11/27-An Actual Really Warm Day!

So, the temps here have not been…well…overly warm. I mean, when we are climbing in the sun, we are sweating pretty good, but then going downhill, we have to put layers back on. Today was a little different. For the first time, I started out NOT in my rain jacket (not just for rain, but warmth too). I did have my leg warmers on, but they came off earlier than the other days. 

The terrain was very much a rollercoaster. We did less kms (69kms) than yesterday, but it seemed harder. Elevation was also less. I think it was just the constant up and down. 

The scenery was spectacular! It seemed, generally, a bit drier than yesterday before the long climb. Still we were surrounded by snow-capped mountains. 

There is now a lot more green fields/pastures. We say a bunch of cows, including this one. 

Yeah, “Road Cow”. 


The color of the water…

We stopped at a viewpoint halfway up a longer climb, to eat some lunch. There wasn’t any shade. It was quite toasty sitting in the sun. I eventually put my helmet back on to give me some shade from the Da Brim! Alex and Markus had another solution. 

Their buffs are just laying on top of their heads!

With lunch and sun comes the desire for a siesta. 

Markus enjoying some post lunch siesta time. 

After a shorter-than-usual lunch break, we had to move on because we were too hot! My Garmin enjoyed a good charging session! 

We went across two of these single lane orange bridges. 

The first one. 

The second one (almost to La Junta).

In between lunch and La Junta we came across this food truck in the middle of nowhere. It was the perfect opportunity to stop for a Coke. 


After the Coke stop, someone flipped the wind switch. Sadly, it was a headwind, and a really strong one! It continued all the way into La Junta. Sudden changes in wind usually signify a change is coming. 

We rolled into La Junta absolutely spent from the headwind. Alex looked up possible accommodations. We headed toward one, but ended up checking out another one on the way. It met our requirements (room for three, WiFi, and a kitchen). It even has a wood stove, which makes Alex very happy. Sure enough, it’s now raining and is supposed to do so all night. Sure is nice to not be in our tents!

In case you don’t notice the door is right there???

There is a bad batch of weather coming in, with even the possibility of some snow. We’ll stay two nights, then evaluate. The next town, Puyuhuapi, doesn’t have as much to offer as La Junta. 

After these last two days, we’ve proven to ourselves we can do longer distances. Now we just need the weather to cooperate. 

Oh, and I got this bag of Christmas cookies at the Panadería y pastelería. They are like homemade.