Goodbye, Tony

I was lying in the sun being drizzled on, a phenomenon common, it seems, in Patagonia where the mischievous wind takes a drop of water heading for unoccupied land miles away and blows it onto me as I try and sun myself.  Thus begins the solo part of this trip: napping.

Tony and I in front of Mt. FitzRoy

Tony and I parted company this afternoon after a quick hike up to Campemento Pincenot and a side trip to the Mt. FitzRoy lookout this morning.  We hiked back to here, ate lunch, tried to take a photo of ourselves hacky-sacking with the FitzRoy massif in the background and said our goodbyes.  Tony has provided a constant good vibe in our group, allow the rest of us our moody moments, and I'll miss his company.  We travel well together.  His observation was that it would have been different if his wife, Melanie, were here.  He'd be spending more time making sure that she was happy and wouldn't be allowed he freedom of ambivalence and nonchalance.  I'm sure the same would be true for me if Joanna were here. 

Tony was the owner of the Attitude Glasses -- a pair of rose tinted shades he'd picked up early in the trip.  Anytime anyone was getting grumpy, they'd spend five minutes with the Attitude Shades on and the world would look like a better place.  Not as dark, not as gray.

Tony's relaxed attitude towards travel, not to mention his fluency in Spanish, has made these last six weeks a pleasure.

How long I travel solo is up in the air right now.  I'm still unsure how much I want to travel solo.  At times, I need others to push me and keep me moving, although at this point, I seem to have built up a fair amount of momentum.  Sometimes I get into vacation-mode -- which is not a bad thing -- but can get in the way if there are deadlines to meet.  We'll see.

It's raining right now and I was so into setting up camp before the rain started that I hung my food from a nearby tree already (to keep the critters from eating it).  Bad planning!  Looks like it may be time to brave the wet and as I'm starting to get hungry!

(Later...)  Much better.  Stomach is full and hot chocolate is at hand.  Drizzle is off and on right now.  As always, I'm hoping for clear skies and a good sunrise.  If it's calm, I may be able to get a reflection in the lake.  Yeah, right.  Calm weather in Patagonia?