There is only one passenger train line remaining in Uruguay.  The day that Riley and Jerry took a ride this is what happened.  Luckily the driver of the car was not seriously injured.

Here is Riley chilling out on the beach at Punta del Este.  The town is on the peninsula that separates the Rio de la Plata from the Atlantic.  It had a reputation as the hippest, and priciest, beach resort in South America but the collapse of the economies in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay has really hurt business.

Milagros, Annie and Karla.   The Iroz family spends weekends in the summer camping in a beautiful wooded area near the highrises of Punte del Este.

This partially submerged concrete dock extends beyond the rocks near shore and allows swimmers to easily enter the water.  The ocean swells make it a  little tricky to get out, however.

The last reach of a drowning man as he slips under the waves?  That's one interpretation of this sculpture on the beach at Punta del Este.  The middle finger is about twenty feet tall.

We visited a farm that makes dulce de leche in Maldonado.  It is a delicious cream made by slowly cooking whole milk and sugar-tastes a lot like caramel.  Erin is sleeping.

This is "The Largest Statue of General Jose Artigas on Horseback in the World"!!  It is on a hilltop outside of the town of Minas and was very impressive.  Artigas is the father of Uruguay and there is not a town in the country that does not have at least a park and a street named in his honor.

A typical house in the countryside.  Uruguay is a very urban country (50% of the population lives in Montevideo and another 40% live in larger towns).  But while very few people live there, Uruguay's whole economy depends on the countryside.  The only major exports are beef and wool.

This ferry took our rental van across a small river on the way to La Paloma.  It was propelled by a 10 horsepower outboard and made Cousin Rose a little nervous.

The coast at Piriapolis.

If you look VERY closely you can see a couple of nandu- the South American version of the ostrich.  There are thousands of these birds on the rangelands of central and northern Uruguay.

We spent a couple of days at a thermal resort in Salto in the north.  Hot springs are channeled into big pools for either soaking or playing.  It is very popular vacation spot for Uruguayans.  These people have just left the pools and are lined up to get hot water for their mate.

There is still a lot of poverty in Uruguay.  It is most visible in the countryside and in the shantytowns and the poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of Montevideo.

Gauchos are Uruguayan cowboys.  Unlike the U.S., cattle in Uruguay are still completely grass fed and graze huge areas of open rangeland.  The gaucho is still very needed and is much admired by all Uruguayans. 

Tarantula crossing the road.  This one was a good 3 inches wide.

Trienta y Tres is a fairly typical town of 30,000.  It is about 100 miles from the Brazilian border. Like all Uruguayan towns it has a central plaza with a large Catholic church on one side, city hall on another and banks and the police station nearby.

Cemetery in Tacurembo.

This is a parrilla, or barbecue, at the national gaucho competition.  It is amazing how much beef is eaten in this country.

Riding wild horses is the big attraction at the gaucho competition.  The event is half a competition, half a social event for the participants. 

Gauchos hanging out.  The thermos is for his mate.  Note the large knife under the belt of the man on the left.  This is the gaucho Swiss Army Knife-everything from a toothpick to a hammer to a .....knife.

Young and old gauchos.

These kids were watching a soccer match for free.