The Trekking Turtles

Forecast heading towards Dallas......with pouring rain and thunderstorms and flooding........will I be LUCKY again.....?????

Not this time!!!!

Left Houston early in the morning, it was dry but soon the rain started to come down. It was a constant rain and the road was not saturated with water so I could ride with no problems.

7 hrs riding and I made it to Dallas. In the rain I could not see very well my GPS, so took a wrong turn and I was send through the Downtown Dallas. Not a big problem because there was little traffic. 

I guess the traffic was hiding due to the rain, and flooding all over. The cars which where on the streets where driving fast through the large or Super Large puddles shooting water from down up in my riding jacker and I was slowly making me soaking wet. It was not cold so that did not bother me.

Finally arrived at my friend destination and parked my reliable Mosquito bike.

It was a long day, but still a good day.

I was lucky I arrived OK...that is the important thing.

Still 1000 miles more to go :)

I had a short visit with family and friends in Dallas and today I moved on further North. Not straight I-35, but taking a detour through the Talimena National Scenic Byway, bordering Oklahoma and Arkansas. 

http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/4...tional-Scenic-Byway.html#sthash.4oyP0FhA.dpbs

It was a beautiful sunny day with gorgeous landscapes.

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ADVriders posts:

Turk34 said: ↑

Welcome back from inspiring adventure! Did you use atm (any US bank atm card) to get money in S. America? I have a bank of america atm card and wondering if it works south of US…

WhicheverAnyWayCan:

Hope it is ok for me to answer? Any bank card will work fine in S. America assuming you have notified your bank of your traveling. However, I have found that some banks down there may not cooperate with your atm card, but that is a rare case. In my case, BanColombia didn't work with my atm so I settled for Citibank or Servibanco. Citibank of S.A. has recently be sold so I don't know what will happen with them. 

Look into Charles Schwab's free online checking because you can use their atm card without paying for international fee (I imagine BoA may charge international fee too) With Charles Schwab's account, you can file for reimburse and receive full credit from Schwab's when other bank charges you atm fee. It requires only $1 deposit to get the ball going but when registering for account online, be sure you are doing that in the USA! My mistake was to register for an account while I was in caribbean island so it raised red flag and I had to make 2 hours trip to nearest Schwab's branch here in Raleigh NC to show 2 proof of ID and they were satisfied.

Turk34:  

Tom Blum said: ↑

Another warning: My card wouldn't work in Mexico the first time, because I had set up the password with 6 numbers. Bank of America said no problem and it wasn't wth their branch in Florida. In Mexico, however, and, I believe, with most credit cards everywhere, only 4 digit passwords are permitted. On later trips, with 4 digit pass words, I had no problem.

My response:

The response above are correct. 

I must add to that, the if you have a credit card with the new security chip, sometimes it does not work because the machines are not set up for that.Normally the larger banks will have more up to date machines. As for paying in hotels the cards with chip have worked fine.

I had a credit card and a debit card. In addition I had another set hidden and only for use if lost or stolen the first one. Because I was traveling on a low budget, I took cash out from an ATM machine (at a bank and under surveillance) for several days.Paid everything in cash, no risk of misuse/ hacking of you credit card, but people work with cash here. do not expect to pay with credit card at small food stores. I even paid my fuel in cash. Of course that is a small amount for a bike :)

You can take enough cash in one day to last for several days. There is a maximum per transaction and I noticed when I had to pay a large sum for shipping my bike, that you can withdraw at the same ATM machine more then once. So.... no worries not getting access of money.I also had some cash in $ hidden on my body, just in case I needed it in an emergency.Hope that helps.

Luna Tique said: ↑

Tell softT I said hello

She did tell me and "Hello to you, too" sure wish you could have joined us. We had an awesome visit and even though Abosit arrived looking like a drowned pup, her spirit was not dampened at all.

KansasKawboy:

She's making her way home. My wife and I met up with her and had a nice visit.

Response:

Kansascowboy:

It was so nice to meet you and your wife. Even if it was short. Thank you coming out my way and hope next time we have more time. We always have lots of stories to tell. You are just a few hours South of our home, when the weather and conditions are right for you, take the a beautiful ride to us. Hope you come and visit us.