Second Week in Bariloche

After celebrating Easter with Payton and Jen, I decided to go on another bike ride before the weather started to turn for the worse. I was told by the owner's son of Plaza Patagonia, Santiago, about a hiking trail to Refugio San Martin. He stated that he rides out on the trail all the time. I got dropped off by Jen and Payton and started my ride. After 1 hour into the ride, (although beautiful, was not technical at all) I decided to turn around and head back to Cerro Catedral and ride the Refugio Frey trail to Lago Gutierrez. I had so much fun last time, why ride a boring trail. This time, however, I had to ride up the hill up to Cerro Catedral. It wasn't as bad as I thought. The resort itself lies at 3280 ft above sea level. I think the climb up to the resort was 1500ft. I started my ride on the Refugio Frey trail excited, but that quickly diminished the more I rode down the trail. It was one of those days on a bike where my tehnical riding abilities were that of a 1 year old attempting to walk for the first time. I don't know where my mind was, but it wasn't on biking. After a couple of near falls, I started to take things a little slower than usual. I was able to complete downhill, forward somersault with a half twist. I think the diving coaches would have been proud. After that particular fall, I got back on the bike and decided to focus on the trail and the bike. After the downhill was completed I realized my rear derailer was skewed. It started phantom shifting to random gears. At one point, my nice 24 speed bike became a single speed. It made the climb back a little more difficult, but well worth it. I came back to the house and drank 1 liter of beer and started barbequing. We had a great steak dinner, complete with sausages for Payton. Payton remains to amaze us with her eating abilities and love for meat. We might have to start our own ranch to ensure we can afford Payton's meat consumption.

Monday was the big day! I say this because we have been having problems with our Renault Kangoo for nearly two weeks now. I know we haven't mentioned it in the blog, mainly because it would only elicit more concerns than needed. What's wrong with the Kangoo you ask. Well, simply put, it doesn't like to start first thing in the morning. In the beginning when we were experiencing problems with the Kangoo, we came to realize that it doesn't like the cold and only would start if it was warm in the morning. We actually waited till after 1100 one day to allow the sun's rays to heat the engine before we started our day. To get the car started, we would have to push the Kangoo and clutch start the car. For any one that has peformed this duty, well you know that a downward hill is ideal for a push start. After the car is clutch started, it is fine for the whole day. We were starting to feel pretty "white trash" for pushing our car and having to clutch start it every morning that we gave each other some trashy names ie. Duke and Crystal. The car problem was going on for so long, that Payton would yell "Yeah, the car started, good job daddy!" The only thing is that we do not get any extra attention or help offered when we are pushing our car in Argentina, because a lot of people down here do this all the time. The most embarrassing moment was the morning we stayed at the other cabana in Bariloche (before Easter); the road was flat and gravel. We had four different failed attempts in clutch starting the car. The whole time two young 8-10 year old boys watched us, speaking to us in Spanish. I was trying to be as polite as I could, until I told them to get out of our way in my best Spanglish possible. These kids were on their bikes in the middle of the road (where we were attempting to clutch start). That got old pretty quick.
Redirection: Why didn't we take the car to the dealership earlier you ask? First, when this occured in El Bolson, there was only a sales portion of a Renault dealership and not a service department. We had to wait till we got to Bariloche, then we had to wait to make an appointment after Easter Week. We didn't want to be without a car while we were farther from town. We took the amazing Kangoo into the Renault dealership. I should note, that before we took our car to the dealership we replaced the oil & filter, (we have 8000km on the motor, replaced the fuel filter, drove with the gas tank full for a week and put diesel fuel additive in the gas tank). We wrote everything down in Spanish on a piece of paper and dropped off the car. After 36 hours of no phone call, we took a taxi to the Renault dealership and found out that our car needed 4 spark plugs!??? I'm not mechnically inclined, so if anybody could enlighten me why a brand new car needed 4 spark plugs, please send me an email. The funniest thing during this ordeal, was the fact that the dealership actually looked throught our registration and insurance information for the car. We could only imagine what they were checking or why!

I forgot, Jen finally took a spa day for herself. I have been telling her to get a massage or take some time out for herself. I guess she feels that everyday is spa day when she doesn't have to work, cook or clean.

Tuesday after picking up the car we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown and shopping. It was truly fun! (Sarcasm. I really do not enjoy shopping, but I do it because Jen tolerates my bike rides).


Wednesday: Going stir crazy. We finally drove out east approximately 1 hour near Confluencia. Apparently Ted Turner owns 10,000 acres near there. We took some pictures of some rock croppings and enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful rivers. Haven't done any riding/running/hiking in three days. Its been raining for days now. We have been on the internet searching for new homes/property and potential jobs. Tomorrow I'm out of here.

Thursday: I attempted to go on a bike ride near Lago Mascardi. Weather was crappy. Raining with the snowline creeping downwards. After 40 minutes of riding I came to a gate and saw an elderly gaucho. I asked him for permission to ride the road (fire road, didn't need permisson, but I asked anyway) he granted it, however, he stated that there was snow a little farther up the road (Spanish). I decided that was enough. The trail (road) wasn't much fun anyway. All uphill and didn't appear to get any better. When I was looking at the map for alternatives the gaucho started walking up the hill and put his gun back in the holster and strapped it down. Talk about the old West. I came back to the cabana and went on a run instead. After that we drove out near Colonia Suize and planned on hiking to Refugio Lopez. We got about 30 minutes past Negro Roca (1000 ft elevation gain from the trailhead) and turned around due to weather. We were walking in snow and had another 1100 feet of climbing to do. I could see the refuge through the trees and it was surrounded by snow. The waterfalls around this mountain were beautiful. The adjacent photo to the left is of Payton and I,
we were obviously disappionted that we could not climb any farther up the hill













Friday: The power went out. We laid around the cabana after visiting downtown. In the afternoon, we went to the best hotel in South America, LLao LLao. It truly is beautiful. We ate at a small outside bar area (covered) with amazing views of the lake and golf course. We drank our 5 USD coffee and our overpriced pastries and enjoyed our time relaxing in the wonderful hotel. The service was amazing. I think every table had their own waiter. We were there for a couple of hours (3?) before heading back to the cabana planning our day to Pampa Linda. Waiting to talk to my parents regarding their plans, which in turn will affect the outcome of our plans. Will divulge more later...