Pre departure updates



February 2013

Things start to move with only 5 months till my scheduled departure. This month I've done the following:

• Booked my flight to Anchorage. After much internet searching, the cheapest and quickest route is with Air Iceland via Reykjavik. I leave LHR at 13.00 on Sunday 2nd June and arrive in Anchorage at 16.30 same day.
• Booked the transportation for the bike - it's going via James Cargo at LHR. It leaves UK in mid-May and will be waiting for me when I get to Alaska. So they assure me. They're nice people to do business with and they are here:www.jamescargobikes.com
• Applied for a Non-resident Temporary Importation Approval letter from the US agency that deals with all this. Key piece of paperwork to get the bike into the US in Alaska.
• Booked a full service of the bike and the fitting of some modifications to make it a bit more robust for the 20,000 odd miles it will be covering. I'm doing this at a fab facility in Coventry called Ramp and Wrench. This is run by a top bloke called James. Simple yet clever idea - 'why not service your vehicle yourself? We've got the ramps, the wrenches and the expertise to enable you to do this' I can't recommend it highly enough. You can find them here: www.rampandwrench.co.uk
• Started a series of dentists visits for some fairly heavy duty remedial work - stuff I've put off but don't want to have to have done in the backwoods of deepest Chile by someone with a pointed stick whilst  anaesthetised on local moonshine
• Booked to complete my inoculations - got most just need the 3 shots for rabies now.
• Been working on the Spanish - a great trip to Cuba helped. Now confident about ordering two beers from Mexico south.......