Torres Del Paine

Trevor and I just got to spend five days trekking in Torres del Paine national park, an amazing place. Now, we head up to El Calafate where we'll get to see the Moreno Glacier, one of the three or so glaciers in the world that is still expanding.
It is an amazing adventure that we are getting to embrace every day, and I am more and more grateful for it. We do seem to be getting frustrated with eachother more frequently than before, so anyone with good tips for what to do with that feel free. We are doing well, and getting to learn so much about what it is to travel with, work with, learn with, live with, and love someone else who is so close almost all the time. Good practice for marriage I imagine.
Yesterday, while riding out of the park, I was imagining what it'd be like if we got into a fight, and while I'm fairly certain that Trevor could thoroughly pummel me in the end, I'm certain that he would visit me in the hospital almost as much as my mom.

It's a little odd, but I really am grateful to all who keep up with this blog and what is going on with us. It´s nice to know that people care.

Love,
Will and Trev

Puerto Natales

The famous doorway to the Torres del Paine national park is surprisingly squalid in a charming sort of way. Lots of tin and bright peeling paint makes for an interesting view from the surrounding hills, but is mildly depressing in town.
Trevor and I battled through 40-60mph winds yesterday, biking 50km toward our goal. Then we hitched for 35km to an estancia where we were able to stay the night. It was a fantastically difficult day.
Now that we´re here though, we´re planning to take several days brake from the bicycles, borrow some packs, and trek around the park for four days. It´s supposed to be spectacular.
T&W

The Land of Fire

I did partially melt my shoes in the land of fire, but other than that, no permanent damage was done. We met several friends, enjoyed a lot of biking, endured a lot of biking, and were yet again amazed at the hospitality of so many.
Trevor and I are now back on the continent, but this time in Punta Arenas, Chile. We ferried for three hours yesterday evening to arrive here.
I've already been at the internet cafe for over three and a half hours. I´m tired of typing and hungry, so off I go.
Love, courage, and hope to you all!

Tucuman: The Final Update

Trevor and I left Tucuman several weeks ago, but there were many pictures to share that I hadn't organized yet. I am afraid that I have not done an adequate job telling the stories, but I never can seem to tell the stories well enough anyway. May you enjoy the pictures and travel a little with us.

Tucuman-The Final Update

Love,
Will and Trev

What do you do when the very air you breathe is against you?

Trevor and I arrived in Rio Grande late this morning. The wind was powerful and in our faces for most of the ride. Such was its force that, when we turned a bend and it blew into our sides, it caused both of us to fall at different times. Impressively strong wind.
We biked 15-20km into the wind at its strongest and crawled along the entire way. Trevor´s chain even self-destructed...mildly. Still, he made this simple yet profound statement, "All progress is forward progress" (he even did it with a genuine smile on his face). I laughed. Progress shmogress. I have expectations here. I expect to be able to bike along the flat pavement at 15km/hr...at the very least! If I can´t do that, I expect to be able to alter my circumstances in some way such that I can. Failing that...well...I quit!
Maybe not. It just seems so hard sometimes. And all I´m doing is biking.
I read two emails from people in situations far worse than mine, and equally as powerless to change their circumstances. What does one do when surrounded by death or evil or hatred or illness...what can we do? All progress is forward progress...but damn...it sure would be nice to change the circumstances in which we´re progressing sometimes, wouldn´t it?
I can´t even begin to express the fulness of the amazing generosity that has been poured out upon us in our travels, by God directly, through eachother, and through new friends and strangers. I am grateful to get to bicycle into the wind. I am grateful when it calms down, too... May we learn to delight less in circumstances and our standing relative to others, and more in progress. Loving God with all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls, and with all of our strength. And loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Further up, further in!

Heading North

After two incredibly diverse days in Ushuaia National Park, Trevor and I are finally heading north. We´ll be bicycling for three or four days heading for Rio Negro, and from there turn west for Porvenir where we´ll take a ferry across the water to Puerto Natales.


There´s snow in those hills....


It was so cold that morning that we stayed in the tent and our sleeping bags until 1:30pm. I even got a lesson in button sewing.


When we did finally find our way out of the tent, it was time to thoroughly disfruit the park. His shoes were dry again by the time we returned to camp.


The national park was beautiful, especially in the not so commonly visited areas. That red dot in the back of the photo is Trevor.


We´re leaving today, so I woke up early to take a photo of the sunrise (then returned to sleep).


Good bye Ushuaia, we look forward to warmer weather!

And...They´re off!

The End of the World

We finally arrived last night, after some 78hrs of traveling by bus, in Ushuaia, Argentina. It´s beautiful, cold, and wet. We plan to spend a couple of days camping in Ushuaia National Park before heading north on the bicycles.
We continue meeting ridiculous numbers of friendly and interesting people. On the street, on busses, and in hostels, there are fantastic pedople everywhere.
Thank you for your prayers!
W&T

Finally! A Month's Worth of Update:

Hello all!
It is once again update time, and though I've been negligent in my blogging duties, I know many of you have continued to ask about us and pray for us. Thank you so very much for that.
Let us begin with the basics:
We're still in Argentina, Tucuman even.
All three of us are alive and healthy.
There have not yet been any more E.R. visits.

Now that we've dispensed with the most basic, we get into the more interesting and, for me, more difficult to organize.
There'll be three chapters.
1. Fer's Bike Was Stolen
2. Trev and William Take a Trip
3. Fer's Decided Not to Continue Travelling with Trev and Will.



Big event number one: Fernando's bicycle was stolen!

We'd been keeping our bicycles in his Grandmother's backyard, which seemed a reasonably safe place. There's a rather high wall (the barbed wire is a new addition) and it's a back yard. Who's going to jump the wall to hoist a bicycle over? Doesn't it look like it'd be rather difficult?
One day, about three weeks ago, I went looking for Fernando's bicycle. I didn't see it in the back with the others, so I asked. This, of course, got us searching. Bicycles don't normally disappear. We were incredulous at the thought of someone hauling the bicycle over the wall until Fer spotted something at the base of the wall. Our GPS. It was laying there with not a care in the world (fortunately it's waterproof). I then remembered that the previous day I'd picked up some sunglasses from the yard, assuming that the wind had somehow blown them out there. So, it looks as though Fer's bicycle lept over the wall, dropping our GPS and his sunglasses along the way. We did a little asking around, searching for accomplices to the bicycle's grand escape, but haven't come upon any promising leads.


Big event number 2: William and Trevor go for a 3-4 (make that 12) day trip!
There's been much conversation between the three of us on the subject of when exactly we'd be leaving Tucuman. We tried to set dates a couple of times, but it just wasn't happening. Fernando needed to send out law school applications before leaving, and decided that he wanted to stay in Tucuman until he and his mother were able to find someone to live with Grandma.
Trev and I didn't have anything particular to do here in Tucuman, and were rather annoying Fernando with our constant antsiness (I was unsympathetic at the time for was not Fer at least partially responsible for covering us in ants?), so on his suggestion, we decided to take a 3-4 day trip to a beautiful little village called Tafi del Valle. There are many, many stories to tell from this trip (all good and beautiful stories), including how we joined a family on their vacation up to the province of Salta, but those will come at another time. Suffice it to say that a series of wonderful circumstances and gifts from God inspired us to triple the length of our trip.


Big event number 3: Fernando's decided not to continue travelling with us.
This one is difficult to write about, and it's something that we've been discussing almost since our return to Tucuman. It's probably the main reason I haven't updated the blog in the last month as well. I know it hasn't been an easy decision for him to arrive at. There's a part of him that does want to keep travelling with us, and he also feels very peaceful about the decision. There is much council and many circumstances that have contributed to his decision, and I don't think I'll try to go into any of it.
It's sad for all of us, but it's not the end of our journey, nor is it the end of our brotherhood (by the grace of God). Fernando's excited about spending some more time in Tucuman, being discipled a bit here, and possibly spending more time in Buenos Aires, and Trev and I are excited about continuing our bicycle journey. Hopefully we'll be able to get together again before heading back to the states. Perhaps meeting up in Patagonia for a few days of fun, or when Trevor and I return to Tucuman.

The Next Leg:Our journey continues, Trevor and I are leaving Tucuman by bus Feb. 3rd at 4:15am and heading for Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world. We'll be bicycling north for three months, going through one of the most beautiful parts of the world, Patagonia, with amazing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and more. We plan to return to Tucuman by May 7th to celebrate Trevor's birthday with our friends here, and prepare for the new and as of yet unplanned but hoped for leg: Bolivia, Peru, and Machu Picchu. Our plane tickets are for June 8th, and neither of us is planning on changing that date, but we may change the location and depart from Lima, Peru instead of Santiago, Chile...we shall see. The plan is still to arrive in San Francisco, CA on the 9th, and pedal our butts back up to Seattle. It's possible that some friends will join us for the trip, and if you're one of those friends who's even vaguely considering it, please do! We're hoping to take around three weeks for the ride, arriving in Seattle on or around the 1st of July.

As for now, that is all. There is more, much more, always more. God is amazing, and we're learning more about that every day (though sometimes it takes a week or more to be able to look back and recognize it). Thank you for your prayers, please continue, or start if you hadn't begun previously, praying for us :).

Love,
W.T.F.
(for one last time)