James S. Peet, Author, novelist, and all around good guy!

Rather than spending a lot of time rehashing what I’ve been up to, I decided to copy all my daily updates from my personal Facebook page. I hope you enjoy them.

Day 1

Day 1 of the Great Pan-American Adventure is in the bag. About 335 miles. Crossed the Columbia at Astoria.

Thanks to Becky for hosting this weary traveler for the night.

Day 2

In Eugene, OR getting new tires, an oil change, and some work done on the gear shift lever. Hope it’s done soon. Don’t want to have to set up the tent in the dark

Day 3

Made it to California. Didn’t make it to the campground until almost 9. Two things the Himi hates: freeways (or any highway where the speed limit is over 55 mph) and the dark. Had to go really slow through the redwoods, standing on my pegs so the stupid MotorTablet didn’t blind me. Lesson learned, unplug the MotorTabley if I have to ride at night (and don’t ride at night).

Day 3 of the Great Pan-American Adventure, off to Lassen National Park.

Day 4

Day 4 of the Great Pan-American Adventure. Spent the night at Lassen Volcanic NP (right after a hail storm had moved through. Got quite nippy at over 5,000 ft. Despite getting up relatively early, didn’t get on the road until about 9.

Heading for Yosemite today. Still have over five hours to go.

Day 5

Day 4 (note: guess I need to count better) of the Great Pan-American Adventure. Made it from Lassen Volcanic NP to Yosemite NP with a shitty Google inspired “shortcut” which dumped me out of the Sierra Nevada into the Central Valley. I must have hit a hundred red lights in Roseburg and Folsom (all while wearing motorcycle armored jacket and pants and a full face helmet in 90+ temps).

Last night the temps dropped almost to freezing. Good thing I’m prepared for just about every climate.

Day 6

Day 5 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Made it out of Yosemite too late to make it through Sequoia NP and make it to the next planned campsite, so I’m camped in a hotel in Visalia.

The Sequoia are amazing. Sadly, the General Sherman tree was a half hour walk with 700′ of elevation change (one way). One does not simply walk a mile in motorcycle gear and boots (nor leave the bike and gear unattended in a busy parking lot).

Maybe next year (hint, Becky

Day 7

Day 7 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Arrived at the house of fellow Pink Flamingo Universe author Greg Sorber last night (Day 6 of the GP-AA). He and his wife were generous enough to put me up.

Rode through the Central Valley (no bueno) and the San Bernadino Mountains to get here through wonder SoCal traffic.

Greg and I went out for Indian food last night, then spent hours chatting and drinking wine.

It took a while, but Olivia (the pupper) finally warmed up to me (but still barks if I stand, walk, move, or breathe).

Today I’ll ride to Portrero Park near San Diego. The plan was to cross into Mexico tomorrow morning, but it’s looking like that’ll be an afternoon thing, as the Himi has developed a “chunking” sound, which I suspect is the chain (or the front sprocket). Fixing that entails a four-hour detour to Escondido. Glad the folk at Moto Forza can fit me in.

More to follow tomorrow

Day 8

Day 8 of the Great Pan-American Adventure, and I’m sitting in a breakfast diner in Escondido, CA. Why? Because the Himi has a problem (one that apparently should have been identified during the pre-trip safety inspection). The rubber cushions that go on the rear axle are shot, which led to the rear sprocket being loose, which led to the chain skipping which led to the front sprocket wearing out.

Supposedly, the rubber cushions are in San Diego, and the service manager is sending somebody to pick them up (they have the rest of the parts).

But, being ever hopeful (much like my morning coffee cup, I’m a beaver believer), I expect to be on the way today.

Hope to be out this afternoon. Don’t know if I’ll be crossing into Mexico, though. TBD.

Day 9

Day 9 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

I’m sitting in an apartment that’s being renovated and sipping a cold, non-alcoholic Guinness (which ain’t all bad) while watching videos on how to edit videos with some new video editing software (VSDC Video Editor). Apparently, my little Asus Mini-Transformer Windows 10 tablet doesn’t have the correct video card to use Davinci Resolve. So, a bit of a learning curve.

The apartment is courtesy of a couple, Sydney and Mark, who offer up space for traveling bikers (for free!) through the website/app Bunk-A-Biker. No bed, but they provided a small table and chair, the shower, toilet, stove, fridge, washer, and dryer all work, so no complaints.

Update on the Himi: the parts are in transit from the UK and expect to arrive here (well, at Moto Froza) by COB on Friday. If that really happens (fingers crossed), the bike should be ready to go before noon on Saturday. I don’t think DHL delivers on weekends, so worst scenario, I’m not out of here until Tuesday (eating up a whole week of my adventure).

Regardless, Syd (as she likes to be called) has said I could stay as long as necessary. Great folk, but I’d like to be on my way to continue my adventure.

Adventure (noun): somebody in deep shit in a far away land.

Day 11 (I skipped Day 10)

Day 11 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

I’m still in Escondido, in the ADU under renovation and sleeping on the floor. I’m grateful. I’m not paying over $100/night for accomodations during this trying time.

Thanks to Myles and Quentin of Moto Forza, I have a working Himi. Myles worked his magic to ensure the parts were actually delivered to the shop. This entailed him making numerous phone calls with me chasing parts from San Diego to San Marcos, and Myles calling me (while I was riding – interesting Bluetooth story there) and directing me here and fro.

Eventually, the parts arrived at the shop (after Myles made some threats to DHL). I spoke with Quentin in the service department and he made sure a rack was open to get my bike on it (approaching 4:00 PM!). I rolled in, and they rolled the Himi into the service bay.

Over an hour later, the tech took it for a spin while I video recorded it. It was amazing! Even from a distance I could hear the difference. And once I got on it? Freaking amazing. No more chunking, clunking, or rattling. Amazing what a new set of sprockets, a new chain, and new Cush Rubbers can do to a ride. It was like being on a brand new Himi!

I rode the Himi back to the Bunk-A-Biker place I’m staying at (very interesting people – have had a great time here despite the forced layover) and informed the hosts that I would be leaving in the morning.

So, tomorrow morning, I take off for Mexico (again). This time, I’ll be chasing hurricanes. Go figure. Then again, I did graduate from the University of Miami, whose teams are called “The Hurricanes.”

Of course, the day didn’t end all well. The audio on my laptop went out, and when I tried to fix it according to Grok instructions sent by a friend, it went totally TI. I’ll see about fixing it in La Paz. Until then, don’t expect any videos on YouTube (can’t edit without sound).

Also, FB decided it wouldn’t let me post from my phone using the web browser. Ain’t about to install that demon app, so things might be interesting for a while

Stay tuned!

Oh, and if you have bike, be sure to visit Moto Forza and give them your business. Beyond phenomenal!

Day 13 (skipped another day)

Day 13 and I’m in the bowels of hell!

It’s currently 40C outside (which is 104F). The Himi does not like the heat. The temp behind the engine (while riding) hit 44C (which is 111F). Yeah, it’s a dry heat (sort of like your oven), but the Himi doesn’t know that.

I developed vapor lock later in the day when I stopped to drink some water. The suggestion online is “move the bike to the shade and let it cool off 10-15 minutes and it should start right up.”

I don’t know, but when it’s over 101F in the shade, I don’t think 10-15 minutes’ll cut it. Took a half hour!

Anyhow, I made it across the border, paid for my visa, and then got lost as Verizon wasn’t working. Had to restart my phone.

Ran into a group of bikers at a gas station (ADV types). One of them had ridden a little 90cc Honda trailbike to Ushuaia, Argentina (my destination). I’ll post it from my phone (if FB will let me).

Spent the night in San Felipe. I’d like to say I slept, but apparently San Felipe is quite the party town on Saturday, so sleep was not an option. Finally gave up at 5:00 am, loaded up the Himi, and hit the road by 6.

I was hoping to get further south to avoid being stuck north of Hurricane Polo’s track, but between the distance I’d have to cover, the fact that NOAA couldn’t give a more precise forecast, then the Himi vapor lock, I called it a day and found a cheap hotel with air conditioning and a shower (very nice pressure with good cold and hot water).

Other technical issues: the audio on my laptop went out, so not sure what I’m going to do about that. Can’t post videos without editing (and need sound for that).

And, Facebook decided it wouldn’t allow me to post from the mobile website. It wants me to get the app. Not gonna happen. So, don’t expect me to post as often, as I can only post when I pull out the laptop, now. Grr.

On the positive side, I’m not getting hammered by a hurricane and I have A/C

Day 14

Day 14 (?) of James’ Great Pan-American MisAdventure.

So, I was trying to beat Hurricane Polo across the Baja Peninsula. Ain’t happening. On top of that, what I thought was vapor lock in the gas line due to overheating is not. I had trouble starting the Himi this morning, then I accidentally stopped it while on the road (just a couple of hundred of meters from my destination for the day).

Had the Himi towed to a mechanic (this entailed using my tow strap, which I wrapped around a hand grip, and put the other end on the truck hitch, and having the guy pull me). As far as I can tell from my online research, it’s one of about three things: fuse (not likely), relays (very likely), bad fuel pump (also very likely).

I’m sure we can get the fuse. As to the relays, Bosch makes them, so if they’re in Mexico, we might be able to get them relatively quick. If it’s the fuel pump, back to Hitchcock Motorycles in the UK (another 2-5 days).

Either way, I’m here for at least three days waiting out the hurricane and the expected damage to the highway between here and La Paz. Lots of flooded roads, mudslides, etc. expected. Right now, it’s getting a wee bit windy where I am in San Ignacio. I’m staying at a little place called “Rice and Beans” (really – in English, even). It’s definitely a step up from last night (in both quality and price). It has AC, a restaurant, and a bar. Right now I’m in the restaurant sucking down a well earned Model0% (alcohol free Modelo Negra).

At this rate, I’ll never make it South America, let alone Tierra del Fuego.

So tempted to order some other “likely to fail” parts from Hitchcock Motorcycles, just in case.

UPDATE

Again, FML.

It’s the fuel pump. Had to order from UK – 7-12 business days. Stuck again.

Thansfully, John Foster is helping out, trying to find a substitute (fuel pump for a Honda 110i).

Guess I’ll be doing some walking and writing. SCUBA lessons are on hold. Awaiting word from the La Paz AirBnB about (another) schedule change.

Tomorrow I’ll spend the day contacting US Royal Enfield dealers. Maybe one of them has one and can get it down to me sooner.

Day 17 (no sense posting about being stranded in a hotel room in the middle of the Baja Peninsula waiting for a part and a hurricane to pass).

Day 17 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

I have a working motorcycle! The mechanics in San Ignacio (actually San Lino), Joel and Manalo, were able to find a part two hours away. Poor Joel didn’t get home until 10pm last night.

They installed it this morning and I was on the road by noon.

I’m currently in a campground in Ciudad Constitucion, only 208 km from La Paz and SCUBA lessons.

Of course, this is an adventure and shit must happen. As I was less than 250 meters from the campground, Google maps, in its infinite wisdom, elected to route me through a dirt path ( not a road, a path!) under these huge power transmission lines. Do you have any idea what a hurricane does to a dirt road? I do. It turns it into slippery, sloppy mud! That’s what it does!

Of course, down went the Himi. I called the campground host and she sent some help out. I was almost recovered when they showed up, but all help is always appreciated.

Tomorrow I’ll spend some time getting the mud off the bike and some of the bags (easier to do when it’s dry) before making a leisurely ride to La Paz.

ADVENTURE!

Day 18

Day 18 of the Great Pan-American Adventure:

After an hour of cleaning mud off the Hkmi this morning, I finally got on the road and made it to La Paz. It is hot here!

I was supposed to be here at the end of September to complete my padi Open Water scuba certification, but between issues with the Himi and a hurricane, I’ve been delayed

And now, I’m delayed more because the port isn’t open and they can’t get the boat out.

All’s good. I’m staying at a hostel called the Peace Center run by a young couple named Pavel and Anna. Really nice people.

Pavel tried to help me with my DHL problem but couldn’t so off to DHL express service center. I went where a young lady helped me out. Now instead of my package from the UK going to where I was two nights ago it will be going to the service center here in La Paz where I can pick it up on Monday or Tuesday and pay the horrific 100% tariff. If the pump goes out again I’ll at least have a spare one.

Pictures of the room in the hostel where I’m staying

Day 20

Day 20 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Still in La Paz, but not stuck. I start the water portion of my SCUBA lessons tomorrow. The plan is pool day tomorrow and two open water dives on both Tuesday and Wednesday (4 dives total). Finally, I will complete my dive certificate that I started in 1981! Back then, the open water dive was $30. Guess who didn’t have $30 to spare in 1981 (when he was living on $15 a week for food).

Meeting some nice people here at the Peace Center hostal.

One thing I wasn’t expecting was rain. It seems to be raining any time I want to do anything outside. And if it’s not raining, it’s muggy as hell.

Also it seems the stores are getting a jump on the holidays.

Day 21

Day 21 of the great Pan-American Adventure .

Today was interesting and not in a good way. It started off great. I made it to the scuba center we went to the pool. I relearned everything that I had forgotten about handling scuba equipment and then we went back to the dive Center. I got changed and went to go eat and discovered my wallet was missing after I just completed eating everything. Fortunately I had some spare cash in a pocket so I was able to pay for the meal.

Then began a wild search for all the places that I had been since the pool.

Finally, I decided to call Becky to see about ordering a new driver’s license when she told me that somebody had found my wallet. Now here’s a pro tip for those of you who travel: always, always, always put in a laminated card with an emergency contact information in your wallet for just such a scenario.

Fortunately, a man found my wallet where my motorcycle had been parked at the dive Center and texted Katie saying he had found it. Shortly thereafter, we got together. I thanked him. He wouldn’t even let me buy him a beer, ​once again showing just how great the Mexican people are.

The hole in my pants pocket is in such a way that I don’t think I can repair it. So, I just need to remember do NOT put the wallet in that pocket.

Day 22

Day 22 of the Great Pan-American Adventure:

Well, DHL really screwed the pooch on this one. I ordered a fuel pump from the UK when I was originally stuck in San Ignacio. It didn’t arrive in time. DHL sent me messages to pay the tarriff. Every time I tried, it wouldn’t accept payment.

I get to La Paz (where the part is now waiting in the logistics center) and go to one of the local DHL service centers. Speak with a very helpful young lady who connects me with somebody who can supposedly help me. Guy on the phone is a “no problem, I’ve got you covered” kind of guy. Yeah, right. Guy never instituted the change to have the delivery changed from San Ignacio (400KM away) to the office in La Paz.

So, today, I get word the part is in San Ignacio. “We can get it back here by Friday!” Problem is, my ferry ride to mainland Mexico is on Thursday. Not gonna do me a whole lot of good. Long email sent to the motorcycle parts company about DHL (and the fact that I’m not paying to ship it back to the UK because DHL is so f..ked up). We’ll see what happens next.

Day 1 of Open Water Dives – seawater liked entering my mask and filling my nostrils (and running down my sinuses). Not fun at 35′ below the surface. Had to surface, chillax, then return to diving.

Switched masks for the second dive. Went a whole lot better. Saw lots of fish and had a sea lion swim right at me, veering away at the last minute – literally two or three inches away! Freaking amazing. They joke about the sea lions down here being sea puppies. I can see why.

Saw a pod of porpoises, but by the time we entered the water, they were gone

Took a scopolomine patch for the ride. Didn’t get seasick. Patch fell off (first or second dive – don’t know which). There must have been enough medicine in my system as I was able to eat lunch and still ride in the boat and not get seasick. Tomorrow, I’ll take some dramamine.

Tomorrow, I’m back on the boat for my third and fourth dives. Looking forward to it – somewhat deeper and swimming among the sea lions again.

Thursday, I attach another scopolomine patch and ride a ferry 5 hours!

Sorry, no photos. Maybe I’ll get some tomorrow.

Day 23

Day 23 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Wrapped up the scuba lessons today. Had a little difficulty with one task but managed to overcome it. Got in some good diving among fish today. No sea lions though, although we did see diving birds who came down to grab some of the fish and lots of tuna.

Gal behind me in the photo is Christina, originally from Hungary, but now a PhD student of chemistry at the University of Florida (I made the obligatory UM versus UF comments early on in our training). She was my only other classmate so we went through the training together and her sister joined us on the boat rides to and from the dives as she was already certified.

I am now officially certified as a PADI Open Water diver. Yay, me.

Off to mainland Mexico tomorrow on Baja Ferry.

Day 24

Day 24 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Not much to say – took the ferry from La Paz (well, near La Paz) to Topolobampo on the Mexican mainland. Used my scopolomine patch so I didn’t get seasick (yay!). First time I’ve been that far from shore since I crossed the Atlantic on the SS United States in 1967. At least this time I had scopolomine and didn’t get sick (last time I was sick from the Strait of Gibraltar to New York Harbor – 5 days of yuck).

I’ll be getting the Himi serviced in Guadelajara on Monday (regular maintenance service – no issues)

Day 25

Day 25 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

I rode that’s it. I just rode. Woke up late 7:00 a.m. and didn’t get on the road until almost 9:00.

I’m now in Mazatlan where I had a lot of fun finding a place to stay. Let’s just say that a) the streets are crazy and, b) the drivers are crazy.

Trying to find a place that is relatively good value for the money was also very hard. I’m staying in a hostel that appears to be pretty decent, but I am the only guest right now. Then again, this is definitely not the tourist season.

It was interesting watching the degree of vegetation change from pure desert cactus and dirt that I saw in La Paz, to now everything is covered in green shrubbery and trees down here in Mazatlan

Sorry, no pics. I was slabbing it from Topolobampo.

Day 26

Day 26 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Made it safely to Guadalajara. The edge of the hurricane caught me in Tepic, about three hours out. Lots of headwinds, but nothing I haven’t already experienced (i.e., crossing Oklahoma while riding the Trans-America Trail.

The rain hit about 20 minutes from Guadalajara I was in it for about an hour as Google maps messed with me again. Finally made it to a hotel. Gonna hunker down for a couple of nights and have the Himi serviced on Monday (regular maintenance, not another “oh snap’ issue). Glad I bought an over-the-riding jacket rain coat.

Thinking of writing a book about all this. Might call it “Of Hurricanes and Himis”.

Day 27

Day 27 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Not much to report. Walked around the neighborhood a bit, looking for little things I needed. For example, when I arrived in Guadalajara yesterday, in the rain, my helmet visor fogged up so bad I had to flip it up so I could see (which meant rain in the face and glasses – not a real biggee). So, off to Decathalon (a sporting goods store) for some anti-fogging agent. Also picked up some reusable water bottles, as my Nalgene bottles decided to eject themselves from my pack somewhere along the way.

Speaking of packs, I decided to buy a raincover for my day pack. The pack itself is amazing – it’s a PacSafe pack, which means all sorts of security features. Unfortunately, it’s not waterproof, and guess where my laptop and kindle go?

I think if one were to look hard enough, they would find James detritus scattered along the route. Two bottles, two bungee cords (I haven’t a clue what happened there), my little thermometer/hygrometer (sad face), my wallet (happy face).

The place I’m staying at, the Lemon Green Hotel, ain’t half bad. It’s got a chair and a desk, which makes writing a bit easier than when I’m sitting in my little Helinox folding rocking chair. Interestingly enough, the key card has to be put into a key card slot in the room for power. No key card, no lights or AC.

Got to chat with the Esposa for a bit – used Signal video calling. I remember watching Outland with Sean Connery in the mid-80s, and seeing him do the same thing, and me thinking “No way. I’d never want to do that.” Oh, how the times change. Sammi and Kona were bothering Becky with a ball almost the entire time we were online.

Looking forward to getting back on the road, once the Himi’s been serviced (fresh oil, etc.). I’ll be staying somewhere northeast of Mexico City, and hopefully out of Simon’s cone (nobody knows where that hurricane is going – it’s moving slowly up the coast, and may veer out to sea. It’s driving everyone crazy.

One thing I have to say I’m a little proud of is, that a lot of people I speak with here say that I’ve got an excellent accent (not a typical ‘merican one). Yeah, well, it was my first language, after all. I would hope that I retained something from my yoot (IYKYK).

Day 28

Day 28 of the Great Pan-American Adventure. That’s 4 weeks. In other words a month. I have been on the road a month. Hard to believed.

Got the Himi serviced this morning. 30k km service. Motocicletas Tequila in Guadalajara. Nice folks. Started writing a book about the trip while waiting.

I was hoping to get on the road by noon but didn’t until 1:00 p.m. I’m now in a small town called Irapuatu. Pulled in just before sunset.

The landscape and vegetation are definitely a lot different than what I’ve experienced so far. Mostly hills, elevation around 5 to 6,000 ft. Cool temperatures and lots of greenery but with cactus. I think it’s prickly pear but I’m not sure.

Tomorrow I should hit Mexico City. Maybe I’ll get my computer fixed so I can actually post some videos, otherwise I’ll be off to Teotihuacan to see Mayan ​pyramids.

No photos today but definitely there will be photos of the pyramids

Day 29

Day 29 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

I have arrived in the city of Teotihuacan, Mexico​. I hear the pyramids are only a couple of hundred meters away. I’ll be checking them out a little later but right now I’m setting up camp at Campground Teotihuacan.

As usual, the journey was interesting. Google maps sucks. I don’t know why I continue to use it. It routed me through a toll booth just so it could route me through another toll booth unnecessarily, so I can get on my way. I think it’s time to start using Waze.

I’m continuously surprised at just how beautiful this part of Mexico is. I don’t know the elevation right now cuz I don’t have my GPS and my motor tablet continues to fail me miserably too. I’ll be taking that bad boy off tomorrow and just mounting my phone up where it is on the GPS mount behind my windscreen.

My goal is to spend tomorrow checking out the Mayan pyramids and taking many photos. We’ll see how that goes. Then back on the road South.

Day 30

Day 30 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Today I got to see the pyramids of the Teotihuacan, a pre-hispanic, /pre-columbian civilization that existed here between 100 BCE and 750 CE. For for those of you wondering what that means, BCE means before the common era and CE means common era, which basically correlates to AD and BC of the Christian calendar.

Prior to visiting here I’d always thought it was Mayan but the Mayans came after the Aztecs who came after the Teotihuacan, who came after the Olmecs.

There are two big pyramids; the Pyramid of the sun which is closed to the public for walking on and the Pyramid of the Moon, which is open to a point about halfway up. After 42 or 48 steps, I can’t recall exactly how many steps there were, and the steps are very high, such as you have to raise your foot almost up to your knee to step up, and considering the elevation is around 7,300 ft., I was panting at the top and I’m in pretty good shape.

I spent several hours touring this site and the museum and then went into the town of San Juan Teotihuacan and did some exploring there.

Stopped off at a local joint to have one of the Modelo ​Cerro non-alcoholic beers. Modelo Negra is very good, Even in the NA version. I promptly dumped it, creating a mess and, then as I was leaving, I knocked it over and broke the bottle on the floor.

Got back to the campground and removed the offending motor tablet from the bike. Then as I was playing with a puppy running backwards, I tripped over a fire pit, fell over and gashed up my arm pretty nastily. Actually it’s mostly abrasions with just one small gash. Other than that it was a great day.

Day 31

Day 31 of the Great Pan American Adventure

I’m now in the greater Cosomaloapan metropolitan area on Mexico’s Caribbean plain.

The ride off the Mexican plateau was interesting in that it was a very long, sinuous road down to the Caribbean plain. As I went down, I could feel the temperatures rising, the humidity rising, and ser the vegetation turning greener and greener, until finally I hit the plain and there were palm trees, banana trees, and sugarcane everywhere.

Due to all the time I spent waiting (parts and SCUBA lessons) I’m now taking the toll roads instead of using the free highways. Unfortunately they don’t take credit card which means I have to use cash. So I had to hunt down an ATM in the small town/city that I’m staying at.

I think I must be near the downtown core as it was just shops everywhere, r​estaurants and pharmacies galore, very bright and loud, and a lot of birds flying around making bird noises.

Sorry but no pictures today. I wish I had had the camera on my helmet when I was coming down off the plateau though. That would have been amazing to see.

Day 32

Day 32 of the Great Pan American Adventure.

Riding. Lots of riding. Finally managed to sync my iPod nano with my helmet speakers which are a cardo pack talk edge. I’ve been meaning to do that for a while but just kept forgetting until today. So today I got to listen to music as I rode.

The ironic part was that as I was starting to hit a little bit of rain, just very light showers more spitting than anything, Devin Sinha’s song came on which was appropriately called​ “”The Rain Song.”

The lighting was probably the worst I’ve ever seen for photography. It was so hazy it was a combination I guess of the high humidity in the air along with whatever smoke is being produced from all the burning that’s going on.

Not sure if I’ll hit Belize tomorrow or not. Either way I’ll be in Belize on Sunday.

Now for a quick poll: What do you think is my opinion of of President Trump? I had somebody on another page actually declare that I am a follower of his. Curious as to what the mind hive thinks

Day 33

Day 33 of the Great Pan American Adventure

I’m in Belize! Got up at 5:30 and hit the road by 7:00, 7:15 to make tracks to get across the border early.

Got hammered by a massive storm about 50 km from the border. W​inds at 20 to 30 mph and rain so heavy that I actually had to go down in gear and turn my flashers and just toodle along.

Getting out of Mexico was a challenge. Nobody seemed to know where to send me. Until finally I managed to find out where I needed to go to cancel my temporary import permit. If I hadn’t left a $400 deposit with them I would have just left but…

Finally got stamped out of Mexico and got into Belize. Fairly straightforward process. Probably maybe a half hour at the most. Get my Visa, explain on passing through so 3-day Visa, asked where I’m staying, then they send me to get my temporary import permit. After that, back on the Himi, through the immigration checkpoint and then customs where they asked “Do you have any drones?” Why, yes. Yes, I do. Oops! I guess I was supposed to declare that, but they let it ride. Then I got insurance for 3 days. Big honking sticker on the Himi. I’ll take a photograph of it after I finish this Belize beer I’m working on.

I’m currently at Tony’s inn and Beach resort right here on the water.

Everybody recommended I just blow through Belize, and when I say everybody, I mean everybody in Belize that I’ve spoken to. So I guess tomorrow I’ll be getting to Guatemala.

Day 34

Day 34 of the great Pan-American Adventure

Sly Fox Brian Johnson will get this: GUATEMALA!!!!

Drove all the way across Belize and finally crossed into Guatemala in early afternoon. Getting into Guatemala was fairly straightforward. Just get your Visa at the immigration. Turn around. Go across the room. Talk to the customs dude for the temporary import permit who sends you across the street to get photocopies of all your stuff and then you come back. He copies it all down. Gives you another piece of paper you go back across the street to the same place and pay them and come back to the customs dude with the receipt, and then he gives you your TIP. I still haven’t figured out what the hell just happened, but whatever, I’m in Guatemala.

The really funny part is I put the TIP in my passport, so when I went to go through the final check, the guy asked for it. So I handed him my passport and he kept saying “No. I don’t want your passport. I want the TIP,” and I’m saying in Spanish “it’s in the passport”. I said it three times and all the police officers standing around were just looking at the dude like he was stupid. When I pulled it out of the passport it was obvious he was feeling a bit stupid.

I was chasing rain all day and it finally caught up to me in Guatemala where it dumped on me for the last 2-hour drive which interestingly enough was only 80 km.

Normally I drive 80 km per hour or roughly 50 mph but there was no way I could do that on this major highway due to all the potholes and missing oad sections (just dirt, no macadam).

The place I was planning on staying at tonight didn’t have air conditioning. That’s a non-starter for me so I’m staying at some fancy hotel that cost probably around 35 bucks for the night. You can’t have food or alcoholic beverages in your room, but there’s a place across the street with a wonderful burrito and the local beer, Callo.

No photos but I did take some video. Maybe I’ll post it when I get home.

Day 35

Day 35 of the Great Pan American Adventure

So for the last day, I’ve been thinking that the phrase on the signs “pomplada proxima” meant “potholes ahead” or ‘potholes near”, because every time I saw the sign there would be a whole slew of potholes. Turns out it actually means population or people or settlement nearby. The word for pothole is bache. Whole lotta baches in Guatemala.

Today started off interesting. I got bit by a dog. I was walking to get my motorcycle when there’s little mutt came up and bit me in the back of the thigh, but all he got was a mouthful of Kevlar, so no problem.

Then as I was attempting to clean my bike chain from all the rain from yesterday, it started raining, and so I had to sit in the hotel lobby for a half hour to wait it out. I had no desire to start the day out in the rain.

The ride ,for the most part, was a series of dodging baches and passing trucks. Lots of slow trucks. Then the rain that wasn’t supposed to hit till 4:00 or 5:00, hit right after noon, and came down for about an hour solid. I had to decide; continue riding or pull over. I just pulled over, because even with the anti-fogging agent in my helmet, the helmet fogged up.

To finalize the trip, I ran into construction with, and I am not exaggerating here, a two mile backup. I measured it on my odometer. The good thing about riding motorcycles in Central America is you just pass everybody and go to the front of the line. I did that and wound up chatting with a police officer for about 15 minutes.

As it was approaching 5:00 and I don’t ride at night, I started looking for a hotel. The first one I saw was a lover’s hotel and I thought, “I don’t think so.”

So the one I found was rather unassuming in front. But I have an entire Cabana to myself with my owncovered parking in the rear. There’s a huge pool and a restaurant and bar, all for less than $30 US.

Day 36

Day 36 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Got up early and got out. Fortunately, no rain storms today.

Stopped for breakfast at a nice looking little restaurant on the side of the road and when I came out after eating and picking up some food for lunch, I ran smack dab ​into a group of armed individuals. I don’t know if they were protecting some government official or a drug lord, all I know is they were armed with M4s and pistols and didn’t let me go directly to my Himi.

So I walked around the other side of the building and got ready to ride. Just as I was putting on my helmet, one of the armed individuals came up to me and started chatting. L​ike, ​that was something I really wanted to do. Not! He asked where I was from where I was going. All the usual things, which basically I answered, “I’m from Washington the state, not the city and I’m heading to Argentina.” See ya!

I then hopped on the Himi and skedaddled.

So, the drive to Antigua where I currently am was interesting. The road was full of detours, construction, potholes, trucks, and then I climbed into Guatemala City where all the sudden, the road changed from being a single lane pothole ridden mess to two and three lanes wide of concrete. And the temperature dropped enough where I had to zip up my vents on my jacket.

I had always thought Guatemala City was in a mountain basin, but that’s not true. The entire city is scattered across multiple mountains across this vast area. Anyhow, I got through Guatemala

City and made my way to Antigua where I currently am.

I saw this sign about wine orders and laughed when I realized that the prices changed the more you drank. One of the pictures is from the Airbnb where I’m staying at. You can see the volcano in the distance, although it is covered in clouds

Day 37

Okay, so while I love traveling and seeing stuff, I hate finding places to stay and booking them.

Anyhow, Day 37 of the Great Pan-American Adventure. I decided to do laundry in a real washing machine this morning, but the hours were from 9 to 12. That meant that from 5:30 to 11 AM I was kind of stuck in the AirBnB. Not a problem. I got a lot of writing done on “Of Hurricanes and Himis” and went to the Himi and shut off the damned “You need service” blinking spanner (or wrench, to those of you not familiar with British English). This was the first time I’ve done laundry in a machine since Yosemite!

After laundry, it was into Antingua for exploration. After about 4 hours of walking around cobblestone streets, staring at old buildings, and touring a photo and an art exhibit, I was touristed out. Back to the AirBnB for some supper and writing.

Of course, finding vegetables for a homemade meal ain’t easy if you’re not familiar with the area. Not a whole lot of fresh veggies in the little tiendas that line the street. Most fresh veggies are found in markets early in the morning, and I never found one. So, tonight’s supper consists of dried lentils, canned corn, canned tuna, canned black beans, and an onion that’s seen better day. Meh, I have eaten worse (e.g., the freeze-dried glop early on in this trip). I now actively seek out veggies if I’m eating out. I’m not as bad as Becky in that regard, but I’m coming close. Spinach anyone? Got a stray blueberry or mushroom? Will work for carrots.

Tomorrow I head out for El Salvador. I’ve already reserved a place in San Salvador and will be meeting up with a couple of ADV riders in the evening. We’re all staying in the same building – the Art Haus. Their experience crossing the border was about 10 km of backed up trucks that they just rode around. Not looking forward to that, but if that’s what it takes…. When in Rome…

Oh, forgot to mention, the elevation here is about 5,000′, which makes for a pleasant climate, unlike the steaming hellholes of the sea level tropics. Alas, I’ll be back in that environment tomorrow. I have to admit, the guy who invented air conditioning is my hero.

Day 38

Day 38 of a great Pan American Adventure. I finally got to see the other volcano this morning. It’s big. No smoke flowing from it so I guess it’s okay.

Slight drizzle in the morning so I had to wear my rain gear until I got off the highlands and into the lowlands. ​I definitely needed to take the jacket off then, because the lowlands, once again, are the hot, humid, tropical climate that we all know and love so dearly.

Getting out of Guatemala was interesting in that when I parked my bike behind everybody else who was parked. Apparently a trucker didn’t like it. It was honking this horn the entire time until I moved it.

Anyhow, got out of Guatemala fairly fast and got into El Salvador even faster. I didn’t even have to get off my motorcycle to get the Visa. The guy just looked at it, did everything digitally took a photo of me and then stamped the Visa into my passport. Then it was off to the Aduaña where we went and got the temporary import permit. The great thing about both the exit and the entrance to the two countries is that I didn’t have to pay anything.

Arrived in San Salvador where I had reserved an Airbnb in the same building as two other ADV riders. We got together and talked and drank late into the night and then I went and had KFC for supper. I think I’m out of drinking shape.

Day 39

Day 39 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Woke up a little later than usual due to excessive fun the night before. Started loading up everything on the bike. Fortunately I did not have to take a lot of stuff off the bike.

All togged up ready to go. Couldn’t find the Himi’s key. Backtrack to the room, looked around the garage, the elevator. Couldn’t find it. Then I remembered, I had dropped a garbage bag off in the garbage room near the place I was staying. Somehow the drawstring on the garbage bag had managed to grab a hold of the beaver on my keychain and pulled it out of my pocket and it wound up in the garbage can. All I can say is I’m glad it was not a garbage chute.

Had a great little breakfast and then took off at about 9: 30 and made it to the Honduras border after about 6 hours of somewhat torture torturous riding. It’s not that the road was bad because all the potholes have been patched for the most part. It was that it was windy roads on mountains behind 18 wheelers doing about 10 mph. It literally took me over an hour just to go 44 km.

Anyhow, dealt with a typical border stuff at the border. Crossed over into Honduras and I’m now about an hour from the Nicaragua border which I plan on crossing early in the morning. Funny thing, I thought I had dropped one of my ear plugs and I’m looking all over the place for it and a gentleman pointed out that it was in my ear. Oops! I’m an idiot.

Of note, I had my first pig crossing. A slew of pigs came trotting across the road, causing me to stop. They were very nonchalant about it.

Of course, I hit the late afternoon rainstorm and for the most part the visor held up until the last half hour or so and then it started fogging up.

I took some video of the drive but nothing that I can post right now.

Day 40

Day 40 of the great Pan American Adventure.

Don’t even get me started on Nicaragua immigration and customs. Got up at 5:00 a.m. on the road by 6:30 so I could be be through customs early. Got through Honduras customs after a weight of about a half an hour in a line of about 75 people at 8:00 a.m.

Nicaragua on the other other hand only had about 30 people in front of me but yet it took 2 and 1/2 hours to get cleared.

I decided to make a run for the Nicaragua Costa Rica border. So I arrived at 5:00 p.m. again, don’t get me started on Nicaragua customs and immigration. Hour later I finally cleared Nicaragua customs and then went through the process of entering Costa Rica which took about another hour.

By that time it was dark. I don’t like riding in the dark. Fortunately I got behind a immigration police ban and was able to get to my hotel without incident. I’m currently in the hotel bar drinking with all the locals and calling the bartender a cachon. Much fun had by all except the bartender, Donald El cachon. (note: Donald actually did have a lot of fun).

Day 41

Day 41 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Me and Adventure Beaver are going to have a real serious sit down chat tonight. For the second day in a row he decided he was going to hide when I wanted to go ride. This time it turns out he was hiding in a potted plant in the plant next to the Himi. Needless to say, that led to a later than expected start, with a very sweaty James, who had been wearing his riding togs while looking for the damn key and stuffed beaver.

Morning ride for the most part was pretty good until I hit the construction zone that lasted about 50 km and wore me out.

I really hate getting stuck behind 18-wheelers who do 20kph going up hills.

Finally got through that (and most of the slow 18-wheelers) and the rest of the ride was pretty good until the last hour when the monsoon hit. Fortunately, I pulled into the hotel near the Panamanian border before dark. So happy clam here.

Day 42

Day 42 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Made it across the border into Panama in what seems like record time. Checking out of Costa Rica only took 15 minutes. Checking into Panama took an hour. A heck of a lot faster than Nicaragua that’s for sure.

Nothing special about today’s ride other than the fact that I discovered that the police are waiting at every speed limit sign where the speed limit drops down to 40 kph. Of course following the agreement with Becky, I do the speed limit so I didn’t have to worry.

Adventure Beaver is behaving himself right now. I think the talking I gave him to last night may have had an impact to be determined.

Got my airline ticket from Panama City to Bogota. Flight is on Wednesday. The Himi is dropped off tomorrow and its flight is on Wednesday. I pick it up on Thursday and start heading south through South America.

In preparation for the flight I gave the Himi a bath. Actually I didn’t give it a wash. I paid somebody to wash it.

Forgot to mention this was my first time in Panama since 1965. For those not in the know, I lived in Panama between the ages of 1 and 3 and my first language was Spanish. As a matter of fact, my first word was agua. Too bad I can’t speak it now.

Another Forgot to Mention item. After several days of not having hot showers, I’m splurging and checked into a hotel with hot water. Sooooo amazing.

Day 43

Day 43 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Made it to Panama City and turned over The Himi to The Overland Embassy. If you’re not familiar with them, that’s understandable. Most people outside the world of traveling from North to South America and vice versa probably have not heard of them either. Those of us who have heard of them pay particular attention to how to get their vehicle from Columbia to Panama or from Panama to Columbia because there’s this 50 mile swath of jungle without a road called the Darien gap between the two. The Overland Embassy actually does the logistics of moving bikes between Panama and Bogota along with camper vans expedition vehicles whatever vehicle you have.

I fly to Bogota tomorrow. The Himi should be available to pick up on Thursday.

Got to ride over the southern edge of the Panama canal, ​and for those of you who don’t know, the Panama Canal basically runs north-south because the isthmus of Panama at this point runs east-west.

Prepping the bike was fun. We got to the airport and I had to unload everything and run it through a scanner. Then I had to repack everything, this time packing my riding togs, too, all the while in the Panama heat and humidity. To add to this discomfort, apparently something I ate did not agree with me. Hopefully whatever it is will be gone by tomorrow.

Got to meet two Mexicans from Guadalajara who were on a multi-year trip around the world on motorcycles. Neither of them spoke English so we had fun conversing through Google translate. Also met a French family who were in a van and traveled from Halifax down through parts of Canada entering America and Sault St. Marie then traveling through Montana and down from Mexico. They’re doing the same thing. I am going to Ushuaia, Argentina.

On the positive side, the Himi did not break down and I didn’t lose anything today.

Day 44

Day 44 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

BOGOTA!!!

Yes, I’m in Colombia. Finally I have made it to my fifth continent in my travels.

Last night was no bueno. Either something I ate or drank didn’t agree with me. Let’s just say I suffered from internal distress and leave it at that (no need to get graphic).

I flew from Panama City to Bogota on a 10 am flight. There were so few people at the airport that I got checked in and through security in less than 15 minutes.

The arrival in Bogota took even less time, probably 5 minutes, including the wait in the immigration line. I’m sure tomorrow is going to be a lot different, as I’m importing the Himi.

Becky asked me if I had a name for the Himi ,like Domingo Chang calling his motorcycle Scarlett

No, no, I don’t. It’s an inanimate object (unlike Adventure Beaver).

Went to the closest Royal Enfield dealer and arranged for an oil change and a couple of spare parts (brake and throttle cables). All for Friday. Also planning on buying another fuel pump, just in case.

Currently at the Hotel Boutique Mendoza, a really quaint little place. I think my dorm room at the University of Miami was bigger than this room. At least there’s a cook room with sofa, easy chair, dining tables, and a desk.

Day 45

Day 45 of the Great Pan-American Adventure

The Himi and I are one again. I went to the air cargo terminal to complete the paperwork at 8 am. Done by 9, then off to customs for the TIP. That took another hour and a half . Finally wrapped up and rode off the loading dock at a bit after 11.

Oops. Fuel tank on reserve. So, add fuel, then swing by the Royal Enfield dealer to see about an oil change. Got one, along with getting the chain tightened (along with cleaned with the sprockets).

Back to the hotel to spend most of the afternoon writing.

Wrapped up with dinner at a nice joint with a fellow ADV Rider, Jay from South Dakota. He’s done this before, so I picked his brains. I thought my experience in Nicaragua was bad. It took him 5 hours on entry and 7 hours to exit. Ugh

Day 46

Day 46 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Met another ADV ride this morning at the hotel. Kate from Calgary. She’s riding a little 200 or 250cc Yamaha all the way down to Ushuaia also, but she’ll be going a lot slower than me so I doubt that I’ll ever see her again.

Turns out the route that I had planned on taking this morning was not the optical route. Something to do with a rebellion, armed insurgents, and terrorist. So, I elected to go a different route.

I started out climbing mountains coming out of Bogota. I don’t know how high I got because it didn’t have a chance to stop and check any of my electronics.

The next mountain range I came to though I was prepared, I had Gaia GPS loaded and so right after I crossed over the top of the mountains. I pulled over into a safe spot and checked and took a screenshot over 10,800 ft up. That’s the highest the Himi has ever been. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to get any photos along the ride. I’ve been using my action camera for video so no photos. And a place where I stopped to get the GPS screenshot was socked in with clouds.

I’m currently near the town of Armenia, north of Cali. I’ll be passing Cali tomorrow.

Of course it wouldn’t be a trip if I didn’t lose something. In this case, it was my cardo intercom system. The one I used to actually listen to music with my iPod. I reached up because something was rattling on my helmet and I heard a little snap and didn’t think about it for a little bit. I didn’t feel anything and then an hour later I reached up and I’m like oh my cardo is gone. Not a happy camper.

At least I’m staying in a hotel that has a Willys CJ3-B Jeep and a painting of a Willie’s Jeep on the wall

Day 47

Day 47 of the Great Pan-American Adventure

Morning started out great. I was planning on being out the door at 8:00. I had everything loaded on the Himi, I had my togs on, I got on the bike, and something didn’t feel right.

Yep, the front tire was flat. Fortunately, there was a tire repair shop a half a block away and the old geezer came down, took the front tire off, ​back to a shop, and came back with my inner tube, saying “this thing is shot”, so I got a new inner tube.

After all the work was done, we discovered that the front brake wasn’t working. Little unsafe riding without front brakes. So that took a little while to figure out but eventually we figured out somehow he had done something to the brake lever so he finally got that sorted out. This was after I had torn the entire front brake assembly apart and reassembled it after cleaning it.

My 8:00 a.m. departure became an 11:30 a.m. departure.

I was also told that there was a lot of guerrilla (not “gorilla” – IYKYK) activity in the mountains around where I’m currently spending the​ night. I was told to watch for “​fireworks.”

Anyhow, after a somewhat grueling day and about 50 km of 30 kph road, single track, uphill, downhill, behind trucks, I finally arrived in the town of Popayán, just in time for Halloween. All the kids are out. Trick-or-treating and looking very festive.

Today’s Colombian native is Eli the tire repair guy. who fixed the tire and then readjusted the brake lever.

The two maps are to show you number one. The actual rod I took and number two last 50 or so kilometers and if you’ll notice how much time it was projected to take. The billing is where I spent the night last night

Day 48

Day 48 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

Thought I had lost the hotel room key, and while I was frantically looking for it this morning before leaving, the lady who was cleaning up said she had already put it in the little lock box by the door. Wish she had told me before that.

The ride through the Andes is just freaking amazing. Today I topped 9,000 ft twice. As a matter of fact, my current elevation at the hotel I’m at is over 9,500 ft. I have discovered it is colder at 9,500 ft, despite being right near the equator, than I expected.

The ride started out with less than optimal roads, but unlike Guatemala there weren’t many potholes. Instead, what I encountered were roads that were sloughing away. Literally, you would come upon sections of the road that had just dropped a foot or two or had fallen into the valley below several thousand ft.

Speaking of thousands of feet below, most of the roads are on very steep mountains. I learned not to look too hard across the valley or else the Himi might want to go that way. Plenty of slow trucks but not to the degree that I experienced earlier or in Guatemala.

Ran into a little rain up near 10,000 ft, but it was mostly just light stuff. Not even really worth putting on my raincoat, but I did anyhow because I was cold.

I’m sorely tempted to pull out my heating grip pads in my winter gloves along with another layer of clothing. I probably will.

I’m currently in the bordertown of Ipialis, Colombia, staying at a hotel I passed as I was looking for another hotel. This one is called the Mestiza Hotel Boutique​ and cost a whopping $27. Despite the price, it’s very nice and secure. The desk clerk is extremely helpful, and took all my bags to my room while I was unloading the Himi. His name is Diego, which is what I have people in Latin America call me (apparently it’s much easier than saying James, and you should hear how they butcher Peet).

I planned on camping out and then looked at the weather report. I had no desire to be sleeping in the rain and putting away wet gear in the rain, hence the hotel​ for the night.

Now to find some place to eat and get back to the hotel room and commence writing.

Day 49

Day 49 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

I guess I told Diego that I wanted to be woken up at 5:30. I thought I said I usually wake up at 5:30. Either way, I got a phone call just as I was waking up.

Packed up, loaded and out the door by 7:22 and at Columbian immigration by 7:30. Finish with Columbia immigration and customs by 7:45 and then got in line at the Ecuador immigration shortly thereafter.

There were about 25 people in front of me and as the line moved and snaked his way forward, several ADV r​iders got in line behind me. Whenever our paths would match in the intertwined line we would chat. They were all Colombians going for rides in Ecuador.

It was about 8:45 by the time I wrapped up getting my TIP, then off to Mitad del Mundo, the middle of the world.

Stop for gas at the first gas station but they wouldn’t sell it to me because I’m a foreigner said I had to wait until 10:00 and I really didn’t feel like spending over an hour waiting just to get gas when it could be some bought further down the road.

Of course nothing goes easy for me. So when I went to get gas the gas station attendant said he didn’t have change for $100 bill despite the fact that I’d seen him putting various quantities of $20 bills into his little cash register. Someone in line was kind enough to actually give me five 20s for the bill.

Today was a day I was not expecting rain. Today was a day that I had to put on my entire rain suit. Fortunately no fogging in the visor.

7 hours after starting out on my 4-Hour journey to mita del Mundo I arrived in a hostel that I paid 20 bucks for a room.

I did some bike maintenance, took a shower discovered there was no towel in the room. Had to air dry then go outside and get a towel off my bike. I finally went to go visit the middle of the world.

If you’re unaware, this is a monument basically at the equator. The geography nerd in me stood on both hemispheres just so I could and get photos of it.

Almost forgot to mention, today’s top elevation was 10,873′. I’m staying at about 8,100′

Day 50

Day 50 of the Great Pan American Adventure

Today was a riding day. That’s all. Just a long riding day. Up at 7:00 rode up to about 9,500 ft and then dropped the rest of the day until I wound up at around 640 ft of elevation.

Good morning, ride was for the most part. Very nice. Cool. I had a short little breakfast and then I hit hell. They must have imported part of Guatemala for about 20 km. It was just nasty, swervy, bumpy, missing sections of road. Great for adventure riding though.

I spent most of the afternoon riding past banana plantations and sugarcane fields. Apparently there has been some pretty heavy rains cuz a lot of the area looked like it was flooded, including a section of road that I had to travers on an interchange. Water was about a foot to a foot and a half deep on a high end of the curve and probably three or so feet on the low end. I rode close to the high end. Fortunately, none of the water came over my boots.

I’m now in a small town of Naranjal, Ecuador, where I paid $15 for an air-conditioned room in a small hotel with secure parking. Time for a shower and then then get some supper.

Sorry but no photos. As I said this was a pure riding day

Day 51

Day 51 of the Great Pan American Adventure

ADVENT​URE!!!

You can tell today was a total shit show by the use of the word “Adventure’, which basically means somebody in deep shit in a far away land​​​​

Woke up this morning to the sound of rain. I’m not talking the gentle pitter patter we get in the Pacific Northwest. I’m talking the tropical downpours that you see in the monsoon tropics. I checked the weather app. It was supposed to be cloudy. An hour and a half later, the weather app was still showing cloudy, and it was still pouring down rain.

Well, I have rain gear, so I decided I might as well hit the road because I still had to get through customs and immigration.

Once again, I made the mistake of trusting Google maps. I guess it was trying to route me around an accident someway, but instead it was putting me through areas where the water and flooding was about 2 to 3 ft deep which I was not about to ride through. I did ride through a couple of areas of 1-ft deep water but didn’t really have any problems in that regard.

I finally rerouted myself back onto the highway, where I immediately ran into an accident that was blocking the entire road, shoulder to shoulder. I’m not talking just the road. I’m talking shoulders.

Made my way around the accident, but by barely skating by one of the trucks that was blocking the road, and then ran into another problem, where we waited for about 10 or 15 minutes before traffic finally started moving over a bridge. There was no way around this one.

Finally the rain let up, which was good, because I was getting very hot and sweaty.

About an hour from the border, as I pass by a police truck, they made a little blurping sound with their siren. I knew exactly what that sound meant; we want money.

Sure enough they tried to say that people reported me speeding over 100 km per hour which I promptly laughed in the officer’s face and told them I can’t do 100 kph. After about 10 minutes of this bullshit,

I finally gave up and asked them if I could buy them a cup of coffee. $20 cup of coffee, but I needed to make the border and over 200 km more that day, so that’s that.

Of course, I was silly to think that that would be the end of my problems. Getting into Peru I discovered, after the paperwork was all done and I was trying to buy insurance, that the aduana forgot to put in a digit in the paperwork for the VIN. that would have created problems trying to leave Peru. Finally got that resolved. Had lunch at the border and got stuck in horrible traffic in the first big town I came to. Once again, a bridge. This time under construction – one lane only.

The chang in climate was rather extreme. One minute, I’m riding through what looks like jungle, and a couple of minutes later. I’m in the desert. Cacti and everything.

Finally made it to the little town I have a reservation at, and Google maps tied to put me through numerous lakes and mud pits. Once again I rerouted.

The place is pretty amazing. It’s right on the beach and apparently this is a surfing town and it’s run by a Swiss expatriot. Right now I’m sitting on a veranda overlooking the ocean as I dictate this, Cool breeze in my face

Day 52

Day 52 of the Great Pan American Adventure

As I’m leaving the hostel this morning the Himi slipped on the very slick wet concrete and decided to take a short nap. Fortunately the night guard was still around and helped me pick it up using the monkey lift. If you’re not familiar with the monkey lift, it’s simply having one person stand on the rear tire, grab a hold of the bike and act as a counterbalance while the other person lifts the bike from the other side.

After that it was on the road until 5:00 p.m.

Two things about Peru that surprised me. First is that they have water intensive tropical agriculture happening in the desert. I drove through numerous sugarcane fields, banana plantations, rice patties and what look like avocado orchards.

The second thing is just how disgustingly dirty it is with garbage e​verywhere. That has been the biggest letdown for me. I had expected Peru to be cleaner than Mexico but instead it looks like an open sanitary landfill all along the Pan American highway. The environmentalist in me is cringing.

I’m currently in this small town of Pacasmayo. The hotel I’m staying at is on the embarcadero or waterfront walkway.

Photos show my route, how long it actually was, the hotel I’m at tonight, and pictures from last night’s hostel, which was a really amazing place. The geographer in me loved all the maps in the hostel.

Day 53

Day 53 of the Great Pan-American Adventure; only 50 days left.

Managed to get out of the hotel by 7:00 a.m. and then rode and rode and rode. About halfway through the day I got hit by headwinds and sidewinds. If you’ve never experienced those on a motorcycle, let me tell you, it’s a lot different than in a car. In a car you may feel the buffeting, on a motorcycle, your head is getting bapped about like a bowling ball on a stick because the helmet catches so much of the wind from the side. It’s actually quite strenuous on the neck, which is probably the reason I’m feeling rather exhausted today.

To top it off, the headwind was so strong, I actually burned through a a quarter of a tank of gas more than I expected to. I was not too happy about that, particularly after fried my fuel pump last time I did something similar. To be fair, it was about 20° hotter at the time and I did burn more fuel.

I’m currently in a small City of Barranca, right on the Pacific coast. Went out for supper and tried a local delicacy, cuy. It wasn’t too bad but it’s not something I would pay for again because there wasn’t enough meat on it to make it worthwhile.

Day 54

Day 54 of the Great Pan-American Adventure.

I’m in the seaside town of Paracas, Peru. Had to get through Lima to get here. No joy. I’m feeling like Charlie Brown and Google maps is Lucy with the football. Routed through just about all of Lima at noon, including an express lane where motorcycles weren’t allowed. I pulled the “I’m lost and Google maps suck”, so they let me through.

Further south of Lima the amount of trash on the landscape has reduced. Not gone, just reduced. Riding south, with the Pacific waves crashing on the coast presents some outstanding views. I only wish I could stop and take photos (no safe place to do so and don’t really want to be flattened by trucks).

The weather remains cool, courtesy of the Humboldt current. Weird to be in the lowlands tropics and not be sweating my brains out. The current latitude is about 13.87 South. Another 10 degrees and I’ll no longer be in the tropics. I need to figure out how long I have been.

Update

Today is day 55 of the Great Pan-American Adventure. I have now been in the tropics for exactly 30 days.

Day 55

Day 55 of the Great Pan-American Adventure

It almost ended. I was stuck in a line of traffic and looked to my rear view mirror and saw a truck barreling at me without stopping. Seeing as how I practice good motorcycle defensive driving tactics, I was already in a position that I could get out of the way. Well, almost. I was already in second gear by the time the guy bumped my rear tire. I was probably doing about 20 or 30, just trying to get out of his way. I think his tire must have hit my tire because that was all that happened. I’ve experienced greater bumps riding up my driveway.

So no damage to me. No damage to the Himi. I didn’t stop and look to see if he had any damage. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get out of there.

Stopped at the tower at Nasca to look at the Peruvian archaeological line drawings in the desert.

More beautiful Pacific coast landscapes. The waves were mesmerizing. Note to self; watch road, not waves. The waves are huge though, crashing on both long beaches and rocky shorelines

I’m now in a small town of Ataci, Peru. I think both my chain and my rear tire need adjusting so I may have to play with that in the morning or find a mechanic.

Went to pull my DJI action camera out of my pocket when I came up to a bunch of sand dunes coming across the road. It decided it wanted to join them. Fortunately no damage. I got it back and managed to get some video of the dunes encroaching on the road.

Saw another interesting site which was cactus farms. I’m not sure what type of cactus and I’m not sure what it’s for but it was clearly being cultivated.

471 km day today.

Guatemala has proven interesting, to say the least. On my way to Antigua, I pulled into a restaurant for breakfast. This was a slightly more upscale restaurant, more like a fancy Denny’s. Anyhow, got seated, got breakfast, and enjoyed it. I don’t eat egss (due to prostate cancer and increased lethality), so breakfast was fried cheese (aka frito queso), something I had learned about in Costa Rica, along with some black beans, sauteed mushrooms and tomato slices, and some sourdough bread. I broke down and ordered some jam for protein. It looked like the kind of ham you buy for a sandwich (i.e., thin cut).

Anyhow, enjoyed the breakfast, and since the front of the restaurant was also a bakery, I picked up some bakery type food for lunch on the road (a cheese empanada and a ham and cheese croissant).

So, as I merrily left the restaurant, I walked smack dab into the middle of a bunch of guys armed to the teeth. I’m talking pistols and M4s (the shorter version of the M16). They looked like civilians, as there were no uniforms in sight, so I’m thinking “important person” or “drug lord”. The guy closest to me (armed with a pistol and an M4) indicated I shouldn’t walk to the Himi the way I had planned. So, I went around the building and proceeded to gear up.

If you’ve never ridden a motorcyle, it’s a lot different preparing to go than driving a car. In a car, you get in the car, insert the key, put your foot on the brake, turn the ignition on, put the car in gear, and go. On a motorcyle, you put on your riding jacket (you should already be wearing your riding pants and boots), your earplugs (which you really should be wearing when riding), your helmt, in my case, my glasses, your gloves, insert the key in the ignition, turn it to the on position, turn on the kill switch, then press the starter button. Then, and only then are you ready to go.

As I was doing all this, one of the said gentlemen approached me and engaged me in conversation. I’m like, “I’m from Washington, the State, not the City. On my way to Argentina. See ya!” Then off I went, riding through all the armed gents.

A bit unnverving, but, not my country, so not my problem.

The ride into and through Guatemala City was also interesting. The road transformed from two-lane potholed nightmares to two and three lanes of concrete, mostly in good shape. The temperatures also dropped as I climbed out of the sea level humid tropics into the mountainous humid temperate climate of the tropics (yeah, a bit of an oxymoron, but hang with me).

I then continued on to Antigua, one of the old historic Spanish settlements which is a UNESCO heritage site. I can see why. Lots of old buildings and cobblestone streets that’ll beat the living bejesus out of you. I took a bunch of pictures. Fortunately, I even got a shot of one of the volcanoes not covered in clouds this morning (it’s the rainy season, as you may recall – lots of clouds). The other volcano is still playing hide-and-seek and doing a good job of it.

I’m here for two nights (last night and tonight) then off to San Salvador, in El Salvador, where I plan on meeting up with a couple of ADV riders.

Today I did laundry in a machine for the first time since Yosemite – over a month of hand washing. It was nice (but expensive). Other than what I’m wearing, everything is clean and smells nice (not scented).

I realized tonight (the 19th) that I haven’t posted in a while. Since then, I visited Teotihuacan and crossed two borders!

Let’s start off with Teotihuacan. I am constantly amazed at the depths of my ignorance. I had originally thought the pyramids of Teotihuacan were Mayan. They’re not. As a matter of fact, they preceded both the Mayans and the Aztecs for some time (but not the Olmecs). Teotihuacan apparently existed between 100 BCE and 750 CE (Before the Common Era and the Common Era, sorta like BC and AD, only politically correct). There are two major pyramids, the Sun and the Moon. The Sun is closed for casual attendeeds, but the Moon is accessible to a point about half-way up. Man, those stairs are steep. According to my measurements, the rise is 12″ with the step being only 8″. That means you practically have to raise your foot to knee height to step up. After 48 steps (at 7,300′ of altitude), I was panting (and I’m in pretty good shape). I spent several hours touring the site. Well worth it (despite having to pay extra for bringing my Action Camera in).

After that, I made a beeline to Belize. I plan on hitting every country in Central America, and that was my first, despite it being mostly out of the way for a direct path to Panama. If you didn’t know (I did), Belize used to be called British Honduras. It’s the only English speaking country in Central America. I was surprised (although I shouldn’t have been) by the number of Spanish speakers. Heck, it’s surrounded by Spanish-speaking countries. Another thing to surprise me was that they still used the Imperial system. Distances and speed limits on signs were in MPH, not KPH. Cool. I could use the Himi’s speedometer properly.

Before I got to Belize, though, I spent a few nights in tropical Mexico (the part on the Caribbean side). Okay. I admit. I’m out of tropical shape. I couldn’t stand the humidity. Heat? Not a problem. Add in 90% plus humidity – problem.

Anyhow, back to Beize (which I arrived at after two nights in humid, tropical Mexico). I spent a night at a place called Tony’s Inn and Beach Resort. Not sure about the beach. It was on Corozal Bay, but I didn’t see any sand, just water.

I only spent one night in Belize, and then made for the Guatemala border. Partly, this was done at the urging of the Belizian officials who kept asking me why I wanted to stay in Belize. “Go to Guatemala. It’s a day away.” So, I went to Guatemala.

So far, Guatemala has hammered me with rain (it’s the rainy season) and dogs. As I was walking out to get the Himi this morning, a dog came up and bit me in the back of the thigh! I’m like, “What the hell?” and growled at the dog, making it retreat. Yeah, good luck biting through the Kevlar armor of my riding pants, pooch.

One thing about Guatemala is the roads – or lack thereof. By far, they’re the worst I’ve seen yet – I’m either constantly swerving between potholes, crawling over dirt sections, or riding between truck-induced swells in the macadam. No bueno.

Tomorrow I’ll be in Antigue, one of the oldest Spanish settlements in Central America. It supposedly has a great view of some volcanoes. But, since this is the rainy season, and the sky typically has 100% cloud cover, we’ll see (or not). I’ve got two nights planned for Antigua, then it’s off to El Salvador.

Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering, Is James working on any novels? The answer is, Yes! I’ve been working on Endure along the way and am up to about 25,000 words (at 250 words per page, figure on about 100 pages) – almost half-way done (or not – still haven’t worked everything out yet).

I’m also working on a memoir about this trip – I’m calling it Of Hurricanes and Himis. Let me know if you’re interested in it.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the Pacific Ocean is harrassing me with hurricanes. For the second time in the past two weeks, I’ve had to dogde on. The first was Hurricane Polo. I was heading down the Baja Peninsula when that one came rolling in off the Pacific. But, thanks to a dead fuel pump, I wound up being stranded north of the hurricane’s path, only getting some minor impact (clouds, wind, and some slight rain).

Yesterday I chose to beat Hurricane Simon in a race. It looked like it was heading inland toward Puerto Vallarta (a place I had actually planned on visiting on this trip). Puerto Vallarta is between Mazatlan (where I spent the night before – that was an interesting exercise in finding an inexpensive place to stay) and Guadalajara (where I am right now).

As I passed through the little town of Tepic, climbing up the Sierra, I caught the edge of the hurricane, with headwinds pushing ten to tweny miles an hour. Now, that may not seem like much, but when you’re riding a Himi going uphill, it can really hurt your speed (and gas mileage). Approaching Guadalajara, the rain arrived. Fortunately, I could see it in advance and was able to pull over and don my rain jacket (over my riding jacket). Also, the temperatures had dropped enough while I was riding up the mountains, that the jacket was welcome. While I was riding on the Baja Peninsula, at one point my thermometer (stupidly placed behind the engine) was reading 44C (about 111F – it was still 101F in the shade). By now, it was down to 25C (about 77F), but more likely in the upper 60s in reality. Rain I can deal with. Wet roads I can deal with. Fogged helmet visor -not so good. I finally had to raise my visor because I couldn’t see through the fog. Wet face and glasses I can deal with a lot better than not being able to see.

The first hotel I went to was lleno (full), but the proprietor guided me to another one, the Lemon Tree. Nice little hotel. No coffee pot or microwave in the room, but I do have a desk with a chair, and the coffee pot and microwave are in the lobby.

Today I spent some time working on Endure, walking around, and visiting some stores (Decatholon and Home Depot). I was hoping to find some Rok-Straps, but no joy. Instead, I picked up some bungee cords. One thing I sought for, and found, at Decatholon was some anti-fogging agent. They had a small pen-like product. We’ll see how it works. Also, it turns out my visor was really dusty on the inside (since I seldom use it, that took me by surprise). Both visors (full face and tinted) are now clean and ready to use.

An interesting thing, I keep getting complimented on my Spanish accent (despite the fact that my Spanish isn’t that good – good enough to get around, but that’s it). I guess it’s because I can roll my R’s and know where to place the voice inflection on words.

Tomorrow, I get the Himi serviced (regular maintenance service – not a boo boo this time), then off to Teotihuacan to see the Mayan Pyramids.

It’s the little things that can make a trip or break it. For me, the little thing, which I almost didn’t bring, is a heating coil.

Now, I’m sure you’re probably saying to yourself, “why would you bring a heating coil on a motorcycle trip to South America?” The short answer is: mocha.

When I travel, I prefer my morning beverage to be a mocha (coffee and cocoa). In this case, I use a sugar-free vegan cocoa mix from New Zealand, Avalanche. When I’m camping, it’s easy to make – use one of my (two) campstoves to heat water for instant coffee (yes, I’m a heretic – I drink instant coffee on the road if I have to make it), then top off the boiling coffee with some cool water and the cocoa mix. Stir gently, and instant go juice!

In the US, you’ll usually find a coffee maker in every hotel or motel room. Apparently, not so in Mexico. Now, my sample is limited (two hotels), but neither have a coffee maker, and the restaurants usually aren’t open when I awake and need to feed my caffiene drug addiction.

Hence, the coil heater. Even comes in handy for making a quick Ramen Glop (ramen noodles with whatever else you want to add – in my case today, it was canned veggies and tuna).

The little things – they can make or break the trip. Keep that in mind the next time you decide to hop on a motorcycle and travel over 10,000 miles.

I finally figured out the video editing software (VSDC Video Editor) and got my first video put together. It goes live on YouTube at midnight (9/26/26) at https://youtu.be/g50PigTykYQ.

One helluva learning curve. First I had to figure out how to properly use the camera. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn fast enough, because I wound up not recording something I had really wanted to record – my tour through downtown Enumclaw.

For the most part, the trip down to California from Enumclaw wasn’t (IMNSHO) videoworthy. It wasn’t until I got into the Sierra Nevada that the scenery and roads became worthy of video recording. Unfortunately, Yosemite was smoked in, so I didn’t bother taking video there. Bad visuals, bad lighting, and bad visibility.

The video editing software was also another big learning curve. It doesn’t help that my computer is an Asus Mini-Transformer without a lot of power. Editing was a challenge when the video wouldn’t run smoothly. I’m used to video editing on my PC at home using Davince Resolve, so using VSDC Video Editor (a free program that actually works on my laptop) was something different.

I eventually got the video edited, but then took me forever to figure out how to transform it into a MP4 formatted video for uploaded. But, now that I’ve figured out both the editing and exporting, things should move smoother now.

I’m still stuck in Escondido, CA, but the parts have arrived in town and are on a delivery vehicle as I type this. I hope to be out of here and into Mexico today, but if the part doesn’t arrive soon, I won’t be leaving until tomorrow morning.