Rain, Rain, Go Away - 6 April 2018

 Today I will ride around Bahia Blanca on Highway 33 and then continue North to General Villegas. The day started out cloudy and pretty much stayed that way all day. I was going to put on my rain suit just in case it rained but thought I would take a chance it wouldn’t. Mostly hoping the sky would brighten up and get sunny. The countryside was mostly rural and again with wide open spaces that always make you hope your car or motorcycle don’t develop mechanical issues. All day looking forward it was clouds and getting darker clouds. I’m setting on my bike saying to myself can you just hold off on the rain for another 20 Miles / 32 Kilometers. All the signs were there that I was going to get wet, the shoulder of the road was wet with standing water. A few Miles / Kilometers down the road my hopes were dashed. I met a car with their windshield wipers on intermittent and then a truck with its windshield wipers going. I less than a minute I had rain drops on my helmet visor. Of course, there is a positive side to all this. The earlier rain and traffic had washed all the field mud off the road. That greasy mud makes the road surface slippery as ice and very hazardous. Especially if the mud is packed .375 Inch / .393 Centimeter thick. At least for me anyway.

So, I ride off and on rain as I continue north. The rain is continuing to get heavier as I drive north. I hate when my AeroStitch Riding Suit gets wet. Its not the getting wet part that’s irritating……but how to dry it out without air conditioning. I kept counting down the kilometers till I reached the town of General Villegas where I was planning on staying. I knew from looking at it online the night before what the hotel looked like and it was easy to find. The hotel wasn’t more than 400 Yards / 400 meters off High Way 33 on the road into the town. I whipped in there and got out of the rain. They had a room at a reasonable rate and I checked in. I got my bike under the roof next to my room so the bags wouldn’t get any wetter. This was my kind of a hotel. You give them the money and the deal is done.

I unloaded my bike. I got my AeroStitch hung up so it could dry. I turned on the fan to help the drying process. I ate supper at the gas station because they sold hamburgers and french fries. It must have really rained earlier in the day because some of the mud puddles were 6 Inch / 15 Centimeters deep and 2 Yards / 2 Meters in diameter. I have been watching the weather forecast for Rosario, Argentina. For the last two days it was rain and thunder showers. From all indications I think the weather forcast was correct. I Skyped Mary and then went to bed.

I Freaked Her Out - 5 April 2018

5 April 2018 – Today I am leaving Sierra Grande and my comfortable cheap hotel at about 9:00 a.m. I fill up with gas, eat a light snack and I’m off. They talk about the loneliest roads: this one rates right up there. Endless wide-open expanses and flat. Thank goodness no wind. There is nothing to slow it down or break it up. It was mostly desert with scrub brush. I’m sure I saw my last of the guanacos / Llamas. I saw three of them alongside the road. I didn’t see a single rhea.

 I stopped for gas and a light snack about half way to my destination. A guy stopped for gas and was all excited about seeing my motorcycle. He rushed off to his car to get his cell phone and showed me his motorcycle. It was a newer blue Kawasaki KLR 650. It was newer than 2007. I gave him one of my cards so he could look at my blogs and see the different changes I made to mine.

The farther North I went, the more it began to look like I was riding thru North Dakota and Northern Minnesota. The desert turned into large green fields with shelter belts with farm equipment. The shelter belts had different trees and not the usual cottonwood trees you see in North Dakota. I saw one large herd of cattle and then random smaller groups.

It then turned urban when I started entering Bahia Blanca. I found a nice hotel alongside the road. That was convenient so I didn’t have to ride into the city. This hotel was perfect. It was right alongside of Highway 33, which I was going to take north to Rosario, Argentina. I wanted to avoid Buenos Aires. I checked into the hotel and then continued working on my blog. I decided to eat in the restaurant sometime after 8:00 p.m.

The waitress brought over the menu and started talking Spanish to me like I was a native. I told her I didn’t speak Spanish and she freaked out. She went and complained to the management that she wasn’t serving me. Another younger waiter came in and took my order. Everything went smoothly. I used my cell phone to translate the menu. The older waitress brought my food and forgot to bring my french fries. I had to remind her to bring them. It was a meal of raw ham and some type of pasta. The pasta was good but I wouldn’t reorder the raw ham again. I ate everything despite that I didn’t really care for the ham. I skyped with Mary and then went to bed.

Holed Up Again - 4 April 2018

4 April 2018 – I didn’t travel again today. I needed more time to get more work done on my blog, figure out how far I was going to travel tomorrow, finding hotels for the night and getting Blanche on board with all the routes. I spent most of the afternoon working on that. I’m set pretty good now.

All day today Patagonia Winds were blowing and I mean blowing. I put the wind gust in the area of 40, 50 and 60 Mph / 65, 80, and 100 Kph. If those winds blew in BLOWING. In Minnesota and Wisconsin most of the trees would be on the ground. The biggest fear I have is it blowing over my motorcycle. All the curtains in the rooms were wiggling from the wind blowing in around the window frames. The front door would continually blow open from the wind gusts. The worst part of it all was the blowing dust. It sifted in under the doors, through the window frames and any little crack it could find. I sat by the window in the reception area and could feel the dust settle on my arms. The tables were covered with dust. My keys on my laptop were getting dusty. I moved when I could feel dust on the key board. I hope that wind isn’t blowing tomorrow morning and the weather front has passed through. As it stands I’m in pretty good shape to ride out of this town to bigger and better things. I think the hotel staff is wondering when is this gringo going to leave.

Hanging With the Locals - 3 April 2018

3 April 2018 – I decided not to travel today. I should have and I would have like myself better if I had. I wasn’t prepared. I found an ATM and resupplied my Pesos. I should be in good shape for a couple of days. I walked over to the grocery store and refreshed my stash of food I carry with me. On the way back from grocery store I stopped in the gas station and asked if they knew where there was a motorcycle shop. They gave me directions and come to find out it was no more than 100 yards / 100 meters from my hotel. The hotel guy told me the shop didn’t open up until 6:00 p.m. I went and found the place and then returned again at 6:30 p.m. I got lucky and they had the oil I like. They also said I could go ahead and change my oil there. I thought that was a nice gesture. I had to pay the last time I changed my oil.

I went back to the hotel, got my motorcycle, and took it out for a short ride to warm it up so the oil would drain out of it. I parked on the side walk in front of the shop and changed my oil. What has amazed me on several occasions is that the motorcycle shops don’t have drain pans. They mostly use 4 liter plastic bottles as drain pans. It’s the same old story cutting corners trying to save a few Pesos.

I got my oil changed and was packing things up when the young guy started talking to me. He asked me how old I was and How I could afford to take a motorcycle ride like this. I told him what he wanted know and two other guys were there who had questions. One guy asked if I did any machining on diesel engines. I told him I mostly worked on airplanes and aerospace. It’s really hard to get technical when you can’t communicate.

I showed them my 1941 Chopper. That set them back in their chairs. They were so interested I got their e-mails addresses and sent them a set of pictures that I e-mail to people who are interested. I gave them a card with my blog addresses on it. They gave me some stickers to put on my motorcycle. This town and hotel was the perfect place to do that type of work. Small town and friendly. I sure wished I could have communicated better with those guys. They were so interested. I rode my bike back to the hotel and put it to bed. I went inside and proceeded to e-mail those guys all my 1941 Harley-Davidson pictures. I didn’t get to bed till after 1:00 p.m.

I MacGyvered It - 2 April 2018

2 April 2018 – I got up about 8:30 a.m. and went and ate breakfast. Breakfast consisted of Coffee, Tea, Water with toast and crackers. The toast came with jelly and butter. That’s it. In the big scheme of thing for a 500 Pesos hotel to provide any kind of breakfast is really surprising.

I ate everything and set about trying to figure out something for this broken gas tank bracket. Initially I thought if I could stretch the bracket enough I could sandwich the bracket between two washers. Well that didn’t work worth a darn. I tried bending the bracket but that wasn’t happening. I saw this plastic water pipe sticking out of a rectangular hole at the bottom of the wall. I thought I could use it to keep the bracket from wearing a hole into the gas tank. I cut a chunk off maybe 3 Inches / 8 Centimeters. I whittled on it till it fit over the broken bracket. While I was doing the whittling, it occurred to me that if I put two radiator hose clamps around the plastic pipe I could collapse the pipe around the bracket holding it tight. I went over to the truck repair shop nearby and asked the mechanics if they knew where I could purchase radiator hose clamps and showed him a picture of the type of clamp I was looking for. He pointed to a store across the street that was a parts house. I walked over there and showed the desk guy a picture of the radiator hose clamps I was looking for. He finished something and then went and got me two clamps exactly what I was looking for. I was really happy to see that they had the clamps I wanted. I was in and out of there in 5 minutes.

I came back and did some more whittling on the plastic pipe till I got what I think I wanted. I bored a hole in it with my trusty Swiss Army Knife. I bolted it in position and used the two hose clamps to collapse the plastic pipe around the broken bracket till the two were tight together. I tightened up the bolt and my temporary fix was complete. It was probably one of the best less than desirable fixes I ever did and will be changed when I get home. I believe the plastic pipe should be able to absorb the vibrations of the gas tank without breaking. At least that’s the hope. It has to last 3000 Miles / 4828 Kilometers. I cut off a spare chunk of pipe as a backup incase my first one breaks for some reason. I put away all my tools which takes longer than to make the repair. I then pretty much worked on this blog and started preparing for my next days travel. I could be knocking Buenos Aires, Argentina door tomorrow or the next day. I’ll wait and see what shakes out here at the hotel. I have a lot of loose ends that need to be tied up.

No More Food! - 1 April 2018

1 April 2018 – I started leaving about 8:00 a.m. I had a full day of riding ahead of me and I wanted an earlier start. I was loaded up and departing by 9:30 a.m. I plan on riding from Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina to Sierra Grande, Argentina. When I left the wind was hardly blowing and it was another beautiful day. As far as the scenery goes and animals, it was pretty much the same as yesterday. Same critters with a little more wind. I passed thru a wind farm. It was windy there but nothing like what I experienced further south in Argentina. I stopped in a city called Trelew and got gas, ate a sandwich, drank some water and ate a candy bar. While I was stopped I discovered that one of my gas tank brackets had broken. One more thing to think about. It was back on the road until I arrived in Sierra Grande, Argentina about 5:00 p.m.

I checked out a cheap hotel on the edge of town which was perfect for me. Good Wi-Fi, good secure parking and no stairs at a reasonable rate. 500 Pesos a night. I unloaded my bike, locked up the room and was off to get something to eat at the local gas station. I ate two hamburgers and fries. By the time I was finished I couldn’t eat another french fry. Another thing that is becoming more and more apparent is the temperature is going up. I have been so used to the colder temperatures down south that when I got into the 70 Fahrenheit / 21 Celsius degree temperatures I was dying. I had too many clothes on. When I leave Sierra Grande I won’t be wearing my long johns. I will have to check out the broken gas tank bracket tomorrow. I not sure how I will fix that and it may require some pondering. I fell asleep during some movie on tv.

Blow Over - 31 March 2018

Blow Over - 31 March 2018 – I got up this morning and walked outside to see what the wind situation was like. I opened the door and it squeaked like usual and I was instantly attacked by my buddy the little hound. He knew when he heard the door squeak it was probably me. He wanted to play so I had to rough him up some so he would be happy. The weather was a calm beautiful sunny day. Just the way I like them. The temperature was probably 43 Fahrenheit / 6 Celsius degree. I backed my motorcycle out of the corner of the building where I had it parked. I had it parked in the corner so if it got windy it didn’t blow over. I noticed by my second trip out as I was loading my motorcycle the little hound was gone. He’s back inside with his owner. I always had the feeling he didn’t like me being a buddy to his future guard dog. I hated to tell the little fella he probably was going to have a hard life ahead of him.

I returned the key, checked all my wallets and stuff and I’m off to the gas station for gas and drinking water. I will be leaving Puerto San Julian, Argentina and riding up to Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina. The road was in good shape. With some worn down mountains and mostly flat land. Other than seeing all the likely suspects, skunks, birds of prey, rabbits, rheas and guanacos (llamas), it was mostly a boring day. This was rare of the guanacos. There was one standing in the middle of the road just looking. I was approaching while beeping my horn. For some reason they respond to my beeping horn and they run off in the direction they’re facing. This one particular guanacos did a slow 180 degree turn and walked back in the ditch. By doing the 180 degree turn I could have hit the darn thing. I was all over my brakes to slow down so I didn’t hit the critter. Like I said, when the guanacos hear my horn they start moving but this particular fella took his time. He / she may have had a death wish. The ditches are littered with dead guanacos. I saw one dead in the last 24 hours. It was the only one I saw like that.

As I passed thru Caleta Olivia I stopped in a bank and purchased some Pesos. The first ATM wouldn’t accept my credit card, or it was out of money. The 2nd one utterly refused the card and the 3rd one I hit pay dirt. I stayed in this town on the way down to Ushuaia. I didn’t care for Hotel Robert or just maybe their staff. I drove by the hotel as I continued on to Comodoro Rivadavia. The road from Caleta Olivia to Comodora Rivadavia was the most horrible black top road. It was all broken up and what wasn’t broken up was rutted up black top by the semi-trucks. If I owned a small car which there are many here like Fiat, Peugot and multitude of others etc. etc. I would be scared to drive these roads for fear of dragging or bouncing the bottom of my car off the raised center of those roads. The road or lane looks like a W. The center of the W is the highest part of the road. That’s the part you would scrap with your small car.

I stopped again once I arrived in Comodora Rivadavia to see if I could purchase more Pesos. It was the same bank, just a different town. It said I exceed the limit for the day. So, no more Pesos till tomorrow. I continued to drive thru town till I spotted a gas station. I stopped, filled up and bought a hamburger to eat. I continued on to the hostel. I rolled up on the hostel and it looked closed or out of business. There was one car setting alongside one end of the building and I decided to see if anybody was home. I knocked on the door and nobody answered. I saw a door bell button but it looked broken. I was about to leave and I said I’ll just push the doorbell once. I rang it and in a couple of seconds someone answered the door. I handed him my card which asked if he had a room for the night. He did. He took me in and showed me the room. It was small with 4 beds and no bathroom. Bunk beds and two single beds. It was crowded. The latrine was separate and shared with all the rest of the men in the hostel. The women also had a shared latrine together. I told him I would take it. $400 Pesos, a good deal with some inconvenience.

I rode my bike behind the Hostel and parked it. It was a bugger because all the ground was uneven. I got all my bags unloaded and I decided I was going to oil my chain on my bike. Because of the unevenness of the ground and the problem with the Patagonia Winds I decided to put it on the center stand. It took three of us to put that bike on the center stand. Remember, it now has 10 gallons / 38 litres of gas in the gas tank. Well we get the bike on the center stand. I put a board underneath the center stand so doesn’t sink into the dirt. There are no concrete pads around this hostel, it’s all gravel. I couldn’t turn the rear wheel so I put a short stick under the end of swing arm to get the wheel off the ground. I now can spin the wheel. I go to open my saddle bag / pannier with my chain oil in it. I get the lid half ways open and I feel my bike start moving. It rotated on the center stand and slid off the board it was setting on. The next thing I see is my bike crashing to the ground. It must have crashed loud enough because the owner of the hostel came out to see what was going on. We tried to lift the bike together and couldn’t budge it. He goes in to the hostel and gets the third guy again and three us get the motorcycle back on it wheels. I get my bike started and drive it off that spot. I drove it over to a shady spot with trees and tie the bloody thing to a tree so it wouldn’t fall over again if the winds came up during the night. I was fed up with the motorcycle for today and I never did oil my chain. I had that little blue cloud floating over my head again and there was no need to make it get any darker blue. I went in the hostel, planned out my next day, talked to Mary and went to bed.