Sorry it has been a while y’all. Finally sent my final (cross your fingers) copy of my thesis to my ‘committee’ to be approved! Now this is a story all about how my map got flip-turned upside-down, and I’d like to take a minute—just sit right there—I’ll tell you ‘bout our crazy journey to a town called ‘good air.’
ummmm….right. And I have been given the title of official navigator. Great: 
We left Puerto Natales , Chile—way in the south(51 degrees Latitude)—and finally started our journey NORTH. Almost 50 hours of driving in 4 days! (Marvelous. That is, only when considering that we did not anticipate an additional 20+ in the following 4 days.) Suffice it to say, Hueona was not looking her sharpest
. I am sure you can imagine that this update will be short and sweet (for me), because let me tell you: when you’ve seen a mile of the Argentinian pampas, you’ve seen it all ,my friends! 
We broke up the journey mid-way with a highly recommended “must see” Peninsula Valdez
, known for its whale-sighting (oh wait, scratch that--wrong season! Though, we did see Orcas from afar—alas, we did not get any Animal Planet footage of a seal massacre. How disappointing! ;) ) My only question is if it legal in the U.S. to own an armadillo…
Because I fell in love! (Mom, tell my perrito not to worry) I know, how could a hairy pig with a shell on its back ever be cute? Answer: when they beg for cookies in parking lots.
After getting ourselves mixed up in hours of traffic caused by farmers striking all over the country, we came upon an awe-inspiring site: a multi-lane highway with…other cars! We had not seen such craziness the whole trip! 
We had finally arrived in Buenos Aires—even though it would only be for one night. The next morning we set off on a new adventure to reach Uruguay. Our first attempt (via ferry) was thwarted by Easter weekend. Silly gringuitos! Imagine trying to travel last minute on Thanksgiving and Fourth of July combined!
So we put Hueona to work again even though she desperately needed a break. We picked up and left straight from the port, driving up the Argentinian/Uruguayan border for four hours only to be thwarted yet again by a Finnish paper mill. Yes, a dispute over the pollution caused by a paper mill has halted anyone from crossing the border at the southern most points (the closes to B.A. and Montevideo)—at least that is how it was explained to us by the two French Canadian hitch hikers we picked up later (one of which was going to school in BA to be a MIME! Whiskey Tengo, dudes (!?).
Did we turn back? No, we persisted! (The colorful town kept our spirits up! 
) We drove another few hours and crossed our 7th boarder and arrived in a hot springs town just as night fell. Um. It was packed. All the Coloradoans can imagine Glenwood Springs on the 4th of July….nuff said.
The next day we packed up and drove another 4 hours to Colonia (never made it to Montevideo L ), a beautiful town with the last remaining bit of colonial architecture in the region (or at least I think that is its claim to fame—too lazy to look in the book again!) 
. But by that point we were le tired so we took a nap with the flowers (and then fired ze missiles!). 
The drive back to BA in the next few days was going smoothly except, literally, for all the LOMOS DE BURROS (read: backs of donkeys)
and routine traffic stops (yay for undeserved fines that cause one to miss the big futbol game!).
And that is the story of how we drove to Buenos Aires.
(P.S. I just like this pic of an old Jesuit-mission-turned-orphanage-turned-ruin and this sweet-ass tree outside)
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