I found sun up there!

In my never ending fight with gravity, or at least being bound to the ground, I decided to conquer the San Juan Islands this afternoon. After a few touch & go's at Friday Harbor, I flew out to Stuart Island and did a go around and a full stop landing. Then over to Orcas for a landing, and then on to Lopez for a landing, before returning to FH and landing. And then realizing that if I took off one more time, I could get some night landings in! Lu, my trusty companion (you've seen the bumper sticker "Dog is my co-pilot"? well - he really is!) well Lu agreed, and off we went for a little more flying, and then flew the pattern for two more landings. D'oh - as I write this I just realized I didn't make one a full stop... Guess I only get to count one of them... Oh well - another excuse to go night flying again!

What the heck have I been up to?

Well, summer is OVER! You may have noticed that I have not posted much at all this summer... Well, I have been busy learning to fly! I got my pilot’s license on Sept. 12th (the day before my birthday!) and have been enjoying the skys ever since! This picture is of me and my airplane at Scappoose, Oregon, after my first long flight as a pilot!

Tough weekend!

Sailing aboard the 1934, 85 foot sailboat Destiny!

Well now I'm having fun!

So I must truly be bord. Or losing my mind. Or both. I don't know anymore. Oh wait - I'm in Cincinnati. That's the problem. My supposed flight from here to Seattle has been delayed a few hours and there *MIGHT* be room on it. If not they'll ship me through Salt Lake City. Oh goody. Might get from SLC to Seattle, might not. They even suggested going BACK to Atlanta to try again... Oh boy Buddy Passes are fun FUN FUCKING FUN!!!

Let me recap:

1.Bariloche to Buenos Aires
2. Buenos Aires to Santiago
3. Santiago to Miami
4. Miami to Atlanta
5. Atlanta to Cincinnati

And the journey continues!

Getting closer!

Now I am in Atlanta after a brief stop in Miami - next stop... Cincinnati! WTF am I doing going to Cincinnati?? I wish I knew! Once there I MAY or MAY NOT actually get to Seattle. Wanna take bets on where I'll end up, or when I'll actually get home? Hahaha...

Santiago, Chile - Waiting in the airport!

Well I am officially on my way home now. I left Buenos Aires at 6:15pm today, and arrived in Santiago, Chile a few minutes ago. Finally figured out how to get online after jumping through hoops for 30 minutes, and also managed to snap a picture of the airport, and my meal! The beer, Kuntzmann, is rather yummy, and the sandwich is called a Lomito - an Argentinian specialty. It's Fillet Mignon, prosciutto, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado... What else could you want? All food groups are represented! I have a little over an hour left here, then off to Miami where I get to kill 6 lovely hours, then to Atlanta for 3 hours and finally home. LONG trip! But I'll tell you what... It was worth it! I can't believe I've been down here in South America for 6 weeks! But I am already planning my return...

Trying to leave Buenos Aires

Who’d a thunk?

So here I am – made it from Bariloche to Buenos Aires... And there are NO seats available on ANY flight to the USA. Not till the 24th. And they are filling up fast. Oh yeah, they are almost $3000 USD for a one way. (Round trip is only $2800!)

Never thought I’d be stuck here against my will. Yeah yeah yeah – I’d love to stay. But there would be some serious ramifications. I’d loose all my clients. My dog would probably forget who I am (if he hasn’t already!) And how to pay the bank to mortgage with no income, when in another country?

Well, here’s the Buenos Aires airport – thousands and thousands of people... All going to the USA – or so it would appear by the lack of seats for ME!

He's just as popular here...

Well, this photo pretty much sums up the attitude here about our dip-shit president!

Funky Art in El Bolsón

There is a great little plaza in El Bolsón that has some really neat-o artwork. There also an Artisans Fair every Wed, Fri, and Sunday there with stuff made all over the region by 42° South Latitude. Turns out El Bolsón is a great little town, with live music every night (of some sort or another) and great food everywhere. Also some pretty mountains bordering Chile, and great fishing in the lakes and rivers!

Breakfast Niche in El Bolsón

Here’s the little street-side café we have Café con Leche y Medialunas. If you are wondering what a medialuna is, it means Half Moon, but it is really a sweet crescent roll. Yummy! Each one has at least a half cup of sugar and half pound of butter! Mmmm.... Medialuna!

Fishing in El Bolsón Argentina

Today is my last day in El Bolsón - about 130 km south of Bariloche. We went out to fish a lake called Lago Puyel and ended up fishing the river upstream of it. What do you think of my fish? I caught about 20 like the little one, then found a good hole with the big fella - about 1 kilo!

My Biggest Fish EVER!

Finally back in the land of electricity, telephones, and internet - this is a belated post!

OK, so here I am, somewhere hundreds of miles south of Bariloche (I've been sworn to secrecy!) in a beautiful lake - and I caught the biggest rainbow trout of my life! It weighed nearly 7 lbs! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! We spent 3 days fishing on this glorious lake - from wading to belly-boating to renting a little zodiac. This is Paradise Lost. Too bad they are building a 4 lane super-highway here (it's a TERRIBLE dirt road for 3 hours from anywhere right now) it will absolutly destroy this place (Note to Rodger - NOT MY FAULT!!!)...

A new beer!

Just past the mountains, we came into a town called El Bolson. It's an old hippie town that still has wonderful color and personality! And some great cafés! We stopped for lunch and had hamburgers the size of a large plate - 10 inches across! Just what we needed with the killer hangovers we had. It's such a nice, laid back town that we decided to postpone the remainder of the drive and stay a while. Fortunately , there's a reggae concert tomorrow night! I think I might like this town!

A new town...

Today we left Bariloche and started heading south towards Rio Chico - a 6 hour drive. We made it about 2 hours and first saw these amazing mountains ...

Where NOT to eat, and where TO eat!

So today we decided to try a nice little road-side restaurant called Cheddar (the verb 'to chedd' haha!) Which had an amazing view and seemed quite nice... Until we saw the menu! ALL fondue! Fondue this and fondue that. Nothing but fondue. Can you imagine stuffing yourself with melted cheese for lunch? I think it was next to a cardiologist's office!

Anyway, we went to Cervezaria Blest - a wonderful little brew-pub with pizza for lunch. Here's pics of where not to go and where to go!

Too cold to fish!

January 1st here is the same as July 1st in the USA. We're at 41° South. It is supposed to be warm... No, it's supposed to be HOT. Somehow the weather got all screwed up down here, and today was rain and 40mph winds and occasional snow. What a lovely summer!

It's still beautiful, so my dad and I decided to go out anyway for a picnic. As you can see, we're a bit chilly!

What I do

¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!

Here I am recording flora and fauna in Argentina. It's what I do!

We headed out New Years Day to a lovely river called Rio de los Moscos for a picnic with a friend of a friend of my dad's from Sun Valley. The water in the river was the most amazing color of blue. Unfortunately, the camera doesn't capture the color at all. But this little picnic spot was lovey... Until the rain and wind came in!