Don't cry for me Argentina

Wow... our reservations have been made... My passport application has been done... Missing ones have been found...
We are on our way to Argentina!
What was an idea a few months ago is now gaining momentum.
Now we just have to figure out what to do in the week at our disposal... Patagonia is a tad far and we are thinking of the Iguassu falls... so we can also say we saw what Indiana Jones saw!
Moon Dancer is booked to deliver a talk on tick resistance when she attends the TTP6 conference... then we have a week to explore, hoping to get a bike trip into the planning as well. I will be scouting Buenos Aires while she is kept busy with ticks...
We should also remember these wise words, but I think as bikers we should be able to travel light...
Will keep everyone posted as the planning etc. progresses.
"He who would travel happily must travel light."
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

Heads up

I have the framework for a rather long posting mulling in my head at present so bear with me as I whittle away at the thing. In the meantime I am doing my physio exercises and slowly getting back to doing a chore or two. My kids are so patient with me! M however bought pizza tonight... I guess he is tired of slaving in the kitchen... he has always liked cooking but I guess enough is enough. I was going to do a Flaming Pink playlist by using FoxyTunes and my collection but alas the PC crashed... next time maybe. KatieB texed me that she sent me a G-mail... still waiting for it to land in my inbox and of course I am dying of curiosity as to what it is, seems like a mail server somewhere is choking and not sending it through. Just my luck.
Firehand was quite impressed with my comments on his blog recently and tells a similar fishing tale as my C4 version. I enjoy his blog a lot as he delves into blacksmithing and guns and a lot in between, maybe when I do that T2T trip we will have a chance to have some cold ones together and share more stories.
To Donna, it is always a pleasure helping someone with their blog, or anything else for that matter, that is what gained knowledge is there for, to be shared. I always get a kick helping people these days, when I was younger I tended to keep these things to myself... thank goodness I have mellowed.
But I am still young at heart... my latest music find is also a favourite of my daughter, I think 30 Seconds To Mars rocks! She loves the lead singer... I love the music and lyrics. Here is one of their songs... enjoy.

[via FoxyTunes / 30 Seconds to Mars] - From yesterday.
"The easiest kind of relationship for me is with ten thousand people. The hardest is with one." Joan Baez (1941 - )

Doing a Charley

Charley Boorman in the book "Race to Dakar" mentioned that the reason he did the race was because he had been asked by the publisher "what next?" after "Long way Round" and he had said "do the Paris to Dakar rally"... he was then quoted on the flyleaf of the book and felt he had to put his money were his mouth was... so here I am doing a Charley.

The idea is born and the domain is up and running but very skeletal at present. This is what greeted me when I had googled cape2capeglobaladventure...

and this is the graphic I cobbled together this evening for the website... it still needs some work but I am quite happy with the idea so far.

While at the Prowlers MCC I threw the idea around to some of the blokes and no one shot it down... had a drink and toasted Shrek once more then came back home to code... step 2 has now been taken. Got another poster up for the regionals as well...

"It's all knowing what to start with. If you start in the right place and follow all the steps, you will get to the right end." Elizabeth Moon, The Speed of Dark, 2003

Keys to the Keep

It has been two days and I need a vacation! Tomorrow I have to go tell my new boss that I need 3 new screens... yep, one packed up earlier this year, one packed up while on leave and the other one went berserk today. It keeps on flashing between a pink hue and normal plus everything seems out of focus... this is the one I use for my PC at home so it is mine! I brought it to the office while the first one went in to be diagnosed and I have been waiting since for the upper Echelon to decide if I should or not get a new screen... I will not bring my new flat screen from home! My work laptop also died just before I went on leave... it needs a new power brick... so I cannot use that as a backup machine... eish! I feel like a gardener that has just broken the rake handle, bent the spade and broken the fork's tines... toofless and tool less!
So this evening I took Shrek for a short ride to de-stress and the clock went over to 4006 kilos! Will be needing that second service pretty soon by the way I am putting on kilometres.
Taking a break today I visited Danette's new blog and one of her missives on what happens to blogs when people pass on made me decide to hand over a set of keys to someone I trust. I don't want those left behind having to fight to get hold of things like what happened to Gut Rumbles. I want a smooth transition for those remaining behind... so to speak. So henceforth you will notice another name under "Contributors", my friend and fellow Adventurer KatieB. Please feel free to re arrange the furniture my dear... but leave the couch where it is... the cats are wont to lie on it in the late afternoon sun...
I also started to put into motion another dream... albeit a very tentative step but as they say, every journey starts with the first step. One has to start somewere you know, may as well be a virtual adventure at first.
KatieB sent me a text message or 2 while I was registering the domain... but I think I may have answered her in a distracted way... sorry for that, I can't multitask like she can. Even Winamp has been playing a very disjointed selection but at least one was appreciated, I always used to code to Vangelis and Pinta, Nina, Santa Maria is 13 odd minutes of his music.
If you have visited my fellow adventurer's blog and read her expose on the word Adventure you may smile reading this closing quote... we are planning to go pulling some beards.
"When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers". Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

Good to go, ready to do some crossing off...

Of things on my Wishlist, may add some later too! Just on 12 hours and I get on the plane to Cape Town International for the great KLR Adventure...

My list of things to do:
Bungeeeeee! - If I get time this trip
Buy me a CS650 Beemer - Bought a KLR650 instead!
Discover a Comet - Saw Comet McNaught, just as good as discovering one!
Do a skydiving course - maybe later...
Get a Dress Kilt, Clan Campbell
Kiss the Blarney Stone - See T2T

Pat a Great White on the snout - I may just do that this trip!
See a Snow Leopard in the wild - See T2T
Smell a Volcano - See T2T
Spend a day with a Silverback - See T2T
Taste the Dead Sea - See T2T
Walk the Via Dolorosa - See T2T
Witness a Supernova Done! Not what I expected but just as spectacular... read the blogs...

My list of Natural Wonders to visit:
Amazon river - See T2T
Ngorogoro - See T2T
White Sands - See T2T
Ayers Rock-Uluru
Witsand - Soon...

My list of Countries to visit:
Alaska - See T2T
Angola - 2008
Antartica
Argentina - T2T
Canary Islands
Falkland Islands - See T2T
Guernsey - See T2T
Kamchatka Peninsula - T2T
Namibia - 2008
Patagonia - The great T2T adventure, being planned!
Oz
Scotland - See T2T
Tiera del Fiego - See T2T


My list of Stuctures to visit:
Ankor What - See T2T
Macchu Picchu - See T2T
Tajh Mahal - See T2T
The Pyramids - See T2T
Castle Stalker - See T2T

My list of Cities/Towns to visit:
Alice Springs
Buenos Aires - See T2T
Brisbane
Cooper Pedy
Edinburgh - See T2T
Monaco - See T2T
Nome - See T2T
Sidney
St Petersburg - See T2T
Cape Town - On my way!
Windhoek - 2008

My list of absurdities:
Become President of SA or any other country for that matter! Me? a politician?
Build a car that will do 0 > 100 in 3 seconds flat using water as fuel...
Clone the Pope.
Design the smallest OS posssible that will kick MS's butt.
Live long enough to see my great, great, great grandkids.
Make a Dirty Harry sequel.
Play drums in a Rock Band.
Teleport to Mars.

Actually when one see's how many will be crossed off with this trip the T2T is looking more and more do-able.
I am going to document this trip and maybe get it published, if that works the Ops GOF trip would sell as well and that may just get the finances needed for T2T! Think BIG!
Just 12 hours to take off!
Wish me luck!
"Life changed after that jump...I'd suddenly stepped to the highest level of daring, a level above even that which airplane pilots could attain." Charles Lindbergh (1902 - 1974), describing his first skydive

Tip to Tip or T2T for short...

While reading about other people's trips with their KLR's I had this insane idea...



To ride from the tip of Africa to the tip of South America to see what Patagonia looks like and then back via a slightly diffrent route... Now I need sponsors and traveling companions. You have to dream big they say!
How about this quote... sort of sums my idea up to a T...
"I wanna hang a map of the world in my house. Then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to. But first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down." Mitch Hedberg (1968 - 2005)