Mendoza and Bariloche

Mendoza
To reach Mendoza we rode the bus 15 hours from Buenos Aires.  We decided that since it only cost a few dollars more, we would get the "Salon Suite" (aka First Class) and whereby have seats that reclined all the way plus get fed.  We took a chance on a company named Sendas which our hostel front desk chica had never heard of and did not recommend.  She said take Cata, but that was $50 pesos more and we're about trying new things.  As soon as we got on the bus we knew why she hadn't heard of them.  The interior seemed like it had a bit of wear.  The plus side was there was wifi.  The meals weren't that great since we weren't able to tell them we wanted vegetarian meals ahead of time.  Llew tried some beef that look like shoe leather.  He didn't appear to be very happy with it though as he didn't take another bite.

We arrived in Mendoza sometime before noon and walked through the city underneath beautiful trees finally ending up at Hostel Alamo.  The city seems a lot more laid back than Buenos Aires and I love all the trees here.  Its also in the heart of their wine country, which neither of us care about.  We were hoping to be in the mountains, but unfortunately this is at the base of them.  I told Llew I feel like we're in Visalia except we're not visiting our awesome friend Daniel.  We've decided 1 night is all that we want to spend here.  We ate some more pizza and did a pyramid workout at the parque.  I like that they have areas at the parque that you can workout.

San Carlos de Bariloche

We rode 1st class with AndesMars bus company to travel to Bariloche.  We got mislead by their company into thinking we did not need to printout the ticket.  However when we arrived at the bus station we checked with that office and they said we would have to print it out and that it would cost $20 pesos.  That got us fired up enough to find an Internet cafe out of the bus station and print it for $2 pesos.  I do not recommend this company to anyone based on that.  I honestly don't think it was worth being 1st class with them. There was no wifi, and no individual tablets for entertainment.  The only benefit was being able to lay flat, but I couldn't stretch out as it was designed for someone 5'8 like Llew.  I did sit next to a pretty cool German named Sven who does video editing for a TV station.  After 18 hours of riding and not being able to do more than liquids in their in bus toilet, we were more than ready to be done. haha!

Bariloche is on a big lake (lago) called Nahuel Huapi.  The town is very touristy and teeming with foreigners and Argentineans.  It has a European look to it and even Sven said the houses look like the ones in Germany.  

We stayed in the Condor Hostel the first night, which had a neat chalet look to it.  The other 2 roommates in our dorm room were from Spain.  One of them had worked down in Torres de Paine and highly recommended doing all the treks down there.

We weren't able to stay more nights at Condor so we went hostel shopping. haha! We eventually decided to stay at Rodinia Hostel.  Immediately the nicest Argentinean couple made friends with us and shared information on what they enjoy in life and helped me with my Spanish.  There names are Mati and Lucilla.  She has pretty green eyes.  I asked if she had a sister, and she offered her brother. ;)  Hope we can meet both of you in the future.

Anyone that has gone hiking with me knows how I love my Tang!  I've noticed that Tang is very important to the people here.  They have far more flavors here from Lemon, Pomello, Pineapple, Peach, Mandarin, Apple, and mix of the fruit as well as the original.  I feel like I've been cheated out of all these flavors in the US. haha!

We did a hike at Companario which gives an awesome view of the lakes and mountains near Bariloche. 

Ah, my favorite color found in nature :)

We shared a dorm room with 3 Argentina amigas that are doing some traveling on their vacation.  Their names are Macca, Bianca, and Delfi (Sargento Piola, which means "cool sergeant")  The funniest thing is the girls thought we were in our mid twenties.  When I told Macca I was almost 38, she wouldn't believe me and I had to prove it by showing my license. haha!  Anyway, they were fun to hangout.  Macca helped me with my Spanish.  Muchos Gracias. :)  We all stayed up until 3am doing skits and silly fun stuff.  Good memories!  Thanks for making our stay at the hostel so much better chicas! :)

Today we left on the plane to fly to El Calafate.  This puts us in the heart of Patagonia.  Here's a glimpse of the awesomeness to come.

And We're Off ... to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Well here I am...ready to see the world on long term (2-3 years) travel.  Its hard to believe that I'm at this point where all my belongings are packed in a backpack.  The life of simpleness is mine and I embrace it. :)  Its nice that Llewellyn and I will be traveling together for a few months.  We can share the fun and help look out for each other.  To help affirm him that I have his back, I hid a badger in his pack. (Thank-you Warren for passing the Cisco badger to me.)  Llew was quite surprised to discover it when we were in Santiago Chile transiting.  Lucky for Llew, this isn't a 10lb badger rock he discovered when backpacking in Yosemite with me. ;)

While flying over from Santiago to Buenos Aires, I got a look at the Andean mountains.  It got me excited for the trekking soon to come.

We arrived in Buenos Aires late afternoon, found a hostel "Ostinatto" near the downtown section but off on a quiet street.  First thing after getting settled was to exchange some money (we exchanged $100 USD for $1340 pesos, which is much better than the 8.5 bank rate).  We ate at Pizzeria Guerrin and had motzarella with choclo (corn) in it.  They like making thick crust pizza and since this had corn which we've never had in pizza, we had to try some.  It wouldn't be my favorite but it wasn't bad.  The cheese was quite thick on it.

Buenos Aires has some nice park plaza's that have these majestic shade trees.  It sure is nice to walk under them when the sun is out.

Jeremy Pierson put us in touch with his cousin Sergio.  We had a fun time getting to church as we could only take the subway (subte) partway and then had to take a taxi the remaining distance. We made it in time for the last bit of the summer which I utterly could not understand.  Sergio and his wife invited us and their friends to their house.  It was awesome having a big family lunch together.  This is what it looks like and the food was fantastic.  Everyone has been super nice to us and helping us with ideas on places to see as we make our way south to Patagonia.  Thank-you all :)

Tango, that's what people think of when they hear the name Argentina.  I had my first lesson here at the hostel last night.  My 2nd lesson was tonight and was at a Melonga (Tango dancing hall). I was able to learn a few more moves.  Here's people dancing.

We got to watch an exhibition of a really good tango couple.

Farewell Family and Friends

I know I don't have everyone's pictures so forgive me for missing some other important people to me.
Thank-you to those that were able to write in my travel book.  There is some good wisdom you all gave me.  I will miss all of you.  Please stay in contact as much as possible and keep me in your prayers.  I will do my best to keep the blog updated with my wanderings.  :)


 Thanksgiving 2014 with my mom, sisters and nieces (Bec, Carol, Kaydence, Cassy, Michelle, Mom):  This was a really nice Thanksgiving and it was so nice spending time with all of you. :)  I will miss all of you very much.

With my Mom and my niece Vanessa:  Mom, it was nice spending a month with you. Thanks for giving me the traveling bug. :)  I'm so thankful that God lead you to adopt me.  It has been the best thing for me.  Ness, thanks for coming and visiting on your days off.  I'm so proud of you and look forward to having you travel with me in the future.

Christina and her 2 kids Andrea and Byran:  I will miss all 3 of you.  Thanks for staying in touch over the years Chrissy. Love you all.

Ceri: Eric and you were my young set of parents growing up in Williams.  A lot of my good memories from then are because of you guys.  I've always admired how strong you are as a person to deal with whatever in life.  God will continue to bless and guide you in all that you do.

Elain with Herb & Lois:  Herb you've been a great uncle to me and I've enjoyed our conversations we've had.  I'm so happy you've become a Christian.  Lois and you make a great couple.
Elaine, you're a ray of sunlight every time I see you.  All the kids at the school are blessed to have you there helping them out.

Grace:  91 years old and still doing well.  You're amazing Grace and I'm glad I was able to be your friend all these years.  Thanks for sharing your Hungarian history with me and more importantly how God has sustained you through all things in life.

Shawn & Jodi:  We go back a long ways Shawn.  We've had fun racing RC cars through the years and working on real cars.  I'm so glad that Jodi and you found each other.  Now you're ready to take a trip some where in the world. :)

Christian:  Hey buddy, we have had some good times through the years beginning at Milo.  Our last adventure down in the American River Canyon was the best one we've had.  I'm glad we finally did the trek up the river to see amazing falls and crazy jumping dude! ;)

Rachael & kids:  You have been one of my best friends from Milo and I'm glad that we've maintained our friendship over the years. :) You have some great kids that are fun to take on walks.  When they get a little older you'll be able to take them on world adventures. Yay!

Jim & Kathie: You guys have been my parents for years.  I always enjoy spending time with both of you.  We've have done some fun hikes in K. Falls and I really enjoyed trail running with you Kathie up in the Sierra's.  Maybe you guys can meet me somewhere in the world to do some great treks.

Dana & Olivia:  You gals are awesome.  Our Quetico canoe trip was the trip of a lifetime.  Come find me in the world to do some more epic adventures. :)

John:  My adventure trips would not have been as fun without you there John. We've done some pretty great adventures and the last Southwest trip was one of the best.  Maybe you can join me for another adventure on the other side of the world.

Gregg & Cheryl Carr with Sasha:  You both have been the best to me since I met you.  I always enjoyed coming over to your place and just spending time with you.  I will miss.

Pushpa: My Indian mommy at work that has looked after me since I started work there in 2007.  Its been lots of fun working with you Pushpa and going on our lunch walks.  I will miss you a lot as you've made it a lot of fun to work there.  Keep up the excellent work.

Best IT Team:  Guys, you made working at AH heaps of fun.  We had the most solid team there, led by the best manager, Ed.  I will miss working with all of you as I never viewed coming to work as "work".  It was always play for me.  Keep on enjoying what you do and the mission of being there.

BJ:  You have been a good friend to me through the years.  Thanks for coming on some of my hikes and for taking the time to listen to me.  Keep your enthusiasm for life and traveling.  I'll see you some where on the other side of the world. :)

Sally, Vitali and Daniel:  Sally, you've been my silly friend that I've had since my freshmen high school days.  I'm glad you're still the same and I'm so happy that you have a family to share all the fun with.  I hope you can move over to Spain and I'll come visit. :)

Eddie & Family (Stop looking for your next mission Eddie. haha!):  That was a fun 4th of July you guys. Thanks for inviting me to spend it with "your people".  You guys are like "my people", almost. :)  Keep on 4wheeling and enjoying life.

David:  Thanks for sharing world contacts and information for this adventure of mine.  You've been a good friend and I'm glad I was able to help at your Father's clinic in Guatemala.  Hopefully I can help Maranatha out on some project out there.

Darin & Ashley (Congrats on running your 1st marathon Ashley!)  We've had some fun adventures in Hawaii.  Come to South America for some more fun.  Keep working on your photographic poses Ashley. haha!

Aaron & Karen (Good run both of you!):  Aaron you've been a good friend since we met at the University falls.  You're one smart guy and have done well at AH.  Good-on-ya!  Karen, you're an amazing athlete and I hope you can work for Nike some day.  

My friend Thomas who loves drinking Hanford water ;)  Stay away from Hanford Thomas.  I'm glad you've been able to get out and do some traveling.  The world is next for you. :)

Bob & Maria, I have enjoyed coming over to your house after work to eat good food and just spend time.  I'm glad that I learned how to make No-Knead bread with you Maria.  Now I can take it to the rest of the world.

Jon:  You've been a great to friend to me during the years Jon. And to think we could have know each other even longer if I had just helped you bail the water out of you sinking boat in Alaska instead of taking pictures. haha!  Thanks for always giving me spiritual encouragement from the Bible.  Keep on doing mission trips.

Caleb and Steve: Thanks for the travel book you gave Llew and me.  I've enjoyed having people write in it.  It was also really special when you prayed for us.  I feel great going on this trip knowing God is with us and that you're praying for us.

Richey Family:  I'm glad I was able to work with you years ago Tony.  We had some great times in IT and out photographing the moon in exciting K. Falls.  You have a great family and I have enjoyed getting to know them.

New Years party with the Hallmark family:  Its been a while since we've spent time together, but it was great to bring in the New Year together.  Dave, that was fun doing a winter summit of Grayback.  Keep on exploring.

Tweety-monkey Seth:  Look after that monkey or else it will start behaving like an Indian monkey.  You remember how much they love you ;)  Next time I see you, I want to see a healthy beard on you. haha!

Daniel & Kim with Daniel Jr. and Kimberly Jr.:  Its been a pleasure working and learning from you Daniel through the years.  I have enjoyed the visit of your Jr. helpers. :)  I'm excited for your new life in Idaho.

Julie & John:  Love the face Julie.  It was fun doing trail runs with you in the Canyon.  You're super woman.  John thanks for helping me prep for NZ and sharing your No-Knead bread making recipe.  Hope you both can get out and do some travel soon. :)

Jason & Mia:  Jason you are the best paragliding instructor.  I have enjoyed learning from you immensely, and the flying campouts were the best.  Great memories.  Mia, you're another free spirited person that I connect with.  I hope you and Jason can do some awesome travels together. :)

Omar from Argentina:  Its been fun learning from you man. You're going to be a great pilot.  Come see me in Argentina. haha!