Jan 11th to Jan 13th

Miles from Bellingham, WA 7134 miles
Miles today 272

Up early and on the road fueled by Thomas's French toast.
I know it doesn't seem like it but 272 miles is a pretty big day for us in this part of the world. Traffic, road construction, and mountain riding slow us down a fair amount so we where pleased with today's ride. Motorcycle riders tend to find rider friendly places to stay and then spread the word so as recommended by Paul and Renee from Holland we parked ourselves at the Hostel Casa Blanca in Cali.
The plan was to leave the next day however. There is nothing quieter to a motorcycle rider than the sound his bike doesn't make when he pushes the starter button and nothing happens, crap. The super reliable KLR, my bike, didn't start. Jim shook his head and while unpacking his just packed bike mumbled something about paybacks for comments I made about Max's bike, the KTM, while it was having it's problems.
Jim and I, manual in hand, tore into it trouble shooting every circuit we could then broke for lunch. We then decided to call in a professional. The owner of the bike shop next door,Sammy, called around and found the best motorcycle electrical guy in town. While awaiting his arrival I began to reassemble some of the parts Jim and I took apart but that tested out ok. As I did I tried the starter again as I had been doing all morning just in case a miracle occurred this time she started up as if there had never been a doubt that she would.
The electrician showed up as promised and checked a few circuits out. He showed me what he thought might have been the problem. When I asked how much for his visit he said "nothing, I didn't fix anything". To me that wasn't right so I gave him some money, he smiled, shook my hand and wished me luck on the trip.







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Photo for the Hostel Casa Blanca rider wall of fame!

Location:Medellin to Cali

Jan 5th to Jan 11th

For our last night in Cuzco I wanted to take Knikki out for a nice dinner. However since it was Jim, Max and Charlottes last night in town we decided to all have a drink together before. Walking into a near by club we were quite please to see it was two for one happy hour. As Charlotte wasn't feeling well it was the four of us and the math made sense. So it started two for one mojitos. Several rounds later Jim and Max headed back to their hotel and Knikki and I around the corner for dinner.
The dinner place was great as was the food, the conversations and the bottle of wine. Leaving the restaurant it occurred to me we where drunk. Not falling down but pretty darn happy. Which we definitely were.
The next day we squeezed in some last minute shopping, caught our plane and flew to Lima.
A quick night in Lima, a 5:00am ride to the airport, and Knikki and I where both teary eyed as she boarded her flight to Denver. We'd just had an amazing 9 days together in a beautiful part of the world and now it would be 3 months before we saw each other again.
Soon I was back in Medellin and at the Palm Tree. Max's bike was repaired and ready to go, yeah! My bike developed a small electrical problem. Looking for a replacement part the best I could do was "we can have it tomorrow afternoon" which was the day we wanted to leave. I searched a couple more shops same story till I came to Motoclinica. These guys sensing my stress said ok, we'll take it off a brand new bike and replace it tomorrow. I damn near cried.
The last night at the Palm Tree was actually pretty mellow. Drinks with our consummate host Thomas and friends, then an early night for me. As we prepared to leave the next morning Thomas out did himself again by cooking us all French toast. Thanks again Thomas it was great.







Himanas one of our host at the Palm Tree Hostel with Thomas and Jim for last night cocktails.

Location:Cuzco and Lima Peru and Medellin, Columbia

Jan 5th to Jan 12t

For our last night in Cuzco I wanted to take Knikki out for a nice dinner. However since it was Jim, Max and Charlottes last night in town we decided to all have a drink together before. Walking into a near by club we were quite please to see it was two for one happy hour. As Charlotte wasn't feeling well it was the four of us and the math made sense. So it started two for one mojitos. Several rounds later Jim and Max headed back to their hotel and Knikki and I around the corner for dinner.
The dinner place was great as was the food, the conversations and the bottle of wine. Leaving the restaurant it occurred to me we where drunk. Not falling down but pretty darn happy. Which we definitely were.
The next day we squeezed in some last minute shopping, caught our plane and flew to Lima.
A quick night in Lima, a 5:00am ride to the airport, and Knikki and I where both teary eyed as she boarded her 7:30 flight to Denver. We'd just had an amazing 9 days together in a beautiful part of the world and now it would be 3 months before we saw each other again.
Soon I was back in Medellin and at the Palm Tree. Max's bike was repaired and ready to go, yeah! My bike developed a small electrical problem. Looking for a replacement part the best I could do was "we can have it tomorrow afternoon" which was the day we wanted to leave. I searched a couple more shops same story till I came to Motoclinica. These guys sensing my stress said ok, we'll take it off a brand new bike and replace it tomorrow. I damn near cried.
The last night at the Palm Tree was actually pretty mellow. Drinks with our consummate host Thomas and friends, then an early night for me. As we prepared to leave the next morning Thomas out did himself again by cooking us all French toast. Thanks again Thomas it was great.




Himanas one of our host at the Palm Tree Hostel with Thomas and Jim for last night cocktails.

Location:Cuzco and Lima Peru and Medellin, Columbia