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

Mr. Moto found a new rider today and is heading north to Mexico via... everywhere.  Roman loaded up and is heading out soon; it should be a great adventure. Bon Voyage!

Took the early buquebus accross the river to Colonia, Uruaguay and then headed up river via Dolores and Mercedes before a final crossing into Argentina at Gualeguaychu.  My goal was to confuse the Aduana into letting me into the country again with the moto; it worked.  I've another 8 month extension but alas the moto is sold so the entire trip was just to facilitate the sale in BsAs vs Uraguay.    Met amigos for lunch in Gualeguaychu and then rode the few hours back into the Buenos Aires. 

A sad day. It's been a great bike, and I really would love to keep it, but the Argentine government won't renew my temporary import documents again (bastards) after 20+ border entries.  They've got this law... I posted ads on international rider sites and a russian adventure rider bought it.  Arranging that transaction was interesting.   I'll be in Argentina in early December to hand over the keys and collect a few rubles/pesos/bongos and then she's back to the open road, destination Mexico. I wish him only the best luck and many happy adventures! Le deseo sólo la mejor suerte y muchas aventuras felices! Я желаю ему только лучший удачи и много счастливы приключений!

Headed south for a quick trip to take care of some business.  It's winter here but the day was nice so I called Walter, who was free, and we rode out of town to a new destination.  Wound up 130 km north-west of Buenos Aires in a little town called San Antonio de Areco for a late lunch in the plaza.  We did a slow cruise home through evening rush hour traffic as the sun was setting and a cold front was trying to drop some patagonian rain.  cafe in the plaza Yesterday I installed new JT Sprockets front and back and had the oil changed (less than a thousand miles but it has been 6 months - it's cheap insurance... odo kicked over 35,000)  

I picked up this 2009 F800GS last week. I couldn't rationalize keeping the Santa Barbara V-Strom so alas, it has found a new home in southern California.

Another great trip in the bag! Nick via BlackBerry

We've been intentionally staying in little villas/pueblos - last night we made our way to Tupungato where we stayed in a family-run cabana outside of town and then walked in for dinner. This morning, in keeping with this trip's tradition, we headed for a great stretch of dirt back roads ending in a quaint little town for lunch. Then we hit the highway heading for the main border crossing with Chile and started climbing.  Our destination: Parque Provincial Aconcaqua.  Besides the scenery we met a guy with a great VStrom story that we ended up riding with the rest of the day.  On the way down the mountain we stopped at a wide spot in the road called Puent del Incas where there is some strange geology going on, took a foto and pressed on... Later we headed toward Mendoza and cruised through Argentina's Napa Valley - the harvest is near and it looks like a great one this year. Before hitting Mendoza we pulled into the little town of Lujan de Cuy...