Santa Barbara to Buenos Aires, and then some...

Traveled Cordoba to Buenos Aires on a Beautiful Monday! Spent a very nice weekend visiting Augustin, Lucia and thier beautiful little girls. I met them by chance on my first visit way back when and was invited to, and attended, thier wedding in 2003. A great ride to finish a wonderful trip. What a difference a day makes - yesterday it RAINED like hell, (ie. last year same time when I rolled into BsAs from Bolivia also after visiting Augustin y Lucia in Cordoba) - if I had traveled a day later I would have been hating life... Los Brasileros sent me some of thier fotos so I'm posting a few out of order images... I'm happy for their contributions, (thank you!). I'm doing the last minute shuffle prepping for shoulder reconstruction surgery next week - yikes.

Spent a lazy sunday with friends in the burbs of Cordoba. Making pasta and snacking on ratatuli (-1 sp) while the kids get a bath. Tomorrow is a long ride on the Ruta 9 to Rosario then onto Buenos Aires. A nice weekend. Nick via BlackBerry

Leaving Mendoza afteer three days - a beautiful city and unexpected treat. Don't come here to tour wineries - do come here for a nice stay and great wine. Heading out to visit friends in Cordoba. Left my cloths in fast laundry place yesterday - returned at 6 pm, closed; 8:30 pm, closed; today at 10:30 am, closed... Another mystery. If they aren't open soon I'm leaving with only one set of cloths. Asi la vida. Nick via BlackBerry

Charm only goes so far when the shower fails to yield hot water... Upgraded to a tourist hotel on a plaza - the kind with headboards, hot water, and flowers in the room. Next stop, winery. Nick via BlackBerry

Ahhhh, Argentina! Its a little rougher around the edges but softer where it counts. It took longer than GPS thought - it has a hard time predicting country roads in agrarian countries - not to mention climbing over the Andies with a bazzillion trucks, but it was worth it. At one point I climbed 5000 ft in about 8 miles of constant switch backs (and the foto was taken about 2/3 of the way up - incredible - and in about a 40 minute period I went from 1200 meters to 3200 meters (10,500 ft). I cleared customs at the top - a little problem brewing; they insisted I didn't need to do any paperwork to bring the bike in - I even hunted down and had a heated debate with the jefe of the aduana before he nearly threw me out - it will be interesting when I leave again. The drop into the wine region at sunset was spectacular. I checked into this little hotel just because of its charming looks and it turns out the owners are equally inviting - we all pushed Mr Moto through the lobby to t...

I cruised into Santiago last evening - set the GPS for the hotel and it got me there muy rapido. It was nice entering a capital city in the evening. I'm getting tired of traveling so I thought I'd jump over to the coast to the little resort town of Valparaiso and rest for a few days and then head back into Santiago for the weekend (its only 107 km or 62 miles away) - Mistake! I guess I was expecting, I don't know, something like Santa Barbara or Carmel (or even Ensanada). Turns out its not a sleepy little coastal town but a suburb of a large working port and navy base with pollution so bad you can't see the surrounding mountains. I'm having lunch on the pier and thinking that if this is it I'm out of here. I'll find a cybercafe and google this place to see if I missed a turn. I just checked my handy-dandy GPS and it says I can be in Mendoza, Argentina in 4 hours, hmmm... Nick via BlackBerry

"First Thing" in the morning means I get there first thing in the morning. Thankfully the shop guys were funny and also let me work on the bike while we waited for the tire shop to change the shoes. I replaced the chain guard that fell off a few days ago and a turn signal that sorta broke when I laid it down. When I figured out that it was turning into a mexican work day I took all my cloths to the laundry - yep, it was done before the tires were installed. About 1:30 the tires returned and I was on the road about 2. If any of those mechanics ever make it to the US (and one might) I hope they look me up (address left). Jumped on the expressway heading north and I'm now 450 km closer to Santiago. I did my homework last night so I know where I'm going and there's good light yet so I will press on... Nick via BlackBerry

Grabbed a ferry late morning and headed north to P. Montt - what a shit-berg - kind'a a combination of the best of Stockton and Bakersfield (if that's possible, but with more malodors). After visiting four moto shops and two places that supposedly specialized in tires I called in my stop-loss and left town. Even the KTM dealer, who had my exact bike in stock, didn't have a clue where to get tires for it. Rode north for a few hours through forests being clear cut and burnt - they are planting euchalyptis (its a mystery). Arrived Temuco and discovered a remarkably nice city - about 50 km out the sky got real dark so I raced into town to beat the rain - and just made it. As I was cruising to the central plaza (the place I always start my search for activity and lodging) I discovered the calle de motos. I found my tires at the first place I stopped - they were closing so installation is first thing in the morning. The clock has 4850 miles on it so far this trip. Weat...

Traveled Chaiten across the water to a coastal island - Isla de Chiloe - and then north to the little town of Ancud - the guide books describe as eccentric; it is the most eclectic place I've been in a long time. As I was driving into the village the streets and sides of the roads were full of backpackers - every other building is a hostel or pseudo-hotel, they have the strangest public art I've ever seen and the people are friendly. I cleaned the air filter this morning - a thousand miles of dirt roads had it panting badly (at least I hope that's the problem). Heading north again this afternoon after I check out the town a little more. Got stopped by a cop - why?, just because - he checked everything and said good day. Nick via BlackBerry

To celebrate my most recent brush with fate I walked 10 blocks to buy a remarkably good bottle of cheap wine at the local semi-supermercado (more like a dry goods store as they have no power/refrigeration) and took a stroll on the beach. Nice. When I got back La Sinora offered to make me dinner while her husband fired up a generator and then lit the pilot for my hot water heater. Nicer. An hour later I'm clean and mama walks in with fried salmon, (where she got fresh fish in a town without power is a mystery but it was great), potatos, salad and bread. Muy bueno! Just to reiterate - not a scratch on me (can't say the same for Mr. Moto) although I could probably use an adjustment from my chiropractor in BsAs after two weeks in the saddle. Life is good. Nick via BlackBerry

Left Puyuhuapi this morning - drove 15 km and was stopped by a road construction flag man who told me the road was closed until 2 PM. I chatted with fellow travelers and several of us wandered back up the road and found (in the middle of nowhere) a 5 star resort on a private lake. We sat and chatted for hours - I ended up talking to a well published photographer who just wanders the most remote places and then does a book - been doing it for 40 years... Not bad. Did leisurely drive to Chalten I the pueblo in the path of the volcano that erupted 8 months ago. It's a ghost town now and still without water and power. I'm spending the night here and will catch the ferry over to Quellon in the morning. Decided to ride up to a remote beach and on the way back I came around a turn (probably too fast) and there were two riders on horses. I ended up fighting to keep it vertical in the gravel for 30 feet before gravity won and I ditched the bike into the foliage. No leaks from me or Mr....