Saturday, July 20^th: We crossed the border back into Bolivia, marking our 75th border crossing, and 38th month on this journey.  The border crossing was simple enough, but the police asked for a donation to buy flowers and paint the walls.  The Sargent looked a bit surprised when I declined to contribute, even asked me a second time if I was sure, then shrugged his shoulders and Erin and I rode off.

We thought Copacabana would be a bit cheezy, but found it to be an exceptional place to spend a couple of days.  Erin was finally starting to recover from her cold, and we spend 2 nights down on the beach, eating trout while watching the sun go down.

Monday, July 22^nd:  After packing the bikes, we enjoyed a 45km scenic ride to the ferry docks, where we would board a wooden raft with 75hp engine to take us across the narrowest point of Lago Titicaca.  The rafts are a bit scary in design, but are able to transport buses (without passengers).  The trip took about 20 minutes to cross the narrow gap, and was quite rocky in the middle of the trip.  At times it was a struggle to hold the bikes, as they rocked back and forth.  We landed safely to the other side, and gladly rolled the bikes on shore.  Two hours later, we arrived back in La Paz, and what a mess it is to try to find a decent (cheap) place with parking.  The traffic makes NYC look like a small suburban town.  After spending a good 2 hours, we finally ended up in a hostal for about US$9, which included parking.  The owners were nice, but the room was pretty basic for the high price we were paying.

We spent the remainder of the week at Nosiglia Honda, finishing up some work on the bikes: change valve shims, repair broken speedo cable, replace lost/broken bolts, weld a fairing mount that broke, some plastic welding, and some other things -- nothing major, just a lot of niggling little things as the bikes are taking a beating on the roads down here.  The guys at Nosiglia treated us great (again) charging us US$30 for 3 days work.  Funny, the more adventure riding we do, the more fun we have, the more we  have to attend to the bikes.....it's kinda like; we're here in winter, above 13,000 feet, and it's cold -- go figure!  :-)

Saturday, July 27th:  Had lunch with fellow overlanders Cory and Chris, who were in town from Cochabamba.  Spent the afternoon swapping stories and telling lies -- great fun.  In the evening we went down to meet Tom & Kristin Reilly.   Tom is a graduate from SIPA, the school where Erin worked at Columbia University.   Tom is now working for USAID and Kristin for CARE.  They are a terrific couple, and took us out for an incredible (and authentic) Swiss Fondue!

Sunday, July 28th:  Our 6th wedding Anniversary, our 4th on the road!  Spent the day buying all kinds of souvenirs and tapestries.  We bargained hard and got some really terrific stuff!  A great day was followed by a wonderful meal!

Monday, July 29th:  After dropping off a 14 kilo (31 pound) box at the post office, we came down to spend our last night in La Paz at Tom & Kristin's place.   We had planned to leave today, but Tom offered us a comfortable bed.   We decided to spend the night and "rough it". 

We rode down to the house, which happens to be just down the road from the US Ambassador's.  The security detail had eyed us driving past, then again as I went out to run a few errands.  I was on my way back to the house after lunch when I decided to stop and talk to the group of agents out front.   They were dressed as you would expect our Secret Service to dress, but were actually Bolivian Policemen.  To make a long story short, after a while of chatting, I asked if it would be possible to meet the Ambassador -- I had never met one before, and figured "what the heck!"  They discreetly talked in their walkie-talkies, and confirmed the Ambassador would come out to meet me.  I quickly ran down the street, and pulled Erin out of the house.  Several heavily armed guards were around the bike, as well as about a half-dozen agents dressed in suits.   Manuel Rocha not only came outside to shake our hands, but even climbed onto my bike for a photo -- which almost gave the security detail a heart-attack!  After he left, the security guys gave us lots of suggestions and good contacts for our trip east.

After a delicious dinner of Pork Chops and Mashed Potatoes back at Tom's, we retired for a wonderful night in a big, comfortable bed -- ahhhhhh