An evening with friends from Rada Tilly

Imagine our surprise when not only Marcela, Mariano and Pelusa arrived but also Martin (whom we had rented the cottage from in Rada Tilly) with his two boys, Juan Cruz and Facundo and their cousin Marco who is the same age as Facundo (about 11). We kept in contact via Skype throughout their 10 hour drive and had promised to have an Argentinean “Assado” (barbeque) waiting for them when they arrived. Tom went to the local meat store and purchased some excellent porterhouse steaks and by 9pm, we had the grill going and red wine open. Even though it had only been a couple of weeks since we left Rada Tilly, we had missed them tremendously. When they arrived the two dogs went totally crazy, it seems they missed each other also. They ran and played on the grass whilst we caught up on news of each other’s activities although neither dog strayed too far from the tantalizing smells emanating from the grill. Marcela and Mariano had brought us gifts. A beautiful carving knife and another steak knife and fork set, all with handles made from deer horn and in custom leather sheaths. They are absolutely gorgeous. The cabanas are also a success and everyone likes their sleeping arrangements. The views around the lake are spectacular. Everyone is hungry and it seems, thirsty. Between the 5 adults we consumed most of the meat and almost 6 bottles of wine! As the night wore on, the dogs exhausted themselves and well, so did the humans. We make our plans for the next day. We will split up. Martin and the boys want to fish, whilst Mariano, Marcela, Tom and I have a sightseeing trip in mind. Our plan is fairly ambitious as we are going to first drive the Circuito Chico (Small Circuit) and then take in the panoramic views from the tops of both Cerro Campanario and Cerro Otto. We will all meet back up at the campground for dinner, when we will barbeque again. We plan on maybe fish, if the boys catch any that is but decide to have chicken as a backup, just in case. The store at least is very reliable! As Tom and I made our way back up to the RV, we check out the stars and locate the Southern Cross. We are tired and mellow from the wine. Winston is tired and mellow from playing with Pelusa. Life is good.