When we arrived at breakfast in the hotel, the television news was discussing the closed pass between Santiago and Mendoza again. The weather was still unseasonably cold. Our destination was west to Uspallata, a town on the way back to Santiago. We had actually driven through on the coach but it hadn’t stopped. From Uspallata we could get on a road heading north and avoiding the ruta 40 that runs from Mendoza to the city of San Juan. We wanted to join ruta 40 later but at this point it was far too busy. We weren’t too sure how the weather would be in Uspallata but didn’t want to hang around in Mendoza waiting for the ideal moment. Continue reading →