Cross country travel - day 11

Our time in Curitiba has wound down and it's time to hit the road and drive for our final destination of Mireiros. I know we did not see it all and hopefully I will make it back to this wonderful city someday.  Back to our journey though and since it will take a day and a half to return, we wake early to get a good jump start on the day.  As we leave Curitiba,  I notice some Portuguese tile. I had seen
some in other historic parts of the city the days prior but for some reason,  this morning it catches my eye.  It is simply beautiful and it had to make it into my story.  If you get the chance to visit the city,  pay attention to this wonderful story telling of the blue and white portuguese tiles.

Off we drive down the toll roads, spending our money to drive on nice roads. It is a pretty basic drive through the country, but every once and a while, on the outskirts of a small city or two we drive past a replica of the Statue of Liberty.  I find this interesting and soon realize that it is a store called Havan.  A department store of sorts located in several cities on the eastern coast of Brazil.  We don't stop as we don't need any electronics at this time and time is money.  I find their use of the Statue of Liberty for branding interesting.  I guess they are saying you can get your own piece of the USA if you shop their store.  Next time I see one,  I will have to insist on stopping and checking out the inside.

There is little adventure and sight seeing today off our main path as our objective is to get back home.  Soon we leave behind the houses built of wood and I find myself scouting the skies for my friends - - - the toucanos.   (yes toucans).  For me the sighting of these odd shaped colorful birds is a feat without compare.  I watch the sky as we drive mile after mile on our journey.  Many times seeing something flying through the sky only to be disappointed that it is some other bird.  Today I see at least five of the bright beaked birds and capture distant photos of two.  Toucans are traditionally isolated birds and do not spend much time around humans.  They are also social birds so if you see one,  a second one is normally not far away. 

 

This toucan hunting sure helps the time pass and soon it is afternoon and time for a little

break.  We pull into the gas station and park next to a pink motor cycle to fill the tank with gas.  I head into the store and I am happy to see an old friend Chester the Cheetah gracing the bag of Cheetos.  I decide to have a little American pleasure and purchase a bag.  They make such a good drive time snack although they were the cheese puff variety and I much prefer the kind that goes CRUNCH.   Anyway it was a nice touch of life in the USA for the afternoon and I did enjoy it.   The owner of the motor cyle is in the store as well and although I don't understand Portuguese yet,  it is not hard to tell his personality matches that of his pink motor cycle. After a small break and listening to his storey we hop back into our car full of gas.  We are soon traveling in some of the same areas as the beginning of our journey.  The sun sets and it is time to lay our heads down on a hotel pillow.  Another four hours and we will be back to Minieros. 

Please let me know if you would like a personal tour of Curitiba -I would be happy to share this beautiful city with you! All inclusive packages available--

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