Mike on a Bike to South America

Wow, I had a Trail 70 when I was a kid. I can't believe there are any still around.

I do have a battery operated heated lumbar belt but no heated vest or jacket. I think that I should be good to go. All part of the adventure....right?
I hope your swimming pool is getting a nice facelift. Looks like quite the project.
All packed and ready to go. Wed. I will fly out.

There are quite a few on E-bay that you can still get. I'm actually surprised at the prices that even the junky ones go for. They sure are fun to ride.

You can put a lot of pictures on a page. Sometimes they go on and on in the same post.

It's best to resize them before you upload them, I think you've figured that out already, but posting from the road, sometimes really large pics get posted that take forever to upload, and require scrolling across the page to see the whole picture. I have a trip coming up this summer, and I'm going to look into changing the default resolution on my camera, so i can post without having to resize them first.

Another suggestion is to hit enter once or twice between pics, to space them out so they don't mis-align.
You can see where your BMW pics did that, and the typing on the same line as your second Harley picture.

I always hit enter before and after each picture posted, so it spaces them out a bit.
You can see I did that to your pics in this quote, just to make it easier to scroll through and look at.

Good luck with your trip!!

Thanks for the tip from Las Vagas.

Here is a map of the area that I'm headed.



Flying into Santiago, Chile in the morning
of March 6th then down to Punta Arenas
by late afternoon.

This is the bike waiting for me in Punta Arenas. I like the color.

Hello from Punta Arenas,

The journey has started. Left Milwaukee at 6:00 p.m. on the 5th and had just a 40 minute layover to get to the connecting flight to Santiago, Chile.
That is hardly enough time to ask for directions as to which tram stop you need to get off at, as the plane was already loaded up by the time I got to the gate. .
Once on board that flight,m which l left around 10 p.m. I was treated to a dinner and breakfast before landing 11.5 hrs and 4715 miles away in Santiago.



What a shame to leave this behind.



Picture of the sunrise over the cloud covered Atlantic but on the west side of the plane. Quiet the effect.





Sunny Santiago about 70 deg. warmer than Milw.




If I were to describe the flight from Santiago to Punta Montt, the midway point to Punta Arenas, I would describe it as
similar to a 2 hr. trip over the Rocky Mountains. The views were spectacular.



You could definitely could see the influence of volcanic eruptions and we passed over Vol. Lonquimay, Tolhuaca, Jaima,
Villarrica, Choshuenco, Llaima, Lanin and a lot more that I can't spell or pronounce. Hard to imagine that I will be riding through some of that area in a week.




































Refueling at Punta Montt.








This is Island Los Pinquinos, where nearly 70,000 breeding pairs of burrowing Magellilanic penguins hang out.



Landing in Punta Arenas
























Hotel Don Rey Felipe. Home for 2 nights.



View looking east to the Strait



The Strait of Magellan



This is Fred from CA recently back from Alaska.




This is Fred with our leader Eric. Those are not horns on the top of his head, he has his sunglasses under his hood.




Waterfront art.



BBQ Lamb for dinner. When in Chile...... The Pesco Sour is traditional too.








The MESS. It doesn't take long to get things looking messy.



Cool sink. Fixtures coming right out of the mirror.

Very nice. Enjoy the ride!

Yeah cool, you made it!

Dress warm.

Will you go to Ushuaia or head straight north?

The adventure has begun!
I know you are loving it all already!
James and I will be following along!

Coolina

Hi James,
Picking up the bikes in the a.m. and headed to the ferry at Punta Delgada. The plan in to head to Ushuaia and back by the 12th. Weather was great
today for sight-seeing. Plenty of wind, as expected. Tomorrow will be the
real tale-teller. Will post pictures of today's wanderings later.

Thanks Coolina, I hope that I don't bore you to death. Yours and James"s trip is a hard act to follow. And just for the record, my sweet Ann Marie doesn't think she can be a perfect wife if she doesn't RIDE. She should know that most husbands would prefer their wives didn't. You and James just have something special with riding in common. Lots of wives wouldn't let their husbands GO on a trip like this so either way she's PERFECT as far as I'm concerned.
xox

Thanks Luke, thanks for the tip on the google translator.

Safe travel and keep the pictures and story coming
You did good so far
I bet you miss your GS at home

Spent the day in Punta Arenas waiting for the rest of the riders to show up.
Tomorrow we ride to Tierra del Fuego the island that is the tip of South America. There are 2 ferry's that service the island and depending on the weather determines how many miles we will ride tomorrow. Here are some pictures of the area.
This cross stands atop a hill which overlooks the city which is the southern
most city in Chile. It is located on the west side of the Straits of Magellan.











This is where we head tomorrow to pick up the bikes.



Shepherds Monument







8820 pesos = $15.55 1 Imperial Gal. = 4.546L. 1 US Gal.= 3.79L



Walls around the coolest cemetery.


























Back with the living.





Something you don't see in the States anymore!






Main Square. Ferdinand Magellan.





Legend has it that if you touch the foot of the Tierra del Fuego statue that you will be back.





Doesn't look like much on the outside but ......



inside was pretty neat.







There is a museum next door to the church. Lots of neat stuff to see. Like that loom in the corner. Just for you Colleen.





Stamps....Just for you Tom,












The Sara Braun mansion.

Good job on the travelogue Mike!

Thanks Tuckers.
TDF TDF TDF TDF

The day started with a taxi rice to Aljandaro to pick up the bikes. That process took 2.5 hrs but we were not to concerned as it was raining out. By the time we left there it was a 5 mile ride to get some lunch. One of the bikes had an electrical problem so it was about 1:30 when we hit the road for the ferry. We headed east with strong winds coming from the NW. On the average of 35 to 50 mph. The rain stopped before San Gregorio and pretty much road with the wind to Punta Delgato where we waited for the ferry. We got there about 3:00 but the ferry was closed because of the winds. The wind died down a bit and the ferry came to the landing between 7 & 8:00 but the 1st 2 times that it took on vehicles it did not take any bikes. Someone may have looked cross eyed at one of the ALL POWERFUL ferry employees and maybe he just had a bad day with cyclists. Anyway we got onboard the 3rd trip and finally made it to TDF about dark. We had tentative reservations in Cerro Sombrero at Hotel Tunkelen which worked out just fine because it started to rain again. Actually I think we may have missed a huge storm by being held back. Had the ferry not been closed because of the weather we may have had a chance to make it to Rio Grande but we will stop there tomorrow for gas and continue to Ushuaia. So what an experience. WOW. Got to have done it to appreciate it.
So I'll post a few pictures and get to bed as it's going to be another full day tomorrow.

At Aljanaro's shop to pick up the bikes.






Aljandaro, rents and maintains a fleet of rental bikes. Eric, owner and our guide of Ride Adventures and Martin from NZ.


Walter from Portland OR.



Fred from San Diego CA.

Great pictures of P.A. Mike!!! Love the church and cemetery! The loom is a counter balance and one could probably still weave up a storm on it albeit only having two harnesses.

It's still crazy to me that you are down there!!!! Amazing, actually!!!!

I can smile now, sitting here in Claremont at my computer, at the wind and rain and ferry crossings...... I know what you are going through!!!

Great, isn't it?

Enjoy and keep it coming!!!!

Colleen