Part 2 of the adventure

Well it is time again to prepare for part two.
We had a very busy summer with lots of sunshine, visiting friends and family,  British Columbia is especially beautiful when the sun shines.
In June I visited my family in Holland and there attended a concert of Andre Riou in his hometown of
Maastricht. At Karli's house we all got together and had a feast of plum dumplings and could not get them quite as good as mom used to make them, but lots of fun with all brothers and sisters together.
 Brother Walter with grandson Daniel came to Canada for a visit and we went fishing in Tofino with great   Success.
Now we are working on the logistics of all we need to take with us to outfit the Blue Wonder.
We would need 10 ply tiers and can get then at a good price here but the shipping is very expensive, so we will have to buy the tiers in Argentina but thy have only 6 ply. We did get a new  right lower ball joint.
Getting the visa for Brazil was a hassle, thy wanted more information than revenue Canada, but we did finally get it. It is so much easier to pack the camper here in Vancouver were I can look what we need and go to Safeway or the Deli and get all the familiar things. No room in the backpack for Tim Hortons coffee. Oh well, Argentina has good coffee too. We spent one week in Palm Springs to get the Casita ready and rented for the season as we will not be using it, so we got a little foretaste of warmer weather.
We leave November 10th for Buenos Aires and grandson Keaton will look after our home here.
Hugs to you all and the next blog will be from Argentina.

Clouds in Holland

better meal

good catch

Concert in Maastricht

Beautiful British Columbia

Knitting group 

Norbert cutting trees that grew into the power lines  (Spokin Lake)

See the deer in the background

Spring in North Vancouver

Our summer resident is back ( Spokin Lake)

Choosing his apartment

North Vancouver May 20, 2014

Here just a little update of our Vancouver life.
When we got home there was quite a stack of mail to sort, bills to be paid, and some bills that I presumed were on automatic withdrawal turned out not to be, so  a few notices were also in the mail. It took me a few weeks to sort it all out but now it is done and I will know better come November. Keaton has kept the house spic and span while we were gone, so cleaning was minimal. I am a bit overwhelmed with all the "stuff" we have and I am now looking and contemplating what I really need and what is just stuff. The excesses are very stark compared with what the majority in south America have. So, food for thought.
It is wonderful to connect again with friends and family. Knitting nite is back and I so enjoy to be with the group, what interesting ladies. Spring is here and so the garden wants attention.
Went to Spokin Lake to check on the cabin and as there is no more snow we cut the grass and I made the cabin livable again. The usual animal residents also have returned to the Lake, humming birds, Canada geese, whooping crane, deer and robins is abundance. Of all the places we have been to and seen, British Columbia is still my favorite place and I am thankful to be living here. Have heard from some traveling companions, some are still en route, most have returned home and some we will meet again in south America come November.
To those still traveling we wish safe travels and we will follow your blog with interest.
I will start training for the bike tour in Idaho come September and am so looking forward to it.
Wishing you all a fabulous summer and stay in touch.
Hugs to all.
Norbert and Greti.

Home sweet Home

We spent the last week in Buenos Aires and found covered parking for the Blue Wonder close to Norbert's brother which made cleaning and packing very convenient as I could do laundry and thourough cleaning of the camper. The cleaning is important so as not to attract mould.
Went shopping on Avenida Scalabibi Ortiz which is famous for its yarn shops. It really is utopia for a knitter as not only the grand variety of yarns but also prices are less than half compared to Canada.
We took the bus, train and metro there and that in itself is an experience, Buenos Aires is very cosmopolitan and elegant. Our flight was at 10pm and we were lucky to have a row of 4 seats to ourself so I slept 7 of the 11 hour flight and our luggage was put though to Vancouver so the stopover in Dallas was easy. Arrived in Vancouver at 12.45pm. As scheduled . Our son Eric was to pick us up but was not there, when we phoned him he was still home in Gibsons which is a one hour ferry ride to Vancouer. He had mistaken the time for 12.45 am. No problem, we did 27,000 km. so far and the
last few we could manage as well. We took the sky train

Yes men work at this yarn shop as well

Very big selection 

Can it get any better?

Outdated trains

Our sendoff party of 9, I could not figure out how we all could fit in to the Pickup, no problem, just put some lawn chairs in the box and hold on. 

Add caption

sky train station Vancouver Airport

Balancing act 1

Balancing act 2

Norbert felt right at home in Belgrano (beer)

The Blue Woner looking a little worse for the wear.

I was checking if he would turn in to a prince, dont know what I would do if he did.

Market in San Blas Mexico

Train Station in Constitution Buenos Aires

 to waterfront then the sea bus to North Vancouver were our grandson Keaton met us an took us home. Now we will have to adjust to Vancouver life and digest the last 5 months and tank up new energy for November to continue the adventure.
Thank you to all our family and friends and all our new friends we made on this journey for your encouragement and support and please stay in touch.
One lesson I learned on this journey is that people everywhere are wonderful and the world is amazing.
Big hug to you all.
Love
Norbert and Greti

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Buenos Aires

Just had an email from Cap and Patti, and he mentioned that it was not clear from our blog that we will continue the jouney in November. We had a few more people question us about this.
We will fly to Vancouver April 15th and we have a return ticket for November 10th 2014.
We did not finish our trip as fall cougth up with us and it is too late to travel southern Argentina and Ushuaia.  Also we are looking at traveling to Chile and Brazil.
It is amazing how much there is to discover.
For now we are beiing s

poilt by Norbert's brother and his wife Elena and her sister Chola. Thy are cooking all our favorite meals like Matambre, Empanadas, and today we had a huge Asado with lots of chimijury. Life is good.
Hugs to All
Norbert and Greti

Cachi

Are we in Argentina?

I tried to chase the dog away but he would not budge

Our first Asado in Argeentina

Ruta 40 got another victim

Beautiful landscape, bad road

Passed the electrical inspection?

april 3rd.

Traveled from Salta to Cachi, found a nice camping with a very big pool which we used as it was quite hot. At the entrance of town is a nice restaurant that had Asado de Cabra (baby goat) very good.

We are meeting more people who started in Argentina or Brazil and are now going the opposite direction and asking lots of questions about border crossing and shipping. Here in Argentina we do not stick out so much but we still get approached and asked questions. Prices are the same or more than in Canada, gasoline is at. $1.50 per liter.

Visited the town of Cafayate where we spent one extra day there are nice restaurants and Ice cream Parlours and the Artisan shops are fantastic.

Then on to Jesus Maria which is very close to Cordoba then over the mountain again on a dirt road to La Cumbre where we are now parked at a river in an upscale neighbourhood  just at the edge of town, the police has passed twice and waved so we presume thy will keep an eye on us. Tomorrow we will go to La Falda and see if we can meet up with Sarah and Daniel from Kelowna who are on a motorcycle tour for the past year. It would be nice to see them.

We booked our flight to Vancouver for the 15th, of April and will be home on the 16th.

Thanks to all who were concerned that we would be affected by the earthquake, we are safe and sound 

Hugs to all

Norbert and Greti