As 2018 draws to a close, it’s perfectly appropriate that we reached the 200,000 mile (322,000 km) milestone on our Trans-Americas Journey. It happened a few days ago as we were driving from Cuzco, Peru to Copacabana, Bolivia.
Getting our truck blessed in Copacabana, Bolivia.
To celebrate the milestone, we got our truck blessed in front of the Basilica of our Lady of Copacabana in the main plaza in Copacabana. This is a daily ritual. Every day at 10 am vehicles line up in front of the church and purchase flowers and other decorations from local vendors which are used to adorn vehicles. Then a priest emerges and sprinkles holy water all over your vehicle, engine, and occupants.
Our decorated post-blessing truck on the ferry across a portion of Lake Titikaka as we drove from Copacabana to La Paz, Bolivia. We didn’t sink, so maybe that blessing worked…
Another milestone here at the end of 2018? We made it to the finals in the New York Times’ search for a 52 Places Traveler to visit and report about all 52 places on the newspaper’s list of top destinations in 2019. Check us out (very briefly – look for Karen’s red shirt) and watch for two of Eric’s photographs (one of a girl walking on a raised rail on a beach and one of an alpaca in the Peruvian Andes) in this video the Times put together about the finalists.
With your continued readership and support, it’s onward to 2019! We send our very best for a happy and healthy new year to all of you and look for our annual series of posts about the best adventures, best hotels, best food and drink, and best travel gear of 2018 rolling your way in January.
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