The bike has been delayed at the Buenos Aires Customs Office for five days; but word has it that it will arrive tomorrow. We've been in Ushuaia for a week now obsessing about the bike ride. We shall see tomorrow how the next step of the journey will begin.

We have been really lucky with good weather, we are told. It has only rained one afternoon during the past week; however, it has rained every night for the past four nights. The first night it rained, we noticed water seeping through the floor of our tent. We realized that the floor of our tent has endured many desert camping trips -- sharp rocks and cactus needles have left their mark!

So with time on our hands, we underwent a home renovation project since this is "our casa" for the next 18 months.

This is the all-purpose must-have tape: "cinta multiproposito ductac". At the hardware store (ferreteria), they just call it "cinta." Home improvement project time: reinforce tent floor to prevent emotional outbursts from rain water creeping into sleeping quarters. We buy a shower curtain to line the tent floor. Christi spreads it out to see how it'll fit. Then Tauru snips the excess portion of the curtain. Keep it steady! Keep it steady. Note: The knife used is from Thailand. Christi picked it up during her travels in SE Asia this past summer. It too likes to travel. Tauru continues to cut. He had folded over about a foot and half of the excess curtain to cut it. That piece will be used later. Time to put it back into the tent. He realizes that, in addition to water-proofing the tent floor, the new floor will be white. He'll be able to see things on the floor! Before, it was dark and so whatever was on the floor kind of blended in. But now dark colored objects will contrast against the white floor. If he could only find the start of the roll of duct tape. Already, the black duct tape stands out against the white floor. Taping the shower curtain to the floor. See? Black against white! Pheww, he's really enjoying the contrast. Nice. Some like hardwood flooring, or tile flooring, we prefer vinyl shower curtain flooring. The shower curtain is only so long, so we used the excess portion that Tauru snipped off above to fill in the rest. Okay, Patagonia rain, pour all you want because La Casa now has water-proof tent floor technology.