Fun Times in BA

Argentina, International, Panamerican, South America, Travel with a Pet

El Zanjon de Granados – ($15US) The city of Buenos Aires was first settled in 1536 between two water run-off ravines which naturally marked city boundaries.  The Zanjon de Granados is claimed to be the site of the first settlement of Buenos Aires and uniquely displays the underground waterways as they were constructed.  Now considered the most important archaeological site in BA, the museum describes the history through it’s many layers of architecture and construction.  The original structure, a residence, that covered the zanjones was a block sized mansion.  The plague that came over San Telmo forced the wealthy family to flee and the mansion was turned into a tenement where the structure was walled up and built over further burying the sophisitcated drainage system. The building was abandoned in 1985 and left in ruin until the gentrification of San Telmo posed the location as a potential restaurant.  Little did the local know what he was about to uncover…

Graffitmundo – ($25US) Check out our post “Street Art – Political or Beautifying” for details

BAFreeTours.com – ($10-$20US) We definitely suggest getting a good overview of BA directly from a “Porteno”. This version of the ‘pay what you like’ Free Tours was brought to BA by a born and bred Porteno, as all tour guides are. There are two different tours you can take depending on what part of the city you have interest in, the “Downtown” tour or the “Aristocratic” tour. We enjoyed the “Aristocratic” tour so much we went back for the “downtown” tour as well.  Gaston, the co-founder, was a great host and had us laughing just about the whole time. The BA Free Tours pitch is that they give a solid local-perspective tour and work solely on tips.  They are upfront and provide the equivalent value of a tour if it were paid. We thought the tours provided an interesting (opinionated and funny) perspective of Argentine history from a locals point of view and was much more our style than that of a generic [bus] city tour. 

 Casa Rosada – (Free) Casa Rosada or the “Pink House” is one of those “must do” tours, if for no other reason, it’s a free tour of the President’s office, literally. Oh ya, and that famous balcony where Madonna sang that song from – I mean Eva Peron gave her historic speech to the people.  The tour gives you a look into some of the history of the ‘house’, past presidents and important cultural influences. A couple tidbits:  only one president was allowed to live in the Casa Rosada due to a handicap and it is not symmetrical because it was originally two buildings – one was the post office, there are several more so you’ll have to check it out. Offered only on weekends, there are free tours in multiple languages. Upon arrival check in with the staff to receive a colored coin for the tour in your requested language.  Get there early because the number of tours in English vary depending on the day/weekend or season and people turn out in droves, so be prepared to wait. 

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Helado at Dylan’s – (~$4US) One of the first things you hear about when arriving in Buenos Aires is the great pride they hold in their Helado – and rightly so! There are Helado stands by the dozen around the city so it may seem overwhelming to choose which one to venture into but look no further Dylan’s Helado in San Telmo is the place to go. I would categorize our visit to Dylan’s as an “helado experience” from the warm welcome, multiple tastings and of course friendly and passionate ice cream enthusiast and owner, Dylan. If you find a better Helado stop in BA be sure to drop us a note and share your experience – because we may have to have a tasting runoff.   

San Telmo Market Place – (Free) Every Sunday there is a spectacular market on Avenue Defense that stretches from Casa Rosada to Parque Lezama. Through this market you will find things from trinkets and jewelry to street artists and food vendors. The stands begin to close up in the late afternoon at which time you will start to hear drum circles filling the streets with echoing beats. As in any major city and crowded place, watch your belongings, we’ve heard there are pickpockets; we never experienced any trouble nor did we feel threatened or unsafe but when good reminder to always have good situational awareness and avoid creating the opportunity.   

La Boca – La Boca is a ‘working class’ region of Buenos Aires that is seen as the old town but holds the claim as the birthplace of the Tango. We were advised to take precaution and just stick to the tourist streets as it can be considered a dangerous part of town. This forced us to take a closer look at the bus system and begin to navigate the city by public transportation instead of our growing tired feet. The apartment we rented in San Telmo provided us with a SUBE card which was half the battle. After researching online how to take the bus and what protocol was we decided to give it a whirl. We had read that you must actually hail the bus even if you are at the bus stop and once the bus stops, GET ON quick. The buses do not always stop and when they do you must make sure you are ready to jump on or off because the doors do not stay open long and the bus does not sit idle – time is money. Once we arrived in La Boca there were tourist attractions everywhere; the streets filled with bright colors, Tango dancers and restaurants advertising for the deal of the day. The downtown area of La Boca was filled with shops and characters that seemed to tell some kind of  story about the times that were. We did not spend much time in La Boca, although it is certainly an area not to be missed when visiting Buenos Aires. We made our pass through the shops and down the streets taking in the colorful buildings and were ready to head out. We did enjoy our stop at the Fundacion Proa Museum exhibiting thoughful modern latin american art. The museum was self guided and did a great job of making sure there was english descriptions for the pieces in each room. Although our time in La Boca was fairly short it is a spot on the map that is a must see for the old culture of Buenos Aires and of course the birthplace of Tango!

Our biggest miss of La Boca was to attend a Boca Juniors match.  It is advised that as a tourist you attend the rowdy event with group as it can be hectic enough to be considered dangerous.

20150926_01365112038478_10152953885337202_2331179510283386377_nMalonga – Everyone you speak to about Buenos Aires talks about the Tango and how important it is to their culture. There are plenty of Malonga’s that cater to the typical tourist that are fun and entertaining and you can even get a chance to learn a few steps. To see the true art form of the Tango find a locals Malonga, however unless you REALLY know how to Tango we advise you to sit back and enjoy the ever talented couples enjoying there night of Tango. We were lucky enough to befriend an Aussie living in BA for several months with the goal of learning the tango and we were able to see a real show in action.  

Jardin de Japonese – ($20US) We visited the Jardin in mid-October and were able 

Muchos Museums –  Many of the museums have half price days or even free days so be sure to check out the deals and hours and work your trip to save you some pesos.

Floralis Generica

Parks – BA has many parks and when you are traveling with a crazy Lucia dog it is essential to find a place to let your dog run around like crazy. Lucia tends to chase butterfly, bug and bird shadows.

Art Galleries

Boca Juniors Game – futbol

While waiting for customs to sort through all of our truck paperwork I was talking to one of the guys helping with translation at the shipping yard and asked him if he could help translate the song. So in rough translation this is what they are singing, if anyone knows a better translation we would love to hear it.

Boca, my good friend this campaign (season) we will support you again
We are going to cheer with our hearts
This is your fans that want to see you champions

We don’t care what the other teams say
I go everywhere you play (stay)
Everyday we love you more

Gastronomic tour – pick up the fork is a great reference

Cementerio De La Recoleta

Vamos Spanish Academy – learn some spanish

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When Dogs Fly

Argentina, International, Panamerican, South America, Travel with a Pet
United Cargo
Lining with puppy pads for the long haul

Undertaking an adventure of this magnitude is incredibly exciting but overwhelming and adding a four-legged friend definitely adds a layer of logistics and complication. Feeling somewhat reassured that others have successfully completed the journey and knowing there are resources available does help ease the concerns of figuring out what to do.  That said, finding what documentation you need is only the first of many complicated steps.

 

United Cargo- Pet Travel
In she goes!

We first mentioned our trip to our vet on a visit early this summer to get some feedback and ensure a proper vaccination schedule prior to and in preparation of our departure.  The thing about South and Central America is that there are no formal quarantines and as expected we vaccinate both ourselves and our animals more than most other countries.  There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary that we needed to give but we did need to work with the USDA office for the proper health certificate.

Well, this was it, all packed and ready to go. After months of anticipation, planning and general wonder about how this incredible adventure will unfold we are finally ready to depart.  Since we couldn’t break a bottle of champagne over the nose of the airplane we opted for the next best thing and headed to the United Club to cheers the voyage.

United Clube
Couple of eats and glass of wine to pass the time

We were notified that a landing gear light needed to replaced and we were delayed a short time. Watching the minutes tick by all we could do was think about Lucia and hope that she was fairing okay, poor girl.  After a long two hour wait we finally boarded and settled into our seats; we were obviously comfortable because before we knew it we were on arrival.

Anxious to start the customs process and rescue Lucia from her kennel we read and re-read the collection instructions and quickly deplaned.  We arranged a taxi to pick us up and the contact was there with our name-card as expected; we tried to tell her we needed to pick up the dog and showed her the paperwork, she nodded her head, said something and gestured us to follow – so we did.  We got to the taxi and our driver asked where the dog was, she was a little dumbfounded.  Obviously she hadn’t understood a word we said, still working on rolling those R’s.  We headed back in to the information counter and it was like no one understood the instructions that were provided, granted they were in english but they didn’t even seem know of the building locations referenced.  We walked to a random United door, knocked and knocked but got no response, so back to the information desk and with new directions headed back to the taxi.

Travel with a pet
First site of Lucia in Argentina

We needed to go to the Cargo area in an entirely different part of the airport grounds.  No taxis were allowed through the secured area and there was no parking so Chad stayed with our backpacks in the taxi and off I went with the paperwork and directions I didn’t understand.  All I really understood was walk down the street, turn left at the next security gate and find the building on the left.  I wandered into the first building and up to the second floor like I thought I was supposed to; like a weird dream some random guy, in broken english said, you must be here for the dog and pointed me to another building and just like that was gone again. I finally found the United Cargo office and felt like I was on the right track, phew.  I was concerned I had to leave all the original paperwork with United Cargo in Houston and just hoped I’d get it all back as expected. After about 20 minutes of who knows what and seemed like should’ve taken less than 5, the woman handed me a stack of paperwork, asked for payment and pointed me to the next office.  Finished with United and now off to find the SENASA office for review of the health certificate and associated paperwork. It took another bit of wandering in and out of the wrong place to find the right office but I finally found it and I was beginning to notice the pace at which people move. With a YouTube video playing on the office computer and the first showing of mate sharing, I expected this review to go a little faster than it was moving.  In a bit of conversation we were having I mentioned she was like my baby and he laughed; he said he would go check on her and would tell me how she was.  About 30 minutes later he came back and said she was fine, sleeping.

Cha-ching…It was time to pay another fee, then I needed to go get an ID badge to be allowed into yet another location. The guy was very nice and escorted me to the security location so I knew exactly where to go for the ID then said to come back to his office. At that point Chad and the taxi driver had found a place to park and were looking for me concerned that it was taking so long.  I thought we were making progress and I was convinced that it wouldn’t be too much longer; I mean I was on step 4 of 8 on the instructions list.  I headed back to the SENASA office and the nice gentleman asked if I wanted to see Lucia so we walked to the holding area.  Along the way he informed me that the next office I needed to go to closes for lunch at 1pm, well it was 1:05pm – I wanted to scream, that meant I had to wait for an hour to keep the process going.  As we approached the warehouse I could hear her and knew she wasn’t sleeping, uh oh.  Poor girl was not happy and she was letting everyone around know it.  I walked in and she looked so sad and scared, she was in her kennel locked in a wire cage so I could barely get my fingers in for a quick lick. Not sure if seeing her made it worse since it certainly had for me, my calm was waning and my patience tested.  I headed to the customs office where there was already a line, I had to take a number and wait the next 45 minutes until lunch was over.  Lunch, which consisted of the young lady chatting with a friend that came to see her, sharing mate, having a smoke and surfing the web while we all sat there and watched.  At this point I was counting the hours, not only the hours since I’d last seen Chad but the long hours since we’d dropped Lucia and locked her in the kennel.

Cargo grounds in Argentina
Wild goose chase on the Cargo grounds

It felt like forever for 2pm to come and for the young lady to call the first person in line to the counter.  Anxiously, I waited for her to call my number since I wasn’t exactly sure what the process was there.  She entered some information in the computer and told me to sit back down and wait some more, ugh. 18 hours and counting, my patience were really being tested.  I was then told to go into another room where some man took the paperwork and said to go back out to where I was and wait some more.  This was becoming very painful.  Almost 2 hours later (just in that office) I finally paid yet another fee and was told I could now, finally, go collect the dog. Informing people that I was trying to collect a living dog didn’t seem to increase the sense of urgency for anyone. I headed back to the warehouse with all the paperwork signed, sealed, paid for and ready to rescue Lucia.

This is where the process went from painful to full on excruciating; hearing Lucia cry, receiving the annoyed looks from everyone in the warehouse that had now been listening to her all day and being told that there was still another step I had to complete.  The instructions provided by United were step by step but not entirely thorough or informative. I was unable to understand any of the directions and this step was not even mentioned on the procedure list so I was at a bit of a loss.  I walked back to the security officer and thankfully he spoke a little bit of english and I asked where I was supposed to go to get the approval signature to leave the premises and he had no idea.  He knew exactly who I was since Chad and the taxi driver were concerned and pacing around the grounds wondering where the heck I was. I headed back to the SENASA office and the guy was surprised to see me, said that I had everything I needed and should just be able to get her.  I was very confused so went back to the warehouse office to get additional clarification, to which I received none but he did offer to have someone take me.  So I waited until that someone was ready.  He walked me to the security gate and tried to tell me where to go but I understood nothing.  So I wandered around the building, in and out of security; I asked the next security guide where this office was that I needed to go and he pointed me around the corner and in the second door.  This was still the wrong place and yet again I was pointed in another direction.  Finally finding the right place I positioned myself in front of the window and said I needed a final signature.  It took two people moving at a snails pace to sign the piece of paper and finalize the paperwork.

I went running back to the warehouse and came in like I’d run a race with the needed signature, handed it to the man to stamp and sign.  He then told me to turn around to the window behind me and give someone else the paperwork to review, this was to create the document to leave the premises. He needed a license plate number of the car we were driving, I said we had a taxi and I didn’t have it.  Well, he needed a license plate number and I needed to go get it.  I was not allowed to take Lucia out so I had to leave her again on another wild goose chase.  At this point, it had been a number of hours since I’d seen Chad and now way of getting in touch with him as I couldn’t find a wifi signal anywhere.  Isn’t this why we brought 2-way radios!?!?  In such a rush and having no idea what a process this would be neither of us thought about them when I jumped out of the taxi.

Tired Pup
Tired Pup

Now wandering the grounds, wondering where Chad could be and desperate to get Lucia the heck outta there I was trying to think through what the options were.  Finally, I caught sight of him at another security gate. The taxi driver didn’t know the license plate number and had to walk all the way back to the taxi that was parked in some random lot, which took another half hour. Finally, with the license plate number in hand I ran back to the warehouse to complete the exit forms. Still not allowed to take Lucia out I just tried to talk to her as we waited for the taxi to pull up to the warehouse.  The car had to be cleared to come into the secured area where they wouldn’t open the cage she was in until he was positioned to open the door and place the kennel directly in the back of the taxi.  We were not allowed to take her out until we were off airport grounds.

 

After five (5) excruciating hours dealing with one office after another, and all of us dying over the screeching howl and crying from the back, but finally reunited, we drove down the highway until there was a spot we could pull off.

Phew, we finally made it!

 

 

The Final Count Down

International, Panamerican, Travel with a Pet
Tiny House Sale
Paring down

Putting our own twist on the Tiny House movement and keeping the mantra travel more (Moore) at the forefront, we have been consolidating, donating and generally paring down all our possessions since we rented and moved out of our house June 1st.  That being said, the final four days consisted of giving our Volvo to Flight Car, leaving the truck with a shipping company that on a different day we wouldn’t have set foot into and now it’s time to send the dog as cargo on our flight.  For me, that was the hardest part about actually leaving.  I knew in my head she’d be fine, I mean she’s a dog and resilient, everything will be fine.  But at a time in life when you’re giving up jobs, paychecks, a first home, and your significant possessions for this thing called adventure and wanderlust your really start to hold on tight to what’s important – and when it comes to the Furbaby, mamma bear comes out.

Traveling with a pet always includes some extra thought; especially in our society where there’s a certain vanity to pets and for a lot of people they are surrogate children, either because they’re not in that ‘right place’, filling an empty nest or can’t for one reason or another.  When we first seriously began working through the idea of what it would take to do something like this we started with Australia but knew that quarantine was not something we wanted to deal with and quickly decided a road trip could accommodate our most spoiled pooch.  We’ve both traveled the States fairly extensively and wanted something a bit more out of the box and decided to head south.  Neither of us have been to South America and it was top of the list of boxes to check; a life goal to visit every continent and this puts us at 5 of the 7 (Australia and Antarctica the two outstanding).  Doing a little research it didn’t take long to realize how many people make this road trip a reality and off we were.  Even better that one of the blogs we stumbled onto fairly early on was about a couple who made this trek with their dog – that was it, done deal. Once the decision was made, the fear and intimidation only somewhat at bay, a lot of research and reassurance was to be done on crossing not one or two borders but upwards of 13-15 through some of the most trafficked drug smuggling routes in the world. Well, if that doesn’t say it…

Buenos Aires
Packed and ready for BA

I tend to overthink things which results in being a bit of a worrier, I want to know what I don’t know even though I know figuring shit out is part of the journey.  My goal was to ask questions, research, ask more questions and do more research and prepare myself all knowing that I still won’t can’t know everything.  I came across PetTravel.com, a company that specializes in helping people travel and relocate overseas with pets. Feeling relieved to have this formal resource I continued looking for any tidbits that could help augment the documents.  I was able to confirm that there are no formal quarantines but we will be required to see a local vet for an exam and proper paperwork before crossing each border.  We can figure this out no problem, summer 2015 motto!

I was glad our direct flight left Houston at 9:15pm so we had all day to run Lucia and tire her out before we all loaded up and boarded.  We spent the day frantically tying up loose ends, making notes of all those left to finish and finally made it to the dog park for a good run in the sun.  Summer in Houston and both days we found ourselves out in the heat of the day, thankfully they have swimming ponds for

United Cargo - Traveling with a pet
Dropping Lucia at United Cargo

those mutts to cool off in.  We were sitting under the shade chatting and Chad noticed an email from SENASA, the equivalent to our USDA, regarding our arrival.  It said we needed to provide confirmation and all documentation 24 hours prior to arrival – well, we were well within 24 hours and this was the first I heard that anything needed to be provided.  I immediately called United and the field agents were only somewhat helpful.  I spoke with a Supervisor who did nothing more but read me a blurb about what’s required to which I confirmed I had done; what I was worried about was the confirmation of arrival and pre-arrival documentation review.  I immediately emailed the documentation, which I was sure I had in order and said I’d be to their office within the next hour.

 

 

 

North-side Gaucho – Houston

Hermes, International, Panamerican, Travel with a Pet
Houston stop over
Cheers! Thanks to the Sliger’s for their hospitality

We did reach Houston safely and as expected. Without a speed bump or two what would this be?  TOO EASY and not us!  I mean to be honest, in the preceding months our must do logistics came together so easily and quickly that the train was on the track and rolling before we were ready or willing to do anything about it – and, besides who are we but a couple to just ride the ride… That being said, the puzzle pieces laid out in a jumbled picture, we would be naive not to expect a few hitches, snags, stumbles, hiccups, or whatever word comes to mind, along the way – Practice gloves off cause we’re on the road and this shit is real.

Uptown Houston, TX
Uptown view from Sliger’s

 

We’re lucky enough to have our old friend Anthony, who was wooed back stateside from Oz by his new bride Rachel, living in Houston and they graciously invited us to stay with them and ‘save some pesos’ before we took flight. It was a perfect opportunity to spend an evening getting acquainted with Rachel, Val and Moe (the cats) before the work week started and our countdown continued. We were also pleasantly surprised that Scott and Kim along with their son Cooper, whom we enjoyed spending time with at the February wedding, had recently moved back from Australia and were there to help with the send off as well.

An amazing launching pad and thankful we were able to help ease those kitties into this dog eat dog world – or wait, do kitties really rule?!?!?!?  It was a good canine feline introduction where one really observes the bitch V pussy showdown.  Both with their strengths and weaknesses – why don’t you want to play ball?!?  The best part about it is that sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which.  Almost like that silly skiing vs. snowboarding feud.

With so much unknown we’re not quite sure what we are or aren’t ready for but there were a few must dos that need immediate attention. Shipping the truck was priority and has been the most evasive logistic to date.  Preparing the truck for the container required removing all articles out the cab, off the top and ensuring it was secured inside the bed of the truck.  That includes everything inside as well as the cargo rack with all its pieces. The silver lining being that with everything stacked and the monstrous spare tire front and center it may deter any sort of customs search on either side of the border.  Officials have full right to confiscate anything they deem as prohibited and customs regulations are subject to change at any time.  We can confirm this as things tend to change on a whim depending on what day it is or who we talk to.  Again, shipping has been the most elusive, complicated and costly logistic.

Our shipping agent has been courteous, responsive and fairly informative but as a middleman simply coordinating logistics like the wizard behind the curtain fear of the flying monkeys set in when we pulled up to the dodgy receiving location.  Chad walked out of the office and firmly said “I hope this isn’t the right place, they know nothing about us dropping the off truck.” An immediate call to our agent who reassuringly said to give him 15 minutes he’d have it straightened out and apologized for the lack of information.  Just like he said, 15 minutes later out they walked with a camera and what looked like a scrap piece of paper with a bunch of incorrect information scribbled out and they asked us to write the contact information of our shipping agent. SKETCHY!  They began to take pictures, note the condition of the truck and somewhat inventory the contents  – I looked straight at the guy and said ‘Don’t lose our truck’!

So, that was it.  The truck was gone and all we can do is hope it shows up in Buenos Aires with all it’s contents as we expect.

Buenos Viajes

International, Panamerican, South America, Travel with a Pet

Houston Bound
And we’re off

Here we go, this is it, ready or not… That last hug and the final good-byes make it feel a little more real than surreal; we pulled away and both sighed over the gravity of this adventure that has finally come to fruition.  The first leg of our trip involves the final prep logistics of getting the truck shipped and the three of us to South America.  Keeping the dog in mind we decided to drive to Houston and ship the truck from there as it was the most direct flight option to Buenos Aires via United.

We barely crossed the Texas border and had to hide the road snacks, in particular the spicy pecans or should I say,“crack nuts” since they were already just about gone.  Hoping to get as far as possible and just sleep when we were tired we didn’t really have a destination in mind for the night but hoped we could make it to at least Wichita Falls, TX to put us in Houston earlier rather than later.  It was dusk when we stopped for gas and decided to switch drivers.  The truck started with a slight chug but nothing to slow us Month in Buenos Airesdown; although the dash lights didn’t come on and a slight concern came into the air.  One of those things that neither of us wanted to make a big deal but didn’t want to let go either.  We decided to pull over and try turning the car off and restarting – when in doubt reboot, does that work for automobiles too?  Well, the truck was completely dead, nothing more than that lifeless click, click click.  That’s when the dread takes over; here we are on the outskirts of some random west Texas town dead on the side of the road with no explanation.  The truck was running just fine until it just didn’t start.  All I could say is, “at least we’re still in the US”.  Concerned of an electrical issue we reluctantly decided it was probably necessary to pull everything out of the back and take a look at some of the wiring. Needing some ventilation and air in the cab I tried to roll down the windows and all the gauges chirped and chimed as expected so why not give it one more try.  It turned over just like it was supposed to, as if there was nothing wrong.  Was this a bad dream? Or just a quick test of confidence before we go.  After a deep breath and as we were about to pull away Chad remembered that he dimmed the dash lights the previous night and we realized there was nothing wrong there; so with the truck started, the dash lights back up to normal we were ready to get back on our way.
A few miles down the road, I was convinced I was smelling something burn.  Sure my nerves were a little rattled but something was not right, I was sure it smelled like something was going to catch on fire.  So once again we pulled over at the next little town, population 350, and popped the hood next to the railroad tracks.  We did a full once over – and under – to see any sign of anything overheating, everything seemed fine.  So with that and a few moments to address what we’re embarking on and remind ourselves that things are bound to go wrong, it’s about how you solve the issues that counts…off we go again.

Texas TrainsJust before getting on I40 we needed a pit stop and a little stretch of the legs; all back in and ready, and once again just the sound of the lifeless clicks, ugh!  Now dread has turned into panic; what was going on, what was wrong?  Are we even going to make it to Houston let alone South America?  Is this that omen crushing the Pan-American road trip dream?  Alright, deep breath where do we start?  What did we rule out, what can we rule out?  What did we do last time just before it started?  And with a slight touch to the battery cut off switch a light went off, or on to be literal. That was it.  Something was wrong with the cut off switch and the battery wasn’t charging.  Feeling slightly relieved to at least know the source of the issue and knowing we could get the truck started again we decided to truck on.

Lucia Break
Break time for all

Reaching Amarillo, we needed a break and dinner was a good excuse.  The clock was ticking to get the truck to the receiving dock for shipping on Monday and time was of the essence to get any issues identified and fixed.  Thinking through the wiring scheme and considering what the issue could be we removed the battery power cut-off to find the connection had become loose and began melting the casing.  There was a problem, there was the problem and there was a smell… At least feeling relieved that we identified the issue and could now sort through the solutions we rewired a temporary connection to ensure the battery would charge and after dinner headed off, again.  It didn’t take too long before we realized we weren’t going to make it all the way to Wichita Falls and decided we needed a place to sleep.

Being our first official ‘night on the road’ of course we were going to sleep in the truck, and for lack of a more clever description (I am borrowing the term) “Pirate Camping” was on deck.  So we found a nice Best Western parking lot and picked a spot.  It must have been the first week back to school for the small college across the street because it was crowded and there were a handful of rowdy parents loitering around their trucks/cars drinking beer and reminiscing about trips they’ve taken with their kids.  Some things never get old, lol.  Being subtle we walked the dog and crawled in, to which we all slept until we were rudely awaken by a train blaring it’s whistle at what seemed like full speed not much more than 20 feet away. A few minutes later we heard someone rustling around in the car next to us and we decided it was past time to get back on the road.  Pirate Camping success story #1, although we didn’t help ourselves to the “complimentary breakfast” we did laugh about it and joked that we do grow out of some things.

Face full of Donut
Face full of donut