Making Connections

After I left Carlos Pellegrini, I headed to Piamonte, another town we visited in 1991. The cheese factory had such a good product back then, I hoped to find a place to buy some and maybe take a few pictures, maybe spend thirty minutes total . The town is at the end of the pavement, so they don't get much through traffic. My prescence was soon noticed by the local police and I was asked to follow the offcer to the office so they could take my information. I explained what I was doing and they accepted my explanation, but they wouldn't let me leave without notifying some Rotarians of my prescence. Within 30 minutes Rico and Roberto were at the station asking me to lunch. I told them I didn't want to bother them, but they wouldn't take no for an answer. After lunch I was asked to do a radio interview and a TV interview for he local cable channel. Later on we went to Roberto's headquarters where he kindly let me look at his tractors and sprayers. Rico, me, Roberto and his son

Later we went to look at the soybean crop. After 5 hours of hospitality, I had to go.

I went through el Trebol and looked around, then on to San Vicente for the night. In the morning I got to meet with Guillermo Cuneo at the local combine and sprayer factory and got a tour of the plant, much like 17 years ago. He got me in touch with Romulo, in Angelica.

Romulo is the kind of guy that Rotary is all about. He was really busy, but he stopped what he was doing to offer lunch and good fellowship with his family. He got me a list of names and adresses for other people I was looking for. Thanks, Romulo!

I went back to San Vicente and talked to Oscar and his wife, and their daughter , Franni, who took the picture. I stayed with them in 1991 and Franni was a little kid then, now she's newly married with a house of her own.

I moved on to Galvez for the night, and was able to meet up with the Questa's, who treated me to some wonderful ice cream. The next morning I went to Santa Fe and looked in on Bernardo and Chiquita, who treated us like family when we were here the last time.

What can I say, they know how to make someone feel welcome.

They even invited me along to a family get together with about 25 relatives.

There I met Ricardo and Juan Pablo, twins who are motorcycle fanatics and enjoyed listening to me talk about my trip.

The next day I was treated to lunch with Diego and his mom and dad, Chiquito, and Diego's family.
Last time I was here there was a girl named Vanina, who reminded me of an angel. This time, Diego's little girl did it.

Short on Beans

I was fortunate enough to visit the Santa Fe province in 1991, on a Group Study Exchange Program sponsored by Rotary International. Back then, the area was dominated by dairy farms and milk processing plants. Today it is one huge soybean field, from the asphalt to the horizon, with afew cornfields here and there. About 80% of the wheat fields have been planted with double crop beans, also.

Last time I was here, I remember saying that if I ever came back to Argentina, I would return to Carlos Pellegrini. These kids reminded me why.

I got to sneak a few shots of big brother convincing little brother it was time to open his piggy bank.

With a few pointers on technique......

...and a bigger rock....

the deed was done, and all came out to see how much was there.

Later that night, Miguel and his wife Chrisina, Alberto and his wife and Waldemar treated me to a wonderful meal and hospitality fit for a king, reminding why I wanted to return to this beautiful town.

More Pictures

The penguins at Punta Tombo, they deserve more publicity

The Cathedral in Cordoba

The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Cordoba

The Museo Rocsen in Nono had quite the variety, it was like a garage after 70 years in the same house

Almost like it's waiting to be let out

Atleast I could find the first one on a map

Cordoba, Alta Gracia, Mina Clavero and Rosario

It´s been a while since we´ve posted anything new in the blog. These pictures should catch you up a little bit on what has happened in the past couple of weeks. When we left Santa Rosa, we headed north to spend a few days in the wonderful university town of Cordoba. There we again met my friend David Lange, only this time it was close to the end of his time in South America. The above picture was taken on Sunday morning. Yes, it´s huge line of people waiting to get into the church for services.

Here´s a picture from the front of another Cordoba church. I wonder if St. Peter is aware of what it takes to keep him up there.

In this one David, Landon and I are having a little something to eat, and a little something to drink.

After David left for Buenos Aires, Landon and I loaded up the bikes and headed into sierra, stopping at the small town of Alta Gracia, boyhood home of Che Guevara. Here´s a shot of me standing in front of his famed motorcycle. They weren´t interesting in letting me sit on it for the photo opportunity.

Later we went over the mountains to the west of Cordoba on the dramatic road that leads to the resort town of Mina Clavero. A nearby museum seemed to include absolutely everything, including this shrunken head.

We set up our tents in a Mina Clavero campground with this beautiful view of the River Sauces and the sierra.

Landon left the next day to visit his friends in Santa Fe. I stayed behind and took a week of retreat in the campground, alternating times of solitude with extended conversations with other campers. I didn´t carry the camera much but did get this picture of two of my young neighbors on my bike and their dad. I really enjoyed Mina Clavero.

It was fun to meet up with Landon again in Rosario yesterday. The two main museums were closed this morning, but we did get the chance to visit the flag memorial which honors Argentina and the Organisation of American States. I like this picture of the fire in front of the tower overlooking the river.

It´s Mostly the People

As Landon says, we had such a good time in Rio Mayo. About 20 miles before we got to town, a car was stalled along side the road, and we stopped to see if we could help. It was a couple and their little girl headed to Rio Mayo. They asked us if we could send a tow truck. We continued into town, stopped at the first store we saw, and had the pleasure of meeting these folks who owned the store. They were great. They helped arrange for a police truck to go get the family in the broken car. Then they showed us their new store next door, and invited us to the grand opening the next day, and to stay for the big celebration Landon wrote about. We decided to take them up on the offer and give ourselves a break-

These cherries reminded me of home in Nebraska. I picked a few and enjoyed them.

Same with these currants.

This is another picture of the owners on the day of their celebration and grand opening. We met a lot of local folks then.

Here´s a picture of their daughter and her friend. They liked our stories and made us laugh.

Then we ran into the couple whose car had stalled along the road. Their car was fixed, and they gave us mate cups. We had the pleasure of seeing them several times in the next few days. They were selling local handicrafts at the fairgrounds.

Landon showed pictures of the rodeo and other events at the fairgrounds. Here are some pictures from the closing parade.

I like this one of the queen and her gaucho


This little guy was watching the parade with us. If it had not have been for the couple and their little girl stranded alongside the road 20 miles from Rio Mayo, we would have driven right through town and missed it all.

Two days ago we went to Punta Tombo and saw the largest penguin colony in the world--over 300,000. Here are two maturing chicks who are very fond of each other.

Now we are in Santa Rosa. Does this qualify as wearing a helmet? We´ve seen several bikers riding around with their headgear on their arms.

The windscreen on my bike finally went too far. The right bracket broke several months ago and I had it welded in San Jose, Costa Rica. But in December it broke again in the Patagonian wind. I braced it with duct tape and a bent piece of re bar I found in the parking lot. Then last week the other bracket cracked, and I made another brace out of a stick and duct tape for the other side. It all got a little shaky yesterday when it finally broke too. I ran into Jorge, a welder, in the hardware store this morning and went to his shop this afternoon. They were so great. They were surprised that we had driven all the way from Texas and interested about where we had been. He and his assistant, Abel, helped me get the windscreen off the bike, weld the brackets and paint them, and get it back on the bike. Then they broke out the ice water and ice cream bars. When I asked them how much it was, they said nothing. Just send us a post card when you get home so we know you made it okay. This photo is of them. It´s mostly the people that make this trip so wonderful and make me happy and proud to be human.

Festival Nacional de la Esquila

During our stay in Rio Mayo, we attended the National Festival of Sheep Shearing Competition. Quite suprising that a town of 3,000 people would host a National competition, pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but yes, they did. There was a pageant for reinita and gauchito, little queen and little gaucho.

Of course there was the shearing competition, judged both on time and quality.

Some not so willing participants

Later, the gauchos had the rodeo, gaucho style. No chutes here, half the fun was getting on the horse.

The time for the ride seemed to be about 15 seconds

It was hard to tell because not alot of riders made it. The ground wasn't what you would call soft, either. Between rides the crowd was entertained by singing comedians who would ad-lib songs about the gauchos and their hometowns.

Sometimes it was kinda tough to watch. At least the ambulances were always at the gate, ready to go.

On Saturday night there was an award ceremony with the selection of a new Queen and a dance. The Queen was selected at 3 am and I didn't have the energy to stay for the dance, so I have no idea how it turned out.

On Sunday morning the gauchos paraded through town in their finest, it was quite the parade.