After spending a few extra days in Cordoba due to rain and the threat of a hurricane I decided to leave on the 24th no matter what the weather. Overnight it stopped raining so I left very early in the morning incase the weather changed it's mind. The border crossing of Tapachula is where I needed to go.

About 150 miles into the day I came across some horrible crosswinds. Semi trucks were doubling up on a one-lane highway to keep each other from blowing over. This, and the wind, made it very slow going from then on. The fastest I dared to go was 30mph. I had the bike tilted almost all the way over against the solid wall of wind. I came close to the edge of the road many times but the wind always letup for a split second before it pushed me all the way. But when the wind did letup for the split second I was slung into the other lane. I soon passed hundreds of massive white windmills twirling at top speed. I assume that it's always windy going through that stretch of road.

The wind died down a bit further along. I saw some signs that I didn't recognize so I was going to pull over and get out my map. Then I saw another motorcycle traveler exactly where I was going to pull over studying his map. He was headed to Tapachula as well. We rode together until it was decided that we were not going to make Tapachula before dark. We were still about 150 miles away. We came across a small town where we setup camp for the night.

Wayne, the motorcycle biker, had turned out to be a very interesting Canadian guy. He's 58 and he retired; sold his house, all his possessions and decided to head south for a year or two. He is going to Buenos Aires as well but he has a lot more time than I do to get there. February is his time frame while mine is December.

In the morning we went to the border. I ran into a few problems with my bike. Apparently I was supposed to bring the Title for my bike to cross any border, which is odd considering I passed through Mexico with no issues. I had to hire a ‘Lawyer' to write a letter explaining why I don't have my Title. It was 50 bucks for this twenty something kid to fill my name into blanks on a one-page word document and print it out. I handed that to the official and I was across. I don't get scammed very often, but since it was a borer crossing I wasn't going to argue. I'll get it faxed and see if I can get by without the original for future crossings.

The border cost us about 4 hours. By that time there was a large storm looming to the South. We made it about fifty miles before it started to downpour. We drove slow because of this and didn't make Guatemala City. Again we camped out at a small town and ordered beers at a local restaurant.

Wayne needed new tires and I needed to get my bike serviced. We made it to Guatemala City before noon and went to a BMW dealer. They were quite busy and we waited for about five hours. At BMW all they have to do for my bike is plug it into a computer that tells everything that's wrong with it. All it needed was an oil change.

We didn't much like the idea of staying in the city so we planed on Antigua, which is only about 20 miles away. One of the girls that worked at BMW heard us talking and she offered me her number to give her a call the next day since she lives right near Antigua. We left from the dealer at six-ish and made Antigua by dark. Antigua is one of my top five favorite towns. It has cobble stone streets, buildings no larger than 2 stories, and three enormous volcanoes surrounding it. I'll stay here a few days to get some things settled like the Title and laundry. Weather is perfect here, 70 and sunny.

I met up with Jenny, the girl that works at BMW, around three and she brought her sister with her. We went to the Mono Loco (Crazy Monkey, I think) and ordered a few beers. Later in the evening we went to a club in the center of Guatemala City. Jenny and her sister tried teaching me how to Salsa and I wasn't too bad considering I already had a few beers.

In the morning, back in Antigua, I found that my tank bag had been stolen off my bike, same with Wayne's. I didn't think anybody would steal the bag considering all it has in it is documents. Stupid me, I left the important documents without making copies. I didn't even bother going to the police since they're useless.

Since it was Sunday I couldn't do anything. On Monday I went to the US Embassy. After seeing the Bourne Identity I figured all the US Embassy's would be like the one in Germany. But the one here is a dump, it's like going to the DMV. The Embassy is also where people go to adopt kids, or at least do the paperwork. There were over a hundred kids running around and parents holding small babies. I was in hell. I was almost relieved when the lady at the Embassy said she could do nothing for me, that I had to handle it by calling the states. I needed to get the registration, title, and some border papers.

Within a day my parents got it handled for me (thanks guys!). I'll have copies of the registration and title soon. The borders usually ask for originals, but who knows, I may get lucky - or I may just pay them off. So, I'll be headed to Honduras on Halloween - really not the best Omen.