ODO: 340,332
We need to do some real maintenance today, our wheel bearings need to be swapped out. It’s been on the list since leaving Bolivia, so Berne gets after it. KoKo is still pretty sick, so she spends the day in quarantine inside the camper. Last time we stayed in this campground, we had the best dog, so far we haven’t seen her. Everyone is sad…Sausages hit the grill for a delicious dinner.
Today is a driving day. After some chores we pack and hit the road. First stop, more fancy oil and vinegar. We buy a lot, two liters worth. Next stop, fancy bread and empanadas. The plan was to head for the Atlantic coast south of Buenos Aires, but our friend in B.A. recommended the Cordoba area instead, so change of plans! A very long, very straight road stretches out in front of us for most of the day. It’s a very uneventful day, broken up by a few fox sightings. We find a nice lake, we think, for the night. It’s hard to know because we arrive well after dark.
It is a nice lake! And not a single person around. We enjoy the calm morning. We also have our second last meeting with our big work client. It goes really well. The maps says there is a fun road through Parque Nacional Quebrada del Condorito, so we go find it. It takes us up over 7000ft really quickly. Our road turns into fun, windy dirt before spitting us out in a more urban area than we were expecting. Urban enough to have a tasty Italian restaurant. We take our dessert to go. There is another lake near by, and we are excited to find out in the morning, if its also nice.
This is a popular lake, there are a handful of people out fishing this morning, and several small boats in the water. We start a slow and lazy day. There is another windy road we head for, dirt of course, that takes us through some lovely landscapes. In the late afternoon we come across a highly rated cafe, and grab some carrot cake for the road. We make it all the way into Cordoba for the night. Our chosen hotel turns out to be a four story art gallery. After walking back from a fancy steak dinner, we go on an indoor art walk. Up and down every single hall on every single floor to see every single piece of art.
Per usual, we stay to the very end of our 2pm late check out. After a resupply, we burn pavement for several hours. We’re back on our original plan to head to the Atlantic coast. Today is mostly a transiting through day, and the camp spots are few and far between. the road to our planned camp for the night has washed away, and it’s late, so we end up cozied up to the highway. At least we are above a river. While we make dinner, some horses trot past, followed by an older man running as fast as he can and swearing. The horse run down to the water and cross. The man stops at the bank and swears louder. Then his wife drives up, and swears even louder.
It is cold overnight, and loud, from the road. We pack and go quickly. About 5 minutes down the road Berne notices the tent is open. Yup, we forgot to close the tent before we left this morning. That’s a fun first. Properly packed up, we get back to driving. By late afternoon we are on terrible Argentinian roads again. Since leaving Cordoba we’ve been driving through farmland. Today we have a very strong tailwind, aka great gas milage. Tonight’s camp is a municipal park campground, and its completely deserted. We make the insta pot version of our rice cooker chicken, veggies and rice, and we are in love! All fresh food, instead of canned and frozen, and it cooks in about twenty minutes. The perfect dinner. And WOW it’s cold out tonight!
Sometimes (most of the time) we forget it’s late fall here. Like this morning, when it is VERY cold. We remember to close the tent before leaving today. Our route takes us into a mountain town, which turns out to be a town near some hills. Oh well, onwards to the beach. Panteón Familia Saldungaray (a crazy round cemetery), takes us by surprise. We reach the beach, and the weather is not great. Turns out it’s still late fall here too. The town is a ghost town, just like Oregon beach towns in the winter. We head out into the dunes anyways, and find a nice sheltered spot to tuck ourselves away for the night.
