On Argentina

Funny, Argentina is a lot like Chile, though they tend to slur their 's' in words like "buenos dias," -- more of a lisp, really.  And it's hard to get used to the fact that the Argentine peso is worth 500 times that of the Chilean peso.  As a result I've gotten much better at my numbers between 10 and 30.

The ride in from the terminus of the Puerto Fuy ferry was wonderful: a nice road of hard-packed dirt and rocks.  I'm not trying to be factious, it was far better than the loose gravel of most of the unpaved roads we've been on.  There were many hills for the first part, but as we left the Andes and got closer to the pampas -- San Martín is at the base of the Andes with one more range before the plains of Argentina stretch to the Atlantic -- the road flattened into what I suspect the Cerratera Austral will be like.  There were a couple of nice photo ops that I didn't stop for due to fatigue: such as the tandem working their way down the a long straight-away with harsh side winds and dust from passing cars lit by a weak northwestern light.  I suppose those shots are the reason I'm here and need to be more disciplined about taking photos when they appear rather than snapping shots when we stop for a break.

I keep telling myself to take photos, not snapshots.

The other adage that keeps going through my head is "see rock, hit rock."  If you're looking at the rocks on the road, that's all you'll hit.  If you look for the gaps between the rocks, you'll maneuver through the obstacles with much more grace.  Also holds for photos and life in general, I suppose

OK, time to sign off.  I'm tired and my beer is feeling neglected.