And yet another plan change

Back in December, after a great three days with our Rada Tilly friends, we received news from the States that Tom’s 91 year old mother was not doing well, health-wise. Up until now she has been living independently in an apartment close to Tom’s sisters but now it seems she is getting forgetful and since she refuses to see a doctor for any kind of diagnosis, we can only surmise what is happening with her. On the advice of Tom’s sisters, we began to realize that we had to head home, at least for the holidays. The big problems are Winston and the RV. We talked with Nahuel who manages the campsite and he started to check local places for Winston to stay. The RV is no problem. For a very small fee, we can leave it at the campgrounds. We began to make flight arrangements for California and travel plans for our kids to also be in Sacramento for Christmas. In one aspect, we are pretty excited. We will see the kids and the whole family will be home for the holidays. We have not had Christmas at home for two years now, so the chance to celebrate will be fantastic. However, Nahuel is not having any luck in town for a decent place where Winston can stay. There are places but he would be caged most of the time which is not an enviable situation for him. We consider taking him back with us but the total travel time from Bariloche to Sacramento is around 29 hours, so we would rather not put him through that either. Finally Nahuel suggested a plan which seemed perfect. We would leave Winston in the RV and Marcelo, one of the guys that work here, will live in the RV with him. They would make sure he got walked and fed and during the day he could hang around the office area with Nahuel whilst Manuel worked. At night, Marcelo would sleep in the motorhome with him, so he would have company most of the time. It seemed the best situation for everyone. We would pay Marcelo for his time and Winston already knows and likes the people who work here. In addition, Alexandra an English lady and Val her Argentinean husband manage the restaurant at the beach and live on site. They will also check and help out if necessary. Now with great relief, we make plans in earnest for the trip home. I will stay for three weeks and return in early January. Tom who had to be in the States for the month of February for personal reasons will now just stay there until the beginning of March. It will mean that I am by myself for two months but Camping Petunia is very safe and the town and local sights are easily accessible by bus. It might also change our schedule for heading north as we will essentially miss summer (in the southern hemisphere) and by the time Tom returns in March we will be looking at autumn and winter, Patagonia style. So we will have to wait and see what happens there. We aren’t worried. If our progress is slowed down again due to winter, it is ok. Right now we are just excited about some time spent back home.