And then it was over - Back in the USA

CN - Monday, February 12

The trip back home from Punta Arenas was a long one that started last Monday with with a 3.5 hour flight to Santiago, a 10.5 hour overnight flight to Atlanta, and ending with a 1.5 hour flight to DC on Tuesday morning - plus a two hour car ride to Dayton.  Add in the layovers and it was about about 24 hours of door to door travel - with zero sleep.  After returning the rental car we of course had to stop in downtown Harrisonburg for a beer and a burger at Jack Browns - my first indication that life was returning to normalcy.  I slipped in a quick afternoon nap before we all went out for sushi for Marybeth's birthday - meeting up with Justin and Luke at Mr. Lees.  Two familiar foods in one day - I was having comfort overload!

I've been back from South America for a week now and it's just beginning to sink in that we are back and the trip is over.  It's been 10 days now that I have not ridden on a motorcycle so seems reality should have come earlier.  Maybe because I basically just traded the motorcycle for a truck in terms of travel vessel and have continued to move from place to place.  The current road is more familiar and less interesting than the roads two weeks ago.

Reflecting back on the trip in its entirety feels overwhelming - Mexico seems so long ago.  Amazing that three months can feel like an eternity and a flash - both at the same time.  I feel so much closer to the countries we rode through - even those I had the privilege of visiting previously.  Riding through a country by motorcycle allows for so much more than flying in and flying typically can.  I really can't say there is one favorite country but certainly there are favorite parts of each country.  Also so many parts of each country was missed altogether - I need to go back again someday soon.

I have some time to kill before my next adventure begins in June - riding up to Prudhoe Bay, AK and back.  Currently I'm in Florida visiting family and friends.  Next will be trip out to Colorado to visit friends and get in some turns - hopefully the snow gets better before I get out there.  After that, who knows.  I'm looking at some travel options now.  The goal is to kill some time, see some stuff and not completely break the bank.

It was a heck of a journey covering a huge amount of land mass.  Many days were difficult due to the terrain, the weather, the traffic, the bike - but looking back I wouldn't trade back a single day.  It is about the journey after all and when traveling by moto you get what you get.  At the end of the day what I got was an absolutely incredible experience only other overlanders can fully understand.  

 

Flying back over Patagonia.

 

Winding down

KS- Friday/Saturday

So its been a different couple days, winding things down, getting ready to start the long journey back to Virginia.  After the air traffic settled down the other night at camp, we were able to get some sleep. Nice spot overlooking the bay, a little bit of trash scattered around, because since it was a free campground, nobody took care of it or provided any facilities.  Which caused the next story.  Since there were no facilities, I decided to take my roll of toilet paper for a walk the next morning. Being a scrub brushy area, there weren't many large trees to hide behind, or lean against, so I picked a suitable spot protected from view from the couple scattered campsites around.  Now remember how I said we were on the flight path, actually on the approach side of the airport.  Well, about that time, with no place to hide, a commercial jet came in for a landing.  Close enough and low enough to where I could have made out startled faces of the passengers on the right side of the plane, if I hadn't just ducked my head and waited for the jet to pass.  Yep, classy travelers we are

After packing up and leaving camp, we rode to La Guarida to meet with Silva and sell our bikes.  I had a buyer lined up from Isreal who was going to continue travelling with it. Salva had found a buyer that was interested in Chips bike, and we all met at the shop that morning.  The buyers checked out there perspective new bikes and asked questions.  Quick test rides seemed to have everyone satisfied to the condition of the bikes.  Then money was exchanged and we all headed off to the Notaria to have sale papers drawn up, being in a bit of a hurry because the Aduana closed early in the afternoon that Friday.  So we were in a time crunch,  and our number we were given as we walked in the door was 57.   After a while, the guy that bought Chips bike,  talked to a couple people, then came back with the number 26,  smiling and saying "magic"  Papers were drawn up, notarized, signed, stamped, and paid for. And off to the customs office we went.  Paperwork on my bike was finished, because my buyer was not from Chile, and the bike was not being imported into the country. After having his Temporary Import Permit cancelled, Chip had to deliver his bike to the customs area of the dock to wait for it to clear for the next buyer, a process that could take a couple weeks.  But not Chip and I were free and clear of our bikes. 

The buyer of my bike also bought a combined luggage setup from us,  Chips rear panniers, my tank bag and duffel bag, and tank panniers  We also loaded him up with spare parts, camp food, and all the miscellaneous items we didnt want to hate to carry back home.  All ready to go,  it was almost a bit emotional seeing my bike leave,  almost.  There are more bikes to be had in the future.  It is a bit of a weird feeling to not have a motorcycle anymore,  after being so used to riding anywhere we wanted, at any time.  Now we were walking, and taking taxis to get around.

Another side effect of not having a motorcycle or motorcycle luggage is you have more stuff to carry around, and nothing to carry it in.  So we took a taxi downtown and found a place that sold luggage. Picked out something cheap and big that has wheels,  all it has to do is get us home.  Once we got back we packed up our piles of gear into our new bags.  A helmet, boots, and armored riding pants and jacket liner take up a lot of room.  Everything is going to fit for the trip home, but I will be wearing my riding jacket through the airport, mainly because its comfortable, and has enough pockets to store everything. Just to be nice to fellow passengers, and increase my odds of making it through airport security, I'm washing the jacket before we leave. 

So here we are, hanging out in Punta Arenas Chile, waiting  for our flights on Monday.  Not exactly an exciting place to hang out, but waiting till Monday to fly out, saves us several hundred dollars.  We did meet back up with Dick who is riding down to Ushuaia today to finish his journey south before he comes back to town to sell his bike and head back to Holland.  Good thing is, I'll be back home in time to take my wife out for her birthday on Tuesday.

Until then, I'm just passing time, trying to wrap my head around everything that has happened since pulling out of my driveway in Virginia over 3 months ago.  Its raining, and much cooler than yesterday, so once I get done writing this, my to do list is pretty much wrapped up for the day.  Maybe we'll try to find a place to watch the Superbowl today, that could be a challenge as well.

Back to Punta Arenas

CN - Wednesday/Thursday

We spent the day Wednesday exploring Ushuaia a bit but mostly it was just a lazy day lounging around the hostel.  As we were gearing up to head to the Tierra del Fuego Nacional Parque, Ken noticed a link on his chain that had looked odd.  Upon further inspection, the chain had a link that had broken in half and about 2 dozen other that were cracked.  It's a miracle that the chain had not snapped off the previous day riding at high speed and RPM's.  This was something that had to be address before riding on so he went to a nearby Suzuki shop and purchased a clip style chain.  Unfortunately upon returning to the hosted he realized he had nothing to break the only chain that was not a clip style so we headed back to the shop to use their grinder to get the old chain off.  Unfortunately it was just past 1:00pm - the time that in Chile everything shuts down until 3 or 4pm. Most every business that is not tourist related has these daily hours - open in the morning, shut down from 1-3 and then back open until 7 or 8pm.  Not wanting to ride back up the hill to the hostel Ken was able to break the old chain by filing down one of the pins and the new chain was then popped on.

We rode to the National Park entrance but didn't end up going in due to the $35 each entrance fee.  We just didn't feel it was worth it just to get a picture at the Tierra del Fuego sign that everyone snaps a photo in front of.  We might have missed out on a nice Parque - but figured after Torres it would be a bit anti-climatic.  Later that evening we returned to Dublin and had some more stout and dinner.  We also ran into Sid there who we had last seen a week or so earlier at the gas stop that had no gas.  It was funny that when we had parted ways he told us about the Dublin bar in Ushuaia that he had visited the year before and would see us there and buy us a beer.  Crazy that he suddenly appears on our last night there and followed through on his promise - hence the funnel.

Thursday morning we headed out with minimal motivation to return to Punta Arenas.  After reaching the goal it was more like work riding the 620k back.  Again, the wind was relentless most of the way. At the border crossing a bike was on the ground from dropping over in the wind and Ken's bike got blown over at one of the gas station stops breaking off one of his mirrors.  When we arrive at the same hostel we had stayed at on Monday night they had no room for us.  Apparently with the language barrier the innkeeper had though I said we would return on Friday - not Thursday.  It was getting dark and we didn't want to look for another overpriced hostel/hotel option so we rode back 12k to a free campground near the water.  Turned out to be a great spot, except for the planes taking off and landing right overhead.  The campground was right smack in the middle of the flight path.  Still it was a picturesque spot and best of all free.  We even got to see the remnants of the supermen as it rose in the east over the straight.  It looked like a ball of fire as it rose - pretty darn cool.

Friday we had an appointment with Salva at the bike shop to sell off the bikes.  Ken had a buyer from Israel lined up who was planning to ride it up to Canada and I was still hoping Salva would find a buyer for mine.  Ken's buyer had responded to a Horizons post listing the bikes.  I was keeping my fingers crossed that I would be able to sell mine as well.

Waiting for the ferry to unload so we could get on going the other way.

Straight of Magellan.

Campsite on Thursday night.

Moon on fire - terrible pic with my iPhone but shows the crazy color.

Ushuaia

CN - Tuesday

We left Punta Arenas around 10:30am for the final stretch down to Ushuaia.  Since the ferry straight across out of PA was booked (and would have shaved 200k off the distance) we had to take the ferry to the north across the Straight of Megellan making the total ride 620k.  The winds were particularly strong that morning - usually the don't get crazy until the afternoon.  But on this day they would be steady all day long.  It is really hard on the limbs and neck fighting the wind on a small bike with little faring protection.  We got to the ferry dock and the line of cars and trucks was extremely long.  We waited in line for about 45 minutes and not a single ferry had loaded yet so we were a bit worried that the delay would put us in Ushuaia after dark.  While waiting a trucker signaled to us that motos can go to the front of the line.  We rode to the front and were squeezed on the next ferry that arrived.  The crossing was a bit rough and the you had to have a hand on the bike or it would fall over.  We met a couple of riders on the ferry on BMW 800gs bikes from BA, Argentina also riding down to Ushuaia.  Even for Argentinians it is a long ride south!  

The border crossing back into Argentina from Chile was fairly quick and easy.  Both stations took maybe an hour or so.  We gassed up for the final stretch in Rio Grande on the Atlantic coast and polished of the last 200k through winding roads and snow covered peaks.  Easily the most enjoyable riding of the day.  The only discomfort was that it was getting quite cold.  We had put on heated jackets in Rio Grande but mine wasn't working too well due to having to switch to a regular headlight bulb from the original power saving LED bulb.  

After over 15,000 miles, 14 countries, 15 border crossings, through intense heat and humidity, torrential rain, sleet, snow, freezing cold and stupid crazy Patagonia winds, we made it to Ushuaia at 9:00pm.  The feeling was a bit emotional during the last 10k or so - thinking back over the past 95 days of the journey to get here.  We are not unique by any means as this trip is a bit of a mecca for motorcycle travelers - we encountered many along the way.  I guess what sets us apart from a bit is that we made the trip on 350cc dirt bikes - most are on much bigger and more comfortable machines.  There were a large number of big BMW 1200gs passing us heading north in the opposite direction - most rentals and tours out of Santiago and Buenos Aries.  We did encounter Mia - originally from Boulder, CO who had ridden down from Seattle on a Honda 250.  She was riding solo since parting with her brother in Peru - very impressive! 

Overall I liked the smaller bike in many situations due to its size and weight - an advantage in the dirt and when the roads disappeared into construction gravel fields.  The disadvantage was speed, comfort, fuel range and the crazy winds that toss around a smaller bike - several times I came close to being blown completely off the road.  In fact I did get blown off the dirt road into a ditch riding the gravel road in Torres - luckily able to recover and ride through and out if the ditch without crashing or dropping the bike. 

We had pre-booked a hostel which turned out to be very nice near the center of town.  Ushuaia is a travelers funnel.  Everyone traveling down to Patagonia seems to end up there.  We had heard about a popular Irish Bar called the Dublin and were hoping to get a Guinness there - no such luck but they did have a negro stout that would do.  The bar was packed and standing room only.  I heard so many different languages spoken while standing shoulder to shoulder with the crowd.  It was too crowded to get any food there so we finished our beer and went down the street to a Hard Rock Cafe and had a couple of sandwiches at the bar.  We didn't end up back at the hostel until almost 2am.  It was a very long and exhausting day.  We would spend the next day and night in Ushuaia before returning to Punta Arenas to hopefully sell the bikes on Friday.

Waiting to load on the ferry at the Straight of Magellan.

Ken making sure the bikes don't fall over on the ferry - rough water on the crossing.

Made it to Ushuaia at 9:00pm - 620k day!

The port in Ushuaia.

Torres del Paine

KS- Sunday/Monday

Some days are harder to get on the bike,  especially when your laying there in a warm bed, and hear the rain pounding on the roof outside.  The temperature was around 40f. We were planning on going to Torres del Paine NP to check out the sights.  Temperature there was just over 30f.  So you can see our hesitation.  Kept tossing around the idea to just head to Punta Arenas, and skip the park and possible bad weather, until we decided that while we were loading our bikes in the rain, might as well grab a straw, and suck it up.  We headed towards the park with full tanks of gas, this was the only gas stations for our journey to the park.  Getting to the park and back would be stretching Chips fuel range, so he had to keep an eye on mileage to avoid running out.  After riding through some cold rain for a bit, the skies started to clear, and as we entered the park it was mostly clear, except for around the taller peaks. 

The park is not paved, and the southern entrance which would have allowed us to make a big loop out of the day, was closed.  The views in the park were incredible, and the wind was intense.  Roads through the park were dirt with some gravel on top, not bad riding on dirt bikes.  We separated because Chip was going to turn back when he felt he was close to half tank.  I rode further through the park than I had originally intended, wanting to check out one of the big waterfalls, but missed the sign and ended up at almost the other end of the park before I stopped to consult the map.  Turning around and making my way back towards the waterfall, there were many photo opportunities to be had, and I took advantage of quite a few.  This time I found the turn to the waterfall hike and went to the parking lot, hoping to find Chip there. He wasn't there, so I hiked up to he waterfall and snapped some pictures in the intense wind.  Being dressed in full cold weather riding gear, I built up a sweat on the short hike, and since the sun had came out it seemed like good drying weather.  Sometimes its good to be a foreigner, people don't expect too much of you,  like when your standing next to your bike in a parking lot, with your jackets hanging on your handlebars, and your riding pants down around your ankles (I was wearing long johns), having a snack of granola, and water.  They would look, tilt their head in confusion, and walk away. I guess they're just not used to seeing an Virginian eating granola.

Once a satisfactory number of pictures were taken, and fuel burned, it was time to head to the gas station about 80 miles back down the road.  I stopped and waited at the park gate for a bit, hoping to meet back up with Chip, but after a while, it was obvious that he had made his way back towards gasoline. And before you ask, phones don't work, closest cell signal is 30 miles from the park.  Making my way back to the first town, the road was almost empty, once getting back on asphalt, and the frequent sections missing asphalt.  I stopped just outside of the first town when I felt my phone vibrate with a message from Chip.  He had arrived before me, stopped for coffee, and finally headed back towards Puerto Natalas for gas.  It appeared he was only a few minutes ahead of me, but I couldn't catch him. 

We met back up at the gas station, and after we both had full tanks, we decided to make the push to Punta Arenas, the town where we were hoping to sell our bikes after the trip.  It was late in the day, after 6pm, and we had a 3+ hour ride ahead of us, luckily being this far south, and in summer, it's light until 10:30.  After a ways, Chip had to stop and tighten one of his bags, he said he'd catch up, so I slowed the pace until he caught up.  Apparently when he stopped, one of his switches we'd  rigged to replace his key switch had decided to give up the ghost.  So on flat ground, no starter, and me out of radio range, he had to result to trying to push start a loaded bike by himself.  Its an extremely difficult task to do by yourself, and he pulled it off.   I was impressed.  So down the road we went. With Chips headlight on the blink due to the bad switch, and his tail light laying somewhere on a dirt road in Argentina, we had to make it to town before dark.  It was close, but we rolled in at just before 10 and found a hostel to stay in. 

Monday was not a real exciting day,  we found a shop that is willing to buy our bikes after we finish, the price isn't great, but the convince will be huge.  When you  come into a country with a bike, it is given a temporary import permit, with your name on it. So if you leave without the bike, they know. And usually are not too happy about a bike being sold in their country, without them getting their cut in taxes.  The shop will have an attorney write up the proper transfer papers, and have customs cancel out our import permits.  We'd be 100% legal, which is a bit rare on this journey. After that mission, we went to the ferry port to get our ticket for tomorrow, with no luck.  Ferry is full, even for motorcycles. It added to our mileage for tomorrow to reach Ushuaia, but the motorcycle shop owner said that the better route is to not take the ferry, so we'll believe him, and maybe try to catch the ferry on our way back here Thursday.  Then I went and got a haircut, after seeing some of my pictures from yesterday, I knew I was due.  Other exciting thing we did toady was laundry, and shop for plane tickets.  Its getting close, real close.  Tomorrow, Lord willing, we will be in the southernmost city in the world, our goal for this trip. Nothing is guaranteed down here, but were hopeful that everything will work out to where we will be getting on an airplane Sunday, and heading in that unfamiliar direction some call North.  

Pictures this time

Guanaco,  lot of them here, don't want to meet one at speed 

The big waterfall, from across the lake

The Horns

Gotta throw in a selfie , kinda cool clouds
 

Speaking of col clouds

Glacier and Back Into Chile

CN - Saturday

Today we got started fairly early to make the ride up to Los Glaciares National Park and get a close up view of the Perito Moreno glacier.  It's pretty much the only glacier in the park you can drive/ride to and get a close look.  It was only about a 50k ride from El Calafate to the park entrance and another 25k to the viewing decks.  It was again an amazing ride tracing next to the lake and getting glimpses of the looming glacier peaking around the curves.  The glacier itself is massive (240ft high) and not even the largest in the park.  What makes this glacier special is that it is advancing not receding - as most glaciers.  The chance to see large chunks calving off into the lake are high - and we did get to see two giant calving events.  The sights and sounds of it are indescribable and well worth the trip to see the glacier up close.  Well worth the $25 entrance fee to the park.

After a few hours at Perito Moreno we headed back to El Calafate to gas up again (gas is scarce in this area so you need to get it when you can) and head back into Chile to visit Torres del Pain.  As soon as we got on the Route 40 the winds became intense - again trying to rip the helmet off my head again.  We hit a dirt road shortcut that turned out to be a bit rocky and bumpy in places.  I ended up loosing my tail light somewhere along the way.  When we reached the boarder station (after getting gas again at the lone station at the end of the dirt road) I noticed it was gone.  Will need to find something to replace it as I don't want an excuse for a cop to pull me over and extort money from me.  The border on the Argentina side would have been quick and easy if it were not for the busload of tourist coming in from Chile.  The line did go quickly and we were through in about 45 minutes.  The ride through no-mans-land to the Chile station showed some of the strongest winds of the trip gusting up to 60mph.  When we parked our bikes I was sure the would blow over.  Tiny rocks were plastering my face as I walked up to the small border building.  This was very quick with the paperwork aspect, but we were required to unload all the bags and put them through an x-ray machine for the final step. The agent discovered some Spanish chorizo sausage in my camping food stuffs and confiscated it.  I asked him why and he said no fruits, vegetables or meats were allowed into Chile from Argentina.  I tried to present the irony in this as the chorizo was purchased in Chile (even the packaging indicated it was from Chile) so I was actually just bringing it back.  This of course didn't matter to the agent and he took it anyway.  Luckily later that day I found the same chorizo in a grocery store and was able to re-supply.

Our destination for the night went from camping to hostel, due to the cold and crazy winds.  I don't think I could buy enough stakes to keep my tent planted in this wind.  We found some beds (expensive because it's Chile) in Puerto Natales - just a bit south of the southern entrance to the Parque Nacional.  Rode into town to get dinner - some massive beef sandwiches with cheese, tomato, lettuce and guacamole, then called it a night.

Camp in El Calafate.

The massive ice field (only half the view),

Unapologetic selfie.

Calving glacier P. Moreno.

Now we're getting somewhere

KS- Thursday/Friday

Looking back, the days are almost starting to blur together, but not quite.  Thursday morning, I was laying in my tent, half asleep, when I heard a familiar sound.  One of the workers at the campground was trying to start a weedeater. I remember thinking he couldn't be serious, but he was.  As he started cutting full throttle through the thick grass, I knew sleep was a thing of the past.  Crawling out of my tent, I saw the guy from the next tent, and we both looked at each other, our wrists, and then the guy running the noisemakers.  Don't have to speak Spanish to understand that he was thinking the same thing I was.   Idiot.   Pretty soon Chip rolled out of his tent, expressing the same sentiment.  Soon, he headed off to the bathroom near the tents, a very third world affair. No toilet seats, and generally poor condition.  Luckily I noticed the other guy walk to another building in the camp, looked almost abandoned, but I took the chance and headed that way as well.  He had found the real bathroom, complete with tile floors, and toilet seats. So later on, I did inform Chip to the discovery, but not until after he had succumbed to the quad workout of the seatless crapper.

After the usual morning routine of packing up camp, we headed to the local gas station for breakfast. 
Followed by the twisting of throttles and heading south through the mindless terrain of the Patagonian steppe. We stopped at every gas station we passed,  because you only pass them about every hundred miles or so, miss one, and you're probably pushing.  We began seeing some new forms of wildlife along the roads, first was a Guanaco,  kinda looks like a cross between a deer, and a llama.  Typical herd animal behavior, stand alongside the road, and then scatter when a vehicle approaches, usually away from the road, usually. We saw quite a few herds of them, with their young. Pretty cool looking animals,  wonder what they taste like.  The next one we saw looked like an ostrich, but just a litter shorter. Later we learned they are called rhea,  again they hang out in groups, and tend to scatter when you approach.  Not quite as big as I think an ostrich would be, but certainly big enough to cause you to separate from you motorcycle if you met one head on.  Again, ;I wonder what they taste like.

We finished the day a Bajo Caracoles , a one horse town, missing about three quarters of the horse.  There was a gas station, and a few houses.  We pulled into the gas station to fill up, and were told there was no gas.  And since we'd already ridden 500+km., we didn't have the interest in continuing on. Chip has a smaller tank than my bike, and didn't have enough to make the next town 225km away.  They told us someone was bringing gas in the morning, so we decided that's were we would be for the night.  The hotel, which is also part of the gas station, and restaurant/convenience store, wanted $50 US for a room, with a double bed.  Luckily there is a guy who runs a campground just across the parking lot, and by campground, I mean he lets people setup tents in his yard. And by yard, I mean the sandy area between his house and the fence. You get the picture.  He charged us $5 for the two of us.  Not bad.  So we went back to the only place in town to pass the time with drinks and snacks.  Other bikers were rolling in, only to find out there was no gas until the morning, so the hotel started filing up fast from bikers and cars low on fuel.  We met a couple more Americans that evening (yes people from Mexico to Argentina are all Americans technically) Sid from Colorado, and Mia from Washington.   They both camped in the same yard as us, but with variable entry fees.  Sid, being a retired gentleman from Colorado, was charged 250 pesos, vs our 100 for the two of us.  Mia, being a middle aged woman (her words, not mine) was charged nothing, and was offered tea and breakfast in the morning by our camp host, who constantly walked around whistling a tune. He was a very good whistler, even if we didn't know the song. 

This morning we woke up and packed out gear, awaiting the gas delivery.  When we pulled the bikes over to the sticker covered gas pumps, the owner flipped the switch on the pumps and started filling our bikes.  At first we thought he was running a scam,  shutting off the pumps in the afternoon to drum up business for his over priced establishment.  Then I noticed the pickup truck hooked to a homemade trailer sitting behind the pumps.  He had a 300gallon plastic tote in each the truck, and trailer, as well as about 3 55gallon drums in the trailer.  Apparently someone makes the 100mile run about once a day or so to bring gas to the station, fine by me, as long as the stuff burns and we make it to the next pump.   Once the bikes were filled,  Sid, Mia, Chip and myself headed out together to the next town 225k away.  Very uneventful ride, nice weather, but a touch cool. 

Arriving at the next town, we all gassed up again and hung out a bit, discussing where everyone was going next. Chip and I were heading to El Calafate,  the others were stopping at a different town.  All of our routes are heading towards Ushuaia, so we could probably cross paths later on somewhere.  Mia decided her bike needed an oil change, and after purchasing 2 quarts of overpriced oil, rolled her bike around the corner of the gas station and proceeded to do the job.  Got to say,  I was impressed.  Sid was going to search for the ever elusive working ATM,  so Chip and I decided to head on down the road.   Saying our goodbyes, we left out of town on a rocky road that soon turned back, into pavement.   Later on, we ran into a construction site on Ruta 40 that lasted almost 70km,  It was nasty loose rock, deep in places, with plenty of washboards on the hills.  Chip took the wiser approach by slowing down and picking his way through.  I on the other hand, decided that speed was the answer as I slid and waved my way down the gravel road, aided by the 40+ mph crosswinds that did a wonderful job of knocking you off your preferred line into deeper rocks.  By the time it was all said and done,  Chip had stopped to help another rider pick up his BMW GS that just crashed in front of him,  and I stopped at the end of the gravel section, to find my chainguard bracket broken and flopping around.  Out comes the toolkit, off comes what's left of the chainguard.   Met back up with Chip, and down the road we go, fighting the notorious Patagonian winds but on an easer, paved, battleground.

After passing beautiful mountain views, and amazing emerald colored lakes and streams, we arrived in El Calafate.  There was a long line of cars at the gas station, due to the power being out, so we proceeded to a nearby campground, where the power was also out. After getting a campsite and setting up our tents in close quarters, it is a weekend after all in a tourist town, during peak vacation season, it was time to relax.  We cooked our dinner at the picnic table, and discussed our plans for tomorrow.  Should be pretty cool, but you'll have to read about it later.  Our days here are winding down,  the end is in sight,  but were not there yet.

Sorry for the lack of pictures,  it seems that good internet is not easy to find here,  I'm running all this off my phone, which can't quite handle the pictures.  Don't worry, we'll put some up one of these days.