On the 19th of February, I pack to leave Colon, Argentina and head for Rosario, a ride of about 200 miles.  So I get about 20 miles from Colon and.........

I have gotten complacent and paid the price.  I usually keep a small amount of money in my wallet, and the balance of money else where.  Well, I went through a “Police” check and paid the price for getting too comfortable (after over a year in South America).  I had no proof of insurance, and the police demanded that I pay a fine.  I opened my wallet to extract a few pesos . Another officer (I am trying to be nice), was looking over my shoulder (I did not see him), and he quickly assessed that I had about $100.00 us. 

After about 1 hour of negotiations I gave up, and paid for my stupidity! Yep... it cost me $100.00! My guard is back up!!! 

As I hit the road to leave Colon, I run into the same Brazilian I had met in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
I head about 30 miles North of Colon to visit a National Park. Well worth the extra miles.
This is how this part of Argentina used to be before it was developed into agricultural uses.
Liked the "Crossed Palms". It was also nice to get a few miles of dirt road riding.
My kind of road!

I felt like I was back on an Adventure!

The park runs along the Rio Uruguay, with many ruins. That is Uruguay on the other side of the River.
A very lush environment.

An old dredge, sitting in the Rio Uruguay.

The buckets appear to hold about one yard of mud.  Bet it was noisy when this thing was operating!

On the way to Rosario, I stop at Palacio San Jose. This was the Palace of Argentina's first democratic President, Urquiza (their version of our George Washington).
And it was located many miles from any village or city, out in the country side.
Not a bad place to call home.
The place had a great smell, with all the grapes hanging from trellises around the Palacio.

In order to get from Colon to Rosario, I had to take a bridge across the Rio Parana, which is the second longest river in South America (and the 13th longest river in the world).  Crossing the river is not a big problem, but you must also cross a floodplain/swamp area which is nearly 30 miles across.  This is a pictures of the streets in Victoria, the last city prior to crossing the Parana.

Thirty miles of this. The road is built on a levy, with many bridges to cross waterways.
One of many small bridges.
Not sure why they lived in the marsh lands. I did see cattle on some of the islands. I was not fast enough with the camera. but saw about 200 head of cattle be driven from one island to another, by cowboys in boats. I did not know cows could swim!
The deck hands are rinsing the deck off.  About 1 mile later I saw where this boat had unloaded 5 truck loads of cattle. So my guess is that this boat ply's the many miles of the Parana floodplain to collect cattle to take to market.

I made it to Rosario, Argentina.

Does anybody know what "Alcohol Schlieper" is......?
Maybe, because Sandy is not with me yet, I am finding a certain type of art more interesting than usual.
And there is plenty of it, here in Rosario.....
Rosario, on the banks of Rio Parana, has a population of about 1.2 million people. And there is new construction everywhere.
The Cathedral of Rosario is dwarfed by the high-rise apartment buildings.

The river is used extensively to haul freight up and down Argentina. 

Sometimes you could see as many as 3 ships at once plying the river.

On Wednesday, the 21st of February, I walk the city of Rosario.

The construction is Colonial, but it is the first city where I noticed that mosaic tile is used extensively. I sure wish the sun had been out so you could see the colors.
What does Teddy Roosevelt and Che have in common?   Every city, in their native country, seems to have a location where they claim he had "Slept here"! At 480 Entre Rios, there is a sign claiming this is where Che was born.
The buildings' architect was Alejandro Bustillo, which was also responsible for designing one of the finest hotels in Argentina, the Llao Llao, in Bariloche.
About 6 blocks from Che's home, is this memorial, in one of Rosario's many parks.
Rosario's old.....
And Rosario's new...

Prior to leaving Rosario, I needed to have some additional welding performed on the bike.

The same weld broke, which I had to have repaired in Santiago, Chile (7,000 miles ago)

The welding crew.......

That is it, through the 21st of February, 2007.

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