The Way South

[rockymountainoyster]

Duh! Sorry Steve. I did not connect you with your ADV handle. I think I coined "Ripio Rangers" and am gratified that it stuck. I am having a great time down here! It was good to see you in Telluride.... nice ride and nice Klim riding gear.

I will certainly send your wishes to Alberto. We took a great ride on Saturday.

Your pix have always been damn good.

Best,

David

[GSteve]

Originally Posted by rockymountainoyster

Duh! Sorry Steve. I did not connect you with your ADV handle. I think I coined "Ripio Rangers" and am gratified that it stuck. I am having a great time down here! It was good to see you in Telluride.... nice ride and nice Klim riding gear.

I will certainly send your wishes to Alberto. We took a great ride on Saturday.

Your pix have always been damn good.

Best,

David

David,

It was good to catch up with you also, here's the pix from the October ride. http://gsteve.smugmug.com/Travel/Mot...4663&k=Fdg555Q

Keep the story and the photos coming.

Ride safe,
Steve

[rockymountainoyster]

Parked my bike in Tulancingo, Hidalgo and rode down to Mexico in my friend Pepe's car last night, Staying at his place in DF for a couple of days and then flying to Chile on Tuesday. Went to a big party today at the home of one of Pepe's BMW club friends. Nice home in a part of the city that still has single family homes. This place is just mind boggling. My friends have cautioned me to be careful in the streets because there are grab and run thieves in abundance. This being Sunday the notorious Mexico City traffic was not present. Tomorrow is another day!

[rockymountainoyster]

Click the link below to see where I am located.
http://fms.ws/AulGa/33.58647S/70.55829W

I left Mexico City at 7:30 PM on Tuesday and arrived in Santiago (+ 2 hour time change. Santiago is on Daylight Savings time and is therefore on the same time as Rio) We were on approach to Santiago as the dawn was coming on. The Andes against a vermilion sky, incredible. I was on the starboard side of the plane so was not able to get a photo but it was a memorable sight.

I am staying at the home of my friend Margarita in a working class suburb about 45 minutes from the center of Santiago. There is a good public transport system here, metro and buses that are linked to the neighborhoods by ´´colectivos´´shared taxis that get you close to home. The neighborhoods are gated communites of neat little row houses. There was a police car on the street last night that was totally enclosed with steel mesh frames over every glass surface. I have never seen anything like it but it was too dark for a picture.

One of the hazards of travel is getting exposed to all kinds of new respiratory and intestinal bugs. I have been lucky with the intestinal stuff but on Monday started coming down with a ´´resfrio¨ (cold) I am not one to let those things slow me down much but combined with an all night flight (damn those are a bitch anymore), I am a bit knocked down. Margarita is filling me with all kinds of herbal concoctions that she is brewing up. She explains them to me and I probably understand about half of what she is saying, she speaks no English, and my increasingly better Spanish is no match for her technical detail but I just do as she says.

Margarita is a yoga teacher, massage therapist and esthetician. She lives very simply. It is interesting to see another side of Chile than what I saw when I was here on a MotoDiscovery tour in 2008, which is when I met Margarita. She visited me in Colorado in the summer of ´08 and we have kept in touch over the internet. She ran for city council here in October but was defeated. When we met I was on the city council in Telluride, I ran for mayor in 2011 and was defeated. We both not get to pursue our private lives outside of the public spotlight. We have kept in touch over the internet and with google translate and it is nice to have a reunion with a ¨simpatica amiga´´.

I am temporarily without a wireless connection to my Ipad so I have not figured out how to post some pictures. Will get that worked out.

We are headed to the beach tomorrow and will be there (Vina del Mar) for the weekend, staying at the home of Margarita´s amiga Carolina.

´´Chao´´ (the way it is spelled in castellano chileno) as opposed to the ´´Italian ciao´´.

[jrzyguy]

Dave,
I'm not sure if this reply is properly executed, but hope so. Man, you're in Chile...way to go. I Hope you feel better soon...it does sound like you're in good hands! Please continue to let us know what you're up to.
Jim

[tricepilot]

Chile today

Hot tamale

[rockymountainoyster]

Si! Ella es muy caliente!

[jimmex]

Pics or it's not real. Was great meeting you in SMA. What a great time! Saludos, Jim

[rockymountainoyster]

Igualmente Jim. La proxima vez mas tiempo! Fotos en siguente.

[rockymountainoyster]

Thanks to you all from me and this most dear and gracious lady. She says that it was a "miracle".

[rockymountainoyster]

This was supposed to be a video. I have got more to learn about posting!

[SchizzMan]

[QUOTE=rockymountainoyster;20572127]Thanks to you all from me and this most dear and gracious lady. She says that it was a "miracle".


[QUOTE]

So, was Dona Sara made whole or does she need a bit more?

[ind500]

Five riders heading south from central Canada in late March. Trying to decide the best route south from the border. Can you share your route and comments.

[ind500]

Obviously the crossing into Mexico and routing south from the border of Mexico that I am looking for.

[rockymountainoyster]

Thanks for tuning in Ind500. The internet access has been pretty spotty here in Chile where I am hanging out for a month.

I crossed the border at Columbus,NM/Palomas, NM because it is a pretty straight shot south from where I live in Colorado. It was cold as hell. I had to lay over in Silver City, NM for a night because of snow and freezing rain. Where you cross pretty much depends on where you are dropping down from. The crossing at Palomas is very easy. Not much traffic and everything is located together at the border. My choice of a first stop was in Nuevo Casas Grandes where I had stopped before in 2006. Nice hotel on the main drag. I will try to dredge up the name. I don't have my Mexico notes with me here in Chile. After NCG I pretty much took the most direct and fast route south to Zacatecas and eventually San Miguel de Allende that I liked so much that I stayed for three weeks. I took the cuotas (toll roads) because I was trying to make a schedule that I gave up on when I realized that Mexico has its own schedule and that riding there is very different from riding at home. The cuotas are pretty much like our freeways, sometimes a bit rough, boring, but you can really haul ass and if you don't you will get passed like you were standing still.

I will check to see if I have some notes on this computer but pretty much left everything with my bike in Mex.

David