Another Rock Trip. . .

Rocks, rocks, rocks. . .

A little over a week ago, Mollie, Stan, Barbara and I went to the rock store in Soledade. Kevin and I had been there twice, so he decided to stay home with Emma. I've somehow inherited my dad's love for rocks, so I was just ecstatic to go back and buy more rocks! Everyone is getting rocks for Christmas:) We just have to figure out a way to pack them in our suitcases and not exceed the weight limit!

We had an interesting trip to Soledade. The skies were clearing from the rains the night before and there was a beautiful double rainbow in the sky! Sunflowers were blooming and it was a beautiful drive. Then we watched a dog run under a car (not ours, thankfully), we saw a semi turned on its side (the driver looked to be OK), and maneuvered our way around a massive tree that had fallen across the highway. We ate lunch at a quiet, tiny restaurant near the center of town. As we were eating, four people sat at the table next to ours. Suddenly, the woman next to me said, "You're speaking English!" We all started talking and two of the four people were Americans! Not just any Americans, but the husband is the operations manager for John Deere in Montenegro. He'd heard of Mollie and when I introduced myself, he said he knew Kevin!! Apparently I had forgotten that there were other Americans here!! So, Rich and his wife Meg live in Porto Alegre with their three kids! We were all just a little shocked at our chance meeting. I got Meg's email and hope to connect with them after Christmas! I'm really excited to talk to another mom who's living in this country!! Oh, Soledade is about 3.5 hours from Horizontina and about 3 from Porto Alegre. Crazy that we would all eat in a tiny little Brasilian restaurant in a small town in southern Brasil.