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Uruguay – January 2025

Uruguay – January 2025

Uruguay?     Why?

In the course of looking for a calm, peaceful place to retire, Uruguay came up and we went for look. Here is some basic information about the country and then you can look at the pictures of our trip. Additional comments are on the pictures, along the bottom edge.
Uruguay is in South America, south of the equator, below Brazil. It is as far south of the equator as Los Angeles is north of the equator.

Some of the pros of living in Uruguay:

  • Stable, secular democracy
  • Socially progressive
  • Excellent healthcare
  • Excellent cell phone and Internet access
  • Temperate climate rarely gets below freezing

 
Some cons:

  • Highest point in the country is 1685 feet (513m)
  • High humidity year-round
  • Most of the countryside is ranchland
  • High import duties

We flew in to Montevideo and drove one and a half hours to Punta del Este, which is essentially a resort town attached to the city of Maldonado, roughly 100,000 inhabitants together. This swells in January which is “high season” and Punta del Este is swarmed with tourists taking advantage of the extensive beaches. Our rental car was an anemic creature with manual transmission – but the muscle-memory kicked in pretty quickly. With all the stop-and-go traffic in the city and towns, we’ll opt for an automatic on any return visits.

We stayed in a hotel in the center of Punta del Este, close to restaurants and shopping. Since we were not quite sure what we were getting ourselves into, we wanted to be close to resources, and potentially English-speaking staffs.

You should maximize the slide viewer (in the top left corner) to properly appreciate the pictures. All were taken with Galaxy S23 5G phone.

Some observations…

The Uruguayan economy depends heavily on dairy and meat industries, and it seems that every house, large and small, has a significant outdoor grill. In spite of this, we were able to find good vegan-friendly options in the restaurants. We also appreciated the restrained use of oils and salt in the dishes.

Driving takes a little getting used to. There are few signals or signs in the neighborhoods, and round-abouts are the primary traffic controls on larger roads. Learning to go with the flow is a major skill that must be adopted. Drivers will collectively slow and speed up so everything flows smoothly. If you see someone ahead of you stepping off the side of the street to cross it, don’t slow down. The pedestrian will have already timed the crossing, and slowing down unexpectedly will disturb the pattern.

I could not locate a library, or central repository of natural and cultural history. There are a number of book stores, each having a slightly different collection, and there were books by local (Uruguayan) authors, as well as books on local flora and fauna. The shops attached to the arboretum and museums had books related to their subjects.

Additional Information

You can find out more about MACA here.

More information about the arboretum is here.

The undulating bridge at La Barra has a Wikipedia page.

The Museo del Mar has a Wikipedia page.

Alaska 2024

Alaska 2024

 
Here are some pictures of a trip to Alaska to visit my sister and her new baby. We had hoped to have enough snow to go snow-mobiling and snow-shoeing, but the weather didn’t cooperate. We still got in a lot of walking in the hills and on the property. Saw a few moose but no other wildlife.

The clouds, ice fog, and the fact that the sun barely rises above the horizon, made for some nice pictures. The dogs are Tundra, a 4-year old Karelian bear dog, and Lark, a 2-month old Golden Retriever. Tundra is 40 lbs and Lark will be about 60lbs when full grown. On walks, the GPS collar on Tundra shows she runs about three miles, sometimes more, for every one of ours.

We did check out the Alyeska ski area. They had enough snow to have a few runs open. We took the tram up, and down.

You should maximize the slide viewer (in the top left corner) to properly appreciate the pictures. All were taken with Galaxy S21 5G phone.

Fort Stevens, Ho !

Fort Stevens, Ho !


(You have to maximize the picture viewer to properly appreciate the pictures.)

I took a little time to go exploring the area. Since the Mount Hood (original name is Wy’East) area has snow and ice, Orion and I headed west to the coast. The northwest tip of the state was the goal, a trip that usually should take less than two hours. It took me five – I just had to stop and explore some of the nooks and crannies along the way. And I passed up on many more.

The weather was typical Oregon January: on and off rain with occasional gaps in the clouds that let some sun shine through. Fog blurred some of the sights, and yet created a fantasy landscape in the hills.

Sauvie Island was the first major stop. It is nice and flat with many trails and should be good for easy bike riding. There are some very nice and new looking houseboats here. I saw some others along the way that looked like they were on the verge of sinking.

Rainier is a little town stuck to the hillside along the river. It is opposite Longview, Washington, which also has a port, and smokestack industries. Spelling does not appear to be important to the marina owners, but then all the slips were empty.

One of the downsides to winter exploring is that the days are short. If I was going to make it to Ft Stevens and back before dark, I had to get a move on. The highway wound up into some hills with nice views of the river and opposite bank. The sun was peeking through the clouds and hinted at some pictures. Just as I pulled into the Bradley State Scenic Viewpoint it started raining again. Sigh. I still took a few pictures, explored, and made use of the facilities. Then onward.

Somewhere along the way I was treated to a fantasy landscape draped in wisps of fog, or was it smoke rising from the Fire Swamp? Whichever, I couldn’t turn around on the hill so I had to go to the bottom and backtrack until I could find a spot to take pictures. (Note to self: Always bring the tripod! Better yet, leave one in the car, along with the go-pack.)

On to Astoria… I didn’t explore the town much, just a brief stop by the river-front, then to a Starbucks, and on to the park.

This part of the coast is sand dunes, no doubt sediment from the river, etc. Very different from the rocky coasts to the north and south. There’s so much to explore around here! Anyway, look at the pictures. The park looks like a nice place for easy biking in the summer. By the time I finished a quick tour of the park, it was time to head back.

The town of Seaside is built on the dunes, with some houses just a short walk away from the water. And there is not a barrier island or reef! Let’s see: rising seas, changing weather patterns, and no earthquakes in a while to relieve tectonic stresses – a perfect place to build! There are some nice neighborhoods, such as the gated one for horse owners. There are stables, lots of white fences and green grass on top of the rolling dunes. Very pretty, and expensive, I’m sure.

Just south of Seaside I headed back, reluctantly. (Orion didn’t want to turn the wheel! It would have been much more fun to continue south on 101!) Took 26 and skirted the northern edge of Tillamook State Forest.

Left at 8:30 and got back at 5:30

Visit to Robert

Visit to Robert

 

In August 2017 I met up with Robert, a friend from grade school whom I had seen last in 1973. Shirley Jean and I attended a conference in Seattle and I stayed with Robert and met his friends Clémentine and Adrien, the founders of Wings for Science.

We hiked along the Wallace River, visited Rosario Beach, drove down Whidbey Island and took the ferry to Mukilteo. After some seafood at Ivar’s we returned to Bothell.

Robert’s airplane is an experimental, painted Subaru Blue, the same as Orion (my Forester), and white. We had a pleasant flight over the San Juan Islands.