19 January 2011

It was raining when I woke at 9am. I should’ve bought an alarm clock. I was hoping to leave around 6. The rain and clouds followed me for a few hundred miles. Then it became blue with no grey at all.

 I hung out at a gas station on wi-fi, drinking coffee for a good half hour. When I left I forgot to turn on my headlights. This lapse earned me a ticket from the cops at the checkpoint a few meters ahead. I told them I had no money to pay. They entered everything into a computer and said I could pay at the border In Puerto Iguacu. I watched them stop several cars with their headlights off. They let them all go with a warning.

I got pulled over a few hours later. Pulled over isn’t accurate at all. The lady cop in the road motioned for me to pull over. She wanted my insurance so I gave her my New York insurance like I did in Peru. Worked like a charm. Then she asked if I had a fire extinguisher and a triangle. I did not so I got another ticket. 

In her office while she was typing the information into the computer her boss wandered in and I asked him to show me the law. He showed it to me. I protested that no one had ever asked about a fire extinguisher or triangle. She printed out the information and told me I needed to show the paper to customs when I exit the country. I am definitely not going to do that. If they look me up and find that I owe two ridiculous fines I will do my best to get them dismissed. I’m not going to help them out.

Neat cloud

There is a lot of construction along Ruta 14 because they are expanding the road to four lanes. I almost wrecked when a car trying to pass me and a bus cut me off because he did not have enough space to pass and there was an oncoming car. I got ran off the road because I wouldn’t let him in.

At one point in the road there was a huge smokey grassfire and we had to wait about twenty minutes at a roadblock before the cops escorted us through. Later I saw a larger grassfire but there were no cops stopping traffic. The moon loomed large on the horizon as it rose. A pale red.

Grass fire

There are several new forests along the highway because there is a lot of logging.

I stopped to get gas and saw my phone was back in touch with the satellites. It was showing the time once more. Now I can set my alarm. It’s been a hassle ever since the battery popped out in Ushuaia. I had dinner at the restaurant next to the gas station. The owner is Ukrainian. 

Thirty miles after dinner my car started stuttering and the check engine light began flashing wildly. In a panic I pulled over and rummaged for a flashlight and popped the hood. I decided to head back to the gas station I saw on the edge of the town I had just entered. The car died on the way so I pulled over again.  But it started right up.

At the gas station I checked the oil and everything else. A man came over asking questions and helping me check. Everything looked okay. I did’t understand what happened. On my way to the bathroom to wash my hands a very fat man said “Hello” and asked if I spoke English. H said he had been a commercial diver in Houston for the oil industry. His name was Juan Carlos. He called a mechanic friend and gave me a beer.

The mechanic showed up with three other guys  in a crazy looking dune buggy. It looks like he dismantled a few cars and put them back together. He didn’t see any problems but he said he could fix the loud exhaust problem. He said he’d do it for 100 pesos more or less. That’s $25!! We went back to his shop. All the bumpy roads and my fast driving had disconnected the exhaust pipe. He had to cut it off so he could weld it together.

We did a test drive and he heard the problem. The pistons, he said. He sent me to another mechanic with a guy who was helping him. This mechanic said it was the oxygen sensor. He said I could probably make it to Posadas or Puerto Iguazú with no problems.

My car died just before the bridge on the way out of town.