Made it to Mendoza!

The pass opened up at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday and everybody who had been waiting for two days headed to the mountains.  As expected, the crossing was very crowded but more for trucks going either way and for Argentines coming to Chile. What was supposed to take 5-7 hours took 8 with breaks which isn't going to give us much time in Mendoza but a big part of this trip was going over the pass not tasting the wine ;-)  I searched for a vineyard with grape juice sampling but haven't found any.  Rumor has it they do have olive oil and chocolate sampling at some of the vineyards - we shall see.

Set with our Andean hats - not the most flattering photo but the others were worse!

From the town of Los Andes, Chile - goin' up

Not as much snow as we anticipated based on the fact that the pass was closed for two days.  We didn't have to use chains even though we bought them.  That might be Aconcagua - the highest peak in the Americas (6,959 meters - 22,841 ft)

Up, up, up

The trucks were lined up for 3 km waiting to get through their border crossing (thank goodness it was separate!)

The Argentine side - much drier.

down, down, down

Near the town of Uspallata - an oasis before the final stretch (1.5 hr to Mendoza)

First Argentine cortado of the trip - Uspallata

We saw rafters on the rivers and para-sailors on the lake - brrrrrrrr

Either we are adventurous, cheap, or its hard to find a place for five people - Hostal Alamo  - it is actually quite nice - more photos after it gets light outside.

OK - Fall has arrived here as well

Off to explore after Renee finally wakes up and we have some Argentine media lunas - mmmmmmmm!

BTW - Chile finally "fell back" on Saturday night - we are now the same time as the East Coast of the US.  Oh yeah - and 50 days till we come home....