Damn speed bumps!!!

We enjoyed our day in Puerto Madryn, walking around town when the stores are closed and it's quiet. We found a cafe and had a latte, but the pastry display wasn't exciting but I still found something sweet to smile about and to have with my latte 😁  But the cafe was really hot, no a/c on or fans so it wasn't really enjoyable. I'm fanning myself with my visor while I'm drinking hot coffee LOL!!! We then walked over to a grocery store to pick up a few things and headed back to Vanna.  Once there we took our chairs out and found a nice spot under the trees looking out onto the ocean. But not long after that the wind was coming off the ocean and it was pretty cool, so we moved behind a building for protection. After supper we walked back along the malecón and back once more. Still busy with families and couples enjoying their Sunday.  

All our country flag stickers so far plus a few others (HD sticker was on when we bought Vanna) Plus think our flag has had it, losing the red on one side of the flag,  it gets whipped about in the wind 

One of the original building from the 1920's in Puerto Madryn

We drove to the far side of the bay which looked back towards Puerto Madryn

Not sure what happened to our moon, but it lost it's top ;)

These are carvings done on living trees along the malecón 

This one is a little weird!

Once we got back we moved to a side road as we did last night so that we aren't parked on the busy main road. Around 3:00am I wake up and can hear a party going on quite a ways from us, but still can hear the music and people yelling. Then around 5am woke up again because now they were all walking along the main street heading towards the malecón and making alot of noise. That is another reason it was good to get off the main street! And this is a Sunday night!! These people love to party no matter what night it is I guess! 

In the morning we find a propane shop in town and YEA! we got the tank filled. All done in about 20 minutes. But the cost wasn't cheap 1500AP ($33C) but at least we're good for awhile again. Then it was back on the highway travelling continuing north thru the barren lands. I think once we get to Viedma the scenery should change - then we should be out of the patagonia and into the pampas.  We are now 1200km from Buenos Aires. Hoping to be there by Wednesday afternoon. 

We arrive in Viedma and the landscape is much more interesting now. We drive out to the coast to see parrots flying around near the cliffs and to spend the night there instead of in the city. Once we get to the area which is a memorial site for those who died in the Falkland Islands war in 1982, it is a flat and WINDY site!! We watch the pretty green parrots flying around. We are high up on a cliff over looking the ocean and the birds fly down and then way up. But with this wind we decide to go back inland and find a spot in Carmen de Patagonia which is right across the river from Viedma. The spot is actually just in front of a gas station but seems it should be ok. 

Finally get to see some fields and trees along with cattle

Parrots a little fuzzy but you can see some of the yellow on their belly - hard to focus when they are busy flying around

From the top of the cliff looking down at a family using their car for a wind break while on the beach

Fighter jet at the memorial site

And this vehicle :) 

Tuesday morning we head towards the river to have our coffee in some quiet, because the spot turned out to be a busy one with trucks coming and going.  After coffee we head to the centre park and walk around the square. The write up in Lonely Planet says this city out shines Viedma because of it's quaint cobble streets. Couldn't really find cobble streets but there were a few paving stone streets but that was it. There were only a few colonial buildings. Then time to head out, but first we drive to a Walmart type store and buy a few things, but on the way there Dwayne misses a speed bump that is hidden by shade and really bounces Vanna! He stops and gets out to check for damage and yup the weld we had down on the hitch has broken! This needs to be fixed before we can leave the city. 

Carmen de Patagonia church built in 1885

Finally get to see a nice interior again 

The local bar back in the later 1800's early 1900's along the river bank. Now privately owned

Another nicely kept property 

Pretty side entrance with a beautiful hanging flowering plant

I've seen these in purple in Honduras but not pretty pink :) 

Looking across Rio Negro to Viedma

Another nicely kept front courtyard

Rio Negro with Viedma across the river

This restored cart from 1909 use to be pulled by 16 horses to collect bags of grain from the countryside. Total weight up to 18 tons!  The back wheels are 3m in diameter - huge!

I was able to google a welder and we actually found his house (also his shop) but he couldn't fix it but did give us the name of a place that could. He gave us the directions which we followed for most of the way, and since he did give us the street name I was able to find that and once on that street we watched for the sign and found the next welder. Time is now just after 12:00 and when we spoke with the welder he asked that we come back at 3 and he can work on it then. Should take a couple of hours. So guess we won't be travelling today. At least we found a welder that can fix our problem - and since he built a race car from scratch this should be an easy job for him! 

We then head to the river to have our lunch of rotisserie chicken we just bought and some nice white buns😱 As we are sitting by the river a couple stop by and chat, they are from Nanaimo, BC and are travelling by air and bus around Argentina for 2 months. She said this had always been a dream of hers to travel in South America by van.  They are probably about 75yrs old and I would guess from their accent Germans. But she said it never happened so now they go by bus, but she said we have a way better way of seeing the country :) We would have to agree with her - it's the best way to travel😊

We drove back to the welder guy at 3 and it took him all of 15 mins to weld on 2 brackets to fix the hitch! Wow! Plus he didn't even charge us, just said have a good trip! Nice!  So since it was still early we could continue north for at least a couple of hours, so decided to do that instead of staying in Viedma.