15 January 2011

I slept in my car last night. The previous entry was written in a sleepy whirl. The road turned to dirt again but only for a few miles. From Malargüe onward the road was paved. I ran out of gas a mile outside of Malargüe when I stopped to take a picture of a sign. I filled up with the spare gas.

Saw this early in the morning

In town I hung out at the gas station using their wi-fi and having a coffee. I was on my way out of town when I spotted a Goodyear. So I changed my tire rather than risk breaking down on the way to Mendoza.

While waiting for the tire I walked into the AT, looked for a new funnel because the one I have spills the gas everywhere (no one had one in stock and I searched every store in town), and bought a new side mirror. It took me a while to figure out how to attach and I had to go to a hardware store I was at earlier to buy some screws and nuts. The owner helped me put it together. Outside the city I bypassed three girls but turned around to pick them up. I saw someone else had stopped so I continued on down highway 40 to Mendoza.

Up the road I got stopped by the cops. He asked if I had drugs or weapons. He also informed me that just around the corner route 40 turned to gravel and dirt for 70 miles. So I took the paved detour for route 40 up 144 towards Mendoza. That’s when I decided to skip Mendoza and just head for Buenos Aires. I only gave one guy a ride today. Drove him for about 40 miles.

After Malargüe the land changed considerably from bleak sandy semi-desert to arable pasture land to bountiful flourishing green farmland. I saw fields of corn and sunflowers today. Northern Patagonia is quite different from the southern pampas wasteland of shrubs and guanacos.

Roadside memorial to someone

Yesterday I saw a lonely mountain way off in the horizon like Mt Fuji or Mt Hood. Same kind of slope. It was Lanín Volcano. Now the land is rolling plains like Iowa or Wisconsin.

Field of sunflowers

I am quickly running out of money. It will be a miracle if I can get out of South America with my car. When I get back to the states I will be heavily in debt all over again but it will have been worth every dime.

The guy I picked up told me today was Saturday. I had no idea. I can’t get a visa until Monday. I still have a lot of work to do. My trip back home will be truncated but these outrageous repairs ($100 for a tire!!!!!!!!!! $100 for a tire is extremely outrageous) are bleeding me dry.

Long days of driving are causing me to rush past tiny exciting details when I write. I get so tired and feel rushed. I have a long way to go. I stopped at a shell gas station to shower. I will drive for a few more hours and sleep in my car.