Hola sol! ...Llegamos en Uruguay

1. How to get to La Corona, a step by step process:

1. Hire a driver to pick you up in a town car at dark o’clock in the morning. Feel like an elitist in the backseat while he drives you to the airport. Silently remind yourself that this situation is okay, since it costs only $5 more than the shuttle van, and saves an hour of time. Curse the fact that public transportation is not readily available in the south sound.
2. Upon arrival at the airport, check in at the ticket counter for your three-leg international flight. Smile politely as the attendant mispronounces Montevideo, and thank her kindly for wishing you well on your journey there.
3. Wait for your first flight from SeaTac to Dallas. Enjoy your last sight of Starbucks and Tully’s.
4. Fly to Dallas. Enjoy the fact that with Dramamine, you can entertain yourself on the flight by reading or knitting like an old lady, instead of barfing in the bathroom.
5. Land in Dallas. Wonder what to do to pass the 3 hour wait before the next flight. Embrace the challenge of trying to find a salad for lunch at the Dallas airport. Have success at a café, and enjoy a chicken ranch salad instead of fast food.
6. Fly from Dallas to Miami. Nap intermittently so you lose all concept of time.
7. Land in Miami, and again contemplate what to do with your 3 hour wait. Decide that margaritas and a shared nacho plate is the way to go. Continue knitting like an old lady, and do some major people watching, including watching a team of fire fighters assesses a woman near you who appears to have heart issues and abdominal pain.
8. Fly overnight from Miami to Montevideo. Intermittently wonder if that mystery lady with the health problems is okay. Decide that she definitely missed the flight, but hope that she got the help she needed.
9. Remain grateful for the margarita and nachos from earlier, since dinner sucks. Learn that cheese pasta on an airplane is okay, but tastes vaguely like a cheap frozen dinner. Enjoy the cheese wedge and caramel chocolate brownie that come with the meal.
10. Take a Benadryl after dinner, and spend the next few hours twitching and trying to get comfortable while sitting up in a poorly cushioned airplane seat.
11. Finally nod off once the Benadryl has really kicked in. Enjoy a few fairly solid hours of sleep.
12. Wake up in time for breakfast and wonder why croissants are so delicious.
13. Land in Montevideo, have fun with security personnel who are confused by your field computer, and find your hired driver waiting near the exit.
14. Entertain your driver with your poor comprehension of Spanish. Laugh with him as he drops you off at the bus terminal.
15. Challenge yourself a little more by trying to describe to the Spanish-speaking-only bus ticket agent that you are at the counter to pick up two tickets for the next bus to Tacuarembó, and they are already paid for.
16. Wait an excruciating two hours for the bus on cold plastic seats. Wonder why you can sit in cushioned seats fairly comfortably for an extended period of time (and have been for a day and a half), but after only twenty minutes in the plastic seat your butt is numb.
17. Board the bus and be in awe at the luxury of a Uruguay bus. Enjoy the huge and well-padded seats, foot rests, and full recline capabilities. Nap happily for four hours. Wake up during the last hour to enjoy free cookies and soda that are being handed out by one of the bus attendants.
18. Be picked up by an awesome local employee at the bus station, and have him drive you to the car rental shop. Sign papers for a “field” truck even fancier and newer than your last one, and worry about the damage you may cause by the end of the season (e.g.,  the right fender ripping off while driving on the highway, like last time).
19. Drive from town to La Corona, and wonder how the drive got longer than last time. Enjoy the cute rodents and rabbits running along the road at dusk, and laugh as a nandu tries to outchase the truck.
20. Pull up to La Corona, get out of the vehicle, and be greeted with hugs, smiles, and conversation, from the best Uruguayan family ever.