Condiments Are a Problem - Imbau, Brazil– 27 April 2018

27 April 2018 – Time to mobilize. The hotel had a nice breakfast buffet of which I ate heartily, and then I started loading my motorcycle. Jean a member of the hotel staff came out and was interested in my Kawasaki.    He also liked riding motorcycles and was quite enthusiastic about my travels. He spoke some English which was helpful during my stay in the hotel and our present conversation.   We spoke a bit more about my travels and my motorcycles. When I had my bike loaded Jean and I took pictures. I also give him one of my blog cards so he could follow my travels. 

I was off, riding down Hwy 376 toward Imbau. It won’t be a long ride and I should arrive in Imbau by 4:00 p.m. I knew I was coming into the city and was watching for any sign of hotel Chalet / Chale. I was looking for the hotel driveway off of Hwy 376. According to Google Maps there was a driveway into the hotel. Nope, Hwy 376 was scarcely 30 Feet / 10 meters out from the front door of the hotel. I almost blew by it. I was hard on the brakes so I could make it in to the parking lot. The only way I recognized it was because it looked like a Swiss Chalet / Chale. 

Since the internet pictures were taken there has been some road construction around the hotel. I’m guessing the hotel lost some of their property to a 4-lane highway. The hotel was owned by an Asian man who tried very hard to speak English to me. Between his broken English, my pigeon English and my cell phone translator I was checked into the hotel. We also talked some about my travels and I gave him one of my blog cards so he could follow my travels. 

I got my motorcycle unloaded and everything hauled upstairs to my room. I asked about secure parking and was shown where I could park my motorcycle. Before I parked it for the night I adjusted and oiled the chain. I said to myself “I wonder if this is the last time I adjust this chain before I get back to the United States?” I parked the motorcycle, threw the cover over it and went back to my room. The owner of the hotel told me they have an evening meal if I was interested. I will check that out when I start getting hungry about 7:00 p.m.

After spending sometime in the hotel room, I head down to the front desk and asked about eating. The man at front desk was having some problems trying understand me and I was having problems answering his questions. Mainly it had to do with the menu and what was available. We struggled along and eventually I placed my order. His chef / cook was able to cook it up for me. You had to laugh, everybody wanted to help me, but that minuscule of information that couldn’t be communicated always gummed up the works. For example: You order a Hamburger / Hamburguesa. That’s not the problem. The problem is, do you want an onion? Ketchup? Mustard? Lettuce? That is always the problem or the hangup. Anyway, the food was great and I went to bed. Tomorrow, I will hook up with James Jr. at his store. It should be pretty exciting because of have not seen him or his father since August 2016 at Sturgis, South Dakota, U.S.A.