We got a puppy - such fun. The boys found four tiny puppies under one of bathrooms. Something had happened to the mother and they were abandoned, covered with fleas and almost dead. I got to clean them and to feed them five times a day and keep tract of them. We kept one and the rest soon found homes with the other campers. We named ours Damnit cause that is what we were always saying to him. He was a shepherd type mutt. We also ended up with two baby birds, that had to be spoon fed every hour or so. So I was up at six a.m. making mush for them to shut them up. I was so lucky. They were released to the wild as soon as they could fly. And Randy had adopted a snake! It lived in the A-frame with George. Both the snake and mutt stayed in Mar del Plata when we left.
There was still talk about war with Chile, but nothing that bothered us. We were a long ways from any borders. And hopefully Bill was too old to be called up to active duty. Besides they would have to find him first.
Bill and I went into Mar del Plata a couple of times and went to the casino there. It is quite famous around the world. It was very big and very busy. One room cost $100 US a head just to get in. It was not what I expected. I was used to all the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and this was very different. Very subdued and to my eyes a little run down. Lots of heavy draperies and furniture. I guess more European.
Soon it was Christmas, seemed strange in the middle of summer. The owner’s family all came out to the campground for an asado and we were invited. That was fun. Everyone stays until early morning. At midnight everyone kisses and shakes hands and fire works are shot off. Kind of like we celebrate New Years. Randy and John cut a very small tree and the kids decorated it with aluminum foil and berries. My Mom had sent all the boys’ presents but they never arrived. Some kid somewhere got a nice supply of Star Wars figures and shirts. Randy went into town and got a couple of games for his brothers. So at least they had something to open. In Argentina presents aren’t opened until January 6th. There were a few Santas and decorations in windows but nothing like we were used to. New Years we were in bed before midnight.
Randy had his motorcycle repainted. Now it was completely black, and looked really good. Around the end of summer one of the campers made him an offer he couldn’t refuse so he sold his pride and joy. Pocketed the money in US dollars and dreamed of what he could buy when he got home.
The glass in the door finally got fixed and the water tank got cleaned and a lid put on it. The outlet for the cold case had been installed but before we left the refrigeration unit in it gave up the ghost.
Our 90 day visas would expire around the beginning of March and we needed to make plans to go home.
Bill discussed it with El Griego and he found someone who would take over the restaurant. He wished us well and expressed the hope that we would come to visit with him again. The next time we got back to Argentina.
Also while at the campground Bill had continued working on getting the motorhome nationalized (so it could be imported and sold.) He finally found a lawyer who would handle part of the paperwork. The final paperwork would have to be done in Buenos Aires.
We gave the TV and games and the trailer to El Griego. By then we had sold all of the extra sports equipment we took with us. Anyway - we packed up our personal stuff and headed north. Yes George went with us, Damnit and the snake stayed at the campground.
It was the end of January when we headed back for Buenos Aires.
We parked in our “home” spot and set up to spend some time there until the motorhome problem was solved and we could go back to the states.
Before we left Buenos Aires the last time we were spending a day roaming around one of the marinas. While there we met a young couple, Roberto and Merta. They were interested in our trip and we started talking and ended up going to their home for coffee. I’m afraid I wasn’t a very good guest because I just couldn’t get used to the coffee served in the homes there. It came in tiny cups and was black as tar, everyone else added milk and sugar to theirs but as far as I was concerned that made it worse. Anyway because we were from the U.S. they had something they wanted to show us. Hector went into the bedroom and came back out with a pistol. He asked Bill to look at it. It was a very old 45 Colt Frontier that was inscribed “To my brother Frank, from Jessie.” Hector asked if there was any way we could authenticate it as belonging to Frank or Jessie James. Bill said he would make inquiries of friends back home. As time went on we became pretty good friends.
When we returned to Buenos Aires we had dinner with them and gave them a couple of names of people who might be able to help with the gun. While there Bill mentioned selling the motorhome. They suggested we put an ad in the newspaper with their phone number and if anyone was really interested they would get in touch with us.
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