I ended the e-mail abruptly yesterday, as it was decided to have breakfast at the hotel instead of getting on the road first.  It was a good thing, too.  We were in the car by 8:23.  The scenery was just beautiful as we headed South.  Some other activities we did not participate in would be rafting, diving, para-sailing.  Yesterday while at the mission house, we saw a parachute and were told that people jump off the top of the mountain and sail down.  I started taking pictures this morning with No. 16 on the roll of 24. 

 

It was 9:55 when we came to the first good sized town called El Bolsón. We were on the road again in fifteen minutes with our bebidas (drinks).  There was a sign offering plane rides for 39 pesos (about 13 dollars).  This would have been a wonderful experience, to fly over the glacier, lakes and snow covered mountains.  Not for us, today, though.  We passed an ox cart shortly after leaving El Bolsón.  A little after 11:00 we came upon more broken up blacktop.  There was one stretch where the blacktop was completely graded off, preparatory to resurfacing.  This one stretch was about a mile, and later on, there were shorter stretches.  Pot holes were very numerous, and we were all over the road trying to avoid them.  It was impossible some of the time. 

 

Before we got to Esquel, the terrain became more desert than forest.  We got sandwiches there, and headed East.  We reached cruising altitude at 11 km after refueling.  Over the top and down into the caldera.  It was 23 km  across to the other side.  So, it was 6.8 miles to the rim, and 14.3 miles across.  Quite a big volcano when it was active!  At 59 km we came across another future Devil's Tower.  We crossed another caldera pretty soon, and at 121 km saw three ostriches.  At 2:45 we made a stop at Paso de Indios.  Did I mention that it was a beautiful clear day? 

 

The highway now began to run alongside the Chubut River, with huge cliffs of layered rock.  It was 3:26 before we got out of the area of tall cliffs.  There were all kinds of formations and shapes to the rocks.  Names given to areas were "Valley of the Martyrs" where the rocks appeared to be statues.  Another name was "Valley of the Altars".  We took many pictures through here.  All the way across from Western Argentina to the Atlantic Coast on the East was desert.  At 6:00 P.M. we made another pit stop at Dolavon, 300 miles from Esquel where we bought out sandwiches.  It was only 22 miles to Trelew, our destination.  We arrived at the Milstead's house at 6:30, after being on the road for 10 hours.  It was a long day!  Claire Milstead had a wonderful supper for us at 8:30, and the day was over.  Love, everyone!

[continued later same day] I just finished the description of Feb. 16 a minute ago, from "cruising altitude".  We are back at the Milsteads' after spending a day on the Valdéz Peninsula, finding the sea lions, penguins and guanacos.  It is 8:30 and Grady Milstead has the asado grill fired up outside.  He just asked me how I liked my beef cooked! 

 

We got away from the house about 10:00 this morning, and after getting out to the edge of town, Bruce realized he had left the car papers back at the house, so we had to come back for them.  It was 1:20 before we finished our lunch at Pyramid Point.  We fueled the car and headed to Point Delgado on a dirt road.  It took another hour to get there.  There were 166 steps down to the beach to view the sea lions.  The wind was 50 miles an hour at least, and it was cold.  Luckily I had put on a long-sleeved knit shirt on between my T-shirt and regular shirt.  On top of all this I had my jeans jacket on.  Only the tour bus full of Japanese tourists had caps on besides me.  I had my rain hat pulled down as far as it would go to keep it from blowing off.  At 3:15 we started up the edge of the peninsula headed for Point Valdez.  Actually we stopped at Point Cantor where we saw long green fingers of algae and a few sea lions.  A couple miles North of here we stopped to see penguins.  It had rained Friday and there was a big mud hole getting into the parking lot.  Bruce thought he was driving around it, but got into a deeper hole, and got stuck.  Luckily we were in a four wheel drive, because it took all four wheels pulling to get us out.  Got everybody's adrenalin pumping!  It was 4:25 when we left the penguins.  It being so late, we did not go on North to North Point, but cut across West to hit the road going up there from Western side of the peninsula.  This road was dirt also, and after only 4 or 5 km we came upon a little front wheel car stuck in the mud.  Another car had stopped and was trying to help.  We did not have a tow rope, and told them we would call when we could.  Before we got off the peninsula we came into cell phone range and called the police.  They said they did not have mobility and could not help.  We passed a tow truck hauling a police van before we got off the peninsula!   That's why they did not have "mobility"!  We got back to Trelew at 7:40. It has been a long day.

 

We will explore the city of Trelew tomorrow with the Milsteads and have tea at a famous tea house in Gaiman, a town about 15 km (10 miles) East of here.  We came through there yesterday.  Wednesday we will head back to Buenos Aires, taking two days to get there.  I have already taken three and a half rolls of 24 exposure film.  Bruce will add some pictures from the last two days to his web page tomorrow.  If you have not checked the page out, you are missing a treat.  A little description of each picture pops up when you place your cursor on the picture.  Love you all!

Saturday, Feb. 15. went be much too quickly.  We only had one full day in Bariloche.  It would take a full week to do justice to a trip here.  Things we did not get to do were the excursions to the glacier and other sight-seeing trips.  It was 9:30 or 10:00 before we finished breakfast and got out on the street to see the sights of the town.  We walked up and down the shopping district, and at 12:30 had a fondue lunch.  It was early for lunch in Argentina, and we were the first ones in the restaurant.  However, a couple other groups entered shortly.  I do not know where the afternoon went.  We may have gone up and down more streets, but about 3:00 we headed out to the house the mission owns for a visit with its occupants.  We had a long visit with them and a tour of the beautiful house and grounds.  It was after five before we left to go to Llao Llao, a hotel resort where a couple years ago the Pan-American Presidential conference was held.  We went there for tea, which served as our evening meal.  Just before we left, we checked the rates.  For one night, the cheapest room they had was $222.00 U. S. dollars.  The highest priced accommodations were over $1,300.00 per night.  Wow, and Wow again!  For our tea we had a glass of orange juice, a pot of either coffee, tea or hot chocolate, a selection of small sandwiches, a pat of butter, a basket of toast, and a selection of dessert.  I chose a Black Forest.  Bruce had apple strudel, and Nancy had chocolate mousse.  When we left, we took a trip around the little lake.  Of course we took many pictures of the hotel itself and the views from it. 

 

We stopped a couple of times for pictures on the way around the lake.  The road climbed up, up, and across the lake from the hotel we stopped at a pull-off with a spectacular view of the hotel.  The view was so beautiful that for some reason emotion welled up within me, and my eyes misted.  It was getting almost dark when we arrived back into town and got the car parked.  We elbowed our way through the crowds for one last look at the shops.  It was now nine o'clock, and I do not understand, but some of the little stores were closing, when the sidewalks were so packed with people you could hardly get along.  We wanted to get an early start in the morning, so were back in our rooms and ready for bed by 10:30.

 

It is right now 7:35, the car is parked across the street for loading our luggage, and I am all packed, waiting for Nancy and Bruce to finish their packing.  We are going to start without breakfast, as the restaurant here in the hotel does opens at 7:30, but we are going to leave.  We may find something to eat a couple hours down the road.  We may go down anyway.  Bye.

Well, the internet store did not work.  We got away from the hotel at 10:30, and headed straight south.  The road was not as good as the day before.  In fact, signs began appearing soon "calzada deeriorada" (roadway deteriorated).  No need for the signs! The experience of driving over them gave the message plainly!  The terrain changed drastically, immediately out of town.  The landscape began to look like Western Kansas, in the caprock country.  There were sections of the road where the asphalt completely disappeared, where there were causeways that went through the end of a lake.  Bruce was only able to maintain 100 km, and it felt like were on a galloping horse, bumpy as it was.  At 11:40, we made a pit stop at a YPF station. Upon leaving there, the road immediately turned West, and the road surface improved.  Here's where the Western Kansas look started.  What trees there were looked like mesquite from Texas. I took a couple of pictures.  At 12:55 some dry salt beds appared.  At 1:20 we came upon huge rock formations.  There was a pit stop there, called Lihue Calel.  I believe the rock formations were the old vents of long forgotten volcanoes, because the rock piles were made up of octagonal long formations, like Devil's Tower in Wyoming.  We purchased some basic, basic sandwiches and headed on.  More salt flats appeared for a picture.  Just before reaching a place called Puelches we crossed a long, long dam on the Colorado River.  It must have been two or three miles long.  The speed limit was posted as 40 km, but Bruce maintained 100.  We were not heading Southwest, and the country became more barren.  Cattle guards actually were across the highway, with no fences along the highway now.  There were fences perpendicular to the road, up to the guards.  The terrain now began to look like New Mexico  At 2:30 P.M., we passed a mummified cow on the side of the road, not two feet from the pavement.  Probably was hit by a car.  The hide and hair was still on it, so it had not been there more than a month or so!

 

After crossing the dam we came upon a police checkpoint.  We were entering Rio Negro province, and there was an insect inspection.  They actually sprayed something under the car.  At 3:50 we came into a town called General Roca.  It is in the Rio Negro river valley. We now turned West up the river valley.  One fruit farm after the other the rest of the way to our destination in Neuquén.  Unbelievable what water will do.  The desert changed into lush growth.  There were poles in the orchards, supporting the trees.  The trees were trained like on trellises, flattened, and in close rows for ease of picking the fruit.  I had never seen anything like that in the states. Tall, tall poplar trees bordered each orchard for windbreaks.  At 4:20 we were in the city of Neuquén, 534 km from Bs.As. We arrived at our destination about 15 km West of the City shortly.  I had better start another e-mail from here!  Love to all,

Continued: . . .  We are visiting Gonzalo and Gladys Igor at Gladys' parents farm.  It is irrigated and the variety of things grown is incredible.  The only farm crop is alfalfa hay.  But the vegetable garden grows all kinds of things.  There are a few apple trees, peach trees, a fig tree, and a grape arbor over the patio at the front door.  Gonzalo and Gladys were married just over a year ago, and we had a  birthday celebration for Gonzalo and a wedding anniversary celebration last night.  Gladys' parents prepared an asado.  Gladys' father placed a whole side of ribs on a big spit, stuck the spit in the ground, and built an open fire near it.  There was a reflective metal panel behind the meat, and another folded one on the side.  The fire was started at 7:45, and the food was projected to be ready in an hour and a half.  It was actually two hours before it was done and we were all seated at a long table.  There were two other sisters and their husbands and families, an uncle and his wife, and the mother of one of the brothers-in-law.  There were 25 or 30 people.  It was midnight before the cake and ice cream appeared.  Great fun was had by everyone. My valiant, but sometimes ridiculous attempts at Spanish conversation added to the amusement.  After the cake and ice cream, Gonzalo brought out his trombone, and one of the sister's husbands got his guitar, and we had a sing-along of old familiar hymns. No wonder no one got up till 9:00 this morning!

 

Gladys had a health appointment and a needed visit to the school administration building today, so the five of us went to town around 10:30 or so.  Gladys will teach in the school near where they live when school starts in a couple months.  We went downtown and window shopped till 1:00, when we stopped in a place for lunch.  Bruce did find a telephone company place and check our e-mail.  He sent out his, but we did not take this lap-top with us.  The telephone places are store fronts with space inside about 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep.  They have about 10 booths where you can close the door, make calls, or plug in your computer.  Bruce was able to make a local call, had his computer hooked up for 20 minutes, and the charge was a bit less than 3 pesos (less than a dollar).  Lunch for the five of us came to 59 pesos, which included the medium pizza that the girl brought out by mistake.  We brought it home.  I ordered a lemonade for my drink, and was surprised when it came.  The glass was filled with crushed ice.  You could see about 3/4 of an inch of liquid at the bottom.  It was not sweetened.  I cannot describe it adequately, so I took a picture of it. 

 

Everyone had a nap when we got home at 3:15.  I awoke in an hour, too warm to sleep.  It is now 5:30 and maybe time to check the TV news.  I know supper will not be for another three hours.

 

Rochelle, your e-mail came though fine.  We checked my box at the joplin.com server while I was in the booth with Bruce.  Your greeting was there along with some spam!  Too bad the spam cannot be eaten like the other Spam!  Love to all,

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The trip started Saturday morning.  We got away from the house at 10:30.  We stopped at a North town Jumbo for Nancy to purchase some Taco dinners as gifts for a family we will visit.  They are hard to find, even in Bs. As.  It was noon when we stopped at Lujan for some cokes to have with our sandwiches, which we ate while driving.  Traffic really thinned out after our stop, and we began a steady 110 kilometers per hour (68.35 mph).

 

At a pit stop at a city called "9 de Julio" or Ninth of July, a lady approached Nancy and asked if she spoke Spanish.  Another American!  Lo and behold, it was another missionary, with Christian Missionary Alliance.  She and her husband have been in Bs. As. for 22 years, and had attended the breakfast with Sandy Patty when the Billy Graham Crusade was in Bs. As. a few years ago.  It was like meeting old friends!  They had gone through the same schooling experiences with their children.  Their children had even spent some time at St. Andrews School, but not in the same classes with the Muskrat kids.  Their last name is Grames.

 

We arrived at Santa Rosa at 6:00 P.M., 608 km, or 378 miles from Bs. As.  The trip was mostly West and angling South through completely flat farming country.  There were huge fields of sunflowers. There were huge herds of cattle, both Holsteins and beef cattle.  There was a lot of water in the fields along the road.  Some of it had been there for a long time, as some type of tall coarse water grass was along the road.  And occasionally there were people fishing in the ditches, even though there were "no fishing" signs occasionally.  We ran out of the watery fields as we got nearer Santa Rosa, and the land began to rise and undulate slightly. 

 

The four star country club type hotel or motel at the edge of town was full.  We passed up some less attractive ones on the highway and finally talked Bruce into going downtown.  He had looked at a hotel on the internet and was not impressed with it.  However, he had looked at the wrong hotel.  The address turned out to be about 6 blocks East of the plaza.  We are on the 5th floor of maybe 12 or 14 floors.  We have an apartment with two bedrooms and two baths.  I think the rate is around 135 pesos, or $42.00.  You have to call the front desk for them to turn and air conditioner on or off.  They are window type units mounted in the wall about as high as you can reach.  Mine never did come on.  However I opened the window in the bedroom a bit, and the one in the bathroom and was not uncomfortable.  Traffic noise was loud all night, however. 

 

We walked to the Plaza and heard the church bells calling for the 7:00 P.M. mass.  The church is always on the West side of the Plaza, Bruce tells me.  On the way back we had an ice cream cone.  The restaurant in the hotel did not even open till 8:30, and we were the first customers when we got there about 8:50.  Our food came about 9:30.  I had a "bife de chorizo" which we thought would be like a rib-eye.  It turned out to be what I know as a K. C. strip steak.  Bruce and Nancy split a "bife de lomo".  Total cost of our meals, including salad, an empanada each and a bottle of water was 43.70 pesos ($13.87).  The creamed potatoes were great also. 

 

It is 8:00 Sunday morning now, and I am ready to have breakfast.  I want to take a picture of the hotel, and maybe the church.  Then we plan to take the computers to an internet cafe and send our messages out.  I haven't heard any stirring from the other room yet.  I just opened my bedroom door, and lo, the hotel has slipped a  local newspaper under the door!  Love, everyone!

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It is 7:45 AM. here, 3:45 at home.  I have checked the Joplin Globe on line, and they have not updated their web site.  The date says Saturday, Feb. 8, but all of the news is what was up yesterday.  Springfield paper has updated.  They report 3 deaths on the icy roads yesterday.  The weather URL says that is 22 degrees at this time in Joplin. 

 

Bruce intended to get an early start this morning, but he was up till 1:00 this morning finishing up office work that had to be done before we got away.  Yesterday afternoon we took Nancy downtown to the British hospital for some scheduled tests.  Back in our neighborhood, we found a watchmaker where I left my watch.  Last evening there was a birthday celebration over at the Mission conference room for two missionaries whose birthdays were on the same day.  They had been married on their birthdays.  There were 17 people, plus Petey the Jackson's little white poodle.  Everyone brought salad.  Afterwards there was the traditional ice cream and cake.  The salad supper was our evening meal. 

 

Bruce says that we will be able to send and receive e-mails while we are on the road.  They have places where you can plug your computer in.  I believe at the Jumbo the place charged one peso per hour.  Better than the phone rate! 

 

It did not get over 70 degrees all day yesterday, and now is 68, so today is going to be warmer.  The rain was over yesterday around noon.  I will give you all my love for now, and hopefully have more interesting news on the road!

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Hardly any news worthy of putting out.  Yesterday was pretty much a day of rest and getting over the jet lag.  In the afternoon, Bruce and I went to the exchange where I exchanged $200 at the rate of 3.15,so I received 630 pesos.  I brought with me an antique watch that had stopped running.  It is hard to find a watchmaker around Joplin.  We had visited one the Tuesday afternoon, who would have cleaned and oiled it for 70 pesos, but he was going on vacation.  So, the cost would have been $22.22!  I can afford that!  We located a few more "relojeros" (watchmakers) in the telephone directory.  Maybe I can get Bruce to take me to one of them this afternoon. 

 

Somebody just buzzed the gate.  Somebody is dropping off something for us to deliver on our trip.  Bruce says we are leaving on the trip Saturday, and will be gone about ten days. 

 

We are to go to "La Boca" for lunch.  Bruce says we are going to a tango restaurant.  Don't know exactly what to expect!  If some of you saw my pictures from last year, you will remember that La Boca is the old port part of downtown B.A.  It is a tourist trap area.  Speaking of tourists, three fourths of the passengers arriving with me on the plane went through the tourist section of immigration.  Bruce says tourists are a substantial part of the present economy.  No wonder they are flocking in!  The exchange rate is so favorable.  My round trip plane ticket this year was only $786.00. 

 

I spent a good part of yesterday afternoon watching CNN and Powell's presentation to the Security Council. 

 

This morning some of the demonstrations are starting up.  I noticed on the local TV yesterday that right before the TV cameras about three men were beating on drums instead of pots and pans, like they were using last year when I was here.  Drums must make more noise than pots and pans!  However, I noticed on a local station  just a bit ago that the inflation rate for January or "enero" was 1.3%. 

 

Love to all

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