Things must improve...Saturday (2/6)

Rain. Cold. In a nutshell, this was today. We are in the equivalent of our Northern Hemisphere month of August and in a place that get the same amount of precipiation as the San Francisco Bay Area and it has rained all day. It is a constant steady rain growing heavier at times (like now as I write this message). The temperatures are currently colder than Seattle. Seattle is experiencing a very warm winter and the temps here are at least 10 degrees below normal. All in all, it is a serious buzz kill.

The forecast is uncertain. We still hope to sneak out of town tomorrow morning. The thought is to avoid traffic by existing Bariloche on a Sunday morning. If the weather cooperates, our preferred plan is to head south to the Manzo River valley. We will ride the dirt roads that follows the river and camp. Ideally, we would like to camp two nights and enjoy one day of riding a mountain bike trail (free of gear) before heading further south to the town of El Bolson on Tuesday. Really, if you could see what it is like outside the window, you would tell us to start building an ark. I seriously believe the ENTIRE summer´s worth of rain and has fallen today. Can you tell this is getting on my nerves?

Arn has a good outlook --- at least we are sitting out the rain in a nice town, with good food, a nice bed, and the internet. Hopefully, you will hear from us again on Tuesday or Wednesday from El Bolson. If you hear from us sooner, it means I´ve headed to the hardware store for ark building supplies. Or we could head out and get soaked completely before we get to El Bolson. Just remember what I said about "O" versus "o". I´m feeling a bit of "O". We´ve been told the saint of weather is referred to as Don Pedro. There is a dessert called, "Don Pedro". Perhaps we need to say a pray and order up a hot Don Pedro (ice cream, dulce de leche and raspberries).