A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures

Monday, April 16, 2007

… especially if they were taken over the 600 kilometers between San Rafael and Neuquen. About 90 kilometers below San Rafael is the town of General Alvear. Just outside of the town limits, you will see scrub growth and little else for hours. Think desolate parts of New Mexico or Arizona. The only life apart from a few cows or goats and the occasional guinea fowl lies below the surface of the earth. There pulse natural gas lines and later oil pipelines.

Above ground is the occasional windmill pumping water up into a stock tank, or, rarely, a natural gas transmission line. The only respite for the eye are infrequent stands of poplars starting to get dressed in their golden fall color.

I set the speedometer on 150 kpm and devoured most of the remaining 500 kilometers below Alvear. Then I spent half an hour negotiating around Neuqen which is a sprawling urban area replete with a gauntlet of traffic lights on its bypass.

As the sun sank into the west, I had 300 kilometers left for my destination of San Carlos de Bariloche. So after 1,020 kilometers, here I sit.

The monk Dom Perignon wandered up from the cellar after tasting accidently fermented wine. His words were: “brothers, I am drinking stars.” Well, tonight, brothers (and sisters), I am drinking in the stars. They were a constant distraction for the last two hours of my trip. What a brilliant night in the southern hemisphere!

[Ed. note: Speaking of pictures, Russ does actually have his digital camera with him but unfortunately left the cable for downloading photos back here in Arlington, so the photos will not be available till his return in May.]