Lobsters to Llamas, Maritimes to Argentina

[Kedgi]

Originally Posted by bESS

Dwight:

glad to see you acclimatizing to NA life. Having a good breakfast of bacon & eggs and being able to converse with others.

thank you for all this credit card into which may come in handy one day

Hope you get re-united with your bike sooner than later

have a good welcome home party. sorry we can't be there. You've got too much snow for us

I know it must have been embarrassing to ask to borrow money from Angele's Parents . . . (and no I'm not grinning), okay, I am grinning a bit . . .

bob

Well it hasn't come to that yet. I didn't need to borrow any money. I got 100 bucks out on my card today and that's all I need for now.

No bike yet. It was supposed to ship again today and didn't. It is still in Santiago Chile, now they say it will be in Miami tomorrow. It's beginning to look like I may miss my welcome home party. I have to clear the bike through US Customs and have to wait. No point in booking a flight home until I know when I can go. I have no choice. It's all become an expensive and bad joke. I paid for air freight, On Feb 26th still waiting March the 6th? Inexcusable.

[slide]

We'll be in Ft Laud in June. If you are still waiting around for your bike, I'll stand you to a beer or two.

[boxxcar]

I have not lurked on ADV for some time.
Had a general nagging question about central to SA.

Thanks so much for your candid, colorful,easy prose!

You wore me out by Ecuador, but I will be back!
Eric, western nj, bike in CA!

[yellowknife]

Little trick for carrying your wallet and avoiding theft to add to your comments.
Wrap an elastic band around the wallet. a big one.
When someone tries to lift it from you, you will feel it moving due to the friction of the elastic on your pocket.
I am not sure why I know this but I do.

Re: welcome home party - if you miss the first one let me know. I can make the second one if it is after the 17th

YK

[Kedgi]

Originally Posted by slide

We'll be in Ft Laud in June. If you are still waiting around for your bike, I'll stand you to a beer or two.

Thanks

If I'm still waiting in June, I'll need a beer.

Kedgi

[Kedgi]

Originally Posted by boxxcar

I have not lurked on ADV for some time.
Had a general nagging question about central to SA.

Thanks so much for your candid, colorful,easy prose!

You wore me out by Ecuador, but I will be back!
Eric, western nj, bike in CA!

I was worn out several times on this trip. It happens. The secret is to keep coming back.

Kedgi

[Kedgi]

Originally Posted by yellowknife

Little trick for carrying your wallet and avoiding theft to add to your comments.
Wrap an elastic band around the wallet. a big one.
When someone tries to lift it from you, you will feel it moving due to the friction of the elastic on your pocket.
I am not sure why I know this but I do.

Re: welcome home party - if you miss the first one let me know. I can make the second one if it is after the 17th

YK

The point that is important is don't carry all you cards/money etc together then if you are robbed you still have other ways to access money. Hide a card on your bike, separate from others on your person. I do like the rubber band idea through

I really do hope to get home by Saturday for the party but it's getting close


Dwight

[boxxcar]

Awesome read, and much DUE respect!
Hope LAN Santigo CL coughs the KLR up tout suitely!!
Eric western NJ, bike in CA

[Kedgi]

Originally Posted by boxxcar

Awesome read, and much DUE respect!
Hope LAN Santigo CL coughs the KLR up tout suitely!!
Eric western NJ, bike in CA

Thanks for reading!


Got the bike today

Damn near froze to death riding to Zypherhills to put it on a trailer for Canada. My God it was windy and cold. Coldest week of the entire Winter in FLA. Way below March norms.

I fly to Moncton tomorrow

I meet Angele on the last leg from Newark into Moncton, she's returning from Atlanta on the same last segment of my flight. I will be very happy to see her!

Five months apart is a long time!

I'll provide more detail about shipping and that snafu later.

Dwight

[boxxcar]

Great Going Santiago! ;)

When are you hitting newark?carrier/flight?

[Kedgi]

Originally Posted by boxxcar

Great Going Santiago! ;)

When are you hitting newark?carrier/flight?

I'm pretty excited. I am in the Tampa International Airport, waiting for my flight to Newark and in spite of this week's nasty weather in the Newark area, it is scheduled to depart on time.

I arrive within 5 minutes of Angele's flight home and we are seated across the aisle from each other on the Newark to Moncton flight. How's that for Karma?

I dropped the bike with the guy who's going to take it to New Brunswick this monrning. The ride ing portion of this trip is over and I will be home in about 11 hours One full day before my welcome home party

[Kedgi]

A few words about shipping a moto back to NA from SA.

I like Javier and Sandra at DakarMotos and they did what they said they would do. They arranged the shipping and told me where and how to pay for it.

Then things go sideways. You pay for the bike at Navcon in Downtown BA. They are some sort of freight forwarder. The waybill gives a flight number date and time. Don't believe it. The actual carrier, Lan Cargo Chile was six days moving the bike. That to me is unacceptable. I was never told this was a possibility. I was told a one day extra wait has happened in the past but never more and I went ahead and booked a flight and made plans accordingly.

I'm not sure what to suggest to avoid this but I would like to have had a deliver by (date) promise, where if they fail to meet the date, you at least get a partial refund. 6 days in South Florida, combined with a car rental can easily cost as much as a month in SA.

In any case the agent in Miami saw that the bike had been delayed six days and apologized profusely, not that that helps much after the fact but he did put a rush on to get my Customs paperwork and US Customs was a breeze. They never even looked at the bike. The fact that it was dirty never came into question. All they wanted to know was that, that I had bought the moto in Canada and that I in fact intended to return the Moto to Canada. I filled out a couple short forms and was done with Customs in 20 minutes.

Next will be a report about arriving home, and the party and that will put a cap on the Ride Report. I've enjoyed writing it and I've enjoyed all your kind words and submissions and encouragement in the rough spots.

Advrider has been my link to the outside world all thses many months and i will miss making daily updates. Maybe a book based on adventure riding is what I need.

Not sure what's next. Time will tell.

Kedgi

Dwight

[Kedgi]

The welcome home party will be this Saturday, March 9th at the Club BoisHebert in Shediac. It is easy to find. It is right across Main Street from the Co-Op's Driveway basically.

If you are reading this you are welcome. Come and meet some great people, have fun! Mingle!

We have had an overwhelming response to the party that our modest home could not accommodate, hence the move to the club.

Like most parties Angele and I have it will start early on Saturday afternoon to accommodate those that have to drive in from a distance and or may have to leave early and it will go on well into the night.

Don't be shy. The more the Merrier!

I will be there! In spite of all the snafu's with shipping, it has all worked out and I will attend my welcome home party!

It's all good

Kedgi

[BKMLWR]

[WhicheverAnyWayCan]

Originally Posted by Kedgi

In answer to questions about equipment, lesson learned etc.

My biggest regret ....(removed to save room)

Cant think of anything else off the top of my head but I hope this helps. If anything else comes to mind I'll add it


Kedgi

Originally Posted by Kedgi

A few words about shipping a moto back to NA from SA.

....

Not sure what's next. Time will tell.

Kedgi

Dwight

Wanted to say MANY THANKS for doing this Riding Report and I have enjoyed it throughout. Thanks for sharing your advice/thought and appreciate few head-up. I'll keep them in mind when I head down south in 2015. Again, thanks!