Wow, I’ve been home for just a week now, and so much has been happening.

First of all, it was great to see Edward again, my travel partner this summer on the TAT and CDT.

I’ve been catching up with friends, doing errands, cleaning up lots of paperwork left over from before I left in June, cleaning up more loose ends as I prepare to be gone for the next 8 months.

I have a million things to do before leaving, and the list seems to be growing rather than shrinking every day that goes by.

I have a cozy place to regroup this week–I’m housesitting for my friends G&M and getting to visit with my dogs they adopted and my cats that they are graciously taking care of.

(By the way, I am still looking for good foster / permanent homes for a great pair of sister calico cats if anyone has a lead for me).

Well I got back to Connecticut yesterday.

I was ready to cry mercy by the time I got back “home”–1100 miles in the cold on a small dirtbike, I must have earned some tough biker chick award or *something*. Dang, it was a long, cold ride.

So now I have a couple of weeks of “down” time–finishing up a couple of projects, writing magazine articles about my adventures so I can have some things in print while I am away, and processing my post Trans America Trail stuff of life.

And most importantly: getting the bike ready for South America. The question is: which bike? I’ve been talking to BMW Motorrad about them “sponsoring” me, which is a very exciting prospect. I plan on making my ride a fundraiser / awareness vehicle for finding breast cancer cures, and it would be GREAT to have them on board. But regarding which bike, Do I get the engine fixed on my DR350? Do I say enough is enough for that little bike and get a DR650? Do I ride my 1150 GSA that’s heavier than all get out, but all set to go? Or do I keep holding my breath and waiting for BMW to come through?

Leaves me in a bit of a pickle, not knowing which bike I am riding 3 weeks before the trip, but I’ve always been a gal that pulls it all together at the last minute…..

Sadly left Mom’s this morning and headed North. Luckily, she only lives 30 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and so I hopped on the BRP and had a fine ride for about 210 miles today. I got a late start today because it was cooooooooool in the mountains.

Made it to Doughton park and camped there on the Blue Ridge. EVEN COLDER! I think my camping days this season might be over. Met a great guy, Etienne from South Africa (now Raleigh), and he was riding a V-Strom. We decided to share a camp site together and it was fun to be able to spend the evening with another motorcyclist and hear his tales of travel. We had a go at making a fire, but I was a sissy and worried about my wonderful Big Agnes tent catching some sparks, so I let it peter out. It was a full moon and we ate our dinners in the dark watching the moon ride.

Good company, good conversation, so I went to sleep content… and COLD! I never warmed up. I  had everything I owned on my person, INCLUDING my Gore Tex layers from my riding suit, and I was just cold all night.