tierra del fuego....

as always i sit before this blank white space where i feel the need the regurgitate every single detail from this trip and as always i have not a clue where to begin and as always i will most certainly and unintentionally leave details out.

i believe i left off at the ferry ride over...yes, that is where it was. we crossed the over the straight of magellan with our friend, who we have nicknamed "frenchy" but whose real name is julian. i can only humbly begin to describe the feeling of crossing over to the tip of south america. perhaps it is because it is the end of the journey or because many people are ending their respective trips here. there is ubiquitous melancholy, satiated adventure cravings, new memories made...and the list goes on and on. all of these feelings come cascading through you as you begin to realize what it is that you were able to do, that you have had the ability to experience. tierra del fuego, to put it bluntly, is like having desert after an extravagant meal.

well enough getting sentimental. yall are dying to hear about tierra del fuego.

we reached porvenier, chile (the port city) in pouring rain. though, we did not get to see penguins we did get to see dolphins! we parted ways with "frenchy" and promised to meet in ushuaia. since it was raining we decided to just sit in a cafe and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. the day was grey and rainy and no sign of the sun. it fit our sad moods (the end of the road looming over us). we ambled out of town sometime in the afternoon but only made it 10km before we came to a beautiful lake where we decided to camp for the night. cari was sick the following day so we decided it was a good place to stay since we had a water source...or so we thought. as it turns out, this lake was a salt water lake. it really was not something that crossed our minds...to check the water for its salt content, though in hindsight it makes perfect sense because we are on an island surrounded by salt water. fun thing to learn. so, leah and i walked 5km around the lake to a little ranch to ask for water.

the walk over was dreary. we crossed the bodies of manya dead animal...sheep, bird, cow (the skulls remaining). this is actually fairly common in argentina to see the skulls of animals. i thought it might sound more dramatic including it in this story. so, we walked up the house. and because it was an overcast day and our spirits were still low there was a seemingly eerie shadow cast over the house. when we reached the house, we called out. no one answered. we called out again. no one answered. then we knocked on the door and then....

a man about half the size of leah answered the door. he hobbled over, acutally, and we followed him in. his small size made the ceilings feel miles away and the doorways seemed to dwarf him even further. we sat and had a slice of bread and some coffee with him (which seems like an incredible treat--homemade bread and a cup of coffee in a warm house). chileans, in general, speak far too quickly and as though they are practicing for a ventriloquist job. we sat there trying to patch together what he was saying and we hopefully answered somewhat correctly though we have been known for our language blunders. the house was like a time warp...the radio sat against the window sill coming in fuzzily. we managed to fill our dromedary bag with water which was a brownish color before saying our goodbyes.

cari got better the next day and we were able to continue. whew.

the first part of tierra del fuego is laden with hills. but, it was fun. there was so much mud from the rain and plenty of wild guanaco (yup, google this one) and coastal waters (with playful dolphins) to keep our minds entranced. it is truly, and pardon the overuse of this word, beautiful here. the green cliffs abruptly fall off into the ocean bays and the road seems to laughingly wind to the water and then back inland, to the water and back inland. in this manner, and with a divine tailwind, we made it to the border of chile and argentina for the last time.

i think, before i continue, i should mention this wind again. we again are thankful for tailwinds and even some crosswind is ok though it is difficult to stay on the correct side of the road. in fact, today i was literally blown off the road because i was not intentionally steering into the wind. it is crazy! but i love how refreshing it is, how cleansing it feels and that for me is necessary at this point in my life. cari and leah, i believe it is safe to say, would rather climb mountains than battle a 35-50mph crosswind/headwind...but i love it. maybe it is because i grew up in chicago and made peace with the wind long ago. for me, it takes much more mental focus to stand at the bottom of a mountain pass than it takes to slice through the wind. i notice all the turns in the road more, that goes without saying though i have just said it. i notice when i turn into the wind, when it is at my back and when it is at my side. camping is also a blast. the wind and the tent seem to be in constant battle--the wind seems determined to flatten the tent and the tent, with heroic determination, tries to stay upright. thankfully the tent wins though the poles are bending more and more each day and we can only approximate the day in which the tent will lose the battle. however, it is incredible to feel such a powerful, invisible force. the wind has so much to teach mentally, physically, metaphorically....

so, we crossed over into argentina where we slept inside of a tienda. crazy story. we asked for a camping spot and they let us sleep inside their store...the first time we have slept indoors since i cannot remember. they also let us shower and it felt so great! the weather here is bitterly cold with the wind. perhaps it is a bit exaggerated but the wind carries a strong bite to it though it is possible to get sunburned as well. so, it was great to wake up inside, cook inside and strange not to know how to layer for the days ride. also strange to sleep next to a purple pool table.

today with the wind at our back we rode 80km in about 3 hours. it was amazing. we stopped for lunch along the ocean. and this brings me to the telling of our incredible day.

after riding about 35km in one hour we decided to ride a stretch further for lunch. the goal was to find a little shelter from the wind while we ate because riding in a tailwind is warm but stopping is cold. so, we found a nice little cove on the shores of the ocean (the atlantic ocean). now, for all of the readers out there that love guy maupassant and o henry, you will love this story. we had a box of milk because we could not find powdered milk so we thought we would make some hot chocolate with lunch. so far, so good. it being windy the stove was hard to get started because we could not get the match or the lighter to stay lit long enough to light the stove. so, leah had a truly brilliant idea...let us get the tarp and put it around us to make a "wind free zone". aha! it worked!! so now we got the stove lit and when we reached for the carton of milk we realized that in the setting up of the tarp we had spilt the milk. maybe that is where the saying originated. not to worry we just boiled some water and had a sad tribute to hot chocolate.

however, as we were eating lunch (egg salad on crackers in case you want to know), we had the privelage of watching furious storm clouds blow over us. the weather here truly changes every fifteen minutes. it is fascinating! i love clouds...all kinds of clouds and to be here and see these dramatic shifts in weather is incredible. at one point the clouds were dark blue and the ocean a genuine seafoam green and it was crazy beautiful! perhaps i have never experienced being cold and sunburned at once. even the most uncomfortable things are wonderful to experience becuase it is a new sensation...well i could go on a long tangent with this thought but i will let it be because there is more to talk about.

so off we went from lunch. we caught the tail end of the storm and then we found our groove in the tailwind again. at this point in the story i was a few km ahead on the road. and as i was riding along, i met a local cyclist...a mountain biker coming back from his ride. we again patched together a conversation riding together for 10km or more into rio grande. we waited for leah and cari and then he, christen, showed us where the supermarket was. while we were shopping he went home to change his clothes and then came back and invited us to stay with him and his family. so naturally we said yes and that is where we are tonight-- staying with our new friend, his twin brother (who looks like the actor in donnie darko) and his parents. they actually feel bad because they do not have beds to offer us...only a warm shower and the offer to wash our clothing (which we said no to because we had just washed our clothing a week ago...which made them laugh but for us that seems like yesterday). how silly...a warm house seems like a treat now...forget the bed!

we often try to predict where we will be at the days end but it is impossible. sometimes it is in a ditch next to the side of the road hiding from the wind, sometimes in a warm house, a shop, or along the banks of a beautiful lake. it does not seem to matter. in many ways being able to travel by bike has allowed us to travel through chile and argentina and not merely hopping from port to port which would only enable us to experience an even smaller slice of the culture. well, we are not doing anything earth shattering here, just riding our bikes and attempting to create world peace.

only a few days left until we make it to ushuaia...wish us a beautiful tailwind!

hugs.
jude.

ps. i am sorry not to use contractions, which makes me sound like i am trying to be incredibly proper but i cannot find the apostrophe on this keyboard. yes, it exists but when i press the apostrophe this is what i get: { or if i press shift: [ . my apologies.

pps. i did not do the siting of guanaco, which whimper like a sad horse, or dolphins justice. please use your imaginations and imagine us sitting on a lush green clif overlooking the ocean, watching dolphins below at play.