Like two good neighbors, Valentina and her friend usually meet at the door of their houses, greeting each other when going to or returning from work, wondering how things are going in this wonder of Patagonia that is Caviahue. Like the almost thousand inhabitants of the town, on Sunday night they deeply regretted the fire that destroyed the school. And like almost everyone here, depending on how the wind adjusts the bars, here, 360 km and a four and a half hour drive from Neuquen capital on paved roads, after snow storm These days they had no choice but to shovel.
The mission: make a path to clear the white blanket and be able to arrive or leave their homes with stretches of more than a meter of snow on the sides. And also to remove snow from the roof, because when it freezes and becomes heavier it is a danger to the roof beams. Of course: if the task is with the help of “Goku”, the little dog who jumps to tackle each shovel of snow, everything is more fun.
«There is no choice but to shovel»
Valentina Sepúlveda tells it with a smile, because she loves where she lives and if she has to pay the shoveling toll to leave her house and walk on the white blanket to her position at the reception of the Lago Caviahue hotel, she does it without problems.
“It’s powder snow, it comes out without any problems. It’s not like my waist or arms hurt afterwards. And the shovel is made of plastic. But you have to do it, because if it freezes afterwards it’s more difficult,” he explains.
He arrived in this mountain village in 1989 and it was love at first sight. She got a job in the same place where she works today and since then she has been happy in her place in the world. Yesterday she shared a photo of the place where she works.
And he also shared other wonderful postcards of Caviahue, all taken on Tuesday.
And he also told Rio Negro Newspaper the adventures of another Caviahue dog, as lovable as Goku. This case, the Rolo.
He always manages to get what he wants and lives next to the hotel where Valentina Sepúlveda works facing the lake in this wonder of the Patagonia covered by snow in the central-west of the province and with Chile on the other side of the mountains. Here, at the foot of Copahue volcano and 45 minutes from the border milestone, he loves to play among the white snowflakes with his sister Inca and together they run every time Stefi lets them go so they can have fun in those fairy-tale landscapes, between the araucarias and the pier where the seagulls stop.
«El Rolo always comes to ask for something after playing in the snow in Caviahue»
Rolo always makes his own plan after games. And he has no mysteries: he consists of standing on the other side of the window of the Hotel Lago Caviahue restaurant and put on the sweetest face in the world so they can give you a snack. And if he can’t reach it, he lifts his paw and gently rests it on the glass, a light tap to remind him that it is there.
El Rolo has the perfect accomplice. It’s Valentina, who can’t resist the temptation to go out and pet him and give him a snack. It can be a piece of teafried orta, bread or croissant, always without the cook knowing. And despite Stefi’s warnings, which she asks him not to give her, she has her food. “My mother has threatened me,” says Valentina and laughs.
El Rolo also accompanies tourists when they go walking in the snow in Caviahue
“And now I dreamed, because with this video the cook is going to find out,” he jokes and smiles again. It was filmed by Daniel, a tourist who was in the restaurant and saw it. Immediately, of course, he opened the window and gave her a piece of bread. It is difficult not to approach Rolo, he passes it to her and the guests who also pamper him and give him something. He also usually accompanies tourists when they go out for a walk.
«Rolo is intelligent, “He makes that little face that he’s begging and he comes to the window and there’s no way not to give him something,” says Valentina.
«And if he’s not there, when I go out he comes right back wagging his tail, so I’m going to look for something for him. Then Stefi comes and challenges me. And now the cook is also going to challenge me,” says Valentina and returns to her position at the reception with a smile. Behind the window, Rolo plays in the snow. He knows that he will soon come over to start the most charming routine.
