CN - Wednesday/Thursday
I haven't slept in 3 nights now. I've been sick with chills/sweats, joint pain and a hacking cough. Feels like the flu but not sure. We got a decent start for the final leg of the US portion to Pharr, Tx on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately our first hotel with no free breakfast. Since we had a gas station dinner the night before, we decided to forgo the gas station breakfast just get on with it. The weather started cloudy and slightly warm - which means slightly cool when you factor the wind-chill while riding on top of a motorcycle with little wind protection. Within two hours the sun came out and it was blistering hot so we pulled over shed the Gortex liners. The final 1.5 hour push was messy as it was apparently butterfly mating season. There were thousands of them everywhere - which meant smashed into your helmet visor, bike faring and all over your suit. It was quite the splatter spectacle.
We arrived at the shop around 1ish to pick up and mount the tires and wait for the clutch to arrive. It was schedule to arrive at the shop via USPS at 3pm - priority 2-day, guaranteed. We quickly discovered how hot it was in the baking sun as we were de-rigging the bikes and decided to pay the shop to mount them on the bikes while we grabbed some lunch. Haven't had Whataburger in 25 years. Unfortunately the daily US mail delivery came and went and - no clutch arrived. I tracked it and the indication was that it never arrive at the local PO and had left San Antonio early that morning. Alright, I guess we have our first layover day to wait for the clutch that will hopefully arrive on Thursday. We grabbed a room at a La Quinta (our nicest motel yet) in Pharr near McAllen, froggered across a couple very pedestrian unfriendly streets to a BBQ place called Rudy's Country Store. It's a chain that I never had heard of or experienced during my 5 years in Texas years ago. Have to say it was excellent. Everything was delicious and the beer was cold. We strategized over dinner what we could accomplish tomorrow while we waited for the part. Oil & filter changes, figure out the Malaria script we would buy/take, purchase last minute toilery items - but most importantly hit a UPS store to ship back a bunch of stuff that would be nice to have with, but is just much weight/volume to justify continuing with. My bike barely stays upright on the kickstand due to all the luggage weight. Things have to go.
We met some border patrol agents at the BBQ place and they told us the exact opposite the guys in the shop told us in terms of which board to choose to cross into Mexico. When Ken mentioned to the boarder control guys that we had heard it would be better to cross in Roma, he said "Roma, oh hell no. Don't cross over at Roma. I worked up there, it's crazy. Cross right here in McAllen and get on the 4 lane and bomb it to Monterrey." We have been getting so many conflicting opinions on boardcrossings, routes, etc. that you just don't know who to believe. In the end I guess you just pick what you believe is to be the safest, smartest option after listening to all the chatter.
I had another mostly sleepless night - maybe 3 hours total...again. This stupid cough - it's completely wearing me out.
We got a post rush hour start Thursday morning and beelined to the UPS store with our sacrifices. While there, we added an impulse buy of having them make some info cards to hand out to people we meet along the way that want to follow the blog and/or stay in touch. We had met a lot of people already interested in where we were going and what we were doing. Most were amazed or shocked that we were riding these dirt bikes - all loaded up - down to Argentina. Next we to Walmart, grabbed some things, and then went to AutoZone to buy oil. We ended up buying the oil and and a pan and changed both bikes behind the AutoZone - which was pretty much the only shade around. While we were changing the oil, the shop called and let us know the package arrive. Hooray! I've been hating my clutch the whole way. Blasting asphault roads in 6th gear it is fine. In stop and go city traffic it sucks pretty bad. We shot back to the shop, scooped the clutch and then it was back to Rudy's for lunch - it was that good last night.
After the late lunch we got the call that the cards were done, had a bit of a break to do some more Malaria research and decided to go ahead and fill the script I already had for Malarone. It is the most expensive option, but after research we decided it was the safest, smartest choice. Other options are hard to find and not affective in all areas we will be riding through. I had inquired at a pharmacy in VA a couple of weeks prior on the cost per pill and was told $5 each. That's $600 for the 120 I was prescribed - no portion covered by insurance. Their position is that you are making the choice to travel in areas with Malaria risk so you pay 100%. Fortunately we got a discount at the CVS to 3 something a pill. Not quite as horrible. The cards turned out quite well for a $15 investment. This will be easier than trying to fumble with phones exchanging Facebook/Instagram info with people we chat with to be able to get them to the blog. Just keep them in the tank bag, wallet, etc. for request to follow.
We did some more border crossing research tonight and have our plan. We need to do some paperwork to bring the bikes past 20 miles into Mexico's interior but have our liability insurance already done online. Also took care of our travel insurance which has medical, evacuation, etc. included - in case something goes wonky. We did decide to carry the clutch a bit and try to install it where there might be cooler temps as opposed to 90+ degree heat. We do have some mountains we will be traveling through in Central Mexico. I will be suffering riding in cities until we get this done. Super excited for the adventurous portion of the trip to begin!
I haven't slept in 3 nights now. I've been sick with chills/sweats, joint pain and a hacking cough. Feels like the flu but not sure. We got a decent start for the final leg of the US portion to Pharr, Tx on Wednesday morning. Unfortunately our first hotel with no free breakfast. Since we had a gas station dinner the night before, we decided to forgo the gas station breakfast just get on with it. The weather started cloudy and slightly warm - which means slightly cool when you factor the wind-chill while riding on top of a motorcycle with little wind protection. Within two hours the sun came out and it was blistering hot so we pulled over shed the Gortex liners. The final 1.5 hour push was messy as it was apparently butterfly mating season. There were thousands of them everywhere - which meant smashed into your helmet visor, bike faring and all over your suit. It was quite the splatter spectacle.
We arrived at the shop around 1ish to pick up and mount the tires and wait for the clutch to arrive. It was schedule to arrive at the shop via USPS at 3pm - priority 2-day, guaranteed. We quickly discovered how hot it was in the baking sun as we were de-rigging the bikes and decided to pay the shop to mount them on the bikes while we grabbed some lunch. Haven't had Whataburger in 25 years. Unfortunately the daily US mail delivery came and went and - no clutch arrived. I tracked it and the indication was that it never arrive at the local PO and had left San Antonio early that morning. Alright, I guess we have our first layover day to wait for the clutch that will hopefully arrive on Thursday. We grabbed a room at a La Quinta (our nicest motel yet) in Pharr near McAllen, froggered across a couple very pedestrian unfriendly streets to a BBQ place called Rudy's Country Store. It's a chain that I never had heard of or experienced during my 5 years in Texas years ago. Have to say it was excellent. Everything was delicious and the beer was cold. We strategized over dinner what we could accomplish tomorrow while we waited for the part. Oil & filter changes, figure out the Malaria script we would buy/take, purchase last minute toilery items - but most importantly hit a UPS store to ship back a bunch of stuff that would be nice to have with, but is just much weight/volume to justify continuing with. My bike barely stays upright on the kickstand due to all the luggage weight. Things have to go.
We met some border patrol agents at the BBQ place and they told us the exact opposite the guys in the shop told us in terms of which board to choose to cross into Mexico. When Ken mentioned to the boarder control guys that we had heard it would be better to cross in Roma, he said "Roma, oh hell no. Don't cross over at Roma. I worked up there, it's crazy. Cross right here in McAllen and get on the 4 lane and bomb it to Monterrey." We have been getting so many conflicting opinions on boardcrossings, routes, etc. that you just don't know who to believe. In the end I guess you just pick what you believe is to be the safest, smartest option after listening to all the chatter.
I had another mostly sleepless night - maybe 3 hours total...again. This stupid cough - it's completely wearing me out.
We got a post rush hour start Thursday morning and beelined to the UPS store with our sacrifices. While there, we added an impulse buy of having them make some info cards to hand out to people we meet along the way that want to follow the blog and/or stay in touch. We had met a lot of people already interested in where we were going and what we were doing. Most were amazed or shocked that we were riding these dirt bikes - all loaded up - down to Argentina. Next we to Walmart, grabbed some things, and then went to AutoZone to buy oil. We ended up buying the oil and and a pan and changed both bikes behind the AutoZone - which was pretty much the only shade around. While we were changing the oil, the shop called and let us know the package arrive. Hooray! I've been hating my clutch the whole way. Blasting asphault roads in 6th gear it is fine. In stop and go city traffic it sucks pretty bad. We shot back to the shop, scooped the clutch and then it was back to Rudy's for lunch - it was that good last night.
After the late lunch we got the call that the cards were done, had a bit of a break to do some more Malaria research and decided to go ahead and fill the script I already had for Malarone. It is the most expensive option, but after research we decided it was the safest, smartest choice. Other options are hard to find and not affective in all areas we will be riding through. I had inquired at a pharmacy in VA a couple of weeks prior on the cost per pill and was told $5 each. That's $600 for the 120 I was prescribed - no portion covered by insurance. Their position is that you are making the choice to travel in areas with Malaria risk so you pay 100%. Fortunately we got a discount at the CVS to 3 something a pill. Not quite as horrible. The cards turned out quite well for a $15 investment. This will be easier than trying to fumble with phones exchanging Facebook/Instagram info with people we chat with to be able to get them to the blog. Just keep them in the tank bag, wallet, etc. for request to follow.
We did some more border crossing research tonight and have our plan. We need to do some paperwork to bring the bikes past 20 miles into Mexico's interior but have our liability insurance already done online. Also took care of our travel insurance which has medical, evacuation, etc. included - in case something goes wonky. We did decide to carry the clutch a bit and try to install it where there might be cooler temps as opposed to 90+ degree heat. We do have some mountains we will be traveling through in Central Mexico. I will be suffering riding in cities until we get this done. Super excited for the adventurous portion of the trip to begin!
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| The cards. |
I'm curious as to what things you decided you could do without and had shipped home. Were these items you had on your east/west trip? What were some of the factors in deciding to go with smaller bikes on this trip?
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth - The bulkiest things we sent back were our folding camp chairs (yes we had this the whole way on the last trip but lots of camping on that one). We just decided they were not going to be used enough to justify. When camping on this trip it is more likely to be in established camping grounds - last trip we did a lot of ditch camping. Other things were misc. clothing items and I sent back my iPad. We went with smaller bikes this time because we hope to do more offload riding and not as much highway as last time. Plus they are much easier to pick up when dropped on the ground. : )
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