It seems hard to believe, but I’m almost ready to pack up and head south of the border. I have spent the last week or so doing fun things like putting money in escrow to pay my property taxes at the end of the year. It is surprisingly hard to give people money ahead of its’ due date. “But Mr. Tiegs, we don’t know what the rate for your homeowners insurance will be until October.” As far as I know, I’m done bleeding money for the time being. Just have a few little things to do, like forge a couple copies of my driver’s license, since personal experience has shown that it is wise to not give out the original to local cops down there, but that’s another story. On a trip of this length, you need someone back home minding the fort, but I’ve got these guys watching my stuff, so Lord help me. That’s Blake Berlin and Andy Snell on the left. I have had to go several hundred miles to West Texas to retrieve crashed motorcycles for both of them, on separate occasions, in the last couple of years, so if they ask you to ride to Big Bend with them, be afraid, be very afraid. Hopefully I won’t be calling them from Bolivia or someplace and asking how much gas they have in their truck. But seriously, thanks guys. This is pretty much what you need for a trip like this. If you have your docs in order, everything else can be had with time and money. But I’m carrying 150 lbs. of other stuff, just to be safe. Readers that are on the ball will remember that a couple of installments back I went off on painted on cattle guards. One of my vegetarian readers (probably my only vegetarian reader) informed me there is some science there, due to the way cattle brains process images. Thanks Jody. But just between us carnivores, I'm going to keep chowing down those burgers.