January 25

Very Exciting! Very Exciting!

I've been planning this ride for two years and it was very exciting getting here. There was no disappointment in today's arrival at the "end of the world". This is pretty neat stuff. And, it was a hell of a lot nicer than arriving in Prudhoe (on the other end).

Today started out wet, cold and foggy. Have you ever been flying in the soup and you felt all claustrophobic, then you broke-out of the clouds and this beautiful visual world opened up and it felt so wonderful? Well......I rode 150 miles to Ushuaia in the soup, then I tried to check-in to a motel so I could dry out, then go to the park. The first four attempts had no vacancy, so I decided to ride in the rain and fog out to the National Park to get the necessary photo at absolutely the "end of the road" and the most southern spot that we can get to on earth. It continued to rain until I got to the photo spot, then the sun popped-out and everything became wonderful. The sun was a very welcome sight. Everything was beautiful.......plus, I'm in a national Park. It was nice.

There was a pretty good size crowd gathered around to watch me squeeze my bike through the posts to set-up for the photo shot with my tripod. Several could speak English and they were asking questions about where I was from and how long it took me to get there. A lady stepped up and said, so this photo is your "trophy". Yes Ma'am, I guess that's right.

I spent the next hour or so just wandering around the park and buying the necessary T-shirt before leaving. The park is 10 miles south of town, then the photo spot is another 10 miles within the Park. The roads are all gravel and they were a little wet too. But everything worked out great.

I went back to town thinking about finding a spot to spend the night and decided to go by the internet shop and upload the previous day's pictures. I also needed to eat some King crab to satisfy a requirement by Marty Roach from BMW North America. I had promised him I would do that to thank him for helping me get assistance with my drive line problem in Santiago. It's the least I could do. Additionally, when I stepped out of the internet shop (I wasn't able to upload because they were having problems) I saw a couple that I had met several times along the way yesterday. It was kind of strange running into them. The young lady had borrowed my pen at the first Chile border crossing and the guy had helped me with some translation. I saw them again on the gravel road on the way to Argentina. Then, I saw them again at the Argentina border. Last night, they showed up at the same hotel that I was in at Rio Grande. Then, I run across them again on a street of Ushuaia ( a town of 60,000). It was just a funny coincidence.

Richard Knipe, to answer your question about Man and Machine, we are doing just great! I had the fine opportunity to get a personal trainer (Clint) for 30 days previous to coming on this trip. I guess it helped out a whole lot, because I couldn't feel any better than I do. Everything is just doing fine with me and my bike. We have had a wonderful ride together. Dan really knew what he was doing when he chose this bike for me to use on the trip. There couldn't have been a better choice. I'm a fortunate person. Thank you Dan.

I went ahead and went back to Rio Grande to spend the night and start my journey to Buenas Aires where I'll catch a plane home.

I know there's some repetition in these photos, but I can't help it.