The Good, the Bad and the Best in Argentina

We went to church with Evan's ward in San Pedro this past Sunday. It was a lot of fun to see the people that helped him with being a missionary in this wonderful town.
Gavin had such a good time with the Maru children. Here they are together right after Sacrament meeting. Gavin will miss his new friends along the rest of the trip.
The ward building in San Pedro.
The usual "jump" picture right outside the city limits of San Pedro.
We stopped at a truckstop along the way up to Iguacu Falls so Gavin could play. Gavin will have to gain a bit more weight for this teeter totter.
We decided that we all needed a new country so we decided to drive through Uruguay on the way to Iguacu Falls (which is about a 15 hour drive from Buenos Aires).
We ran into a huge rainstorm while driving up to the falls and since it was late at night, pouring rain, and we were on a two-lane road with lots of semi trucks bearing down on us, we stopped for the night in Mocoreta. Here was the "hotel" we stayed at. . .it was the only game in town so we didn't have much of a choice.
This was the inside of the rooms. . .definitely not a highlight along the route. But we could all laugh about it afterwards (and hope that we didin't pick up any critters to bring home with us).
We took a detour for Gavin's potty stop into a mate' plantation and saw this capybara walking across the field. Gavin wanted to bring one home as a pet.
The trip was totally worth it when we got to our rooms. This is our view of Iguacu Falls from our hotel at the Sheraton - thanks to Ian for that surprise!
The inside of this room is slightly different than our "hotel" in Mocoreta. We loved sitting out on the balcony and just listening to the thunder of the falls.
Brad and Evan out on our balcony.
We celebrated Evan's birthday with dinner at an Argentine restaurant called "a Piacere" in Puerto Iguacu - great Argentine beef.
Breakfast the next morning was very pretty overlooking the falls.
All of the day was spent walking amongst the falls on the Argentine side. Gavin and Evan are shown here at Devil's Throat, where the drop is 270 feet.
More of Devil's throat.
The coatimundis are so cute. . .they will approach people and are very accustomed to humans.
Evan and Gavin at the falls on the Upper Circuit.
Of course Gavin wanted to bring a coati home for Ellie.
We walked down the catwalks so that we could take the jet boat up under the falls. Really amazing view from under the falls.
Here we are getting ready to go up under the falls.
We're in the boats and getting ready to get really wet.
We all got soaked we got so close to the falls.
Right under some of the falls. The falls stretch for a mile or so along the Argentine side of the river.
Here we all are after our jet boat trip up the river.

Argentina Adventures

We left Buenos Aires, headed out to the pampas and the land of the gauchos. On the way out we stopped at the city of Lujan to see the big, and I mean BIG, cathedral. The two towers are over 350 feet high. The reason this cathedral is located here in this small town relates back to the 1600's. A cart was carrying a terra cotta statue of Mary and the cart broke down on this site. The owners of the statue thought it was a sign that a cathedral should be built here.
The terra cotta statue is shown above. This basilica is said to be the most important Catholic shrine in Argentina. Pope John Paul II said mass in this cathedral.
Moving further on, we went out to San Pedro, where Evan spent 8 months of his mission. This was the estancia (ranch) that we stayed in. The view from the porch is lovely as it overlooks the Parana River. We had the whole casa to ourselves.
We met up with the Maru family, the people that Evan was closest to in San Pedro, and we had a great dinner at the San Pedro Club Nautico on the river. We are grateful to the Maru's for "adopting" Evan when he was in San Pedro.
Gavin really enjoyed their kids (Franco, 12, Toby, 10 and Dafne 7) and played with them all the time. Here they are shown in the back of the van on our way home from dinner.
We got up the next morning and had hot chocolate out on the terrace, with the Parana River in the background.
The meat in Argentina is very flavorful. Evan wanted to have an "asado" at our estancia so we bought 15 pounds of various meats (including some blood sausage - I was not a fan of that) at the carniceria.
Gavin brought the Maru kids some light sabers. One of Gavin's favorite toys is the light saber that his parents got him and he thought that some other children would enjoy them also.
Just before the big asado, we drove out to the highway and picked up cousin Jeannie who had just flown into BA - and navigated the bus system to get out to San Pedro, which is two hours away from BA.
Brad and Evan did a superb job with the barbecuing of all the beef and vegetables.
Gavin and the Maru children built up a huge appetite playing Star Wars with their light sabers out on the lawn.
In addition to the Maru family, we had the two elders currently serving in San Pedro come to the asado.
What a great feast we all had!
Enjoying the asado - Great food and wonderful family and friends!
After dinner, we all went into town for helado (ice cream) - and Jeannie, Evan and Gavin played on the toys outside the Heladeria.

Argentina Reunion

Here we are at the mission office picking Evan up.
Trying to load all of the luggage in the car.
Enjoying our first meal together at Pizza Donna.
Evan taking Gavin out on the town.
Reading a story with Uncle.
Temple in Buenos Aires (they are enlarging it).
When Evan and Donna first met up at the airport.
Our favorite restaurant in BA - Bonjour Pizza.
We went down to Caminito to see the colorful houses - and Evan and Gavin posed for us.
Brad was caught doing the tango in Caminito, with Auntie in the background getting ready to tango.
Some of the colorful buildings in Caminito.
Gavin wanted to shake this man's hand.
Donna and Evan in front of the Bombonera, the stadium for the Boca Juniors, Evan's favorite soccer team.
Inside the stadium, that seats 55,000.
All of us, in front of the presidential palace, the Casa Rosada.
In front of the Cabildo, where the treaties for independence were signed.
The Obelisko on the Nueve de Julio, the widest street in the world.
The elections for President are going on this weekend, and this was a vehicle with a speaker on it carrying the President's message.
Evan giving one of his favorite companions, Elder Tidei, some Jelly Belly jelly beans. Elder Tidei is Argentine.