We awake rejuvenated from a long sleep. We have nothing planned, but gathered enough information to figure out that a bus could take us to the national park to do a hike. We walk the streets looking for a visitor center. It rained all night the previous night and the streets are coated with black ice everywhere. Any incline, you are sure to slide. We walk the streets gingerly in the cold, wet weather with ice everywhere. Strangely, I love this. This is what I wanted to see. I get directions to a bus that tells us $50 pesos to the National Park. Not a bad deal as it was $150 to $190 via an agency. We drive in the van and get to the entrance of the park, where I see a sign indicating $50 pesos per person. Riding up front next to the driver, I ask him if it is $50 per person to get in. He says "yes, but only $10 for locals" He tells me to act like I am a local and he will see if he can get Steve and I in for $10. I am somewhat upset that I already paid $50 to get to the park and now I have to pay $50 more to get in the park without any mention of this in town when I paid the initial $50. It is typical South American culture so I play along. The park officer comes up to me and asks where are you from? I know that I can not get away with it. I look so different from a local and probably do the worst thing possible and act like I don't speak Spanish. She then asks in English and I act like I don't speak English. She then says where is he from to the driver? I try my best to negotiate a better deal for Steve and I, but once again lose this battle and pay full price of $50 pesos additional each. These Argentinians are good!!!

After driving a short distance in the park, cars are stopped. A van in front of us slid off the road. The roads are all ice and it is very slippery. The driver tells us that this is as far as he can take us. We all get out and continue on to the trail via a slick icy road slipping 2-3 times in the first couple minutes luckily catching myself all times, I am unable to get much of any traction. We continue up the road and do a hike around a lake called Lake Patitya or something similar to that. We talk with the local Argentinians that are hiking with us. They are friendly and tell us about different parts of Argentina. I love this part of the trip. It is pretty, but the weather is getting nasty and rain appears to be coming in. We head towards our pickup location, but with limited signs and with cold windy, rainy conditions, we are not sure we are going the right way. This weather is miserable, but in a strange way, I absolutely LOVE IT!!! I take lots of pictures of every stream amazed at the uniqueness of the mountains, streams, rocks, green landscapes and limited safety structures on the roads. We get to the lodge and Steve decides he will go in and get a hot chocolate. Knowing me and seeing my enthusiasm, he tells me to go on. I have all the gear for this weather and venture off down a wooded trail along a lake. With huge trails, lush landscape and countless post card pictures, I wish I have had more time to spend here. I love this place and already decide that I need to come back again. Knowing that I only have an hour left, I realize that my trail goes for a long ways around this lack called Roca Lago. The lake has large white caps with the rain coming down hard and wind blowing pretty strong. My down jacket is warm and I have a windbreaker over the top to get it from getting wet. My camera is waterproof and perfect for taking pictures in this weather. I am anxious that I won't see everything and begin running on the wooded trail at a good pace and a huge smile on my face. I have my backpack and gear tightly strapped, hoping over logs and jumping streams, stopping every short while to snap pictures of amazing scenery. I think about how long I have looked at this place on the map and wondered what it is like. I stop and sit on a tree stump and think about where I am on the map. I feel so lucky unable to really understand how many things had to happen for this trip to become a realty. I made it down and I am living a dream that I will never ever regret and will always remember the rest of my life. l continue my run and hit a trailhead that says Do Not Enter after 12PM noon. It is 4PM and I really want to check it out. I decide to err on the safe and continue along the lake. The vegetation is so different. I can't remember what if any dangerous animals are here as I run a few miles away from any hiker or lodge. My excitement keeps me from getting scared and I feel like this trip was something that I was meant to do during my time in this world. This is what I had hoped to see. Mother Nature was fierce in this town and we were not even into the Winter Season yet. I run for about 30 minutes into the trail before deciding that I should head back to meet our van pickup. I am soaking wet and my heart is pumping from both excitement and the exercise. I run back to the lodge in time for the van pickup. What a great place!!!

Heading back to the hotel, we go out to eat at an all you can eat place. The food is ok, but Buenos Aires was great. We try to meet up with a friend that I had met the night before at any internet cafe. He is from NY and traveling for the past 1 year and a half. He drove down via central america and plans to return to Buenos Aires before flying back to the states. He is German and a nice guy. He tells me that he plans on reporting his car stolen in Argentina and selling it to someone in Uruguay rather than paying to ship it back. Nothing surprises me anymore, but this guy, although nice, concerns me for some reason. Probably good that we don't meet up with him.

I think about how great of a place Ushuaia is. Perhaps each of my trip keeps getting better as I travel on, but I wonder if I will think the same when when I look back on this. I think about Kristin and other friends and family that I would love to see this place. I think about the effort that we, as Americans put into working so hard our entire lives and never get to experience these things. We are more wealthy than most of the people in the places that I have visited and yet we put so much money into cars, houses, clothing and other items that fade away with time. Experiences like this one will last me a lifetime and hopefully will impact me in ways beneficial to my time left in this world.