11.07.2017 Morning came too early, but we had breakfast and soon saw the Stahlratte chugging its way towards the island. We boarded by launch and were on our way for a 3 hour sail to a small island where the afternoon was spent swimming and playing in the water. Just the short trip on calm waters had a few people turning grey-green and reaching for Gravol or Dramamine. Adrian, an engineer for BMW Motorrad in Germany Charlie said it handled like the 1200GS Not too shabby... Th

11.15.2017 The next morning my plan was to head for Villa De Leyva, a place I wanted to visit before going south for the Catedral de Sal and to Bogota for the Gold Museum. I punched in Villa De Leyva on the Garmin, which said it didn't exist. After several tries I cursed the Garmin and pulled out my phone for real information. I found it and plugged the coordinates into the GPS and took off. It rained again and the roads were slick, varied from excellent to pothole hell, all

11.21.2017 From Puerto Berrio I was heading to Guatapé, the small town near La Piedra de Peñol, a massive stone monolith with a 749 step staircase to the top. Christine and Jules had been there and our paths would cross as I would arrive and they were leaving the next day. The bike had been unmolested during the night and I loaded up and grabbed a donut and coffee from a vendor on the corner as I hit the road. Garmin, Google, Maps.me and Sygic all showed the routes and indica

11.23.2017 From Medellin I began heading south for Cartago. A few miles out of town I stopped to grab a bottle of water and rehydrate. While sitting at the gas station I was approached by a man, Alvaro, and his two children. They were curious about my travels and wished me well. A few moments later an older guy came up to ask about the bike. He had been out of riding for many years and had been considering a 1200 GS, but it was thinking it might be too difficult to start ridi

11.26.2017 The Ecuadoran border wasn't too far away, so we headed for Ipiales the next morning, the last town in Colombia and the Cathedral at Las Lajas. He was fascinated by the bike and thrilled to sit on it. Mama was shy and tried to hide behind the baby Random Savant sighting Tossing gear into the hotel and chilling out for little bit, we then grabbed a taxi for the short ride out of town to Las Lajas. The gothic style Cathedral spans a river gorge and is quite the contra

12.20.2017 From online requests, following are some of my thoughts and opinions, biased solely towards adventure travel by motorcycle. My background was in advertising and commercial photography, where format sizes from 8 x 10 to 35mm were employed. Equipment choices were based on the project, choosing the right tool for the specific job. My current Sony travel kit and the excellent Lumix GM5 kit I took on the Alaska leg of this adventure As I said sometime somewhere, photogr

12.21.2017 With the motorcycle broken down and waiting for parts, I had plenty of time for some street photography. Here's a few more images from my wanderings in Cuenca. #Cuenca #Ecuador #Adventure #Travel #Photography #Motorcycle

12.24.2017 In my wanderings and walks to Mojeron Moto to stare forlornly at my bike, I'd run across a little restaurant tucked away on a side street. It turned out to be run by a local who'd worked in Chicago for 10 years, and on his return to Cuenca had opened a US style eatery. The bar portion was run by a Canadian expat lady and they dished up some ribs and barbecue sauce for me. Dang tasty and a nice break from local rice dishes. The upshot was, I got invited to an expat

1.04.2018 After a month of time spent in Cuenca, due to the conflux of the motorcycle breakdown, parts shipped in from the US and the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, I was absolutely spent from the stress, worry and expenses. My timeline was now a month behind to reach Ushuaia before the ice and snow, which meant I would not be able to explore or enjoy many places I'd wanted to. I will admit to considering ending the trip entirely, in moments of depression and frustration,

1.06.2018 The previous evening, Ken, Chip, Ed and I had gone out for dinner and had a great time. Ron was a no-show, he and Ed having gotten separated at some point in the day. He did not respond to messages, however I saw that he was online so at least we knew he was okay. Ken and Chip had stayed at the hotel where I was, Ed having found a different place. That morning, we three retrieved the motorcycles from the parking lot shortly after Ed arrived from his hotel. Ed said R

1.08.2018 “Mucho cuidado! Mucho cuidado!” the old man said. He had come up to me to inquire of my route into the town, looking at the muddy bike and shaking his head at the road we’d taken the night before. Arriving in Huaraz after riding Cañon del Pato the day before, we’d headed back to Yungay and took the dirt pass road into a national park. It began raining immediately and the road was muddy and slick. Rain continued as we passed through the park and its stunning sheer mo