April 25, 2007 GMT - Our Last Month in New Zealand
Near Lake Wanaka, South Island We spent a relaxing week camping on the shore of Lake Wanaka. The weather was perfect with sunny, warm days and clear nights for watching the stars....

March 04, 2007 GMT - Still in New Zealand
After David's mom left Christchurch to go back to Canada, we started our camping trip again. We found a very beautiful place, Lake Tekapo with a milky aqua color that reminded us of Lake Louise in Alberta. Lake Tekapo, South...

January 31, 2007 GMT - New Zealand in January
We're still in New Zealand, enjoying the riding. After a rainy and cold New Year's, the weather is gradually improving....

January 03, 2007 GMT - North Island
We continued our tour of the North Island, traveling south of Auckland and to the east to the Coromandel Pennisula, a favorite place for New Zealanders to spend the holidays. Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and rainy so we probably...

December 16, 2006 GMT - Land of the Kiwi
We made it to New Zealand, arriving on Nov. 30. We left Chile with our motorcycles sitting in the warehouse and assurances that there was a 99% chance they would be on the next flight. Our motorcycles arrived the...

November 25, 2006 GMT - Back on the Road
We left Canada in mid-November and flew back to Mendoza, Argentina to pick up our motorcycles. Our friends Juan Pablo and Juan Luis were both out of town but Juan Luis made arrangements to have his girlfriend Ampora take us...

August 11, 2006 GMT - Summer in Canada
Since we've been back in Canada for a few months, we thought it was time to give an update on what we've been up to. Our motorcycles are still in Argentina and we have had to cope without them. We...

April 19, 2006 GMT - Goodbye Argentina
Small town on the Pampa We spent a few days in Bariloche walking the streets enjoying the scenery and friendly people. Dave felt that he could easily settle there. It offered great features like sailing, hiking, skiing, beautiful views...

April 01, 2006 GMT - Argentina Lake District
Our ride across the northern part of the Patagonian region was fun. The morning started pretty chilly and as we traveled across the wide open terrain the wind increased in speed. After three hours of leaning into the wind...

March 16, 2006 GMT - Chile and Northern Argentina
The border crossing into Chile was breathtaking. The fact that it was over 16,000 feet may have had something to do with it! Flamingos on the Chilean Altiplano...

March 02, 2006 GMT - Southern Peru and Bolivia
Hummingbird - Nazca, Peru The last two weeks have contained some of the best riding we've had on our entire trip. Each day was a delight. We left Lima riding south along the barren Pacific coast toward the town...

February 15, 2006 GMT - Central Peru
Peruvian desert The trip down the coast of Peru from Chiclayo along the Pan-American highway was a quick and easy ride to the city of Trujillo, the third largest in Peru. We cruised into town and headed toward the...

January 30, 2006 GMT - Ecuador and Northern Peru
Our security guard while we went shopping Quito is a pleasant capitol city, busy but not too crazy....

January 16, 2006 GMT - Colombia
We spent New Year's Eve in Panama City. We didn't do anything special, just stayed in our hotel and at midnight we watched the fireworks from our bathroom window. A couple of days later, we visited the Panama Canal and...

December 31, 2005 GMT - Southern Costa Rica

December 19, 2005 GMT - Costa Rica
We spent a relaxing few days staying with cousin Elsie and getting to know the history of Costa Rica from someone who has lived here for almost 50 years. She was a twenty-something Iowa farmer with two young children...

December 02, 2005 GMT - Central America
After a couple of nights in Antigua, Guatemala we decided to see what the dirt roads were like. We had a route mapped out that would take us to the eastern part of Guatemala. We found our way out...

November 15, 2005 GMT - Southern Mexico and Guatemala
Cathedral in San Cristobal Del Las Casas San Cristobal De Las Casas is a medium-sized city in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. It is a popular stop on the 'backpackers trail' and has many affordable hotels, guest...

November 01, 2005 GMT - Central Mexico
Zacatecas is approximately 460 years old, the narrow cobblestone streets were designed for pedestrians and burrows, so the roads that could be traversed by car are almost all one-way. It is a labyrinth of streets, alleys and stairs and...

October 19, 2005 GMT - Northern Mexico
We crossed the border into Mexico at Douglas, Arizona. The border crossing was easy, we had to temporarily import our motorcycles into Mexico and buy insurance but aren't exactly sure what it covers. We met two guys on their way...

October 05, 2005 GMT - Western US
Well, I guess it is my turn to do some writing. I am sitting beside our tent on a beautiful sunny day in Bryce Canyon National Park listing to Jimmy Buffet while Deb has an afternoon nap. There is an...

September 17, 2005 GMT - Southern BC, Washington

After leaving Vancouver Island, we rode the Trans-Canada highway to Cache Creek through the Frazer River and Thompson River canyons. This part of British Columbia is very dry, turning to desert as we rode east. The scenery was spectacular with various hues of tan and brown with a blue river bordered by train tracks on both sides.

September 01, 2005 GMT - Western Canada

For a second we thought, maybe this is not the road that we will be traveling on but then we saw a map with a gravel section labled "The Hill". The last two times Deb dumped her bike were during the dirt bike training while practicing turning on a steep hill and then in eastern Montana on the gravel road. Now we would be combining the two for an extra challenge.

August 16, 2005 GMT - The Lewis and Clark Trail

We opted to take a path that would follow the Missouri river more or less. It seemed fitting since this is the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition that took place from 1804-1806.

July 25, 2005 GMT - Departure

Over dinner with a couple of friends a few weeks before our departure, we mentioned that we wanted a motto for our trip but we're having a difficult time coming up with one that we liked. They suggested something like "the friendship expedition". We liked it but thought it might be a little presumptuous. After the experiences we've had over the past several weeks, it may be an appropriate motto.