Hosteria 7 Lagos to Villa La Angostura (Tues 2/2)

Stats:
- 17 miles
- 1600 feet of climbing
- roadkill = zip, zero, nada

Much to our surprise, we woke up to completely blue skies and no wind!  The temps were chilly.  Our wool Buffs and gloves were essential.  It didn't rain during the night nor did the winds howl. So, it was a great treat to know that we would enjoy this morning's ride free of rain. After a frustrating breakfast experience that doesn't deserve description, we headed out around 9:30am. 

The cool temps and a bit of overnight dew reduced the dust. Almost all the traffic is coming head on from Villa La Angostura. We rarely had a car pass in our direction. Again, we met other touring cyclists and we met our first fellow countrymen -- from Alaska. We have been surprised by the number of people riding south to north. Haven't they read the blogs about the dominate wind directions?!

We were treated to more great views --- mountains, lakes, flowers. There were several pull outs along the road and we stopped for photos. We met people traveling from Germany and Buenes Aires. While the adults were fascinated with our bikes and gear, the kids have been most interested in the rear view mirrors attached to our sunglasses. We put the glasses on the their faces.  Then a parent stands behind and waves. You can see the instant they understand what the mirror does. 

It was a pretty leisurely ride. We arrived at our hotel (Sol Arrayan) around noon. After quick showers, we headed into town to find lunch. We enjoyed our best lunch of the trip so far --- black raviolis filled with eggplant and a tomato sauce (for me) and pesto sauce (for Arn). Afterwards, we stopped in a bakery for what we thought was a macaroon dipped in chocolate. Turned out it was a shortbread cookie piled high with Dulce de leche and dipped in choclate. We both agreed it is not often you bite into something expecting something good only to get something totally differently and much better than expected!

In the afternoon, we hit the bike shops and found the chain lube we need. We took care of getting our laundry done.  We also stopped in the hardware store for hose clamps. It turns out they are a good repair kit item should a rack break. We also toured the grocery store to see what new and different provisions we might find. On the walk back to the hotel, the winds were ripping and howling and the clouds were rolling in fast. 

We hopped a cab to dinner around 8:30pm. It was starting to rain lightly. We enjoyed great steaks and grilled vegtables. During dinner, the heavens opened and it poured.  After dinner, our hotel had to pick us up. The cabs have gone back on strike.  Evidentally, a cab driver was "kind of murdered" a couple of days ago. "Kind of" seems to mean "a crime of passion and no one is saying anything". The cabs are striking because they want the authorites to get to the bottom of it. The woman in the restauarant seemed very nervous to tell us about it until we told her we are from the U.S.  She seemed to figure that we are used to people getting killed everyday, so no problem -- one "kind of murder" wouldn't scare us off. Oh well. We explained a bit about the media machine in the U.S.  

Bottom line, it was another good day.