South America

Ride 2006/2007

 

January 26

Do you remember the time you went camping and it was nice and clear outside. Then, sometime after midnight, it started raining. You were all nestled-in, so you didn't think anything about it until the next morning when you woke to the non-stop rain. You then peeked out the curtain to see the big mud pie awaiting you. Regardless of how you felt, there wasn't anything left to do but get up and trudge through the muck to get home. Even after getting home it took weeks to dry out. Well, that's how I felt this morning when I looked out the window.

There's not much of a weather forecast down here, but even though, it said the weather was going to be the same for a few more days. Therefore, I got up and trudged on. I regret not being able to get some pictures from coming across the gravel section again, however I'm damned glad I'm past it. It was a mess.

I did stop right inside the Chile border at a Restaurant to have a hearty breakfast and give the weather a chance to change. In doing that I happened up on a large sheep farmer cutting his stock. I wished I could have spoke the language. This section of land is wide open ranchland. Notice the background in some of the photos of the sheep. And no, the weather never changed.

As a side note: The time is 3 hours earlier down here than Dallas. I'm staying at the same roadhouse as the other night on the way south.
 
A modest house on the sheep farm
  
These folks may have been buyers or sellers
 
The barn was pretty large too
  
They had numerous lots of sheep
 
The horseman, his horse, and his dog
  
I didn't count the sheep (because I was afraid I would fall asleep), but it seemed like there was at least several thousand of them. I was told that 20 thousand head wasn't uncommon for a rancher.
 
This guy is at the pivot gate cutting the sheep. The others are running them down the chute
  
This restaurant/hotel is 50 miles fom the nearest town
 
They wanted to pose for the photo
  
Wood burning stove. There was no electricity.
 
She wanted to be sure I took a photo of the Saddles. I'm sure it is valued equipment way out here
  
Here comes the ferry
 
The bike got nasty riding through the muck
 
Ferry coming to get me
 
It's a good idea to protect your windshield on these roads
The guy at the hotel said these are baby ostiches. He said the mothers hatch them and leave them?
 
It never fails, a bus always shows up at a border crossing right in front of me
Double Decker sheep hauler
 
What did you have for dinner? And yes, I ate the whole thing. Fried Egg over Steak.
  
My bunkroom tonight is arranged different than last time I stayed at this roadhouse. Their primary customer is the oilfield, but January is an off-month. We are 80 miles from the nearest town.