Trip to South America

On Friday, Feb 20, Sherry and I were on our way to Boise to watch the Girls at the state basketball tournament. Greg called about the time we got to Pocatello and asked me if I would go to Argentina with him on Sunday. I told him what I had going on in the two weeks we would be gone and that I would call him back later after I had time to think. Sherry encouraged me to go and then later I visited with President Miyasaki about it and he told me not to worry about things that were going on in the Stake the next week and go. I called Greg back and told him I would meet him on Wednesday and to get my tickets. We got back home from Boise on Sunday afternoon and on Monday I was on my way to SLC to catch a flight on the next morning. Imagine, returning to Agrentina after 40 years!!!

Tuesday was a real day in the air, literally. I left SLC at 7:30 a.m. and flew to Chicago where I had a four hour layover. Then on to NYC where I had a nine hour layover and then off to B.A. I got in about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. I got through customs in great shape and caught a bus that passed the temple and on to the center of town. I set out on foot to Caille Florida and to the Hostel that Greg had found there. We had a great couple of days there. Caille Florida is a walking street with vendors, music acts, beggars, and tons of shops and malls. That was our center of activity as it was right in the heart of Dixie. Greg didn't get back from Iguasu until some time Thursday so I spent the rest of the day catching a few winks and wandering the street seeing all the sights there close to the hostel but don't get me wrong, there was definitely plenty to see on Caille Florida. In the days to come we visited the Casa Rosada(Pink House), the military plaza and building, Recoleta Cemetery, took in a show with genuine tango dancers and a futbol game at BOCA Stadium. WOW!! Get this, we went to church on Sunday and they announced that Elder Scott was giving a fireside to the women of the stake at 5:30 that afternoon. We went to the stake center and caught him in the hall. He was as surprised to see us as we were to find out he was in town the same time we were.

Buenos Aires

While I was getting on the road, Greg was on his way to Iguazu Falls which is on the border of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It is a big deal and I wanted to see it but there is no way we could make things workout with me coming later and all. I claim it as I have Gregs pictures.

Iguazu Falls

Friday, Feb 27, we caught the ferry over to Uruguay and then the bus to Montevideo. We spent a couple of days there before catching the bus and ferry back on Saturday night. We went to the beach there, spent time wandering the Flea Market, checking out the plazas and writing home on the internet.

Montevideo

In the evening of Monday, March 2 we caught the bus for a ride to Santa Fe. This was one of the towns I worked in 40 years ago. I spent six months there wandering the streets. I was really excited to visit but not really sure how we would find people I wanted to visit. I lost all my information from the mission in the flood in 1976 but we knew the Lord would provide and He did. Through tiny mircles we were able to find people and places we wanted to see. We were able to find Elder Kade Hollingsworth who was serving there, some of the leaders of the church I knew, my old pencion, the church I helped start and more.

Santa Fe

After about a 15 hour ride through the night we arrived in Salta, la Linda. Wednesday, March 5 at 12:30 p.m. We found our Hostel and got checked in and out on the town we went. We went up town checked out the main plaza, 9 de Julio. This was my favorite place on the mission. What a lot of memories I have of Salta! Salta!! Salta!!! In the days that followed we found my pencion, the church which burned down about 15 years ago and was rebuilt, the Hospital were we had fetch the husband of one of the members, he was dead, Plaza San Martin, Plaza General Guemez, my favorite plaza in Argentina. We took a ride on the gondola up the hill. It was a nice stay. I spent six and a half months in Salta on the mission. We found a place to eat that really rocks. It was an Argentine buffet with all the trimmings but beef, beef and more beef.

Salta

We rented a car in Salta and drove to Jujuy on the 6th of March. I spent two months in Jujuy in the early days of my mission. We went the back way which was to have been more picturesque and it was. The road was a little narrow but the scenary was off the map. We stopped in a La Caldera, a little town about 25 miles from Salta. They have a huge goucho festival there around March 15 and 60,000 people show up. They have a big Cristo there also. We stopped in Salta and they were having a teacher strike there in the center of town. Teachers must be the same everywhere. We headed up north to check out some geological sites; Salt flats and Purmamarca. Check the pictures. We didn't get back to Jujuy until about dark and we found the church and got some info about the people I knew there and headed back to Salta. Greg had a great day driving the race car up and down the switch-backs on the roads to the salt-flats. I have never seen switchbacks like the ones going up to the salt- flats. We climbed to 13,000 feet. We had peaks in the distance covered with snow. Check out the slides.

Jujuy

We caught a bus from Salta to Mendoza. I worked in Mendoza for a month and a half at the end of the mission. We didn't have enough days to visit everything we wanted so we optted to go to Vina del Mar. Bishop Bergstrom said you can't visit Chile without going to Vina. We left at about 10:00 p.m. and got here in Mendoza aobut at about 16:00. Wow!! We then got the bus for Vina at 22:00 and got there at 6:00 a.m. What a bus ride!! We did have a one hour lay over in La Rioja. Time to sleep and read and do a few crosswords. We went through the border at about 12:30 a.m. and were there for about 45 minutes. Then we went down the other side of the mountain. Wow!! you can't believe the steep mountains. I couldn't get any pictures as it was at night. I got a picture of the net so you can see the trail. In Vina we did the plaza thing but they have this park that we visited that was really neat. We did the beach, dinner at a nice place on the street a couple of times, Brunet Castle, the summer Presidential Palace, the beach, Valpariso, and we visited with Elder Larry Corbridge.

Vina del Mar/Valpariso

Greg checked out his flight agenda and found out that he didn't leave Santiago at 7:45 a.m. but at 7:45 p.m. He checked out the internet and found that they had made a schedual change and that he didn't leave until after 11:00 p.m. We had a whole day in Santiago. We were going to catch the bus from Vina at 5:00 a.m. to be at the airport in time to take care of business but we went back to the Hostel and slept for a while. We road the bus into town and then the subway to the center of town. There we walked all over in the time we had. We say the Plaza de Armas which was surrounded with the usual government buildings, churches, hotels, and restaurants. The plaza is wonderful. We found a museum and went in and did the free tour and we found out that Prince Charles was at the Government building. We went for a visit. At the eastern end of downtown Santiago we find Cerro Santa Lucia which is a small hill(tall as most skyscrapers in town)that is adorned with wonderful facades, fountains and stairways and that even has a ‘castle’ on it.

Santiago