We left Tipiliuke and headed south west to San Martin de los Andes. 
On the way we passed a Jack Nicklaus designed golf course. Did you know that Jack liked to fish also?There are a few lots available to purchase in the golf course development. 
This is one of the grocery stores that I stopped at with Mary Jo the other day. No time to stop today, we had places to go, adventures to enjoy! 
San Martín de los Andes is located at the end of Lake Lácar, or Lagar Lácar as the Argentinians say. There are lots of roses everywhere, and the buildings are built in a Tyrollean style. Many of the shops sell ski gear, chocolates and sporting clothes. 
Lagar Lácar is a glacial lake, and there is only development near the base of the lake. Lanin National Park was created in 1937, and the logging industry that had been prevalent was ended. The area reminded me of Lake George without the houses!
It’s about 12:40 on a Thursday afternoon, only a few people are on the beach. It would be equivalent to a Thursday after Labor Day back home. There are a few boats at the marina here to take people on a cruise.
We stopped to enjoy the view at Lago Machónico vista. 
Here is Steve with our driver. I can’t remember his name, but he did have a sexy Argentinian accent! Not to worry though, Steve is still my main squeeze!
This is a picture of the truck we were driven in. They had lots of truck similar to this in Chile also. Steve thinks that they would sell like hot cakes in the US. 
Here is a panoramic view of Lago Machónico vista. We eventually passed by seven of the lakes, that I previously told you we would pass on Seven Lakes Road. After almost 3 hours we arrived at Villa La Angostura. More later!
Tag: San Martin de los Andes
Tuesday February 27, Tipiliuke Afternoon and Evening
I left you yesterday halfway through the Asado. We had two more courses of meat. Now that’s my kind of meal, meat, meat, and more meat! 
I love the little touches here. Even the forks and knives used at lunch have the Tipiliuke mark on them! 
Dessert was yummy as usual. It will be interesting to see how much weight I gain this vacation. I am a little less active than at home. Of course I could always go fishing with Steve all day, and wade those rivers. That burns a lot of calories. But if I did that, there would be no blog! 
A beautiful bowl of fruit is passed at dessert for those people who aren’t into the high caloric treats. Or, you could be like me and eat both! 
In the afternoon there is always a set up of coffee and tea with cookies in the living room. 
Steve had free time in the afternoon between fishing sessions. I convinced him to come look at River House. Doesn’t he look happy? He hasn’t even seen the stream yet!
Steve is checking out the river. The house comes with a mile of river frontage. The sale of River House to the Lants was not to be. It was a fun dream while it lasted! Does anyone have a bridge in Brooklyn they want to try to sell me? 
This is Kevin’s truck. I got to ride in it a lot. I think they go through tires and shocks pretty often. The roads are very bumpy! 
While Steve went to his late afternoon and fish until dark session, I asked to go to St. Marin de los Andes. Guess where I went? You got it, a supermarket! There were no doubts that I would get my visit, was there? This supermarket had everything! 
School starts next week, so all the uniforms were out. In Argentina, the children wear white smocks. Pens, markers, and other school paraphernalia were in the bins. 
This is the vegetable aisle. 
Chicken looks like chicken everywhere! 
The butcher was hard at work. 
I looked for some of the fancy Pisco Sour bottles that we saw in Chile, but only the Easter Island Brand was available. 
There were lots of Coke products. 
Mary Jo told me that this was a mix of ketchup and mayonnaise. I told her that I had never heard of Salsa Golf before!
Potato Chips are everywhere!
In America this soup is called “Cup A Soup”. 
There were many brands of Dulce De Leche. 
Mary Jo said that the cereal aisle was really limited compared to the United States. She was correct! 
The toilet paper here had some pretty high class names!
Mary Jo told me that most of the empanadas are made with store brought crusts. That way all you had to do was fill and bake or fry. 
While I was at the grocery store Steve caught this beautiful rainbow. He ended up with 26 fish for the day. During the last hour of daylight they hit a Yellow May Fly hatch, and he did very well. This photo was taken at 8:12 pm! 
Steve finally made it back and we could eat dinner. My time stamp shows that this picture was taken at 9:56! I told you that we ate dinners late here. Back home I would be in bed with a book! 
Dinner was salmon, green beans and tomatoes. 
We had a chocolate cake for dessert.
Now might be a good time to talk about the guests at Tipiliuke. While we were here we met people from Mexico, Germany, England, and the United States. In talking to Kevin and Mary Jo, we learned that a former president has stayed here. Within the last year, one of the richest men in America stayed here also. When VIPs stay, they buy out the whole Estancia for their entourage. The President didn’t sleep in my room, so I can’t say that I slept in a Presidential bed or used the same toilet that he did!
That’s all for Tuesday!
Tuesday February 27, 2018 Tipiliuke Adventures Continue
Breakfast was a fried egg and bacon for me. No pictures of Steve’s breakfast as he ate earlier. I thought he was only going to get coffee and then come back to get me. Instead, he ate breakfast by himself. Silly Steve!
This picture of staff full of smiles is of Adrian, Steve’s fishing guide and Maru and Monica. Monica would love a someone special also. He doesn’t need to live in the mountains full time as Maru’s prospective husband does. Monica will relocate to the city when the estancia is closed. Adrian has a family and children so he is off limits ladies! Adrian was a wonderful guide. He will be on the Argentinian Fly Fishing Team in the World Cup of Fishing. 
This is a picture of the kitchen at Tipiliuke, this is where all the delicious food comes from. 
I had some free time before a massage I was scheduled for. Harry took me along with him to see the property. Not sure what this is, but the roses are lovely. 
There is a chapel on site, but if you would love to have an intimate wedding in Patagonia, this is the place. Remember the web site is tipiliuke.com
The chapel is made of local stone, like all the buildings at Tipiliuke. 
Harry has found the key and is opening the door for me. 
We are looking at the front of the chapel here. 
This is the view of the bride and groom as they exit the chapel. Martin and Sybille were trying to get Maya and Jeraldo to marry here. Maybe next visit!
Here are more beautiful gardens!
More rose gardens! 
We have a busy bee here. 
This was the room for the massage. My massage by Irene was wonderful. She is camera shy, so no pictures of her! 
The sauna was just off the masssage room. There is no swimming pool here, but it can be arranged to bring you to a private beach where you can wade and sun. I am too buy blogging to wade and sun!
Steve caught 15 fish again in the morning. 
Lunch was going to be an asado! That is barbecue. Here we see the meat had just been put on the grill. 
An hour later and the meat is almost ready!
Lunch was again outside under the pergola. Here we have the setup of the salad fixings. 
Doesn’t the table look lovely? The pine cones are amazing!
This was my salad. 
First meat course was sausages!
Got to run! I am going out with Steve tonight to fish!
Monday February 26, 2018 Tipiliukie
We left with Steve having a happy smile on his face. He fished in the morning and caught a whole bunch of fish. How many I can’t remember, I’ll have to get back to you on that. He keeps telling me how many, but it goes in one ear and out the other. I do care, it’s just any number over ten I just forget.
My hips were sore from riding, and I didn’t have a massage scheduled like some of the others, so I explored a little. I do look awful cute, don’t I?
This is the view from one of the back patios. You can see Tipiliuke in the background. 
This is the gift shop. They didn’t have any baseball caps to add to Steve’s collection so he got a tee shirt instead. We will have to come back another year to add to his cap collection. On the top shelf is a book written by one of the grandsons of the founders of the Estancia. I had no time to read the lodge copy, maybe next time when I won’t have anything new to blog!
Kevin had mentioned the other property on site that could be rented. It is called River House. It is perfect for a group getaway. There are definitely at least 4, maybe 5 bedrooms. It was built by an investment banker who has since died. Then a German bought it, who might have ended up in jail, and now some Argentinian businessmen own it. They are looking to sell it, so it can be yours! 500 acres, over a mile of beautiful water, and only $4 US million. Who wants to chip in? There is wind and solar power with a backup generator and batteries. They have satellite dishes also. There is a caretaker to mind the Estancia while you are away. Let’s get closer shall we?
Here is Kevin going up the front steps. The front door is humongous!
Here is the big ass pool table. Every house needs a big ass pool table, doesn’t it?
This is the living room. Can you imagine all your nearest and dearest sitting around and talking about all the fish you caught that day? You can see the dining room from here. 
Here is a closer look of the dining room. Looks like at least eight chairs, so maybe only eight can sleep here. Guess I will have to cross some people off the guest list! Ha Ha!
A few of the other guests staying at Tipiliuke came along to see the River House. They weren’t interested in joining me in on a partnership on the property.
The shades in the bedrooms were kept closed due to all the bright sun. There is no air conditioning, but there are usually lots of Patagonian breezes. Nights get very cool. 
There is no hot tub, or pool. Perhaps we might want to make sure the owners throw in a hot tub to seal the deal! 
This is the view from one of the bedrooms upstairs. That is one of the side channels. It dries up during the summer. The main river stays in good shape. The lines in the photo are due to my taking the picture through the screen. 
The River House comes with a full team of help. You get maids, cooks and servers. No need to bring your own personal staff with you. There is a grocery store 20 minutes away if you want to do all the cooking yourselves. 
This is the mirror in the foyer of the River house. That’s one big ass mirror also! 
Here is a small part of your 500 acre view. 
Did I mention that the property comes with a pond? Well it does. Here is Maru, striking a pose for me! Isn’t she adorable? Does anyone have a brother who wants to live in Argentina in the mountains, has a great smile, sparking eyes and a great sense of humor? Shoot me an email. 
This is the view of the back of the house. Just beautiful! 
One last view of River House, I can’t wait for dinner and tell Steve that I put a binder on the property. Hmm, the bushes look a little overgrown, we’d have to add a gardener to the payroll. That just might kill the deal for Steve. 
Back to Tipiliuke and it is time for a Pisco Sour!
Here is Harry, our intern from the UK. Isn’t that a great spread? He really does have teeth! 
Here we have Lalla and Gianni from Milan, with Mary Jo (her real name is Maria Jose, but we call her Mary Jo, (on Kevin’s phone she is listed as Babe, he calls her “My Little Angel” when he talks to her on the phone. We don’t know what she calls him!) You might wonder how I know all this stuff. Well, I observe and ask questions. Steve scolded me at dinner the night of the faux proposal that I was interrupting myself by asking so many questions!
Gianni is an architect. He has designed villas all over the world. I asked him what he thought of River House, he said it was quite beautiful. Maybe I will ask Steve to buy it for me after all!
Gianni was the architect of the Italian President Silvio Berlusconi’s villa. I asked which room was the Boom Boom room, Gianni and Lalla pretended not understand my question.
Goodness, is it time for dinner already? Yes, it is. Let’s have some carrot soup.
Followed by spinach crepes with mushrooms. It doesn’t look so good in this lighting but it was delicious! 
Dessert was blueberries with a Dulce de Leche cake underneath. Steve’s total fish count for Monday was 15 in the morning and 15 in the afternoon. Steve believes in fishing and not taking pictures of each fish that he catches!
More tomorrow! Remember to send me your likes, and subscribe!
Monday February 26, 2018. Tipiliuke!
Breakfast time! The buffet table is beautifully spread out with Coffee, cereal, meat and cheese. There are lots of spreads to put on your toast, many jams, and of course Dulce de Leche! 
Look at this little saucer for your tea bag. Isn’t that adorable? 
I had a fried egg with bacon. 
Steve had his eggs scrambled. 
Here is Steve chatting with Annie and Paul, they are from Wyoming. I think they are exchanging fishing tales. What else would you do at a fishing lodge? 
Here is Steve all geared up and ready to go. His guide Adrian is photo bombing! I took the picture with my iPad, so try to ignore all the stuff on the side. Look at Steve in that vest! He is prepared for everything! 
This vista shows the volcano Lanin, and on the right is Tipiliuke. While Steve was off fishing I went off riding with Fiona, who is from England and one of the interns, Mike. Why do those power lines always seem to be in the way of the view? (Mary M, I am thinking about you!) Mike is from the UK and one of his relatives is a DUKE! You know I got quite excited about that, didn’t you! 
Here is Mike giving me a hug. I look pretty calm experiencing my almost royal hug. Maybe I should have packed my tiara!
Jack, Harry and Mike are all from the UK. They are interning here at Tipiliuke. They are having a great time learning Spanish, riding horses, and the hospitality industry. Soon hunting season will start and they will go with the gauchos, translating for the guests. If you know someone who would like to do an internship here just shoot Tipiluike an email . It will be an experience of a lifetime!
Here we are on our ride. It was supposed to be an hour. How long will it be?
On our ride we passed by some anglers in a drift boat, fishing the Chimehuin River.
Everywhere you can see is part of the Estancia. Almost 50,000 acres! Just think of the property taxes! I was told that this is not the largest estancia in the area, there are ones down the road of over 100,000 acres!
I spy a guanaco! Do you see his white legs?
Here is a picture of Julio. He is our gaucho that is leading us on the ride. He has very sharp eyes. At one point he came back to my horse and grabbed a piece of metal that was on the ground.
Our ride was over two hours and fifteen minutes. My hips were so sore I was almost crying the last fifteen minutes. I decided that one hour to the gaucho meant one hour there, turn around and one hour back. 
Back at the lodge, snacks awaited us. I think the cheese was a big hit, but I loved the salami!
Not sure if I showed you one of the outdoor seating areas. There was a fireplace that was lit after dinner. 
Lunch time! As you recall, lunch is the big meal, and dinner is much lighter. 
Lunch was served in a beautiful pergola. It was shady enough that we didn’t get too hot. Temperatures were in the 80’s here. 
Tipiliuke had charming touches everywhere. Here is the signature brand on the napkin ring, and a little flower sprig in the cloth napkin. 
First course was a delightful salad. The vegetarians had a much larger salad. 
The pork was cooked perfecto! I loved the apples on the side. Steve doesn’t like apples so I got to have his also. 
Dessert was a mango mousse. 
While I was out riding Steve was out fishing. Yes! He did catch his February fish! Congratulations! Isn’t this one a beauty! I am not sure how many he caught. We’ll find that out later. Ciao, Ciao!
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