10/21 Couple little annoyances but all things considered today wasn’t half bad. Somehow between last night and this morning the frame on my sunglasses mysteriously got broken so I had to run out before leaving and track down a new pair. Freaking gnomes. Getting used to this double-legged kickstand is taking a bit of time. The first problem is that I keep setting the back tire down on my foot. I also lost one of those little rubber things that goes on the bottom of the legs to keep the metal from destroying wood floors and such. Knew that would just be a matter of time (not a day but whatever). Luckily I had a spare from my snapped in half Click-Stand and that fit. The bolt securing it to the frame was already a bit loose after one day riding so I may bust out the Loctite.
Yesterday I spent about 2 hours trying to track down a pair of sandals online. The ones I have are getting a bit worn and I just can’t see myself riding with anything else. They are the discontinued Shimano SD65 sandals (size 47-48) if anyone has an extra pair. 
The new model, SD66, have bad reviews so they are out.
Route 38 out of Tucuman was perfect. The shoulder was wide and there were only a couple places where I had to ride next to traffic. They tried to trick me right before the pueblo of Famailla and get me to ride on the 157 but I wasn’t falling for it. Traffic on that shoulderless road looked like it would have sucked.
Had a great steak sandwich for lunch at a place to the right of the traffic circle in Famailla. There was a decent looking campground on the south side of town next to the highway. Then it was an easy ride to Aquilares where I rode around for a bit trying to find a place. The fancy hotel next to the plaza was $68 US. I about choked on my water. Some people directed me to a white building with no signs on it saying it was a hotel but no one answered the door. Some other good samaritans got me over to Hosteria Municipal just past the bridge heading south. $19 US for a huge room, AC, queen-size bed and a hot shower. No wifi though. They might allow camping in the back but I didn’t ask since it was too hot out. There’s a pool out front but it was empty (of water). Cold beer just down the street a ways.
Nothing as far as scenery really. Mostly just farm and grazing land. Quite a lot of garbage dumped in piles next to the road. Hadn’t been so bad until I got south of Salta. Thought they would have figured out municipal garbage dumps but I guess not. The snow covered Sierra la Blanca mountain range looked amazing off in the distance as it rose up rather dramatically off the plains. It’ll be a couple weeks before I’m back up in the Andes again but I’m looking forward to it already. I switched out the 50mm lens on my camera with the 18-135mm that had been buried in my trunk bag. Figure I’ll try that one for a while now. Had to make a lot of room for it in the handlebar bag.
Feeling a little better about everything today. Who knew I could turn into a little bitch when I have a bad month?
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