! Well, because the next day they fed us and fed us until we could not move! Ribs both cow and pig, chorizo, ice cream and salads. Merilee and I typically eat very little meat but when offered it we usually do not decline. Anyhow, we both had chest pressure after so much food, and wanted to eat veggies for the next week. Hugo and Blanca are also holding us to coming back to Cordova and staying for some more time! One day!

Now we are in another town, Villa Allende, where we are staying with a friend of a friend that we met in northern Argentina. We went into Cordova to see the city and took a small tour of the church and cabildo (arts/municipal building). We went into the gothic cathedral of the city, which is seriously amazing. One of my favorite churches we have seen. Later we went to a free dance performance and saw a bunch of folkloric dances throughout Latin America and ....the tango! It was a bit too dramatic for me; put in amongst such happy smilely other dances, but I am sure I will come to love it. There really seems to be always something to do in this city.

Currently, we are co-habitating with a parrot that speaks about 3 words as well. Most mornings we wake up to hola....Hola...HOLA!!!!! The bird screaming in a very creepy way. It is gooood fun! Sadly pics seem to not be working again. :(

Less than 2000 Kilometers! (We think)

In honor of our less than mark we will retail a few stories of our last several days!

We stopped in a small town called Punta Balastos because we did not want to camp in the desert because of how many thorns there are. (You walk out to pee and instantly your shoes have 50 spikes in them youch!) We chatted with the police and he told us where we could find a store to buy a few things for the evening. When we got to the store the owner kindly met us and instantly asked if we were going to stay in the town that night. When we said yes, she said we could stay next to their house and have a shower. We proceeded to talk about many random things like if we like peanut butter and whether or not we are afraid of ¨middle eastern looking people¨. Anyhow, we passed a wonderful night with Manuel and Graciela!

Two nights ago we were in Belen. We wanted to buy walnuts because there are lots of them in the region. We went into a small store to see if they had any and the owner told us about neighbors who harvest walnuts. We went there and met some curious kids and Christina promptly invited us to two bags of nuez! They are quite tastey. And they go well with our pomegranets (spelling?).

Yesterday, we saw a sign on a house saying raisins for sale. We decided to stop in and ask about them. We were met by a real friendly women and her sister who just finished freshly drying raisins. They are best with the seeds inside. They also sent us off with four ripe pomegranets which are wonderful!

Dogs here in Argentina are oddly nice. When we stay in a campground often a random dog shows up and accompanies us everywhere we go...literally. In Cafayate a dog followed us to the stores, chased down motorcycles along the 1 kilometer walk into town and chased off other dogs that would be near us. Goofy. But, at times the dogs are tooooo much. For example, in Los Nacimientos a dog kept trying to come into our tent!! It was more than wierd though because it kept rolling over, and Merilee and I were sure there was something wrong with it. But it was just ubber friendly. Anyhow, to get rid of it we had to throw water on it and chase it down the road.

Speaking of over friendly animals though, once, we were riding through nothing but sagebrush and desert sand when we saw two dogs coming towards us. They were not barking, but being a bit evasive. We have learned that when dogs don´t bark they are usually more dangerous, but these dogs seemed alright and when they got alongside us they just trotted along. Then, all of a sudden, in the distance we see an animal SPRINTING towards us. It was about a kilometer away and running full tilt down the empty road. As it drew closer we saw that it was a llama. Merilee and I kinda got to one side of the road to let the running animal by, but then it stopped right next to us and started headbutting us lightly and smelling our legs and arms and just being plainly odd. We really did not know what to do with this friendly llama. Both the dogs and llama followed us until we made it to the turnoff for a small house where they stopped and perhaps waited for their real owners to get home and feed them.

Cafayate

Us with Connie and Andreas...where else but in a bakery!


scenery in between San Carlos and Cafayate


chatting with some motorcylists


view from our campsite outside of Angostaco




In our last blog we introduced our two friends Connie and Andreas. We, sadly, had to part ways in Cachi as they were heading on while Merilee and I were going to stay another day to rest, wash clothes and send emails. Well, we left Cachi and went towards Molinos and stayed the night just outside of town in a dried creek bed. Late in the morning we came upon two other cyclists and chatted with them for a while. All of a sudden a car pulled up and asked if we were Americans, and we answered a bit hesistantly ¨Yes.¨They then proceeded to tell us two Germans are cycling up and we could wait for them if we wish. Well, of course we waited and soon enough Connie and Andreas pulled up on their bicycles! Connie had gotten sick and they spent two nights in Molinos. Anyhow, we cycled with the two of them until we made it to Cafayate which is where we have to part ways for sure as they will be headed back north towards Salta and Merilee and I continuing our southerly route. Merilee and I were so happy to have cycling companions! It makes the trip that much more enjoyable. Connie and Andreas are kind and generous folk who share a love of wine and photography, of which there is plenty to taste and take shots of in this area of Argentina. They invited us to bottles of wine and cookies numerous times. They introduced Merilee and I to a new lunch meal of tunafish, ketchup and onion on french bread...it is quite tasty! Anyhow, this is a big BIG shoutout to Connie and Andreas for several lovely days traveling and getting to eachother together, and we wish the best for the rest of their trip and a safe journey back home! Thanks much!!!

The road through Southwest Bolivia...few options around


Hanging out at Laguna Verde with some jeep tours








Salar de Uyuni

And then there was Argentina….Part 3

Dried chile anyone?


Greenery finally!


After a month in high desert, it is hard to describe how amazing it was to see flowers and rivers and life again


Yes, that is our road...alright!!




We made it to the end of Paso Jama, but part of my sanity will always be lost forever there amongst the sand and vicuna. Never ever again! We crossed into the Argentinean territory and kindly the border guards allowed us to take in our potatoes as long as we cooked them that night. We stayed in an abandoned house behind a gas station and enjoyed feeling like we were inside for a change as the house had a roof and door. Still, 4500 meters is very cold at night.

We debated about the route we would take through the country. Argentina has a plethora of roads and we could actually not decide where to go! Finally we decided we took a ¨shortcut¨ down to route 40 through a salt flat. The road was more sandy that salty, but worth the effort for the feeling of being completely cut-off from the outside world. We spent more lovely nights camped isolated outside with just us, the stars and a wind break. We were running low on drinking water and so to save it we had pasta boiled with water from the salt flat…very tasty!

An example of Argentina: We made it to San Antonio de Los Cobres and here we found a small nice hotel. We talked with the owner about finding a cheaper rate for us and the 83 year old woman agreed to let us sleep in a constructed room for a half rate. She also let us wash our clothes and when we told her we like to make bread she said ¨I have an oven, you can make bread in there.¨ She was just too kind with us, and when we told her our route south she said ¨you are going to meet just the nicest people over there.¨ That is quite the opposite as to what people usually tell us, which is often that ¨people down the road are bad, but they are good here.¨ But, thus far people have been so nice to us here in Argentina.

Then we climbed our last 4900 meter pass. Abra del Acay is a sand road winding up to the top of the high desert with a descent into a green beautiful valley filled with farmers, trees and streams falling out of the Andes. Merilee and I were in paradise as we reveled in running water and the greenery. The descent was quite hairy though as an unstable road clung to the side of big drop-offs. Go brakes go!!! We had to stop and give our hands a rest from gripping the breaks so much! We made it safely though and also ran into the first cyclists going our way! Connie and Andreas are a couple from Germany on their vacation from work cycling around northern Chile and Argentina. We rode with them for two days from Saladillo to Cachi (where we are now). The first day we were headed to a small town. When it finally appeared about 10 kilometers off the main rode and in a round about way we decided to pool our food and water resources together and ride on. We made it to a small town, El Rodeo, and camped behind a community center and the next day rode into Cachi. We enjoyed two nights together having dinner and talking about any which thing. They invited us to dinner the second night. So cheers to Connie and Andreas for several lovely days together! Happy journey!!

Part 2!!

Eric, Emilio, and Natalia


Laguna Blanca, Bolivia


Creek in the desert....ahhhhhh water


Lake along the route to Paso Jama


Hello Chile!!!!!!!

Awesome, we made it to Chile! Oh, shit…to get our Chilean entry stamp and be legit and all that we had to plummet (cannot emphasize enough!) down 2500 meters to San Pedro de Atacama because there are no immigration offices at either the border with Bolivia or Argentina. So, within the course of 40 kilometers of hair-raising 70 kph descent we arrived at the lovely little town. It is quite touristy, but we enjoyed the utter luxury of a real campground complete with friendly staff, a kitchen, sinks to wash dishes in, picnic tables, hot water for showers (SHOWERS!!), great fellow campers, and not having to wear every article of clothing we owned just to stay warm at night. There were only two drawbacks – very expensive prices for everything, and the brutal climb back up the hill awaiting us. Luckily our time in San Pedro was quite lovely, so it was a nice little place to get cleaned up, wash the dirt and sweat out of our overused riding clothes, and enjoy the milder climate.

We were worried about the ascent to 5000 meters and the 160 km ride to the Argentine border…carrying enough food and water would be a price in weight that we would pay for dearly while struggling up the sharp grade for 3 days. Enter Emilio and Natalia, a lovely couple from Buenos Aires that we met in our campground. They generously offered to bring food and water to various kilometer posts along the route as they would be passing by us in a car on their way home. So, we were able to lighten our load a bit and still have fresh fruit and drinking water on the road. THANK YOU!!! Our last night in the campground was very enjoyable…Emilio and Natalia invited us to share a bottle of Chilean Malbec wine with them, and we each had our own improvised camping dinner (aka cook everything you have together in the same pot).

The next morning we chatted with other campers, did the last of our errands, got our exit stamp, and headed up the hill. Between 1 in the afternoon and sunset we managed to get to kilometer 31. The first 12 kilometers were lowest gear worthy, but still gradual and pedalable. Then the road headed straight up, and we zigzagged the whole rest of the day. Doug, sometimes in the Andes the hill never stops :c) Exhausted, we pushed our bikes off the road, ate lentil soup we had prepared in the campground, and fell asleep.

In the morning we set off again, swerving our way up the last 10 kilometers to the 4800 meter mark and less intense grades up to 5000. It´s the only time on the trip that Eric has said to me, ¨Let´s never do this again.¨ Emilio and Natalia caught up with us early, dropped us off some provisions, and we made arrangements to pick up more water at kilometers 50, 100, and the border. Again, thank you so much – we´ll see you in Buenos Aires!! Camping was very easy along the route, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves. I can´t say enough how much we´ve really enjoyed the access to wild camping that we´ve had here in Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. It´s so peaceful, the starry night skies are spectacular, and it´s wonderful not to have to worry about whether or not our stuff is really safe, or if someone will find us in the middle of the night.

Quick question for the readers here; at night, does anyone know what the fuzzy looking haze near the Milky Way belt are (not clouds wise guys!)? They look like the Milky Way but are separate from the band you can typically see. Perhaps they are only visible in the Southern Hemishphere....

Check the Pics!

Bolivia...southwest somewhere


Laguna Colorada


Arbol de Piedra or Piedra de Arbol


Salar de Uyuni


Sometimes when the road disappears you take the tracks less traveled

Wow. I don´t even know where to begin. We´re so behind on blogging! Well, the quick and dirty is that we left La Paz at the very end of February, made our way through the vast, empty southwest of Bolivia, dropped into Chile for a few days, climbed back UP to Argentina, continued our way on lots of sand and shale roads, crossed our last pass over 4000 meters, and are now in Cachi eating lots of goat cheese, cookies and other treats to gain a bit of weight back - yay for food and water supplies!

Alright, well I´ll break this up into a few blogs so that if you get bored reading it all you can come back later when you have some more energy :c)
We were definitely ready to get back on the road after spending a month in La Paz. We stayed in several schools along the way to keep out of the afternoon rain and the evening chill. We passed Oruro just before it´s famous Carnaval celebration, so we were able to see some locals in nearby towns practicing their traditional dances, and we caught a few glimpses of the Anata Andina parade. The costumes are amazingly beautiful and elaborate!

Just south of there we met two French people, Marion and Xavier, and we kept running into them all throughout the rest of Bolivia. The road to Uyuni, a major tourist hub for 4x4 tours in the SW, was quite difficult, and we arrived completely caked in mud. There are strict water rations everywhere, so our bikes more or less have been dirty ever since. We had really hoped to ride across the Salar de Uyuni, but we were too early in the season, and it was covered with water. So, for the first time on this trip, we went on an organized tour. We hopped in a Toyota Land Cruiser with 4 Germans and headed out to see this bizaare, surreal, can´t-believe-your-eyes sight. Reaching the salar has been a landmark for our trip, and when I finally saw it I found myself so overwhelmed with emotion that I started crying in the passenger seat! After that I started taking photos like mad, and Eric actually enjoyed having some taken of him as well, which is quite unusual :c)

From Uyuni we headed south toward no-man´s-land and more tourists than we had ever seen anywhere. The roads were brutally difficult at times; completely ungraded, sandy, no clear tracks to choose from, and constantly having to get off the path to let 4x4s go flying by. Plus we were carrying about 10-20 kilos of extra weight each of food and water because there is virtually none to be had during 2 weeks of cycling, and I was still sick from volunteering at the school in La Paz. But, at night, we had the whole place to ourselves. Despite having spent time backpacking in the NW, I had never seen such light-pollution free skies in my life. However, we could only enjoy the view from inside the tent with our sleeping bags pulled up to our noses. The bitter wind and cold at over 4000 meters of altiplano is unforgiving! So we were always huddling behind some rock or old llama corral to get a bit of shelter.

Overall it was a fantastic experience, but I did have my moments where I lost it, kicking my bike, screaming thinking what the hell am I doing because I am not enjoying this at all. That moment came at a day spent pushing my bike up a 4900 meter pass with 50 mph wind in our faces and virtually no food. We couldn´t find anywhere to get out of the wind, so we had to shimmy inside a dry pump house through a 1x1 foot opening on the ground and hope that no water would start gushing in on us. Ah, the life.

We subsisted mostly on rice, quinoa, potatoes, carrots, and cans of tuna fish. We also purchased 30 candy bars in La Paz and carefully rationed them all the way through our ride. That was hard, especially for two Jonses. During the day, in exchange for all our hard work, we passed by beautifully colored lakes, geysers, hot springs, saw lots of wildlife, and now have the satisfaction of knowing that we did it. Hell yeah! Pat on the back :c)




Sad update...our computer is dying a slow death. We cannot fix it, therefore photo uploads are now dependant on internet cafes. The cafes are not so reliable, but it appears photos will be fewer and far between :( We have many good ones too.