To enter Rosario do Sul, the second last Brazilian town we would cross, I was forced to ride over a 1 kilometre bridge. Not an easy task as cars flew by us on the narrow bridge, but not much of a challenge for Life and Doll! When we arrived at the halfway point I could see silhouettes of the riders who were awaiting my arrival.
“Welcome to Rosario do Sul,” a big man on a percheron horse said offering his hand.
I shook the hands of all of the Gauchos present and we continued on to the CTG. When we arrived we dismounted our beasts and enjoyed a delicious coffee followed by carrot cake. Once again I was being welcomed with open arms by the Gauchos. I was bombarded with questions while we enjoyed lunch, and afterwards the selfies took over – the usual.
That night, after the Olympic opening ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro, we gathered once again at the CTG for a dinner to officially welcome me into their town.
“By the time I leave Uruguay I will be a fat man,” I joked with my new friends chowing down on ribs.
We sat around a long table full of food for hours chatting and getting to know one another. If it wasn’t for the cold, I would have stayed all night.
On my second day resting in Rosario do Sul, I was forced to drive for two hours to Santa Maria for a television interview with Globo. Sure, the drive was a pain, but the biggest problem came when I arrived. The support van broke down in downtown Santa Maria, and I was forced to call a tow truck and have the van sent to a nearby garage. While mechanics worked on the vehicle, I rushed to my interview and made it there just in time.
I answered all of the usual questions with a smile on my face, but my mind was a worried mess. I had all of the alfalfa and grain in the van and I needed to feed the girls early the next morning. “What if it takes until tomorrow afternoon to fix it,” I anxiously thought to myself.
When I returned to the garage, the van was not yet fixed but luckily the mechanic told me “it wasn’t a huge problem,” and I would be able to return to Rosario that night. Having a support vehicle is a huge relief on the road but sometimes it can become a big problem.
