Stutter Step

Alright ladies and gentlemen, it's official. The trip has started.

Well, sort of.


So I'm back in Ensenada now, but I've got a motorcycle parked outside with a dead battery. It's my fault - I left the key on last week, and that killed it pretty thoroughly. So yesterday when I left I got a jump from a car, and headed for the border - though I took a roundabout way down, to let the alternator charge the battery a bit more.

I got down to the border, and as I pulled in to customs (something I've never done while crossing into Mexico before), I spotted another motorcycle parked there. So I pulled up next to him, parked and started up a conversation.

"Where are you headed?" he says.

"Argentina," I reply, expecting some surprise on his end, seeing as it's on another continent.

"Oh, me too. Want to ride together for a bit?"

After discussing our respective plans (remarkably similar, actually - 5-6 months to head south and end near the tip of the continent), we agreed to head to Ensenada together. After shuffling from desk to desk and handing over a small fortune to customs (as a deposit, on the off chance I'm trying to sell my bike in the country - they'll return it to me when I exit the country if I still have my bike), I went back outside to leave.

And the bike was still dead. As a doornail. Not even any headlights, so I apparently got 0 charge off of the ride.

Luckily, Yoji (my new friend) was willing to help me push start it, so we got a running start and kicked it into gear.

We arrived in Ensenada and headed straight for Oktoberfest, where we met up with my friend Oscar who was pouring beer for the brewery he started a few years ago. Yoji and I chatted with him for a bit and then made the rounds through the different breweries, picking out a few to taste. We both lamented the fact that we still had to get on the bike, limiting our ability to try more.

After hanging out and talking for a bit (and getting some Argentinian style empanadas), we decided to head for Oscar's house to crash for the night. Another push start later and we were on our way. After arriving, we bummed around for a bit, and each spent a bit of time on Duolingo brushing up on some Spanish.

After Oscar got home and we helped him move his kegs back to the walk-in fridge at the back of his house, I spent a few minutes getting the battery out of the bike. Today I'll be making the rounds (by Uber, most likely) trying to find either a place that can charge it, or a place that sells a battery tender. Can't hurt to have that with in case I run into a problem down the road, right?

So as long as I can find what I need in Ensenada, the trip has officially started... I'm really hoping I don't have to head back to San Diego one more time for some parts.

(Unlock the door, grab my hat, lock the door... unlock the door, grab a new battery, lock the door...)