Backtrack to Buenos Aires : Comodoro Rivadavia and Bahia Blanca , Argentina
February 28-March 2
Despite the previous day's long ride, we left Rio Gallegos early, planning to ride until dark and find a place to stay along the road. We cruised along a highway where we were backtracking from our trip south.
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A truck load of horses were being transported north on Ruta 3. |
As we entered the oil town of Comodoro Rivadavia we were on new pavement for the first time in nearly a week. We rode through the town, finding a beach-side hotel near the highway on the edge, where our open windows let in the sound and smell of the ocean as we slept that night. 
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We woke up to watch the sunrise over the Atlantic from our hotel room in Comodoro Rivadavia. |
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The shoreline was comprised of smooth stones instead of sand. |
The weather became warmer and the gas stations more frequent as civilization thickened on our journey north the next day. As we turned east for the final 200 miles to Bahia Blanca, our planned stop for the night, the Patagonian landscape ended and we entered the lush, green agricultural area of northeast Argentina, passing combines on the road that were harvesting corn, pastures full of fat Hereford cattle, groves of olive trees and fields of dying sunflowers. The setting sun turned the storm clouds forming over the ocean horizon a brilliant red. It was dark as we drove into town, fighting through crowded beach town streets before finding an overpriced hotel where we could spend the night. 
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At many gas stations we met a lot of Brazilian motorcycle travelers who wanted to exchange information with us and moto club stickers. |
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Bullet holes in a road sign were a reminder of home in Virginia. |
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Windmills dotted farmlands as a storm pushed against the setting sun. |
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Farm trucks with livestock were heading east and west along the highway. |
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The sunlight was fading as we headed for Bahia Blanca. |
From Bahia Blanca it was a 400 mile ride into the Argentinean capital. Ruta 3, the main highway into the city, stayed a two lane, unmarked paved road where we passed horseback riders and farm machinery, until we reached a four lane toll road about 50 miles outside Buenos Aires that led to the airport where we would drop the bike off for shipping.
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