Jim and Jay - Relaxing in Santiago

Days 66-67
Monday and Tuesday, January 6-7, 1997
Santiago, Chile 

Leaving Santiago, Chile was difficult to do for two reasons. First, I was staying with some very wonderful people, the Arrietas family -- Matias, and Maria de los Angeles and their children, Benjamin, Matias, Maria de los Angeles and Josefina. They were feeding me 3 great meals a day and we were all enjoying one another«s company.

Second, Jay was still waiting for Federal Express to deliver his replacement license plates for his motorcycle. (Turns out FedEx lost track of the package - it happens). Also, Jay was enjoying his time in Santiago, and because he had much more time than I for this trip he decided to hang back.

Nevertheless, I knew that if I did not leave very soon I would never make it to Ushuaia. In fact, I had planned to leave on Tuesday, Jan. 7th. But on Monday, Jan. 6th, against all odds, I ran into Dave and Leanne, the Australians we had ridden with to Cusco. They were sitting in a cafe a few blocks from the BMW dealership.

When they learned that I planned to leave the next day (Tues Jan. 7th) by myself, they encouraged me to wait a day, and then we could ride together. I was reluctant to wait any longer, but agreed.

So, on Tuesday, among other things, I went to the Kawasaki shop which was providing me with whatever parts I needed courtesy of Kawasaki USA. I picked up spare innertubes for the front and rear tires -- boy did this turn out to be a good decision as you will read later.

One Last Service Stop - Courtesy of Kawasaki, Santiago, Chile

Miles - 0 and loving it.

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