La Paz The Salto Please...

It's late February, and with a month remaining, the clock is ticking to absorb as much of Uruguay as we can, so...

We headed to western Uruguay for three days of estancias, vineyards, and thermal pools...

Our route was north from Montevideo through San Jose, Trinidad, Young towards Salto. Our first stop was just south of Paysandú where would stay at Estancia La Paz...After a year without "wheels", it was liberating to be in the driver's seat again, with four hours of open road...
We hit some wet spots along the way, but the Uruguay highway system is well maintained...
...even if their traffic laws are a little looser--we passed this family in Trinidad...
The drive was beautiful. The typical scenes of soft rolling hills spotted with bovines were mixed with various crops and grottos of palm trees under perfect conditions for rainbows--dark clouds showering in the distance and beams of sunlight piercing through to the surface...
We came across occasional construction crews--these workers, like all Uruguayos, smiled and waved as we slowly crossed a bridge repair project and pointed our little digital image grabber at them...

After hours of smooth pavement, the last ten miles was down a gravel spur road. Then, we reached the entrance to the estancia--a long driveway of sycamores that formed a natural tunnel over us, with fenced pastures on both sides...

We were the lone guests this night, adding an extra sense of ownership and tranquility to our stay, as we explored and enjoyed the grounds all alone. Our host, herself a member of the proprietor family, gave us the best room, at the end of the upper floor of the lodge...
Surrounded by butterfly filled gardens, orchards and grape vines, a windmill slowly turned overhead as horses grazed nearby and gauchos performed their daily tasks...
It was afternoon, and we were soon seated for a traditional lunch of estancia steak, fresh chutney, and creamy mashed potatoes...
After a dessert of poached pear in champagne, we went for a gentle walk around the grounds...
Cacti and ivy shrouded century old structures...
A pool and tennis court sat silent and still under the water tower and cobble walkway...
...and the windmill posed as a flower trellis dripping with bumble bee and hummingbird bait...
Outside the main confines, through a dale, stood a modest chapel. It's doors creaked open with a push, and we made the organ hum some long, churchy chords as we worked the foot pedals that pushed air through its pipes...
Long before light bulbs, this chapel held weddings, baptisms, and communions. Later we would learn its name, Chapel of the Good Shepard, named for the stain glass window over the altar...
The sun began setting as we removed and replaced the wire that held shut the grazing yard gate. We mingled with the mares that nibbled the green grass under the purpling skies. Lightning too far off to make thunder flickered on the horizon...
Inside the community hall we found a fireplace and dozens of relics from decades past...
Outdoor banquet tables waited under a vine roof by the grill. A skunk snuck by as we sat for dinner just inside the double doors...
A picture history of the estancia's family history hung on the wall...
And a more practical collection of cowboy knick knacks were nailed to another...

During dinner, between dishes, Ann told us more about Estancia La Paz...

In 1857, an Englishman named Richard B. Hughes bought the land from it's Spanish owners, changing the name from El Rincón to La Paz, to reflect the peaceful setting. During the mid 1800's, many British moved to Uruguay, improving the cattle and salt industries, and through their export, made the national economy thrive. Cottage architecture evolved into homesteads that included lookouts where owners, using a light and mirror, could communicate quickly about dangers across the long expanses of Uruguay's terrain--to report on lost or sick livestock or to warn about wandering ne'er-do-wells. For a century, the church served as a local social center for both religion and business. In the 1960's the Wynaux family, of Dutch descent, purchased the property from the Hughes heirs. Twenty years ago, Ann's family opened the estancia to tourism...
After dinner, Leandra and I returned to our room to find the sheets turned down and on our pillow, a chocolate mint and a lavender sprig. We lit the candles ourselves...

In the morning, after a breakfast of bread and honey, coffee and tea, we strolled the grounds again before taking a last dip in the pool and watching the doves and sparrows chirp and flit about...

Then, we thanked Ann and left, raising a thin dusty cloud as we drove down the drive...