More on Crossing the Andes

Sorry this is out of order, but Madge wanted more on here about our crossing the Andes last Sunday (Oct.14), so will try. When we started out, there were low clouds, so we could only see the bases of the two volcanoes across Lake Llanquihue (pronounced Yankee Way -- we told them we would prefer Dixie Way, but no one would listen). We could see both of them to just above the snow line and then they vanished into the clouds. They were still pretty tho'. We stopped to stretch our legs and take a short hike up to a cascade of clear water across black lava flows. Then back on the bus to Petrohue where we boarded a catamaran to sail across Lake Todos Los Santos (Lake of All Saints since it was named on Nov.11) Then when we got off at Peulla for lunch, the sun came out and from there on we had a beautiful day (and this in an area that gets rain on over 300 days a year). Just past here, we got off the bus and went through immigration to exit Chile. For the next part of the trip, we would be in a no man's land since we were officially out of Chile but not officially in Argentina -- think the Chilean guards were just smart enough to have their site nearer to civilization. Then back on the bus and off we went up a dirt road between huge evergreen trees. After a while, we were up to the snowline and and wonderful views of the snow covered peaks all around us. When we reached the ridge line that marked the continental divide, we all got off the bus to officially enter Argentina. We could not resist throwing a few snowballs, but then it was back on the bus and down the other side of the Andes to Puerto Frias and another cruise across Lake Frias. Back on the bus to ride on a crushed lava road to another boat on lake Nahuel Huapi (Naw Well Wop E) where a boxed dinner awaited us. This boat ride was a couple of hours long, so we had plenty of time to eat our sandwiches and apples and enjoy the wonderful views of mountains and waterfalls. Then back on the bus again to ride along Lake Nahuel Huapi to Bariloche. By this time it was nearly dark and we were glad to get to our hotel where we had a wonderful view across the lade to the snow covered Andes. We were really lucky to have had such beautiful weather for the crossing as we would find out on Mon. afternoon when the wind (the so-called King of Patagonia) blew in cold weather, clouds, rain and even a few flakes of snow. Think Madge has covered all that though. She has taken advantage of my typing this to take a nap -- figured that was her main motivation for getting me to do this. It is now Wednesday and we have just finished the Buenos Aires tour and are waiting to go to dinner (hopefully not as much as we ate last night when we got a "mini-steak" that must have weighed at least a half pound or more). We have made arrangements on our own to take the ferry across the Rio Plata to Colonia, Uruguay tomorrow. The rest of the group is going out into the Pampas to a Polo Ranch, but we wanted to do this, so hope it turns out well.