We made it to the south end of the road!

We make it to Ushuaia and the end of the road!  Even the wind could not keep us back! 


Day 66  March 20, 2012  La Marchand, Patagonia, Argentina to Cerro Sombrero, Chile
Miles: 189
Lodging: $105 USD at a very nice hotel in Cerro Sombrero, Chile  Breakfast included and supper was reasonably priced and very good. 

Boy, oh boy does the wind blow in Patagonia.  We thought that we had seen wind before after all, we do live in Wyoming.  It can not compare to the wind here.  We road at a 45 degree angle for miles and miles today.  When visiting with one of the locals about the wind he agreed that the wind was exceptionally strong today but that record winds were about 160kph. Carl said that he witnessed a motorcycle going around a left hand turn and leaning to the right. 

at La Marchand in the Patagonia, a lot of nothing! Actually we did see the cutest little grey foxes, little ostriches and llamas on the Patagonia.  Not one picture of them, tho.

We stopped at what we thought was the Argentina border to check  out of Argentina. We did not have to stop here and when Jonnie got back on her bike it would not start.  EERRGGHH!  So, out comes the battery, clean the cables and connections, add more water, push the bike up the hill a little ways with Jonnie panting like a dog trying to run and push the bike fast enough to get it bump started.  No luck.  The wind is blowing about 100 KM per hour and the thought of repeating the towing trick to get it started again does not seem like a good idea to half of the party.   So, here is Jonnie  asking everybody going through this check point if they have jumper cables.  That was an interesting conversation with her limited Spanish and descriptive hand motions.  Finally, after being there for about 2 hours, a truck driver said he would give Carl a push.  He was one burly dude and was able to run faster than the wind and they got the bike started.  Yippee!  Do not shut it off!!


So on we go to the next stop a Kilometer away.  This building houses both Argentina and Chile Customs and immigration.  What a great deal.  While in there we met Fernando, a young man from Brazil, riding a Honda TransAlp.  He was on his way to Ushuaia also.  His brother had been riding with him but decided to leave his bike in Rio Grande and take the bus to Ushuaia because of the wind.  The brother was riding a small bike of some kind and said it was getting blown around too much in the wind.  We heard of another rider who momentarily lost his focus while riding and got blown over and rolled several times. He was uninjured but his ride was done! Now, I understand why the guy at La Marchand said it was the "land of wind and nuts"  You have to be nuts to live in that part of the world!

Between the long border crossing because of my bike and the wind slowing us down we did not get as many miles in as we had planned.   Oh yeah, we had a ferry river crossing,too. We had heard that the ferry was not running because of the wind but when we got there it was just finishing loading the last car and the guy waved us on. Guess we will go! What a trip that was, this is crossing the Straights of Magellan about 1.5 miles wide, the water was very rough.

Carl with Fernando on the ferry. The water was very rough, we thought it was raining but it was just the spray coming over the bow of the boat and over the semi trucks in front of us.  Note Carl does not have his hat on.  When he went up on top to check out the ferry ride, he had to hold on to his glasses to keep them from blowing off of his face!

At any rate, Fernando has a new couple of friends to ride with and we have someone to interpret Spanish for us.  We will take advantage of that whenever we can. After two months of struggling with almost every conversation you have, it is a pleasure and relief to be able to rely on someone else for awhile.


We had a much needed restful night at Cerro Sombrero , a very nice hotel.


Day 67 Cerro Sombrero, Chile to Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego, Argentina 
Miles:  275  
Lodging for the next week:  Hotal Rio Ona, $290 pesos, breakfast included, good wi-fi, great shower, so-so bed, very secure sheltered parking for motos, walking distance to town (albeit up a hill as steep as a cows face)  All in all very good accommodations.

We got up early in Cerro Sombrero, had a quick breakfast and out on the road by 7:30AM.  The thought was that the wind would pick up in the afternoon and we had about 80 miles of gravel to do today.  It was a good thought but the wind was blowing when we left and continued until we got to the mountains just outside of Ushuaia.  The scenery reminds us of parts of Wyoming, dry and barren on one side of the mountain and then trees, green and beauty on the other side.  The only difference, I guess, is the sea.  That part reminded us of Kodiak or Homer Alaska with the harbor in town and the mountains surrounding you.
Ushuaia is a beautiful little port town.

 

Lapataia National Park

Without a doubt this has been the biggest adventure we have had!  It was challenging, great fun, hard work, frustrating, heart warming and miserable all rolled up in one.  Meeting new and old friends on this trip is what makes it the most memorable.  We hope to continue these friendships for years to come and hope to be able to be as good of ambassadors for the United States as they were for their beloved countries!