Anchorage to Ushuaia

So this is the ongoing continuation of the trip started in 2009

I left the KLR in Wasilla for two years while I pooled resources for the venture.

I arrived in ANC july 27th. Picked up the bike. The battery was still holding 10volts and almost got started after being parked. A little push start and that got her running.
I threw on some hard bags and much a needed front brake upgrade.





A couple of mornings before I departed I woke to a moose outside my window.



It was pretty crappy weather all the way out of AK, 36F and fresh snow in the mountains the day I left.

Near Palmer on the old Glenn hwy.





Looking up the Knik river



across the Matanuska river



An old tractor reunion in the "Valley"








The Matanuska Glacier




numerous pretty spots to stop on the way to Tok, for the first night.







The fireweed was waning.








Got to the Tok motorcycle campground



Shared the bunkhouse with another ADV'er on an epic journey with a 1975 CB500T!



The Yukon, that was a cool schoolbus a couple had bought in Fairbanks.



Burly Wood Gates!



Burwash Landing for some fuel.



Kluane Lake (looks cold? It was!)



some Canukistanian kitch!



Made it to Whitehorse at night in the rain, had to spend $100 for a really crappy hotel!

The next day weather got better in BC and AB.

Happy riding...

So the plan is to follow the Alcan to Dawson Creek, east to Edmonton, and east through Saskachewan to a barn party in MN.

Weather was better in BC.


Not much traffic along the way, a fellow in the fuel station on the AK border said it was the slowest season ever!.
I don't mind these wide open spaces at all.



Where the buffalo roam.











History lesson.



followed a lot of farm roads.



interesting old iron bridge off the beaten track.







oil rig critters



road kill critter


hung like a moose!



Plenty of oil rigs in Alberta.



for some reason I liked take pics of the hay fields, something about the contrast of shape and color.



The oil rigs in Saskachewan had these tanks.


old truck on the northern prairie.


Battleford SK

and free internet, love these motel where you can park in front of your room.


interesting concrete bridge, don't see many like this.





not many barns like this left either.



Pulled into Saskatoon and was thinking about this.



Saskatoon was a busy hectic town, half of the drivers yacking on cell phones

This place was great, best beef barley soup and burger!

Still in Saskatchewan

Moving house!



I started spending a bit more time on farm roads.



Tons of ducks and coot lurked in theses slews, though every time I stopped they'd fly away.



The golden fields are ripe wheat.



nice old American La France fire truck.



home of the white bull



herded these guys along for a few hundred meters



these old style grain elevators punctuated the prairie.

Having had enough of the high prices in Canada and wanting to get to MN for a party I pushed on to cross the border late at night.

Crossed the border into ND at a town called Portal.

It was late I just had a coffee and a 7/11 burrito to fortify myself and my GPS got me lost! Had me routed down a closed road! As I backtracked in frustration I got stopped my a Royal Canadian Mountie! I was going 70kph in a 50 zone! Fock!
It's late, about midnight, his lights were incredibly bright. Absolutely blinding they were.
He asks for license and registration I hand him my NM license and smile explaining how I was lost. I was also hoping he wouldn't push the registration issue and notice my expired NM plates!
Anyway he was a fine fellow and super courteous and gives me an escort out of town.
I got me my police escort out of town!

I wish I had the presence of mind to take pictures when those things happen.


I get to the border and cross after being questioned my a rather sad and stupid US young immigration guy.
Where do you live? Err Thailand!
Where are you coming from? Err Anchorage!
Why were you in Canada? err to get here!
He wanted to know what my job was, I told him I was retired. Retired from what?
And it went on and on. jeez!

It's now after midnight and I'm wired from the adventure with the Royal Canadian Mountie, so I push on to Minot ND.

I see lighting in the sky off in the distance.

I get to Minot around 03:00 and the edge of a big thunderstorm is whipping things up, it's wet and very windy.
I cant find a room, exhausted I go into a Denny's and nod off for a bit, and eat something, drink more coffee.

I continue on, but I'm so tired I have to stop.
After nearly getting stuck in the mud and nearly dropping the bike I find a picnic table to sleep on.

After some rest I get back on the road and get back to taking pics.

Some flooding in ND, Quite a few roads were closed.



some interesting signs along the prairie










Ellendale ND

And more big bulbous new trucks,

this sounds beyond Epic. Can't wait to follow this one.

And on into Minnesota.

These big wind farms are a fairly recent uprising. They are all over the place now. A bit of an eyesore they are! Seems like the don't know what to do with the energy yet, many are stopped for lack of demand.
It not even run by Americans, I gather a Spanish company does the management.:huh
And we better not talk about the ethanol mandate which artificially props up the price of corn, doubling the price of food for everyone.





The lakes are still pretty anyway.



Ya gotta like towns which have yield signs instead of stop signs.



A very clean 1960 Ford Falcon, yesteryear's econobox


Grand architecture of the midwest

Sounds like a fun trip. I'm in!

Oy! I've really fallen behind on this RR. I'm already in Bogota!
I've got a couple of days here to catch up while waiting for my bike to arrive from Miami.

So I arrived in Minnesota to attend the Agro-eco summit held at a friends farm in south western MN. This was originally a bi-annual barn party celebrating the restoration of a grand old barn.

The Barn;


music and dancin' inside


Bison roasted Argentinian style outside.


An Ethiopian lunch.

Catered by this lovely lady who has a restaurant in Worthington, MN.


The Bison was spectacular!




These ash logs produced some formidable heat.


A small bonfire.


The cat-tail narrows bridge.


I slipped and fell, narrowly avoiding falling in by hugging the board and bruising my nose. Ouch!
One of my pals fell completely in drenching his camera and smartypants phone.

Campsite out on the prairie.


Good example of a large square house, circa 1870.


The Departed.


Fruits and smiles









And then it was on the New Mexico from MN, for the Latin America rider rally in Taos the following weekend.

Spirit lake Iowa




Stopped for a night in Sioux City Iowa.
Some interesting architecture downtown

I'm in

Very interesting story.

oh man I've fallen behind here on this report.

I made it to Ushuaia and am heading back north. Spending my first night in 6 weeks in a hotel with internet here in Punta Arenas Chile.
Going to head for Cordoba, Arg where I'll park the bike for 8 months, go home to Thailand then resume the trip back north.

congrats... how long did you take doing it?

About six months

Travel is very good oh!

So after Sioux City Iowa, I headed west to meet up with the guys in Taos for the 4th annual Latin America rider rally.

Interesting Churches on the western Iowa prairie.


and a lot of gravel roads


old style wind farm




Nebraska and the good life.


Crossed the Missouri river near Vermillion SD.




Small Prairie town Winot NB.







nice brick work


Another big Lutheran church, note the stained glass windows, it probably would have been worth a visit inside.


Continuing west into the sand hills of Nebraska.








I was blessed with some perfect weather


Stopped in Crofton NB for something to eat. All the cafe's in town were closed up for a while.
I asked someone; "where do y'all eat around here?"
I was directed to this place. Food was good, had a chat with an old geezer who had lived there all his life, and never traveled. The action was in the back where a card game was going on.


Superb scenery and cool old houses along the way!








the farm road turned int this sandy track, it got a bit hairy and I bailed after a few miles. Managed to keep the bike upright, just barely!
I was a little worried about falling down out there by myself. There wasn't much traffic!








Foot massage shop was lurking inside!



Stayed that night in Valentine NB, woke up to a flat tire and took all morning to get it sorted, forgot to take pics, it was a pretty messy and sweaty affair....complicated by my lack of practice changing the tire.

The sand hills in NE, note the wind bending the grass!



Signs of civilization, along I90 easter CO.


Road straight south in eastern CO, it was a steady climb from there to the mountains.


going over La Veta pass CO.



Rain showers looming ahead in the San Luis valley.


And finally a few cold beers with the Latin America riders




I was the last to leave.




Picuris Pueblo, near Peñasco, NM


Taos














Santa Fe


Santa Fe, the famous Bobcat Bite green chile cheeseburger. Some say the best burger in the USA! I have to agree!


And then on south to Las Cruces


Abandoned school


Corona, NM





good food in there!

















Then back up towards Santa Fe searching for the pot of gold.




Back in Santa Fe,
Instead of a pot of gold I found a giant mushroom
and some Ayahuasca inspired art.