Test Drive

Since we had some reasonably flat driving ahead, I decided to give the Weber carb conversion another try. I had the manifolds tapped for vacuum at a shop back in Uruguay, so everything was ready. After firing it up, giving it a medical-grade tune up, and adding my modified Kadron spring for feel, we hit the road.

Still. not. good.

I know the left linkage isn’t quite right (wrong spacers) but I saw this setup quite a bit at the Punte del Este show, and it’s identical. I guess the problem is printed right on the manifold. I’ll tweak it some more and give it a few more days before I give a final report.

A short driving day was in order, so we checked out Morro dos Conventos. It’s not in the guidebooks, but was recommended by two people. It sounded perfect.

This place is nice enough – big sand dunes, sand boarding, and a big wide beach. Just locals, except that today the yahoos hit the beach in large numbers. We’re still not sold on driving on the beach. It’s common here, and that’s the major knock against it. The good part is that we can just park and make a home – and not think about all our worldly possessions in the bus while we hit the beach right in front. The problem today was that by late afternoon, it turned into a cruising scene with plenty of jackassery and questionable driving. As Angela said, “too much testosterone – time to go.”

So, we did. Back in the little town, there’s a big campsite with a pool. A nice way to cool off after the humid sandy praia on the other side of the dunes. Tonight, we were the only campers.

Earlier, I had met a guy on the beach seining for tiny clams and he assured me they were good to eat.  So, I pulled out my tiny grelha and gave it a try – digging in the sand when the waves came in, and letting it filter the little buggers when the water rushed back out. I managed to get a good-sized pile for a snack. Later, I steamed them with a little olive oil and water until they popped open, then added some lime. Tasty frutos do mar.