Day 244 - New Year's Eve

It was New Year's Eve.

We still had a long way to go until the Peruvian border and didn't want to continue without a good spare tire.

I stopped at a shop in town to have an inner tube installed. Ursula paid for it with a pair of old shoes she no longer needed. Smart woman!

Then we left Oasis Pico and got back onto the Panamericana, driving North toward Arica. The road led through rocky deserts and valleys. In the afternoon, I felt tired and needed to rest. Thus, we took a short siesta on the side of the road.

When we reached Arica, we found a decent campground with an adjacent restaurant on the North side of town. We sat down for drinks in the evening and danced to live music to stomp out the old year.

There were only a few other guests there. We noticed that the owner and waiter (nicely dressed) looked slightly worried as the night progressed, and no one else showed up.

(Ursula) But after 11 PM, more guests arrived and the place got bustling. At midnight we sang a Feliz Año Nuevo with the crowd and raised our glasses. Then the staff served a complimentary New Year's dinner. How unusual - not bad for a place in the desert!

We had such a great time swinging our dance legs and celebrating with the crowd that we almost forgot where we were and started this fantastic journey eight months ago in New York.

Stats: Miles 230, Expenses $13.10Read more