"On that caravan, Chester rode with Roger and me. Our jeep broke down in the mountains of São Paul, so we spent a very cold night sleeping in the jeep outside the place that was trying to fix it. Fortunately I had kept the winter coat that I wore in Chicago and New York, and the mosquito nets made pretty good blankets for the fellows. I thought it ironic that we were so cold in Brazil! Brian and Mary Bowser were good enough to remain with us. The rest of the group went on ahead. As I recall, without Brian's help we might have remained there a long time. While we were dealing with the jeep the rest of you happened on the wonderful hospitality of that fazendeiro. I remember the barge crossing vividly. What a hair-raising/OSHA-defying experience it was! And the land on the other side of the river felt just like the old Wild West." "I went through my slides and quickly found 2 of that trip. They show only 4 jeeps. One shows a bar/restaurant where we stopped and the other shows the time that the police stopped us wanting an explanation. One slide shows you, sitting in a jeep looking very nonchalant. It seemed to me that we stayed in a hotel whose name I've forgotten and got back together with people once we crossed the Rio Parana, but I recall arriving in Campo Grande wondering why no one was actively expecting us. This now seems like a turning point from a time when everyone was paying almost too much attention to us to our being very much on our own. I cannot recall who was with John Tierney."
BR15
Jan 2004
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