Tomorrow, Las Grutas!

So the train was a LONG ride! The sights were limited to a few bushes, and cows. We all slept on and off between the bumps, and ate, well, we should have brought some food with us. By the time we arrived, we had eaten approximately 12 ham and cheese sandwiches between us! Not realizing that the selections would not change, we should have eaten in the comedor for dinner Friday night, where there was at least two choices!

We arrived in Carmen de Patagones, and met up with all the other backpackers! The group included a woman from Russia who was travelling to Chile. We all began walking to what we thought was a camp site, and then learned that that camp site is never open, so we kept walking. We came across a beautiful river that reminded us of the Potomac in DC. A huge bridge spanned the river, and there were people riding bikes, and hiking along one side, and having picnics in front of the city front on the other side. This bridge connects Carmen de Patagones to Viedma, so we crossed in order to get to the camp site. We quickly arrived, went to get food, and settled in. We made a stew with some meat, and sausage, carrots, potatoes, and onions. It turned out much better than we had expected!

We woke up to a brisk morning, but the inside of our tent was very warm! We had no idea it had gotten so cold outside! This morning, walked the 15 blocks to the bus station and purchased tickets for tomorrows adventure to Las Grutas. The bridge here and the river seem to be the only attractions here in Viedma, so we are in a rush to leave!

Last day of preparations

So as you can see our bags are packed! There are a few empty pockets for treasures we may find on the way, but they are heavy!!! At this point, I am almost hoping that it is cold so that we can utilize all our cold weather gear (the weather in Viedma is looking beautiful, and not nearly as cold as we had feared!). If not, we will be having a flea market on the side of a road that heads more south!

Facundo has gone to get a few last items, and then we are off! One of the items that he has decided to get was a cooking stove. We simply can't figure out a good way to keep our tin cans without cutting something in our packs! So much for our handy dandy inexpensive stove!

The kids can't wait! Harrison says that he slept so much last night so he won't be tired on the trip! I wish!! Kaylan is of course, trying to figure out how to convince us that she needs every book, toy, stuffed animal, crayon, colored pencil, carrying case, hair tie that she owns in order to make it on this trip!

For them, we have packed our family favorite card game, Old Maid, along with a chapter book, music, and paper and crayons. Hopefully that will keep them occupied for a little while; there is always sleeping too!

Our first leg of the trip is a 21 hour train trip to Carmen de Patagones. The train stops in every town that it passes, which we will use the stops to get some food. Then, the plan is to see Carmen de Patagones until Monday, and then off to Puerto Madryn. We are hoping to still catch sight of some whales and penguins there!

Keep your fingers crossed for us!