RUIDOSO DOWNS — El Mañoso, the Car of Small Problems, isn't a conventional beauty. Its paint is no longer a smooth blue — scratches, dents and rust crisscross its body in a roadmap of wear, interrupted by stickers proclaiming, "I was here," from dozens of countries and landmarks.

One of its doors doesn't close all the way, so water leaks in a slow, "drip, drip, drip," when the skies grow dark and rain pours down. The odometer hasn't worked for many years and many more miles, leaving ink stained roadmaps as the most accurate record of its journeys. Sometimes it needs a push start, sometimes it doesn't. Its front left tire wobbles slightly as she dangles, cold and silent, on the raised jack in Ray's Automotive shop in Ruidoso Downs.

Until now, all of its problems have been small ones.

Until now, it has rolled with stoicism through nations and continents as Julieta Conci and Guillermo Marianacci make their journey from Argentina to Alaska.

Setting off on March 3, 2011 from Còrdoba, Argentina, they rolled south to the root of South America, Ushuia, Argentina, the "southernmost city of the world."

From there it was off to Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, a hop across the pond to Cuba, and then a stop in Monterrey, Mexico, before crossing into the United States.

Their journals are peppered with the many small problems of El Mañoso, such as a failing battery on the first southern dive of the journey, a blowout on a particularly toothy gravel road, a hit-and-run driver that ricocheted off El Mañoso's flank and sped off down the street, pursued by the shaken fist of Marianacci as he ran in pursuit, and many other small problems.

Small problems that were fixed by big hearts, Conci said. Throughout their journey, be it on the beaches of Cuba, in the mountains of Argentina or on the prairies of Texas, the couple has made friends and new family as they meandered northward.

"Sometimes the place isn't very beautiful, but the people always are," she said, seconded by Marianacci.

And like life, there have been good times, bad times, hard times and easy times, he said. "There's not always a flowered life. Our parents said, 'You're crazy, where are you going to sleep? What will you do for money?'"

But the joy is in the journey, in meeting new people, new cultures, new foods and the next horizon.

While in Bogotà, Columbia, they met a family and celebrated Conci's 26th birthday. Two months later, Marianacci turned 29 in Venezuela. A year afterwards, Conci celebrated her 27th turn around the sun in Mexico and Marianacci saw his third decade pass on the beaches of Cuba.

"We've traveled for a long time. It's the different moments (that make it worthwhile)," he said. "No place is more special than others, the situation makes it special. This is for our experience. We go to all places with our hearts open. For us, all places are good."

Pit stop

But the young couple wasn't expecting New Mexico to be quite this cold when they made a special detour to witness Sierra Blanca, majestic in its white, powdery gown, and enjoy a few runs down the neighboring mountains at Ski Apache.

In the midst of a mid-December freeze, El Mañoso blew a gasket, stranding Conci and Marianacci in the village they intended to only pass through.

The next coldest spot on their trip was in Bolivia, about 14,700 feet above sea level, nearly twice the elevation in Ruidoso. But that was only a small chill compared to the temperatures in the village, Conci said with a mock shiver, divested of her extra two layers of coats as she sat, sipping her steaming coffee.

Outside, both drew their shoulders in from the chill and hurried between building and car as they shiver in a cold unlike the sub-tropical warmth they are used to.

"We meant to stop for three days," Marianacci said, ruefully.

Now, they look to be stranded for a while longer as Ray Montoya, owner of Ray's Automotive, looks for parts.

"We've run into a vehicle we can't find parts for," Ray said, shaking his head as he pointed towards an old model Ford in the midst of a complete rebuild. "We literally build old cars, and we don't have the difficulty we have with this."

The main part of the problem is that exact parts for El Mañoso, a 1993 Renault 18, are not made in the U.S., leaving Ray to seek approximate parts and modify them to fit.

Though that's certainly a headache, it's not a problem, he said.

"Whatever we have to do to help them, we'll do," Ray said of the first travelers that he and his wife, Jodie, have invited into their home in more than 20 years.

"Now we have family in all countries in the Americas," Conci chimed in.

While much of the cost for replacing the gasket, along with the countless other small problems that they plan to fix before seeing their new family off, can be picked up out of pocket, parts are still expensive, Ray said.

Traveling expenses

"This life, this traveling is simple," Marianacci said.

Sleeping and cooking out of El Mañoso, surprisingly large when the clutter of the journey is cleared, has not been a problem. Any travel expenses; food, gas and tickets to state parks, were easily paid for by selling their hand-crafted accessories and providing entertainment and education for schools, towns and other groups along their route, at least until they reached the U.S.

Conci, a physical therapist who crochets in her spare time, and Marianacci, a physical education instructor who displays an aptitude for juggling, relied greatly on their talents while in South America.

Now, language is becoming a problem, Conci said in mixed English and Spanish, accompanied by gesticulation as she bounces words off Marianacci, slightly more fluent in English, to convey her meaning.

"Now we make handicrafts," she said. "Here, (business is) not so great."

That's another thing the Montoyas have volunteered to help with, offering space by Rays' Automotive for a Saturday sale of the couple's crafts.

"Don't say I'm a nice guy," Ray jokingly cautioned the couple as plans for the Saturday sale coalesced. "I don't want to ruin a bad reputation."

Marianacci makes recycled wallets and creates beads of various sizes for Conci, who displayed crocheted purses, earrings, belts and other accessories decorated by various South American seeds-become-beads that glimmer with a muted luster under the shop lights. Postcards and photography from their journey also are available.

The couple, accompanied by the Montoya family, will be outside from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weather permitting, to raise money to get El Mañoso back on the road.

No price tags are displayed on the couple's crafts. Instead, customer pay "what your heart tells you it's worth," Conci said.

But whatever happens, El Mañoso will not be left behind, they said.

However plans may go, no matter what obstacles lie in wait, the Car of Small Problems will make the journey home, though probably not on its wheels, Conci said with a laugh.

Perhaps they will fly back, perhaps they will take a boat.

Whatever the case, it will be good to get back to their home and not drive further than the grocery store for a while, she said.

To follow Conci and Marianacci's travels, visit them online at For those who are not fluent in Spanish, free online translation services, such as Google ( may help.