A Tribute to Shwarma Carma

The photos in this Shwarma Carma Tribute mainly document our trip over the Andes from Mendoza Argentina to Maitencillo Chile.  We made a last minute decision, when we dropped into the valley floor of Chile to head toward the coast rather then Santiago.  I love the flexibility of this kind of travel.

With great sorrow and a handful of relief, I drove Shwarma for the last time yesterday...delivering it to it's new owner.  Shwarma was a classy looking car.

It never looked this clean again. 

Notice the handle on the gear shift.  Yes, it occasionally fell off.

Shwarma ended up being quite the adventure.  She took us to absolutely amazing places and allowed us to do things and see things we never could have, had we travelled in buses.

wild donkey (quite a few).

Guanaco (kind of like a tall, sleek and graceful llama)

I added this picture because it gave Kate and I the giggles to see these photos.  This is one example of a school crossing sign.  Each one is slightly different. But it is usually of a body holding a briefcase either walking and often times running across the street.

Big snow covered peak in the background is Aconcagua, the largest mountain in South America.  It is 22, 841 feet tall.  It's also one of the least technical 6,000 meter peaks out there.  I've put this climb on my bucket list.

So awesome!

Happy to return to Chile.  Especially after waiting at the boarder for so long.

This road should be a wonder of the world.

They count the curves.  There are 27.

She also left us in very strange predicaments, like when the radiator hose burst on a main thorough fair in Mendoza, the exhaust pipe broke (again...like 10 times) and it was so loud that we had to drive for 4 hours with earplugs in,

a flat tire just in time for Jaden's nap,

it goes on and on.

We visited the mechanic in almost every city and small town we visited and I learned a lot about cars and Spanish car vocabulary.

But, as I said many times, she was a great car.  The engine was impeccable, minus the huge oil leak.  It would have been a great ride if the rear shocks actually worked....

Selling the car was about as easy as anything we've done in Chile.  A trip to the bank, then to the Notary, then the Registro Civil, then the Notary, then the Registro Civil again, then the Notary, then the Registro Civil and finally the Notary.  It only took 4 hours!  Way easier than trying to get a green sticker that I accidentally ripped off the windshield as it was in the way of the passenger.  I made 10 stops and spent half a day for that little mistake.




Good times shwarma!

Oh well, we've passed the carma on and with it her problems.  Now, the only dilemma we have is how to travel south to the final destination of our trip.  It's between bus and taxi.  We've got at least 400 pounds of stuff, mainly Jaden's and my toys (surfboard, toy truck, paraglider, picture books, stroller portable bed, etc...).  We won't worry about it too much though,

as we've found another piece of Chilean paradise.

lessons learned

Old lessons:

Stay positive:  positive things happen to positive people and everything will work out for the best in the end.  We've been practicing this lesson for much of our lives and it never works better than when traveling.  Time and time again, we are impressed by the luck of our travels.  A lot of that luck has to do with our state of mind.

New Lesson:

In the past, and I think due to human nature, I got caught up in comparisons.  When I was younger it was all about who's got the best toys, who's the best athlete, the smartest, the best looking etc...  In adulthood it doesn't go away, it just gets more complex.  Who's got more time and more money, who's kid is walking first, talking first, etc...

The lesson I've learned recently is that if you're busy comparing things that you do or don't have, you're missing out on the enjoyment of what you do have.  All of us have so much.  But, in comparing, I don't always see what I have.  I see what I don't have.  I've realized that it is so much more important to be happy with what I have than what I want or think I need.

I've learned that lesson by watching people with very little, in terms of money and things, so happy and content with their lives.  They are content and happy because they focus on the things that they have, family, good health, a beautiful place to live, friends, etc...  These things you don't need to buy, you only have to appreciate.  I'm practicing this lesson right now and I'm getting better at it.

Here's a few picts of my fam, which I'm enjoying tremendously!

I think he enjoyed the horses better, but I'm not sure.

Nothing better than getting the excited greeting from my son after flying or surfing!

Mmmmm,  pasta

The zoo in Mendoza... up close and personal with a Puma (mountain lion).  You can't believe how close you get to the animals.  Really sad too...small cages.  I have mixed feelings about zoos.   

Beautiful day in Mendoza, chilling out next to a fountain

Our cabana had a kiddie pool. 

Bariloche Argentina

Bariloche Argentina!  Absolutely amazing!  Here's some picts!

Good news/Bad news

The good news is our computer's fixed.  We've been without it for 3 weeks now and it's been hard.  We communicate with our world with our computer.  Without it it was harder to call home (gmail phone or skype), it was harder to look at and load photos and it was harder to email and blog.  But, thanks to some good luck and an exceptional IT guy, we are back.  The photos, thank the lord, are still in tact and even organized.  This guy was good.

The bad news...The same day we got our computer back, the car died.  We took a nice drive to the beach, walked around and played.  On the way home, we lost 5th gear.  Then, we started to lose 1st and 2nd.  I had to jam the stick into each place to get it into gear.  We also lost reverse.  It is much harder to drive a car in a place you don't know well, with one way streets, without reverse.  I managed to drop Kate and Jaden off at home.  I limped into a mechanico and was in luck, he would work on it.

The good news is that we seem to have our car back.  It's working for now.

The bad news is that all of these broken things:  camera, computer, car, sunglasses all happened in a week and has cost us a bundle.  We are trying to live on very little money and this has blown our budget for the month.  Oh well, I have to keep reminding myself that money can always be made, time cannot.  The time we've had here has been incredible.

After the Aldworths (Kate's parents) left, we packed the shwarma (known as carma before it broke down) and crossed the boarder to Argentina.  The drive across the Andes was amazing.  It started in lush rain forests replete with 5 waterfalls and 2 giant rivers.

As we drove up the hill, the rainforest continued, but it was dead.  A volcano that erupted a couple of years ago and that has been spewing ash ever since, has killed a huge swath of forest in the Andes.  It was a stunning vista to behold.  Pumice berms were piled 3 sometimes 4 feet high on each side of the road.

  We occasionally passed breaks in the forest, that we thought at first glance must have been meadows.  Then we realized that they were lakes, covered in floating rock (pumice).

The destruction that the earth can bring upon itself is awesome.  I suddenly felt my life was but a mere piece of sand in the overall "geologic" scheme of things.  It reminded me of something I use to teach my students.

"If the history of the Earth were a 100 page book, humans would appear half way through the very last line on the very last page of the book."  We haven't been here long.  The proof of our lack of control on this planet is strikingly evident when looking at what one "small" volcano can do.

I'm not caught up on photos at all...due to the computer melt down.  But, will be soon.  Here is a small sampling of the last 3 weeks.