Anyhow, it was great to be at the show, see all of the new and innovative gear for 2008, and to catch up with friends. I've been attending this tradeshow for 10 years now, and after awhile the "Wow" factor slows down a bit. However, there's always something there that excites me enough that I can't leave the show without one in my possession. This year, I came home with two new items, and I'm excited to use both on our upcoming trip.
1. Steripen Adventure: If you've ever experienced the joy of Giardia or amoebic dysentery, then you'll want to own a Steripen. This gadget, about the size of a good Cuban pyramide, purifies questionable drinking water in a few minutes using ultraviolet radiation. Just hit the switch, dip it in your Nalgene, wait a few minutes and the green light will indicate when it's safe to gulp. The technology has been available for a few years now, but the new Adventurer and Traveler models are smaller and lighter.
2. Next up is the Chockstone Primaloft jacket from Sierra Designs. A great all around, compressible, insulated jacket with a sweet, hood. It's got thumb thongs, packs into its own pocket, the hood cinches down so it wraps your head like a do-rag. AND it's even waterproof breathable, thanks to the Drizone membrane. I'm really excited to wear this jacket for penguin hunting in rainy Tierra del Fuego next week :)
I think we're good to go on equipment for the trip--maybe we're even over the top--but that's how we roll. It's hard not to overdo it when you've worked for an outdoor gear retailer for nine years. We're counting the hours to departure at this point, starving ourselves in anticipation of Buenos Aires meals, and watching the weather forecasts from BA to Ushuaia!!!
It's been a super long time since I've posted here, but that doesn't mean the adventures have ended. About a month ago, October 20th, I rode out to Moab on my GS to sample the red sand on my big 1200.
My new PIAA 520 lights threw out UFO quality brightness, which made me much more comfortable riding at night. I'm always looking out for a stray animal that wants to throw itself in front my bike. 
I'd ridden the White Rim in the spring of 2006 on a smaller, F650 Dakar, and found the terrain manageable overall. However, I was a little anxious to see how the 1200GS would handle this 90-mile stretch of backcountry dirt and rock. The 1200 is heavier, and would be much more expensive to repair if I had a high speed dismount. There are only a few spots on the White Rim that are concerning on a motorbike, and we all took everything in stride with no major crashes in our nine hour day. As we made our final ascent from canyon, we did run directly into a monster wind and rain storm which could've stopped us in our tracks if it had arrived 20 minutes earlier. We were lucky. 
Relaxing for a few minutes between Rally sessions. We took breaks about every 10 miles of riding to enjoy the scenery and talk about near crashes! 
This is a friendly bull moose we found munching on some willows in the Bighorns. He was pretty mellow, even though I think I intimidated him a bit.
Here I am holding one the many fish I plucked from this stream, using a secret weapon of a fly, which I'm unable to disclose. Anyhow, this guy was tucked up next to a small pour over and chased my fly 10 feet into the creek before gobbling it up like an idiot. Just kidding, he seemed kind of smart ... I was just smarter. I guess that's not much to brag about.
And, finally, here's Annie with her first fish ever. Three firsts: first time ever catching a fish, first time ever catching a fish on a fly rod (much more difficult than catching fish with dynamite) and first time ever refusing to hold a fish for a photograph.
