Happily Homeless

Day 205/206 – Being only two blocks from the beach, it didn’t take us long to go test the ocean waters in the morning, once we all got moving. Jason, Arianna, Lyndell, and I pretty much lazed around on the beach, in the water, or in the house (to cool down) while Orlando, Dito, and Felipe went to visit a friend of Orlando’s from high school. In the evening Lyndell, Arianna, Dito, Jason, Felipe, and I went to the sand dunes to get our daily exercise, and to watch people sand boarding. Dito had asked to borrow a board from a family that wasn’t using theirs, and the kids all gave it a try, cruising down the slope. We had a lot of fun playing in the enormous pile of sand and got thoroughly saturated with all it’s particles. At one point I was able to get my legs sunk in the sand all the way to my knees. This was a small taste of what the desert will be like when we explore it, which made me very excited for the future.

We did pretty much the same thing the next day, trying our best to become dolphins in the surf and enjoying the hot weather. Arianna, Felipe, and I also built a sand castle, with some contribution from Orlando. Arianna and Felipe even created some mountains and farmlands around the front entrance and even built a great defense system. It was a full on city in the sand. We spent the afternoon playing cards, a Uruguayan version of rummy, and eating. They have a different set of symbols on their playing cards in Uruguay, which was really cool to see. They use clubs (the weapon kind), swords, cups, and coins as the symbols, but have the same numbers and kings, queens, and jacks.

We also had ice cream at this amazing shop. It was homemade ice cream with all natural ingredients and we could taste every flavor and piece that went into making it. It was the by far the best ice cream (gelato) I have ever eaten! Mark you have to come to Uruguay and give it a try!

Day 204 – It was a long night, but we were all up early, because today we went to the beaches of eastern Uruguay. We stopped first in Punta del Este, a major beach town, and had lunch. The most impressive thing to me was the hand sculpture at the beach, just off the center of town. I was told it was sculpted in memory of people who have drowned. With that knowledge it was very moving to me. The sculpture really seemed to catch that last particular action perfectly, a hand raised out of the water, and hold on to it for the viewer to take in. Depressing to say the least, but beautiful. A well done piece of art.

As we headed further east, down the coast Henry, our van, started make a louder sound than was necessary. It was coming from the back-end of the vehicle, by the wheels. So we spent some time driving around two different towns trying to find a mechanic/gas station that does lubrications for cars. We wanted to have them check the level of our transmission fluid. Turns out the fluid was full and nothing looked wrong. So after jiggling a few things around, Jason and the mechanic went for a ride to see if they could hear the sound. Henry decided to be quiet; he is shy I guess! We were fine for the rest of the drive, for now….

We made our way slowly to Barra Valisas, stopping at a roadside cafe to enjoy some coffee and to let the kids stretch their legs. It was the perfect travelling pace to enjoy the road. Barra Valisas is a beach town, and I think the best way to describe it is as a gypsy town. It is a very bohemian village with a transient personality. A network of roads made of out of sand and straw help the driveways be less of a trap for cars. Stores selling handmade jewelry, restaurants, homemade ice cream, and recently caught seafood lined the main street. The people who lived there were laid back, transient, hippie types; along with vacationers wanting a quieter, less crowded beach. We stayed at Orlando’s friend’s vacation house in the company of his mother, Blanquita. Blanquita is a marvelous lady, with unquenchable energy. She is a very generous host, full of smiles. The house was a nice clean stucco home with a loft upstairs for sleeping. It stayed very cool during the hot heat of mid day, and is the perfect size for a vacation home. The water level in the well was very low, due to low rain in the area for the past few months. But when the water did come, it came out as a nice, chilling shower that cooled us off; though not everyone enjoyed the temperature as much as I did 😉

Day 203 – We left early this morning with a stop in Colonia to have breakfast with one of Orlando’s brothers, Alejandro. Unfortunately he was unable to make it at last minute. Colonia has a world heritage site in the historic district which we drove through, but we didn’t spend too much time there because our main destination was Montevideo, for Felipe’s (Dito and Arianna’s cousin) birthday party. We decided we could stop there later on our way back to Argentina.

Montevideo is the largest city, and capital, of Uruguay. We stayed at Marcela’s home (Orlando’s sister and Felipe’s mom) in the designer area of town. I really should say we stayed outside of her home and used her facilities. We have been sleeping in the van every night since we got it back, it’s nice to sleep in our own bed. The building she is renting has extremely tall, narrow, wooden carved doors and ancient keys to lock them. The front part of the building is her business; a casting and video production company. The back end is her home, with a brightly lit courtyard that is the center of the house. The courtyard has a glass roof on wheels to cover it when it rains, but to let in the breeze when it is sunny. Lastly there is the back patio, which is where Felipe’s birthday celebration was held. Lots of family members and friends gathered to partake in asado and cake.

A few problems…. which has caused a delay to our posts. First: I got sick again and it took me out of commission for a few days. Second: Our computer convienently decided not to cooperate with us right after I got better. So, we will be posting our entries without pictures over the next day or two. I will add pics once we get the computer up and running again.

Since we don´t have the computer running it has also made it very difficult to update our website (www.happilyhomeless.com) and we are currently in Buenos Aires. Just got here so we´ll tell you our thoughts soon 😉

Day 202 – It was a week of sickness. Orlando’s immediate family (Lyndell, Dito, & Arianna) unluckily got colds from the plane flight. Arianna was out of commission for two days with a fever, right after they arrived in the city. Dito and Lyndell got the cold a few days later. On top of that Jason and I had a sinus cold that we got right before we left Chile – the first time we’ve been sick since leaving the States. So, overall, we took it pretty easy. Though I think the Brookhouse-Gil family must have been mermaids in their past lives, because we spent almost everyday in the water, and enjoyed every bit!

To get a respite from the hot summer air we went to a quarry which is filled by a natural spring. It was outside of Carmelo, located on a 77 hectors (roughly 140 acres) property, with a farm house that was for sale. We all day-dreamed of buying the land and talked about everything that we could create on it. The surrounding area was all grass fields and vineyards; along the rockcliff edge were some young trees that ruffled in the breeze amid long, wild grass. The water was refreshing and clean, a nice break from the salty ocean agua. The daring people among us climbed up on a tree and jumped into the water. That night Lyndell cooked us up some excellent pasta and homemade sauce. There is a lot of Italian food here, since 30% of the heritage is Italian; but the average meal in Uruguay is based around meat and bbq’s (asado in Spanish) and is the traditional favorite. For an asado they burn firewood on one side of the bbq platform, and when the coals are hot and ready they push them over to the other side, right under the grill. As the coals get colder they feed more fresh coals from the constantly burning fire under the grill. The meats are mainly hamburger, hot dogs, sausages, ribs, intestines…. everything. Spanish food is also popular since that is another 30% of the heritage, and Spanish tortillas are very common.

Day 201 – Border crossing number two in South America – and it was first time we actually had our van searched. The officials for both countries are in the same building, on the Argentinean side, and it was very simple. We got our stamps and then filled out our permit paper for the van and they stamped it. After that we drove the van up to the inspections area, where they briefly searched our cupboards for any fresh food. Next was fumigation, the full-on drive through kind – the car drives slowly through a gate and the spray comes out on all four sides, dousing the vehicle. As we drove out of the crossing area we had to stop for one more fumigation – we had to get out and wipe our shoes on a floor mat that had been soaked in fumigation stuff, and then roll Henry through a good sized puddle to get the wheels thoroughly clean, again. They are very concerned about Mad Cow disease and Foot & Mouth, because they have never had either of them in the country, and beef is 1/3 of their economy. So we politely wiped our shoes as we entered Uruguay. 😉

the bridge to Uruguay!!

Now, we has seen a lot of countryside and have been on many scenic drives, but this one takes the cake. We both fell in love with the Uruguayan farm land. The vast, rolling hills are covered with never ending green fields that are gently dotted with trees. The sky was a true ‘sky blue’ – so pure and brilliant, stretching beyond reach. Although we were both tired from our fast paced driving, the last four and a half hours was extremely tranquil and relaxing – we couldn’t complain. All we could do was talk about how stunning it was and how we could go about buying a piece of this land to set up a small farm house and maybe invite artists to come and use our studios……always thinking and dreaming.

The magnificent countryside of Uruguay

In the late afternoon we drove into Carmelo, a quaint town with small streets and little buildings. The historic architecture here is pristine, with iron lattice work and detailed craftsmanship. Only needing to turn once, we drove into town and found Orlando’s mother’s house with ease. We spent the afternoon relaxing under avocado trees and a jasmine vine trellis, chatting and slowly meeting Orlando’s family members. In the evening we went down to the beach on the Uruguay River to cool off. On our way back into town we heard some drums playing and headed off to watch the music performance.

a tired but relaxed afternoon with Lyndell, Dito, and Orlando.

Uruguay is filled with old old cars that are amazing to look at, and what is more amazing – they run

Day 199/200 – We slept last night at a truck stop/ gas station at the foot of the Andes. We were right by a river that we had been following up the highway. There must have been a rain storm before we came, because the river was surging down the mountainside in rough rapids, with the water a clay brown color from all the soil runoff.

Can we call Henry a little truck? I think he fits in just fine. 😉

This morning we ascended up the Andes in a steep climb; 29 hairpin turns to the tunnel at the summit of the pass, to the border of Argentina. The Chilean side of the Andes has steep, rocky, dark grey features, with snow packs hidden here and there. Below is all the Chilean side of the Andes.

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Henry survived the steep climb and we didn’t have any problems. Though I must say the van didn’t like the lack of oxygen in the air, and we climbed a total of 3,863 meters (12,735 feet) to the summit; 2,494 of it was in 27 kilometers (8,222 feet in 16.8 miles) and that was mostly hairpin curves. The border on the Chilean side wasn’t much hassel for us since we were in a car. They do all the paperwork for both countries on the Argentinean side of the tunnel.

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Half way up the Andes… and we made it, the sign counting the 29th curve

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Henry and the Andes

The border crossing on the Argentinean side was very simple and almost lazy, with drive-thru windows. 🙂 We drove up and into a huge barn type structure, made out of metal siding. The birds that were settled in there seemed to enjoy it’s loftiness. It probably really helps with all the snow they receive in the winter. The first booth was for immigrations. After getting our exit and entry stamps we drove up to the next booth, where we filled out a car permit form, got a stamp, and moved on to the inspector, who decides if we can leave the building or not. The inspector asked for our papers and car insurance (we showed them our insurance from the states, which is cancelled.. oops 😉 and they let us go on our way.

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Argentinean side of the Andes

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The Andes on the Argentinean side were different. The sun rises and shines straight up the valley, which helps keep the mountains green with plants and flowers. The features are dramatic in a different way than on the Chilean side; the lower parts of the mountains are more gently sloped, with shades of red and grey/green rock. We could see the tops of the Andes better with their snow covered peaks. The drive through the valley that lead out of the mountains was a stunning one; with nice rock cliffs of layered rock in varying colors.

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Argentinean side of the Andes

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Originally we were going to have five to six days to do our trip from Chile to Uruguay, but since the boat was late we decided to drive straight through to get to Uruguay on schedule. So we drove quickly through the landscape of Argentina, taking two days and two nights – staying again at truck stops. It was great because the truck stops are free and most are secure (we only stay at ones we feel comfortable at) plus they all have showers 🙂 We also saw a bike race going on the highway as we were driving down; they were so fast we didn´t get any pics… but there was a huge line of people following them (support staff & fans, I assume). A nice surprise while driving.

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nice highways in Argentina & of course beautiful countryside.

The only reason we stayed a second night in Argentina was due to a political situation at the border to Uruguay. Two of the three bridges that are used for crossing the Uruguay River (the border) are closed. We didn’t find out this piece of information until we came to Gualeguaychu, which is the most southern town with a bridge crossing. We ended up needing to drive about 250 kilometers (156 miles) further north to Concordia, where we would cross over an electric dam into Uruguay. By the time we got up there it was too late for us to cross, so we camped and waited until the morning. The only other option would have been to take the ferry from Buenos Aires, which is very expensive, and we would have had to drive just as far to the south as we did to the north.

Day 197/198 – Yesterday we left Valparaiso and took a bus south to San Antonio. We timed it so we could be at the port office first thing in the morning, to start the process of retrieving the car. San Antonio is an interesting port town, with a mix of local tourists coming in for day trips from all of the neighboring beach resorts. The town is filled, to a vacationer’s delight, with little shops and stands selling souvenirs, churros, and empanadas along the modern boardwalk. At the entrance of the boardwalk, off the town square, is a small carnival with a few rides for children and tons of vendors selling more churros, chocolate covered fruit & marshmallows, candied apples, cotton candy, and empanadas. Since it was Valentines Day we splurged and bought a small bag of churros, a stick of chocolate covered strawberries, and chocolate covered marshmallows on a stick; I think that topped off our sweet tooth cravings for a week! It was a great night consisting of people watching, hanging out on the boardwalk, and looking out into the port, wondering which ship was named Clan Tribune. That is the ship our van, Henry, is on.

San Antonio boardwalk

the port

The ship

After being woken up by a fly, after it briefly landed on my face (which was quite strange, since our alarm clock broke and I was hoping my body would wake me automatically at 7.00am; instead a fly helped me) we made our way to the port office and got there right before the doors opened. We waited in the company’s lounge chairs for the appropriate person to come into the office and confirm two things: that the ship was in, and that we would be able to get our container in the afternoon. Along with that news was the shock of an extra fee we had to pay for retrieving the car from the ship. It was much more than Jason was quoted back in Costa Rica; costing $14,050 pesos (about $266USD). The company originally told Jason it would cost a maximum of $20USD. Though the company was extremely nice; they took care of all the paperwork for us at customs, arranged everything to get the car out of the container, and drove us around to finalize the paperwork. After the paperwork, while we were waiting for the van, we wandered the streets, ending up in a smaller town named Llolleo, which is south of the port. There we enjoyed the town square while children rode pedal cars around and vendors sold second hand books.

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waiting for the van… and here it is!!!

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unleash the lion….

It was 4.00 when we finally got the car permit signed. The car rolled out of the container with no problems, except a bit of extra noise from stiff joints that had not moved for the past 15 days. All the workers were extremely interested in the vehicle, and its little components that make it a camper van, or Kombi, as it is called everywhere else in the world. Jason received a liter of Coke from one of the port workers, as a gift to start out our road trip. After two inspections and a thumbs up for cleanliness (we thoroughly cleaned the van before it entered the container) we hit the road, with some help from the gentleman that did all of our paperwork; he led us to the highway entrance. I was relieved and felt whole again, being back in our van, rolling through the countryside. We are heading for the Andes!

on the road again

Just to let you all know we are still writting, don´t think we have left the blog to rot 😉 We have been hanging out in a gypsy town with no net connection, but we are now back in Montevideo, so the blog will be updated ASAP! Catching up is always hard….

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

May love follow everyone, always! We hope you have a great day, full of smiles and hugs, and kisses from the one you truly love 😉