It's not a slow car, it's a fast house

December 2022-

We entered Argentina at a tiny border crossing, off of a ferry boat. After a full day of heat, travel and paperwork we were ready to relax.  We found a quiet riverside campsite and had some delicious deserts.

Then we found more mission ruins!   These Jesuit missions were created before the present country boundaries and borders were established.  It’s hard to imagine that the missions we visited in Brazil were considered to be walking distance from these ruins in Argentina.  You can read about the Brazil missions if you click here    https://slowcarfasthouse.com/2023/02/11/the-journey-begins-again-2/

It was time to visit a big city for some groceries, a museum and some geocaching. The city is named Resistencia, Argentina.  It is the capital of the Chaco region in the far north province of Argentina. (if you look at a map, it is the “thumb” of Argentina)

The museum was odd, filled with uncategorized old artifacts and junk.  More like an artists public space.  But we enjoyed it because it was having a craft fair, selling handmade items for Christmas gifts.  Check out this cute succulent in a recycled can, concept.

The geocaches were a disappointment, because all of them had been muggled.  There is a terrible feeling when you hunt hard for a geocache, and it is missing.  Geneva consoled her geocaching frustrations with this stony female.  This city has many pieces of street art scattered throughout.

One of the most heart-wrenching pieces of art is a mosaic dog.  Standing about two feet tall, this dog is modeled after a very special, neighborhood street dog named Fernando.  The sculpture looks a bit like Snoopy.  But clearly Fernando meant a lot to the people living on this street.

 

This is a photo of Pacha helping us search for yet another missing geocache.  Come on Argentina…… if only you played geocaching as well as you played soccer!!  Remember that in December, Argentina was in the running to win the World Cup.   We caught a few games, but mostly scrolled for the highlights on our phones. Game times often happened while we were doing other things.

 

The video above shows a common scene of a family using a horse and trailer to go to town for supplies.  However, the work horse has a foal along for the run.  And behind is an uncommon scooter scene.  What makes it uncommon is that both people are wearing helmets.  But I hear that Argentina is strict on that.

After the busy day we needed some fresh air to relax.  The three adults (remember we still have Myungsu with us) and two dogs, headed to a waterfront campground with beautiful trees, grass, birds and pine cones!!

We took some extra time to relax here.  The dogs enjoyed the grass and open space.  We enjoyed the hot showers and cooler temperatures.   We knew things were heating up with the World Cup matches and this country has a history of “passionate” reactions to World Cup outcomes.  This time was the best possible outcome for Argentina.  We were driving down the highway in the final moments of the final game.  We decided to pull into a truck stop to watch the game.  The television room was packed full of cheering, breath-holding, drinking passionate fans.  Men, women, children and dogs were gathered from all walks of life in this little room.  No one even noticed three foreigners and their dogs when the final countdown began.  And the energy of the celebration was all encompassing.  We were wrapped into embraces by strangers, offered beers, clapped on the back and carried along in the throng as it moved out on to the street.  We peeled ourselves out and got back in the truck to drive on toward our next destination.  But continuing down the highway was the perfect way to view this country celebrating the victory.  People spilled out of homes on to streets.  Streets filled with honking cars, waving flags and jersey-wearing humans hanging out windows.  The chanting and singing was loud and joyful.  The streets became parades that drove toward town plazas and rallied around in happiness and country pride! See the video below of a small taste of this fun.

 

We even got into the futbol fever as we posed for this fun and silly photo!  The time has come to visit a veterinarian to prepare paperwork for crossing borders again.  And Myungsu has an old friend who practices in Santa Fe, Argentina.  We drove to the city and settled in on a street corner near his home.  The evening was a blast as we roamed around a pre-Christmas fair with food, crafts, gifts and meeting new people.

Doing international travel paperwork for dogs is usually a simple process.  The steps are almost always the same: visit vet and get health check, take health check and proof of rabies vaccination to agriculture office, pay fees, get official import/export form signed and stamped.   However, the staff at this agriculture office was possibly the most unfriendly we have encountered!   These photos show the official building housing the office, the unfriendly officer, and me patiently waiting to be called in to wrap up the procedure!

Paperwork is ready.  The country is celebrating a World Cup victory and we are prepped to cross over a river into a new country.  Do you know what flag we are adding next?  Are you ready to join us for a brief exploration of one of the smaller countries in South America.   Up next………