Where Things Stand: Rocks and Hard Places

Haven't updated in awhile because we've been making miles. Mad miles. Two solid weeks of driving every day.

But it has caught up with us.

Those are a couple of well-ridden, dirtied up bikes!

The routes through the mountain took us up to nearly 16,000 feet, through snow, slush, mud, and dust. By the time we had gotten to Nasca, we realized Nick's forks were leaking again. Tried a shop there, but they didn't carry parts for big bikes and recommended that we head into Arequipa. We got to Arequipa yesterday morning, but despite being the second largest city in Peru, we couldn't find the parts we need here either. The best option was to order them from Lima: a 3-day process.

So here we are.

We are, at least, in a fine hotel (for a bargain price!) in a fine city.

It's really not a bad place to be stuck, fortunately. We've both remarked that it feels pretty relaxing here, and there are some interesting tourist-y things to do. We can use the time to update the blog (so many miles to comment on!) and do some various maintenance to the bikes. And it's also just nice to be relaxing for a day or two rather than on a time crunch.

Unfortunately, some tough decisions are going to have to be made pretty soon. Due to the trip's various delays (eh-hem! Matilde, I'm looking at you!!), we're running short on time.

• Option 1: To continue as planned through Bolivia, along the N Yungas Road (World's Most Dangerous Highway (formerly)) and Uyuni Salt Flats, then down through Chile and Argentina to Tierra del Fuego would mean arriving in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, 15 Aug. That leaves zero room for error in getting the bikes bundled up and shipped back to the States, and then ourselves onto a plane and headed northward.
• Option 2: To aim for the Uyuni Salt Flats, bypassing the N Yungas Road, but still catching a glimpse of Bolivia would only save us about a day, putting us into Buenos Aires on Tuesday, 14 Aug.
• Option 3: Taking drastic action and heading straight to Chile after repairs are complete here in Arequipa would mean bypassing Bolivia entirely. ugh. There are some neat places to drive in Bolivia. But if we elected to do this, we could arrive in Buenos Aires on Sunday, 12 Aug. This would leave plenty of time to take care of shipping the bikes and ourselves home, and even a little room for error between now and then.

We discussed these options over breakfast this morning. The breakfast was delightful. The trip options were bleak. There are some other considerations we came up with, though.

• Trip extension. We could request a leave extension from our respective workplaces. Probably easier for Nick, though the thought of missing teaching time is distasteful to him. I think my workplace would probably work with me, but I feel like this is already quite an imposition and hate to impose even further. Personally, I'd like to hold this as an absolute last resort: "Hey, boss, we got to Buenos Aires on the 12th, but a freak ice storm hit and no planes are flying until next Monday."
• Ushuaia by other ground transport. I'm skeptical about renting a car to get to Tierra del Fuego -- as we did to get to Prudhoe Bay -- because it requires crossing borders. (If you look at the southern tip of South America, you'll see that we'll go from Argentina to Chile to Argentina again before arriving at Ushuaia.) It may work, though, and is something we'll look into. Barring that, I do have a contact in San Carlos de Bariloche. Not sure if he'd be amenable to a road trip (or if he even has a car), but that's a message I'll be sending shortly. Riding in a single vehicle with multiple drivers would allow us to pack in more miles each day, as well as assuage some concerns associated with the winter weather in southern South America. If conditions and/or scheduling us unfavorable to get the bikes to Ushuaia, using some other form of ground transport is my preferred option. At least we could still feel the miles from tip to tip of the Americas.
• Ushuaia by air. We're also kicking around the idea of driving straight to Buenos Aires, shipping the bikes home, then taking a flight south to Ushuaia before flying back to KC. With this option, we still get to see the southern tip, though we would miss out on driving the extent of the Americas. Not my favorite, but certainly a workable plan.
• Skip Ushuaia. This is distasteful to me. Although we would make it to the southern-most country, passing through both Chile and Argentina, and would have made it to the end of the official Pan-American Highway, we would have no claim to traveling the Americas tip-to-tip. Having come this far, that would certainly be a disappointment, even though such a claim is no more than a handful of words. It is highly unlikely that there will be another opportunity to accomplish this trek -- especially by motorcycle (mostly) -- again.

So that's where things stand. We have a day or so to mull it over and decide on a course of action, though it likely won't be confirmed until we get farther south. "Unexpectations" between here and Santiago, Chile, will necessarily mold our choices, and there are still many miles between here and there.

A fruit tree just outside of our cottage here in Arequipa. Is it a fuzzy apple?