going south, see you in five months

In Columbia the police where riding everywhere two up and the one on the back always had a machine gun. I imagined they had an argument in the morning about who had to ride on the back and the one said to the other, "Well how about I drive, but you get to carry the gun...?" And an agreement was reached.

Thanks for following.

Holy christ . I'm lovin' it. Add the below wisdom to the "tree bitch-slap" video and I sleep with a smile on my face tonight.

Cheers gents ... keep it coming .

I broke my computer charger and can't find a new one here. So unless I figure out how to fix it I won't be able to update for about a week. But I have some good photos and a few videos too. See ya soon.

Don't worry, we'll be here. This is great stuff!

Good seeing you guys again here in Buenos Aires
But were the goodbye kisses really necessary???

And not saying there is anything wrong here, but are those two beds pushed together in your dorm room????

That was me, right? I guess I should have given that bit of Road 40 more of a chance... Well, at least I did recommend that little twisty road between Jujuy and Salta :)

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www.mylongvoyage.com

That must have been me, I guess I should have given more of a chance to that road... But I did recommend that little twisty road between Jujuy and Salta, didn't I?

Whassup?

I guess you boys are home safe and sound now?
Drying out and awaiting the liver transplant.

Need to know the last days of the trip to put closure to it.

Cheers

Yeah, what he said!

Sorry guys I've been home working ten hour days back in the real world and haven't had too much time. But I promise I will get on it.

And if you were coming north that first five miles was the worst of it. I think they drop water on the road also in the mornings and it packs down a little nicer. And the ride to Salta might have been top five of the trip!

Days one hundred and thirty to one hundred to one hundred thirty six 5-24 to 5-30-13

First off I'm sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I could feed you a bunch of excuses or I can get my shit together and finish this shit. Anyways, after Iguasu falls we started heading south toward Buenos Aires. The first day was back the same way we came, then splitting off down the Uruguay River to a free campsite in Santo Tome.



We ran into a little mud on the way but the campsite was right on the river and the right price.





We grabbed some booze and steaks in town and started drinking. I guess I got a little drunk and ambitious about the fire.




Woke up a little dreary with a short ride to Curuzu Cuatia ahead of me. along the way we found a little dirt to ride.



When we arrived in Curuzu Cuatia we quickly realized that it wasn't exactly a vacation destination. It was still early so we said fuck it and set out to La Paz on the Parana River. Before leaving we saw this fucked up Guinea Pig. The people in Peru would be a little fatter if they had Cuy this big.




Deciding to head straight to La Paz turned out short jaunt into a 450km ride. It was getting later now so we checked into a hotel called the Milton that was not quite the Hilton.... We grabbed some cheap food and had some drinks. The next morning we searched around the town for some campsites and moved into one for the next two nights.





Before leaving we grabbed some food, booze and fishing gear from the store.





Doublae Vae and Old Smuggler have become the official booze of Argentina. We did some drinking, and did some fishing.







After camping for a night we decided to head south and check out the city of Parana. The city was very nice.



We searched for camping as there were a lot of campsites on the map. Every time we showed up at a campsite they would look at us like we were crazy and told us we couldn't stay the night. so we went into town to look for a cheap hostels. After checking around for two hours and all the hostels having no parking and being really expensive we headed across the river to Santa Fe. Before crossing the tunnel we once again got stopped at a checkpoint. Cop: "seguro" Me: "No obla espanol" Cop, in perfect English: "Do you have Insurance". Shit. Luckily we somehow managed to change the subject and confuse the guy before he let us go. But that was a close one. When I got to Santa Fe ten minutes later it was getting dark.





Same story, no staying the night at campsites and very expensive hostels. We stopped at a McDonalds to use some internet. In Argentina camping means picnicing I guess. So we said fuck it and kept riding in the dark hoping for a smaller cheaper town somewhere south. we found a place about 20 miles down the road that had an alright room and parking for the bikes for about 40 bucks. To bad though I really wanted to catch a Parana, in the Parana River, in the town of Parana. Oh well next time.

The next morning we headed south with three nights to burn and about 100 miles between us and Buenos Aires.




We did some research on the internet and found an actual overnight campground about 60 Km north of BA that actually looked pretty cool.











We got there early and set up camp before going into town to stock up on beer and liquor. Side bags double as a cooler!



And food I guess too. The campsite had a bunch of quad trails and was right off the river. It was also right off the river so more fishing was in order. I did some alterations to my fishing pole.



The second night I got really drunk and decided I was either going to bed or riding the trails. It was about midnight. I should have went to bed. The trails were just big mud pits. My bald tires did not like this. I crashed pretty hard four or five times in the first 100 yards. Andrew was just following behind me going really slow with his 1/2 tread dunlop 606's laughing his ass off. We turned around and went back to camp. I was covered in mud.





Had to go back to the store for more booze as I drank everything last night.



I figured I'd get my bike sprayed off real quick. I pull into an auto lavado and tell the kid to just spray off the mud real quick. I step out for a cigarette and when I come back he has his pressure washer stuck up into my engine. I scream at him to stop, he does. My bike starts up so I head to the gas station. After filling up it no longer starts. Great. I have no tools on me as I just came in the 3 miles to grab some booze. I know what is wrong, my plug is wet but I can't get the seat off to dry it out and the gas station has no tools. I start wondering around looking for a shop. Everywhere is closed. I head back to the gas station and sit on the curb thinking about what the fuck I was going to do. After sitting there a bit the manager says he has a friend that owns a shop and he would call him and have me towed over there. This was very nice. The tow was not very nice. Getting towed across town on a motorcycle tied to a rope is not fun. We made it there and had it fixed in no time. The guy was so nice he wouldn't let me pay him.



So I left 20 bucks on his desk and headed back to the campsite. When I got back a new german guy had shown up and started camping by us. Gort, or something close to that, was riding a bicycle from Buenos Aires to Mexico and had just started his trip a few days ago.





So we got really drunk and shared stories. This day was full of just nice people

The next morning we woke up and had some dynamite to dispose of. Gert had expressed interest in participating in our excursion. so we taped the remaining dynamite to a two liter bottle filled with amonium nitrate and diesel.



I thik it was about two and a half sticks at this point as we had been blowing up some little mini bombs here and there.



Then we tied a rock to it and threw it in the river.

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And caught some fish.

later it started raining. And not just raining, pouring. this was more rain then I had ever seen. Lightning hitting all around us. The tent was sitting in two inches of water so I found a covered area and drank beer and watched the show.

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It was quite impressive. It burned off right before dark and we made a fire, some food and hung out with Gerd. Tomorrow we head to Dakar Motors to start the shipping process and hang out in BA for a bit before heading back to california. Then the Redwoods and more camping. More to come and I'll get off my ass and get on it.....

Days one hundred thirty seven through one hundred forty four, 5-31 to 6-7-13

We left our campsite and headed toward Buenos Aires. We once again had no idea where we were going, but had a rough idea of where Dakar Motos was. There we were to meet with Sandra to set up our shipping. She had everything ready for us when we got there. It was a very easy process. Anyone planning to ship their bikes I would recommend go through Dakar. She said they ship over 300 bikes a year and have all the contacts and connections to make it a very seamless process. We filled out our paperwork and set out to find a place to stay. Andy celebrating making it to Buenos Aires:

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There aren't too many places with moto parking. But we found a crappy little place in the monserat district that let us pull into the courtyard called the Kilca Hostel.



After a few days exploring the city we decided that Palermo was the place to be and set out to find a different hostel. We must have walked the entire city over the last few days.

















Florida street is the money exchange place. Once again bring US Dollars. We stumbled upon a hostel that had a nice big courtyard called the Borges Hostel. This was a much better location and very close to an awesome mexican joint called La Fabrica Del Taco.





Go there, it is awesome! Andrews parents had arrived in town now so I was on my own in the hostel. Meet some nice locals and went out partying.



Also the Flying Dutchman came to visit.



After a few days it was time to take our bikes to the airport.







The total cost was around $1450 if you were wondering. The charge by volume and not weight so the smaller you can make your bike the less it will cost you.

I was shipping to San Francisco and Andy to Los Angeles. He had more time than I did and wanted to take a few more days in BA and ride around California for a bit. So this is where we split up and went our own ways. Can't believe we made it all the way to Argentina without killing each other but we are both pretty easy going people and managed somehow to not get on each others nerves too much. Great traveling partner, don't know if I could have done it with any of my other friends and made it more than a month. Off to San Francisco in the morning to collect my bike then riding through the Redwoods.

It's good to see that you haven't blown yourself up or fallen off the edge of the earth or . . .

Yeah I'm back in Ashland now getting used to the daily grind trying to plan the next adventure... I'm thinking south east Asia maybe.

Day one hundred fourty five, 6-8-13



Plane rides all day. The duty free store in Buenos Aires is pretty bad ass. Especially when you still have some blue dollars left and calculate everything to be an additional 40% off.



First to Lima Peru where I had an hour layover. Crammed in between two fat people. Then to San Salvador El salvador. More fatties. Another two hour layover. Finally on my last flight to San Francisco I got a window seat and no one next to me.

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But these 15 year old girls behind me were arguing the whole damn time. I almost turned around and slapped the shit out of them thinking that since we were still over central america, this action would be totally acceptable. Instead I just put in my headphones and watched this stupidest show I have ever seen called Glee. Finally 16 hours later I landed in San Francisco. I had no phone, and one US dollar. Customs took a little while but all my bags showed up, so I was happy. I found an ATM grabbed a few hundred dollars and told the cabbie to take me to the closest hotel under $100. The Holiday Inn! How fucking spoiled we are! Giant hot two headed showers, huge king size bed, 65 inch plasma TV where every channel is in English, Fast Wifi. I flipped on the TV and there was a Coors light commercial all about the engineering of this bad ass new can with two vents and some blue shit inside to keep your beer colder. Fuck yeah America, glad to be home. We put more time into making an awesome beer can than all central america put into their highway system. I fell asleep on my "soft" pillow (the pillows were marked "soft", "medium" and "hard" and there were two of each) knowing tomorrow I had to deal with the process of collecting my bike.

Day one hundred and forty six, 6-9-13

Last night my father sent me an email letting me know he flew my brother in from Vegas and they were on their way from portland with my dads motorcycle in the back of the truck. Awesome. I haven't seen my brother in a while and always love hanging out with my dad. They drove all night and meet me in the morning at the hotel. After a few beers we headed over toward the cargo area to start the painful process of getting my bike. First of all the lady was busy. And everyone in the office was pissed. There wasn't anything this poor lady could do as she was the only one there. I think she noticed my patience and courtesy, as people in this position often do, and bumped my paperwork to the front of the line. Then I had to go over to customs to get them to stamp a paper. They were not at all busy. But they were PRICKS! Two meat dicks sitting behind a counter with guns on their hips saying they don't give out import stamps for vehicles on saturdays. After basically sucking dick for twenty minutes they pulled out the stamp and stamped me all good. It took him three seconds. Now to get my bike and start putting it together. Went quick with the help of my dad and brother.



We hit the road as it was getting late. No real idea where we were going but some sort of campground somewhere north. Once again highway 1 in california is beautiful. Great views and tight twists.












It was starting to get late and there were no campsites around. So we checked into a hotel and had a few drinks.

Great Ride report. Very entertaining. You guys are some serious drinkers! Thanks so much for taking us along.

The dynamite made me LOL for real.