wino

went to a vineyard today for a tour. i like drinking red wine but not big on talking about it so after getting to the vineyard and realizing all the info was in spanish i bolted the tour, walked around and took pictures instead. not learning anything but it was a nice place and perfect day..

no idea what this is used for but its cool looking..same goes for all the old equipment

tubes reminded me of high school chemistry but they were locked in a glass walled room. maybe little more advancedjust as you'd imagine courtyardafterward rode to tucuman encounter biggest llama in 1000's seen...horse size. big llama house too

Feliz Navidad!

Spending Christmas in wine country….Cayafaye, argentina.
Picture postcard small town surrounded by vineyards butting up to the Andes, which here are red rocky with green..christmasy in their own right. First noticeable tradition difference was the blasting fireworks at midnight on Christmas eve…not a big display like 4 july but everyone in town lights off their own little displays lasting until 6am or so. Say fireworks lightly because I'm pretty sure there was some small dynamite included too….huge blasts actually feel the air pressure when they go off…not sleep much.
Was hoping to go to church at old school cathedral type but the one here is adobe new and modern…ok though…..don’t have to go in as they project it thru loudspeakers in the square to whole city….lots of people attending outside. Gonna head to another dealer town tomorrow because the oil pressure sensor went out on the ride down from Salta…oil everywhere constantly having to refill…..want to square clutch and forks too before getting into remote south.own little christmas dinner on 23rd before parting ways...martina and didi going west first 30 miles south of salta was flood zone... rode more like creek and sprayed from oncoming cars soaked before drying out in beautiful foothill arid-ish countryside

merry christmas.............................!

just like that

.....out of poverty and into summer.
Argentina definatley has distinct feel of being unlike all other countries of the ride.
Western faces, big houses with pools…with what? Bbq’s, boating, farm animals/ horses everywhere.... a giant butterfly that just flew in the window at this cafe and landed by my feet...swimming in rivers instead of washing clothes, lush green landscape modern gas stations with high octane...nike, smiling faces, bigger bikes, no death smells, European feel and organized streets….and for the first time in 4 months Im the one being flipped off and yelled at for passing on solid lines and running red lights….they mind road rules and even have brake lights ….just when not think about it accept road mayhem as the norm…its back to rules
Drove down to salta appreciating another great thing about this easy to fall in love with country……perfect one lane mountain hugging road with more twists and turns than any ive ever seen. top it off with thick huge steaks everywhere in argentina...goodbye chicken and rice

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

the last country

Back up into the red andes and over to argentina this time on pavement…..cold then hot then cold then hot. Crossing the border in nowhere land about 14000ft went as smooth as it could. after border... few hundred miles of scenery and a few sheep herders living way out... wicked winding down...dreamlike riding.... canyon carving....then into some beautiful dirt roads……and finally ending up in a flutest mellow little Andean town surrounded by the most colorful mountains ive ever scene….red, green,purple, orange, rust, yellow all distinct and layered into one another…very cool town…. last of Andean type feel... so im told.

how ya feel about having your picture taken