Adventures with Trevor, Sarah and Charlotte: Anyone know how to say "tow truck" in Spanish?

After several days of exploring spectacular landscapes of the Andes near Mendoza, we set our sights on enjoying a day of bodega visits and wine tastings. Our plan was ambitious, but we were excited to make the most of our last full day in Mendoza.

We set out early opting to take the more scenic Route 89 down to Mendoza's Uco Valley. The rough gravel road, while slow going, lived up to expectations, giving us some of the most uninhabited stretches of foothills and impressive views of the Andes yet.

Our view along Rt. 89

However, stopping the car at every new bend in the road to get out and snap a picture or two had put us slightly behind schedule and so with a fairly flat stretch of road ahead we put the pedal to the medal.

And that's when the adventure really began as the overwhelming smell of gas and sudden lack of acceleration made it obvious that we ruptured the gas line on our little rental car.

Lia & Franck assess the problem

With gas leaking from the bottom of the car we couldn't go any further or fix the problem. To add insult to injury, we were on what seemed to be one of the least traveled roads in all of Argentina. It was a bit of a dilemma for sure and so much for our day at the wineries!

But, before long we heard the whirl of tires and the crunching of gravel! We were to be saved by some very nice farmers!

Trevor, with the best grasp of Spanish among us, took the farmers up on their offer of a ride into the small town that was somewhere in the neighborhood of two to 20 km away, in the hopes of finding a tow truck.

With Trevor off, Franck, Lia and I were left on the side of the road with little to do but enjoy the view, munch on cookies leftover from our picnic a few days before, attempt to exchange a few words with a friendly hobo and count the vehicles that passed us by (there were four).

Waiting for help

Not a bad place to break down

In well under two hours we once again heard the rumble of a vehicle and crunch of gravel and this time from over a small hill appeared a blue and yellow tow truck! Trevor had found us help!

Within no time at all our amused tow truck driver hooked up our car and we were ready to go. The only problem? Not enough room in the tow truck cab for the four of us. Lia and I jumped at the opportunity to ride on the back of the tow truck. And so, we continued on the gravel road, on the back of a tow truck. Wind in our hair, sun at our backs, dust in our faces and in our clothes!

Sarah & Lia enjoy the open road

After about 30 minutes we arrived in the village of San Jose where we coordinated a ride back into Mendoza and a tow for our car back to the rental agency. There would be no wine tasting today but it was still a pretty memorable outing.