We
had a cold winter here in Canada; temperatures so cold that going south was the
only option to get away from it all. Our friend Ross found a 60-day cruise
trip around S. America at a very good price at Travel Zoo and we asked them if
we could book this trip, too. We did not want to be in their way, we did not
want to be pushing ourselves into their schedule but the deal was great. While
they are good friends, I believe there should always be a policy of ‘they do
their thing, we do ours’.
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| The Island Princess |
The trip worked out just fine. We were booked 2 doors
away from their cabin and we hardly saw each other. It was perfect for my anti-social
tendencies. The Island Princess Ship had about 2400 passengers with a crew of
900. It was a large ship.
But
I am jumping the gun. While our friends drove down to their place in West Palm
Beach, FL to get away from our bone chilling cold, and they left a few weeks
early to celebrate Xmas there, we decided to drive down right at the beginning
of 2018, rather than fly. Christmas, New Years and the weeks following are kind
of active days and weeks. It seems everybody is in a cheery mood and we had
plans that could not really be altered. Flying to Fort Lauderdale, FL would be faster,
but it would limit us severely with our choice of luggage and since we are
retired and can afford it, we took the time to just leisurely drive south.
Our
original plan was to leave on New Year’s Day in 2018 but stuff just kept piling
up. Organizing to be away for a few months takes time. On top of that I
developed an abscessed tooth. It had to
be pulled. In addition, my old 2007 BMW GSA had seen the best of its life and
my mechanic told me to get a new bike and there were incentives to buying a
bike at the end of the year. We had club meetings, I needed some cruise wear,
etc. All those items delayed us from
leaving on time. Packing for this long trip, going from winter to summer is not
as easy as just going for a few weeks on vacation. Just imagine you are packing
for summer, fall and deep winter. What you will wear in Rio will not be
appropriate in Toronto in deep winter and vice versa.
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| My New Bike |
My
new bike had to be an U.S. approved bike. I had to go to the U.S. to buy it. I cannot buy a Canadian bike since officially
I am an U.S. Citizen and the bike is registered in Massachusetts. What made
matters worse was the fact that the 2 closest BMW dealers near or around
Buffalo, NY, just closed their doors. The bureaucracy and the legalities of the
world have always been a thorn in my side. I despise laws that do not make
sense to my way of living or my way of thinking. You want an example? Why do I have to buy a bike in the U.S.? Oh,
I know, different rules, different stipulations for manufacturing the bike, but
why? Why can it not be a ‘world’ bike? All these petty thinkers requiring the
technical details to conform to each Country separately are driving me nuts.
Not only that, even each different state within the U.S. have their own criteria;
California being the worst State in the Union for being ‘progressive’. The
registration process is different for each state, some charge for yearly
inspections, and some wave inspections all together. The world is ruled by
petty bureaucrats who need to justify their existence with rules.
But
let me get back to our S. America Trip.
It
became clear on Jan. 1 that we needed more time to prepare. We needed to prepay
some bills, move medical appointments to after our return, pay travel
insurance; I needed a new suit for formal nights, etc, etc.
Buying
a suit for example, is not just walking into a store and picking up a suit. I
am not built that way. I need alterations. It takes 2 weeks to buy a suit,
because the tailor is busy, the sleeves need to be lengthened or what not. At this time of year there are great bargains
to be had. The sports jacket I bought, originally $679 was on sale for $99. Add
those bargains up and a smile creeps over my face.
By
Sat., January 13 though, we were ready to go. The weather was terrible.
Freezing rain made even the highway a slick, icy way out of town. We had our
last Ontario Motorcycle Club meeting on the 13th and we picked up a friend to
take with us to Ajax, to the winter dinner and meeting.
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| Leaving Day - EARLY |
But on the way, on Jan. 14, we had breakfast in Welland, ON with the Niagara Club. It is customary to bring a 'gift' for the raffle, if you have something to give away. For this special day we brought 'onions' that we could not keep in the refrigerator while we were away. Most people just grinned when they saw those onions, except Jim Fritz, who smiled and said: “Great idea, I could use those.” But of course it was a raffle and he had to win them. But wouldn’t you know, he drew a ticket that gave him the chance to pick up those ‘onions’. Proudly he came with them in his arms and told Carol….: “I will think of you when I eat these “. To which Carol answered: “Yes, with tears in your eyes too, right?” We always have a good time at the breakfast meetings, once a month, with the Niagara Club.
After
this breakfast we drove pointing Carol’s Lexus southward. The border crossing
was uneventful. We chose local roads, trying to avoid the highways but after
our GPS took us 45 to 60 minutes out of the way, we decided it was enough time
lost; we went back on track, adjusting the GPS, and stopped for the night in a
Quality Inn in New Columbia, PA. This first day we drove 645 km.
