Ah, California. We are so far behind on blogging, but I'm trying to get back in the swing of things now that everything has settled down.

How did we decide on California? What are we thinking? After all this time away, you're going away again?

As we got farther along into the trip, and farther removed from Tampa-life, we slowly began to open to other possibilities.

What does returning mean for us? Are we wanting to return to Tampa? Does it offer the next step we are looking for in both of our careers? Ultimately, as you know, we decided to give another adventure a "go."

A friend of Lindsay's had always been encouraging her to come to wine country to work on events. Long story short, we started down that path, it didn't work out, but Brian had already gone through the interview process for a company he really liked in Santa Rosa. He accepted that job and we would figure out Lindsay's job situation once we arrived on the West Coast.

So, as soon as we got back to the U.S.A., we started the process of finding new renters, cleaning up the house from our previous renters and figuring out how and what we could actually get to California.

We leased an apartment without seeing the place completely finished and planned our drive across country. By the way, if you're looking for an apartment in California wine country, just half the space you currently have in Florida and then double the cost. There you have California living!

All while celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and all the gazillion events so we could see those we had missed so much.

Saying goodbye (again) was tough, but we are excited to see what this next step to California brings.

Uruguay was country 5. Brian and I haven't had too many places we've disliked during this trip, but Montevideo is currently holding the top spot for most disappointing places.

We debated whether or not to even make the short, but expensive trip. Planning had been a bit challenging due to the massive shortcomings of the ferry company, Buquebus', website and also the miscellaneous online commentary concerning the safety of the city. (For the record, we never once felt unsafe or threatened. It was never any concern.)

We decided to bite the bullet and go. We are two hours away and we will know if it's worth ever coming back for.

After much confusion with the website, a trip to the actual Buquebus terminal, we booked a cheaper ticket on the direct ferry for $88/person each way. The Francisco is the newest addition to the fleet and it's extremely nice.

We caught the 7:30 am ferry and quickly went through customs on the Argentine side. Buquebus is fanatical about the cleanliness of the carpet so every person had to wear shoe covers during the crossing of the Rio de la Plata. That is quite the sight to see. There is a full duty free shopping mall on the boat and the locals go crazy during these times buying everything from Costco-branded items to iPads. Compared to American prices, everything was very expensive.

The ferry arrives directly next to the old town of MVD, Cuidad Vieja, and we immediately began our site-seeing tour. Within 1 hour we had seen all the major sites the old town held and the majority of shops were still closed.

We stopped at the local chain, La Pasiva, for their "renowned" hotdogs and mustard sauce only to be disgusted by the entire meal. We then headed to the Mercado del Puerto, known for the many parrillas, in hopes of having a better experience.

We grabbed a seat at Roldo's and ordered the special, medio y medio, a combination of white wine and champagne. It was super sweet, but we enjoyed watching the bartender pop bottle after bottle for the locals.

You could spend days in the Mercado just trying all of the parrillas with the varying cuts of meats, veggies and innards on the grill. Roldo's cut of meat was good, but it's important to understand you're not going to get a Bern's steak at Applebee's pricing. The food for the remainder of the trip wouldn't be much better, including the locally recommended Pizzeria Trouville. The two bright spots were Gallaghers Pub, which had a fairly good home brew sampler and La Otra for a decent steak and grilled vegetables.

Our hotel, El Ermitage, was located in Pocitos, the nicest area of MVD, with nothing much to do. It is a convenient walk to the Rambla, a long sidewalk lining the beach. The hotel itself is average and the staff always seemed inconvenienced to even offer an "Hola" when we arrived.

The best part of our time in MVD was an impromptu Penarol futbol game at the stadium where the first World Cup was played in 1930, which Uruguay won.

The experience was unlike any other sporting event we've been too, including college football. The chanting and pounding of the drum never stopped during the entire game. The crowd screamed and whistled during the good plays and cursed and threw things when Penarol screwed up. The intensity never let up for the full 90 minutes. We loved this experience but it's important to note: there is absolutely no order to the process of buying tickets and don't expect to sit in those seats once you have tickets. People pushed and shoved up to the ticket windows and once in the stadium, it's a free-for-all regarding seating. Really, just pick a seat.

On our second day, we walked along the beach to the famous MONTEVIDEO sign to snap some touristy pictures. The beach is wide and clean, but littered with seaglass that is smoothed on its way down the river from Buenos Aires.

On our return walk, we joined the locals on La Rambla. The walkway was packed with couples and families out for an evening walk, sipping the local obsession-mate. Mate is a loose, herbal tea packed into a small cup made from a hallowed out gourd. The locals all carry around a thermos of hot water to ensure the drink is always fresh. The metal straws have a filter at the bottom to prevent loose leaves from clogging the straw. A friendly local even offered me a taste.

We couldn't help but feeling we were missing something in Montevideo. Did we stay in the wrong part of town? Should we only have gone to fancier restaurants? Were we so jaded by our love for Buenos Aires? We never quite nailed down why Montevideo was just so-so. Even the locals we chatted with were hard pressed to give us suggestions of places to go and things to do.

We are glad we went to the city, but truly only because we can now cross it off our list. I don't see us running back anytime soon, but maybe things will be different in 20 more years.

We fell in love with Buenos Aires, but it wasn't love at first sight.

When we arrived in Bs As, as it's written locally, we got off to a rough start-rudeness at the baggage claim, crazy taxi driver who dropped us off a half-mile from our correct address and it was HOT.

But all of that turned out to be a fluke and the more we explored, the more we loved about this crazy, eclectic and fun city!

We blew quite of bit of our budget in Argentina, but we knew it was going to be expensive. Here are some of our highlights of the lovely Buenos Aires:

1. Argentine foods:

Empanadas-La Aguada. We found this place just a few blocks from our AirBnB and it had a blue cheese empanada that was fantastic.

Choripan-La Leyenda & Nuestra Parrilla. Choripan was a surprise lunch after enjoying the Sunday Antique Markets in San Telmo. We became obsessed with the sauce on this simple sandwich of sausage and bread. The sauce is a red chimichurri, some places call it provencal.

Medialunas-Lucio Pasta Y Pizza. Somewhere between a croissant and a crescent roll, is the prefection called a medialuna. We bought them by the dozen.

Steak-Don Julio. This popular steak restaurant lived up to the hype by serving up a perfectly cooked filet and sirloin. We also completed the tradition of signing our finished wine bottle for the collection adorning the walls.

Cocktails-Victoria Brown & Verne Club. Both places are in the Palermo neighborhoods and are exactly what a cocktail bar should be like. The cocktails are a bit on the funky side.

Ice cream-Volta. A local chain in the city, Volta is more like gelato and the location next to El Ateneo has a great "park" in the back.

2. Favorite Barrios

Palermo Neighborhoods

SOHO-restaurants, bars, shops, you name it, Palermo SOHO has it. We spent the majority of our time in this barrio.

Viejo-quieter but with great charm and great restaurants

Hollywood-trendy and more ritzy than the rest of Palermo

Note: We stayed in Palermo Alto, which is a residential midpoint for nearly everything in the city. It's quiet and you can easily access other barrios by foot or by subte (the metro.)

San Telmo-Gritty and up-and-coming, we were glad we didn't spend our nights here, but we spent many of our days. Quirky and interesting, it's easy to get lost discovering new shops and restaurants here, especially antiques.

Recoleta-Palermo borders Recoleta, but Recoleta could be lightyears away from any other neighborhood in Bs. As. It's fancy and rich and has the upscale shops to prove it.

3. Activities

Tango-with Lucia y Gerry. We signed up for the Wednesday night Tango Tour and it did not disappoint! We had an hour lesson and then Lucia and her husband, Gerry, took us out to their milonga-an argentine dance club. With a full orchestra and the locals showing their moves, it was an experience like nothing else.

Walking tour-Buenos Aires Traces. The Traces tour isn't well advertised, but it starts every day at Hostal America Sur and tackles a different barrio every day. We took the downtown tour and learned history of the Plaza de Mayo and the Madres de Mayo and got a private insight to the people's love for Eva Peron in her office.

Relax at El Ateneo. The old theater was converted into a bookstore and it does not disappoint. You could spend days there just enjoying a book or a coffee on the stage, taking in the ambience.

Recoleta Cemetery. This is a must of the Buenos Aires experience.

Some of our dislikes:

Walking: The people of Bs. As. walk with reckless abandon and do not care if you are there or not.

Service in every restaurant is painfully slow. Many times we wouldn't even order drinks for the first 25 minutes of sitting somewhere. And once someone finally shows up at your table, be ready to order everything you want.              

You must pay cash nearly everywhere except a grocery store. We've been stuck many places where Brian had to run out to find an ATM, which brings us to another point: Argentina's highest bill is 100, everything is inflated and people hoard cash so if we found an ATM that actually had cash it was a win! You might have to try 3-4 ATMs to actually get cash.

Some miscellaneous information about Buenos Aires:

-The subte is the easiest and cheapest way to get around but expect to walk quite a ways still to get to places once you arrive at your destination. A ride is a flat 5 pesos no matter the distance. Be aware that some stations are entry specific, so know the direction you want to go before walking down the stairs. The subte is nearly always slammed packed so be prepared to push your way in.

-The buses only accept coins or the travel card. Change is nearly impossible to find in Bs.As. (with many things being rounded up or down to keep the numbers whole and prevent change from being needed) and the travel card is available at main terminals and sometimes convenience stores.

-Taxis are metered but ensure you have a rough idea of where you should be going. The cost out to the airport is about $40 when the conversion rate is close to 9:1.

-Siesta is a fairly real thing in Bs. As. While the city is still busy, a lot of shops do close between the 2-6 pm hours and sometimes until 8 pm. 9 pm to head out for dinner will allow you to arrive before the crowds without a reservation.

-The Sunday Market in San Telmo should not be missed. The Antiques Market is open every day, but the Sunday market spills into the streets.

-You can exchange dollars on the Blue Chip Market on Avenida de Florida in the Microcenter for upwards of 14:1. This is easily identified by the men yelling "cambio!" We never did this, it seems sketchy and they take you away from the street. Other travelers we met did it a lot and exchanged around $300 USD at a time. You would also need to bring a lot of USD to make this worth while for a long stay. Being in Argentina for 4 weeks just didn't make this underground process seem worthwhile. Also, it's technically illegal.

We loved Buenos Aires and even had a few "what if" conversations about living in the city. We already have agreed that when Brian's parents decide to go, we will happily sign on as their personal tour guides of this awesome city. Shoot, we'll tagalong with anyone who lets us on a trip to Argentina!

Mendoza has always been a destination at the top of my list. Partially it's because we enjoy malbec wine, partially from stories we've heard, and partially from alluring pictures of mountainous vineyards.

Mendoza didn't disappoint, but it wasn't exactly like any other wine region. It is more laid back and less pretentious, but far more disorganized than you'd expect from an internationally known destination.

We rolled into Mendoza after a 20 hour journey beginning the previous day in Cafayate. The overnight Flecha bus was plenty nice, but the air conditioning cut out in the middle of the night and the bus rocked back and forth far too much for being on flat roads.

Fortunately, we were able to check into our hotel room around 10 am and decompress. We stayed at the Petit Hotel on Peru street in the city center. It was a great location near to the parks, restaurants, and main commercial streets.

The cleanliness and organization of Mendoza was striking. After spending the past 5 weeks in various parts of South America, the smell of trash became a natural odor and stepping over dog poop on sidewalks was an afterthought.

Mendoza is modern. It is clean. They even have lighted crosswalks and handicap ramps. And not a stray dog in sight.

That being said, it's not the greatest city in the world, but it has its share of fashionable people, classy restaurants, and upscale amenities.

After resting up a bit, we went to Maria Antonieta for brunch just a few blocks away. It's one of the best ranked spots in town and we see why. The brunch was excellent, and the standout was a caprese of fresh heirloom tomatoes and mozzerrella in cream - known as burratta. It was life-changing (although overpriced for a brunch).

That night we had a simple dinner of salami and cheeses from the local grocery store and some much deserved sleep.

The next afternoon, we visited the Vines of Mendoza. (You can read more about the full experience on our Global Spirits blog.) VoM was a really fun experience. Julia, the sommelier, was very helpful, the wines were all top-notch, and we made friends with Justin and Kate - an American couple from D.C. on their honeymoon. We highly recommend going to VoM if you visit Mendoza.

We joined Justin and Kate for dinner that night and a bottle of wine in our hotel lobby. Even though we love meeting locals and other travelers in all the places we visit, it was comfortable to hang out with some other Americans for a fun night.

After two nice days in Mendoza, we were excited to go out to wine country for rest and relaxation - the real reason we came to Mendoza.

There are three major wine areas in the Mendoza region: Maipú, Uco Valley, and Lujan de Cuyo. Each are pretty accessible to the city, but Maipú is the easiest to get to. We rode the Metrotranvia light rail to the station on the edge of town, and then walked 45 minutes to the town center. We kept searching for taxis along the walk, but there was a general workers strike that day, so no taxis were running. Supposedly all public transportation workers were on strike, but we still rode the rail and saw a few buses running. Nothing is predictable about a South American strike.

Finding ourselves stranded after lunch in the town center, we called Hans, the owner of our next lodging, who quickly picked us up in his Land Rover Defender. This was just the beginning of Hans' unmatched hospitality.

We arrived just in time to see the finishing of the harvest. The workers were hustling and dumping bucket after bucket into an old Mercedes truck bed. We were so excited to see the process and enjoyed wandering around the vineyard eating some of the grapes still on the vines.

We headed to the pool, but it wasn't very relaxing. We were trying to get a reservation for dinner to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary as well as reservations at a few wineries, but Brian wasn't having any luck. Each call became increasingly frustrating for both of us. Note - if you travel to Mendoza, make reservations for lunches, dinners, and wine tasting ahead of time.

We ended the night at Posada Cavieres with Hans making us a chicken and spinach tarta and trying two of his homemade wines. His three bedroom guesthouse is very comfortable and you can't beat staying at a gorgeous working vineyard.

The following day we rented two mountain bikes from Hans and visited Tempus Alba winery for lunch. They are a 10 minute ride up the road. There is rarely a shoulder to the road and the cars fly by, so it can feel quite intimidating.

Lunch at Tempus Alba was good, but the wine was mediocre. Pretty lackluster for such a fancy place, but at least the view over their vineyards from the rooftop dining deck was good.

We roder further into town (on a section of road with bike lanes!) to Bodega La Rural. Their wine was good, but the tasting is way overpriced. The ride up there was 8 km, so by the time we got back to the Posada, we needed to relax.

On our second full day, we hopped our sore butts back on bikes and rode down the street to Carinae winery. Everything about the experience was wonderful and the wine was excellent.

Lindsay's tire mysteriously popped while we were there, so we had to trudge back to Posada Cavieres, stopping for a lackluster lunch at the family-run Di Tommasso winery along the way.

That night, Hans made us a reservation for our delayed anniversary dinner at Restaurant Terruno at the Club Tapiz winery.

The grounds are incredibly cool with an old cellar that is now an event space with wooden chandeliers.

Like most Argentine restaurants, the service was incredibly slow. We waited nearly 20 minutes to have a drink order taken. We both ordered cocktails to start and the quality of Lindsay's margarita made her laugh so hard. She had been really craving a good marg and this was hilariously awful. Frozen, with mostly triple sec, lime juice, and a dash of tequila.

Lindsay had the 4 course tasting menu and Brian a lamb ravioli. The highlights of our meals were the ribeye with chimmichurri and the lamb ravioli along with a fantastic Benegas Malbec. We finished our meal with a rich Torrontes creme brulee. This meal was definitely worth waiting for, especially given the difficulty of procuring a reservation at ANY restaurant in the area.

Our plans for the final day in Maipú included: sleeping in, laying by the pool, and booking a place to stay in Buenos Aires.

The internet foiled our plans, though, and it took nearly 5 hours to finally confirm an AirBnB in Palermo Alto. Brian was so intent on completing it that he hardly relaxed at all. Finally, at 4 pm, Hans reset the Wifi and that helped speed up the process.

We lounged by the pool talking to a Dutch couple staying with us, Phillip and Saskia, and then walked down the road to see the sun setting behind the mountains.

Hans and his friend Alberto cooked a huge Asado for us all which included: chicken, beef, sausage, morcilla blood sausage (Brian's favorite,) corn with cheese, salad, homemade mayo, wine and homemade ice cream for dessert. It was quite the feast!

We were sad to leave behind Maipú and all its relaxing charms and perfect weather. By far the most enjoyable part was staying at the cozy guesthouse at Posada Cavieres.

We visited warm, sunny Cafayate for three lovely days. It was a nice change after the dreary weather in Salta. This town is the epicenter of Salta Province's wine area and is located 200 km south the big city. (See our Global Spirits page for a full, lenghty review on the wine and wine tasting experiences.)

Cafayate is the perfect small up-and-coming wine region. The weather is fantastic, the cuisine is authentic, and it is one of the few wine regions accessible without a car. All the bodegas (cellar doors) are located in the center of town or within walking distance of town.

We stayed at a pretty decent hotel, Los Toneles, half a block from the town square. The room was acceptable, but the setting was the star. The hotel had a large front lawn adorned with flowers and littered with benches. The rooftop had lounge chairs and hammocks. With the good weather in Cafayate, it made for great lunching and hanging out.

The regional cuisine of Cafayate is similar to that of the rest of northern Argentina. We had plenty of empanadas, a hearty beef stew called locro, and another delicious type of stew called carbonada, made with squash, meat and cheese. Steak is plentiful, as are lomito beef sandwiches - fully loaded with fried egg, cheese, and ham.

At the artisan market located across from the main plaza, Lindsay found a guy who makes honey, sauces, and pickled vegetables. We bought a jar of olive tapanade and one of pickled white beans with carrots, onions and spices. The pickled beans were addictive. We put them on bread for lunch and snacks the next two days and seriously considered buying a couple jars to send home.

On our winery trek, we visited the Cabras de Cafayate, a locally-renowned goat farm. Their cheese is different from the soft, sharp goat cheese we're used to. It is firmer and less gamey, but still quite tasty. They produce several varieties like garlic or oregano cheese, and we later found it available in other parts of Argentina.

Cafayate's natural scenery is stunning. For right or wrong, we were mostly there for relaxation and winery hopping. But you could fill many days with outdoor excursions to nearby locations. The setting is very much like southwestern Bolivia or northeastern Chile, where all three of these countries converge in the Andes. Mountains painted in a dozen colors, 10-foot-tall cacti, and otherworldly glacier-carved rock formations are omnipresent. Since we had seen many of these natural wonders in Bolivia, we didn't mind skipping them or admiring them from a distance this go-around.

We had a great outdoor experience walking the rocky road to Finca Las Nubes an hour and a quarter (4 km) outside of town. This vineyard has to be the most stunning we've ever seen. It is set right between the mountains and offers views across the valley. Its name, the Estate of the Clouds, is fitting. Along the road there, you can take a detour to find some supposedly impressive cascadas (waterfalls). Coincidentally, we ran into British Gabe and Canadien Simon along the road, who were heading to the falls. We met them at our hostel in Arequipa, Peru and had an entertaining dinner with them. (Simon still smokes because he believes positive thinking and karma can prevent lung cancer.) So unexpected to randomly run into these guys a month later!

Once back in town we headed to the "original" wine ice cream shop, Helados Miranda. The owner is a sweet, talkative lady and she let us try both flavors of Cabernet and Torrontes ice cream. As expected, they taste exactly like wine, but not so much like cream. It's like frozen wine, period. Brian ended up getting the Torrontes and Lindsay got plain chocolate, which was terrible. Helados Miranda is a local "institution" with rankings on many travel websites, but I'd skip it next time and go somewhere else.

At the Domingo Hermanos winery we made buddies with an English/Irish couple, who were already drunk at 3:00 for sure. They invited us to join them afterward for beers, but first we needed to check on how to buy our bus tickets to Tucuman, the midpoint between Cafayate and Mendoza.

We agreed to meet them at a place on the square and headed to Flecha's office (the bus company) for info. Flecha doesn't drive south, so we were pointed to another company around the corner and of course, they were closed. Hours 10-12 and 7-9... typical Argentina. But at least we knew the times, so we headed back and met Keith and Rachel at a bar on the main plaza. They had also met up with a few others from their hostel. We spent several hours relaxing on the square and chatting with the group about the most ridiculous topics, including international foodservice job-hopping, drugs, and music festivals. We've concluded all Brits love mind-altering experiences and heavy drugs.

This was about the time we both realized we are not the stereotypical world travelers - no drugs, and not seeking strange experiences. We don't fit in with many of the bohemian, drifting travelers we meet, and we don't want to.

We caught our bus to Tucuman at 2 pm and sat in the very last seat of a fairly very empty bus. This bus ride was Lindsay's favorite. We drove through vineyards and lush horse country, and then finally through the mountains up and down hairpin turns, with a new picture of beauty with each turn.

We stopped at a quaint, wealthy town called Tafi de Valle, which was incredibly modern. It was horse country, and horses and donkeys wandered the streets freely. The most surprising thing was how big the houses were. Huge, American-style homes!

We arrived in Tucuman at 7:30 pm (a bit early for once!) and after sticker shock and a bit of debate, bought full cama tickets via AndesMar to Mendoza - another 13 hour bus ride which cost us over $100 each. We had some time to kill while waiting for the bus to leave, so we entered the bus station, which was more like a mall, and grabbed a Budweiser at the food court.

AndesMar is actually the same company as Flecha Bus, which confused us after buying our tickets. The bus was nicer than any we had ridden before, with fold-flat leather seats and movies on-demand in English. The stewardess even greeted us with champagne as we were seated. We each watched a movie before settling into a restless and hot sleep because the air conditioning shut off in the middle of the night. For such a luxury bus and good start to the journey, the experience was miserable. Overnight bus travel is just the pits, and it's impossible to get a good night's sleep.

Once we arrived in Mendoza sweaty and exhausted, we both started giving serious consideration to flying from Mendoza to Buenos Aires. (Which we later decided to do. Totally worth it!)

1 month on the road came and went faster than we could believe. We had been so busy with traveling into Bolivia then 2 days in Chile and on to Argentina, that we suddenly realized the big day was upon us! (We've also included a few silly pictures of us.)

We celebrated by having dinner on a Saturday night at La Casona del Molina in Salta and thought about many of the things we've noticed along the way.

1. Traveling brings out the best and the worst in you. Tired, hungry, generally stressed all add up to two cranky people. We've both had to take a step back a few times to remind ourselves that the slower portion of travel was upon us.

2. Toilet paper has become our version of gold. To have a nice clean roll in our backpacks is a piece of mind I never knew I needed. With missing toilet seats, uncertainty over where to actually go, constantly asking how much it costs to use the bathroom, it's really the simplicity of just having a roll that makes the whole process so much better.

3. Sometimes you just need to eat something familiar. While I'm proud to say we've not eaten a true fast food meal, I did finally cave when we were at a Salta mall looking for a better zoom lens and there was a Mickey Dees. I definitely grabbed a fry and it tasted so good. Eating traditional food in each country is great but after 4 weeks on the road, it's nice to find one thing you aren't worried will cause food poisoning.

4. 3 days in a city is enough to understand how most things work. By day 3, these basic things are mostly understood: layout of the city, process of getting a cab/public transportation, where to find a supermarket, bus terminal, ATM, etc. We start to feel like locals after 3 days in one place.

5. Traveling is so different from vacation. Vacation you plan ahead and everything is set for your arrival. Traveling is more like work, with constant planning for the next step, trying to maintain a budget, finding safe places to stay, and still keep in touch with each other and those at home. We've really had to focus on spending days not planning for the next step and just enjoying the moment.

Best Meal: Pacena la Saltena-one of our cheapest meals was also our best. La Paz didn't offer us much to be excited about but the saltenas seriously have us considering a yearly fly in-fly out just for these delicious stuffed dough balls.

Toughest Border Crossing: Chile to Argentina. I would never have guessed Chile to Argentina would be more challenging than Peru to Bolivia but it was. Disorganized and challenging to understand, the step-by-step of Bolivia was quicker and easy as long as your were prepared with the proper paper work. Chile to Argentina was a time-consuming cluster that left even the most kind-hearted Germans in line behind us saying Cambodia was an easier entry.

Best cocktail: Passion de Muna from Belmond Monestario.

Biggest disagreement: 4 weeks of nonstop travel doesn't a trip make according to Brian. However, I have been fine with our pace. When Brian hit the wall, I was still ready to keep rocking. Stopping in Salta for 5 days helped to even us both and prepared us for our next month.

Things we miss: We've talked about this a lot over the last week.

-We miss our family and friends and Nashville. Lindsay misses snuggling on Nashboy a lot.

-We mostly miss food. We miss a good Greek salad, white queso and chips and Brian's homemade margs.

-Lindsay misses using a good Reidel wine glass and enjoying it from her own couch.

-Missing out on babies-Lindsay's best friend Sarah just had a baby girl, Sadie and we have many other friends who've just given birth or are about too.

-Brian misses good BBQ and real craft beer-none of this so-called craft beer.

-Having private space-public parks and community space are great, but it would be nice to have your own sofa or back porch to relax on.

-Consistently solid data and wifi-We have data and texting everywhere we go, but sometimes it's so slow we want to throw our phones out the bus window.

-We miss the opportunity to go to church on Sundays. We keep searching for a Protestant church but South America is mainly Catholic or LDS. Also, every service being in Spanish doesn't help either.

Things we've loved:

-Being able to really talk and listen to one another for the first time in a long time, discussing new dreams and ideas and goals.

-Asking why not when an opportunity presents itself and seeking out new things to try and do.

-Not missing our jobs at all-we miss the people, but not the day-to-day grind.

-Not missing our community commitments-we miss involvement but not feeling the burden to always say yes.

-Slow travel! There is something so freeing in knowing you don't really need to move quickly but can add and subtract days as you feel best.

Things we hate:

-Overnight bus travel-I don't care how nice the bus is, traveling overnight is miserable. Thank goodness most hostels let you check in early.

-Worrying about eating something uncooked, like salad or fruit. We really want to eat these things, but 9/10 times it's just a question mark. If we are staying for several nights in a place, we usually risk it, but if we are moving on quickly, we avoid anything uncooked.

Traveling this way has really opened our eyes to a lot of new things and new attitudes and we've loved our journey so far.

While it rained or the city was closed for the majority of time we were in Salta, we still tried to enjoy the city as much as possible.

We were still able to visit some of the highlights including:

1. The Saturday artisan market on north Paseo del Balcarce showcases a combination of local and handmade goods. Leather and metal shops abound and we also tried a typical cookie called a turron with a honey-marshmallow filling. Be aware: the metal looks like silver, but it's actually something called alpaca (not the animal, same word) which is cheap copper covered in silver plating.

2. La Casona del Molino-a favorite among locals and tourists alike. Show up just before opening time at 9 pm to get in line with the early birds and guarantee yourself a seat. Order any meat and they will cook how they, not you, like it. Be prepared for lines out the door when you leave at 11 pm.

3. Visit Plaza 9 de Julio-restaurants line the square and while overpriced, it's a great way to people watch, including the occasional protest.

4. Walk to San Martin Park-shop or eat along the "lake" and try a local asado plate before walking across the street to take the teleferico up for a view of the city. AR$85 round trip per person. The park is lovely and if you plan ahead, pack a lunch and enjoy the views.

5. El Patio de Empanadas-while we weren't overly impressed with the empanadas we tried, mostly due to our arrival just before closing, we've heard when all the stalls are open it's fun to try each one.

6. Experience a Pena on Paseo de Balcarce-starting after 10 pm, local musicians join most of the restaurants to play for awhile. Some have steep cover charges, so wander the street and ask and listen for a bit to see if you like the style. We enjoyed a AR$13 cover + great music at Casa del Tiempo. (We had originally stopped by Viejo Estacion, but the AR$100 cover per person kept us moving.)

We skipped the Train to the Clouds, so we can't recommend this, but other reviews say it is an exceptional trip. Salta was a lovely place to relax and wander for a few days, but ensure you check the holiday schedule.

We didn't do much while in San Pedro, slept in and tried to plan our time in Salta.

The only thing we had planned was going on a stargazing tour, which are supposed to be spectacular. Unfortunately, San Pedro had had a week of very heavy storms, one so bad that it ripped parts of the roof off our hostel just a few days before our arrival. This caused our tour to be cancelled each night.

While we were disappointed, we knew San Pedro was just a stop over for us, so we enjoyed the tourist town before heading over the Andes to Salta.

Our bus to Salta left at 9:30 am and the bus station is only 2 blocks from our hostel, so we didn't feel super rushed. But, by the time we both had showered and finished packing, we were rushing out the door. We also realized we hadn't paid yet.

Of course, the computer system isn't turned on and the CC machine isn't working. Finally, the card went through, but the receipt didn't print fully. Brian snapped a picture as we hustled out the door to get to the station by 9:20.

Turns out there should have been no rush at all. No bus at the station. No one at the closed office. So we all waited. Finally, the office opened and I went to talk to the woman, who had to make a phone call to get someone to arrive. 15 minutes she said.

The bus finally showed up, and by the time we packed up, we were an hour late.

The good thing is the drive out of Chile and into Argentina is a beautiful one. We drove through snow covered mountains to the customs station in the desert.

This is when the process went south. After experiencing Bolivian customs, we were sure customs between the two most developed countries in South America would be much easy. Ha!

Upon arrival, we waited outside the "compound" for 30 minutes before the bus could enter. Once we entered, we were allowed to get off to use the bathroom, but not line up. We were finally allowed to line up to be stamped out of Chile, but only 2-3 people were permitted entry at a time.

We finally realized once we got into the building that all the agents stay the same, but they do an exit cycle and then an entry cycle.

We got stamped out of Chile and then got back in line to wait for the agents to change to entry windows. We realized our bus guide hadn't given us any paperwork for entry, he just didn't make it to the top of the bus to pass out the papers. Great. We hurriedly filled out our papers before making it the window.

Then it was back outside to grab our bags that had just been dumped out of the bus onto the pavement to drag back inside and have Xrayed. Put your bags on the belt and they just tumble out the other side, all on top of each other. There was an old woman in front of us with 6 bags, most of them heavy and Brian had to help her put them on the belt.

We grabbed our bags and took them back out to the bus which had now been permitted to cross into Argentina. Loading all the bags back on turned out to be a Tetris mission no one could figure out. Nearly 3 hours later, we were finally back on the road to finish our 6 hour drive.

The redeeming factor of the drive is the stunning scenery. It in incredible to see the mountains and their colors. They look like technicolor mountains rising along side the muddy waters of the Rio Grande. We drove down into the valley, with the bus making hairpin turns for at least an hour.

Once we finally arrived in Salta, we were beat and the process of getting our luggage wasn't the easiest, as they tried to pull out people's luggage as they yelled for it. Finally retrieving ours, we went in search of a money exchange or an ATM. No luck. When we finally found one, our card wouldn't work. Luckily, the almighty dollar always works and when we told our taxi driver we didn't have pesos only dollars, his face lit up with a smile and said, "Es MEJOR!"

Our hostel was an old house and Pilar met us at the gate around 10 pm and showed us around. It was in a prime location - only two blocks from Plaza 9 de Julio. Starving, we dropped our stuff and headed back out for a Friday evening in Salta.

Disclaimer: this post involved descriptions of bodily functions (but what do you expect on a 3-day trek to the desert)

We started our day with an 8 am taxi ride to the center of Uyuni to check in with Red Planet Tours. We wanted to pay in Bolivianos so we went to the ATM and had to do 5 transactions to get enough Bs. Brian's wallet was stuffed. We hustled back to pay and then grabbed a coffee in the town "square" until our tour left at 11 am.

We hit the road with a group in our Land Cruiser of 7 total listening to Funky Town. All our stuff including food had us stuffed to the brim, including the top rack for our bags.

We stopped first at the train cemetery which was the aftermath of a large purchase of trains that couldn't handle the altitude and crashed.

We then headed to the Salt Flats, stopping at a small town just before and learned about how to mine the salt. We finally headed to the Salt Flats and learned about the salts expanding and contracting in the warmth of the day and cool of the night. It was so windy that we could barely stand. We drove further into the flats in hopes of some sun and less wind. We did the traditional perception pictures but most of them were just so-so.

The best part of the tour was supposed to be the place where there is a bit of water on the flat and it reflects the sky. Unfortunately, it was so windy we could only walk out and try not to get our shoes wet. Disappointed, we headed to our salt hotel for the evening and had a meal of soup and then a hodgepodge of hotdogs, meat, fries, hardboiled eggs and of course, we bought some beer. We played cards with the group: 3 Aussies, a family of 3 from Monaco who have been sailing the world for 7 years, an Irish woman and a Peruvian couple. It was a great group of people.

We finally turned in around 10 pm and it was pitched black. Our entire room was made of salt which was so interesting. And yes, Lindsay did lick the wall and it does, in fact, taste like salt.

We had an early morning breakfast at 5:30 in order to make it back to the Salt Flats to see the reflections at sunrise. Brian was really feeling bad so we dropped him off at a bathroom stop on our way there.

This was the part of the tour I was so excited about and I was SO excited we got to go back. It is incredible. The sky and the land literally meet. I was in absolute awe of the reflections of the mountains in the water. We took funny group pictures while our driver went back to check on Brian. When he returned, Brian still wasn't with him. The tour guides were thinking the worst-food poisoning, infection, etc. As we were headed back to the bathroom, here comes Brian, walking down the road, earbuds in, listening to his ipod. Thank goodness he was feeling better because we had a long bumpy road ahead of us to see the Lago Colorado, snow-covered volcanos and the Dali Rocks. We drove a total of 12 hours, stopping along the way to walk a bit, see flamingos and take in the scenery.

We had a final stop at the geysurs before heading to our primative lodging on a lake on the other side of the volcanos.

This lodging was the worst. The bathroom was disgusting with a regular sized toilet bowl divded into two halves, one for pee with a "drain" and the other just a hole. There was also a pail of sand with a scoop for the big hole when you went poop. When we sat down at the table with plastic chairs, apparently someone had put sand in the pee hole and the owner wasn't happy about having to clean it out. We all got a big lecture in spanish.

We had a dinner of soup and pasta with mushrooms and mystery beef and then sat around and chatted while the guides relaxed in the hot springs. We were all just too tired to get changed, shower off and pay for the hot springs, so we relaxed at the table. They turned the generator off at 9:30, so a few of us headed to our dorm style room-6 beds per room- and started getting ready. Others stayed up and drank, getting louder and louder until the generator shut off and they had no choice but to go to bed.

After the restless night's sleep, we got up around 6 am to have breakfast at 6:30 and hit the road by 7 am.

It was snowing when we woke up, so we waited a bit before loading the roofs of the cars.

We hit the road about 7:30 and headed for the Laguna Verge, unfortunately, it was so cloudy we could barely see the mountains and the wind wasn't blowing so the lake was calm and not super green.

We then trekked it across the top of the mountains between Bolivia and Chile. It snowed and was practically a white out. We couldn't believe the change in scenery over the last 48 hours. Absolutely incredible.

We got our national park exit stamp and then drove 10 minutes to the Bolivian customs to get our exit stamp. It was no-nonsense and very easy. We had been given our bus tickets when in Uyuni, so we jumped on the bus and waited for departure.

We made the easy 60 minute drive to the border and after declaring everything and having all our luggage hand-checked, we were clear to get back on the bus to San Pedro.

Surprisingly, it was very comforting to be back in Chile and to know what to expect.

We spent one full day in La Paz, Bolivia, and that truly was plenty. We were pretty beat from the go-go-go traveling from Cusco to Puno to La Paz, but we also knew it wasn't going to slow down until Argentina.

We took advantage of the two days by sleeping in both mornings.

We had breakfast at the hostel and chatted with two couples, one from Australia and one from Ireland, about traveling and received advice about Salar de Uyuni. They also reconfirmed our decision to fly from La Paz to Uyuni, after hearing about their miserable bus trip from Uyuni to Potosi and on to La Paz. It is a 14+ hour bus ride, and only about 1/3 of the road is paved. Contrast that with a 45 minute flight on a comfortable jet, and the decision is easy, even if it is 3 times more expensive.

We did a bit of research and walked around the city. We walked through the witches market and then grabbed lunch at Paceña La Salteña for delicious salteñas. A salteña is similar to an empenada, but the dough is sweet and the filling is juicy chicken or beef. We placed an order of 4 and then ordered another one. So good.

We left Salteñas in search of an old, historic street called Calle Jaen, named for a rebel leader who fought the spaniards. It was a quaint street full of well-preserved colonial buildings. It's a nice change from the overbuilt, shabby modernism of most of La Paz.

We had heard about a lookout called Mirador Killi Killi, but after walking into a not-so-great part of town, we still couldn't figure out how to get up to the top, so we threw in the towel and got a cab back to the hostel to catch up on the blog.

After relaxing for a good portion of the afternoon, we decided to grab some comfort food from a nearby Cuban restaurant called Sabor Cubano. What a treat! The food was good, not quite Tampa-Cuban-good, but pretty good. Brian tried 2 Cuban beers and we both enjoyed live Cuban music.

We were certain at least one of the two-man band was Cuban, but after Brian thanked them for the jam session and told him we were from Tampa, the guy said he was Peruvian not Cuban. We were so surprised! We had the opportunity to briefly tell him about the history of Tampa and its ties to Cuba.

We started our short walk home along our street that is bustling during the day, but totally locked up at night. This caused us to completely miss our hostel. After backtracking and paying closer attention, we realized it was also locked up, with no one in sight. I began to have a bit of an anxiety attack in my mind. Brian found a door bell but after ringing it, no one came to the door. He rang again and finally someone unlocked the doors and let us in. I was so relieved. My mind was racing to a million possible scenarios and I was so relieved we didn't have to figure out a Plan B at 11 pm.

La Paz still isn't our favorite city, but it definitely grew on us. It's very gritty, but also has some great places. It's a city I feel comfortable in during the day, with all the hustle and bustle, but late at night is a bit unnerving.

We flew out the next day to Uyuni on Amaszonas Airlines, which was an easy 45-minute flight. We had a wonderful view of the altiplanos dipping into the valley where La Paz is. The lights start and stop again in an incredible fashion.