Where's Heather?

Wonder Valley's own artist, Heather Johnson, is riding her motorcycle to the other end of the Americas. She's made it as far as Playa El Cuco, El Salvador. From Heather:

Heather Johnson, In Search of the Frightening and Beautiful

"To get to Mompox, there is a ferry that runs every odd hour. You pick it up east of Manangue, a town so filled with motorbikes that riding through it feels like participating in a race. There are literally no cars.. only 125cc singles, mostly 2-strokes. The ferry slides lazily down a branch of the Magdalena River and spits its cargo onto a steep sand and gravel embankment, followed by 25 miles of gravel to the well-preserved 16th century town of Santa Cruz de Mompox.

"At the terminal there is a bar, run by a big man with three names who grilled me on my feelings about President Obama (wherein my Spanish conveniently crapped out - partly because I'm not great at talking about politics with strangers). But when I finally parked my bike on the flat ferry barge, I was immediately surrounded by enthusiastic guys with questions about my bike and what the hell I was doing with it, alone. They listened to my every word, sorting out the jumbled Spanish and gently offering corrections. We talked about the night's big football game, and I assured them I'd route for the country I was in now, as opposed to one I'm traveling to (Colombia vs Argentina - Colombia lost by one point after kicking mighty ass to settle up a tie). We took photos of each other, swapping emails, and once again, after striking out into unknown territory, I ended up with new friends."