Thoughts Sidle

It's Uruguay. I've decided to head toward Uruguay.

The air is pretty clean and clear in western Uruguay. Even Montevideo has pretty good air quality for a capital city. I know an interesting hot water resort area in the country. Not much possibility for river, lake, or canal travel, but two out of three seems good. (see earlier post)

There are good places to visit or stay that are less expensive than Uruguay, but I believe Uruguay is cheaper than, say, Mexico these days. It is not as exotic as Mexico, but it has its attractions. One might call it the Belgium of South America. Also Porto Alegre, Brazil and B.A., Argentina are not far. Uruguay's athletes play ball with the big boys, but it is a small country.

Just because I am heading toward Uruguay is no assurance that I will arrive. I intend to travel slowly so as to give myself abundant opportunity to be distracted.

My first day of travel as I leave 29 may be my most strenuous, but it will be slow: I'll get a bus in 29 and take it to Yucca Valley. From Yucca Valley I'll take a 2nd bus to Palm Springs. In Palm Springs I hope to transfer to a bus that will take me to Indio.
With luck, in Indio, I'll be able to catch a Greyhound to the Mexican border at Calexico.
I have taken the above route, leaving 29 in the Morning and arriving in Mexico City early the next morning. I probably won't try that this time. Instead I will probably spend the night in Calexico or across the border in Mexicali. Then in the morning take a Mexican bus directly to the Tijuana airport and take the first reasonable flight to Ciudad Mexico.

Might stay two or three nights in the Mexican capital. From Mexico I can catch a flight to, say, Panama or Venezuela and on to Brazil. Could take one of the wonderful luxury buses from Brazil to Uruguay.

I can enjoy Montevideo for a week or so and then head for the"termales." There I'll spend much of my time in trunks and bathrobe. I intend to sip mate and eat well too.

But who can say; I might find a lovely villa in the highlands of Panama. I might decide to take some Spanish classes in Merida, Venezuela. Or I might meet a woman of that great Japanese-Portuguese mix in Sau Paulo. Met a girl like that in California many years ago and still have occasional dreams. Then again, I might meet an elegant German-Brazilian matron in Porto Alegre. Women do seem to appear in my dreams.

Its' a trip!

Thoughts of the Adriatic and the Black Sea do sidle into my imagination, but I intend to move my body toward southeast South America.