so i'll try and put a post up each day about each place to place travel and stay that i encountered along the last few days of the trip....
i have to recollect the time and organize photos....
oh yeah also i'll put up photos from when i had the camera stolen...after the last written blog
tomorrow or so a quick one from cortez colorado until ?
Monday, November 1, 2010
taos, nm
taos nm:
corny pseudo "hippy/new age" artists mixed with genuine native artists...also seemed like a mix of rich, white people buying navajo art from people that seemed to just want to make a quick buck....and backpacker hippy people that weren't native yet maybe wished or thought they were...this all may sound ignorant but it's just the impression that i got from my encounters....
also everything was prettty expensive...each white/hippy owned lodge/retreat,in most cases just a dressed-up motel with more "authentic and arty" items, was at least a third higher and sometimes double the price of the place i stayed...can't remember the name off hand but it was in the "non-desirable" area (even to me) of the asthetically unpleasing area where you'll find a strip mall/wal-mart/etc (actual places where most natives shop and work)...you get the point...it was native owned with b&w photos of the land before the aforementioned strip malls....nice owners who seemed to be interested in my trip rather than competitive about their travels and how they would do it...the size, cleanliness, etc. was comparable to rooms that cost $80-$140 but only cost $48 plus tax...
a few blocks away i ate a huge mexican feast and had 2 shots of patron with 2 negra modelos even before i checked into the room...first time i had a shot of booze that wasn't measured since seattle...the waitress walked so slowly to the table as not to spill a drop of the filled-to-the-rim shot glass....super rad
went to sleep and left early the next day...also i left my bike mostly packed that night...i did bring in my big black camera case, but nothing else...i wanted to see if i could sleep without being paranoid about losing anything after the camera got stolen in oklahoma city....
no problems...
corny pseudo "hippy/new age" artists mixed with genuine native artists...also seemed like a mix of rich, white people buying navajo art from people that seemed to just want to make a quick buck....and backpacker hippy people that weren't native yet maybe wished or thought they were...this all may sound ignorant but it's just the impression that i got from my encounters....
also everything was prettty expensive...each white/hippy owned lodge/retreat,in most cases just a dressed-up motel with more "authentic and arty" items, was at least a third higher and sometimes double the price of the place i stayed...can't remember the name off hand but it was in the "non-desirable" area (even to me) of the asthetically unpleasing area where you'll find a strip mall/wal-mart/etc (actual places where most natives shop and work)...you get the point...it was native owned with b&w photos of the land before the aforementioned strip malls....nice owners who seemed to be interested in my trip rather than competitive about their travels and how they would do it...the size, cleanliness, etc. was comparable to rooms that cost $80-$140 but only cost $48 plus tax...
a few blocks away i ate a huge mexican feast and had 2 shots of patron with 2 negra modelos even before i checked into the room...first time i had a shot of booze that wasn't measured since seattle...the waitress walked so slowly to the table as not to spill a drop of the filled-to-the-rim shot glass....super rad
went to sleep and left early the next day...also i left my bike mostly packed that night...i did bring in my big black camera case, but nothing else...i wanted to see if i could sleep without being paranoid about losing anything after the camera got stolen in oklahoma city....
no problems...
home...
ok so i've been back in seattle since thursday night, october 21st...i just didn't have the energy to post right away....since the last post up until i entered seattle, i had issues finding an internet connection that actually worked...this left everything sort of "on pause" but running out of time and anticipating the king county signs encouraged my not giving a damn and just pushing through...let me just say it's amazing being home....for many reasons this is one of the grandest understatements...
but first let me catch everyone up with the last bits...
but first let me catch everyone up with the last bits...
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
continued
so i left dumas around 10:00 am and buzzed thru roadkill and tumbleweed central to the border at texline, tx. kept a nice pace of 60 mph until 20 miles before texline where i road on grooved pavement to the border...not my favorite......the temperature was supposed to be in the 70s but i didn't get above 55 all the way to taos, nm...in texline i stopped for gas, hot coffee to warm up and to put on my thermals and winter gloves...that helped...i also finally got my music situated...i got a nice cheap pair of earbuds that lock the wind out so i can actually hear the music...also i decided to run my ipod directly to my charger oin the sidecar so i didn't have to worry about the battery...listening to dead kennedys through the cowboy towns was nice...i saw a few blue pick-ups...
nice to have the cameras going...had the helmet charged, new canon, and of course the trusty iphone...got to the border and took the obligatory photo of laru and sign, me & laru w/sign, and me, laru and a photo of my dad w/sign...it's one of the cooler state signs...two peppers, one green one red, on a yellow background with new mexico in blue i think...also saw a dead coyote on the side of the road just after the border...
blew through n.m. on hwy 56/412 until springer right at the hwy 25 jnct...the landscape started to change around here...got gas at a fina...when's the last time you saw a fina gas station...more of the 90 grade gas...it's like water...beef jerky and cashews, then on hwy 25 for 3 miles and back on a smaller road #58 that took me into cimarron, n.m....the road was a little rough but interesting with dips and curves and the massive rockies staring me down...i shot some helmet cam footage on this road into cimarron where there was a strip of median that had 5ft x 3ft portraits of notorious cowboys and other shady figures from the 19th century...pretty cool...
leaving cimarrron i got on hwy 64 that took me further into the mountains...helmet cam on the whole time through cimarrron canyon state park, ute park, eagle's nest where you could see baldy mountain (a 12,000 ft peak), thru carson national forest on windy roads that had me climbing in 2nd and 3rd gear. coming down the into taos, n.m. i started thinking the elevation must be messing with my bike...because it was just hard to keep the bike over 50 going downhill into a head wind of only 5-10 mph...
last night i talked to the guys at ural n.w. and explained that this had occurred coming into the little elevation that the eastern and central panhandle of texas offered...more wind mind you but minimal elevation...they suggested a few things...clean out air filter (i did), check sidecar brake adjustment (i did and it was to tight and dragging), and check carb sync (i did and it was a little off, the right carb needed a little increase in the throttle) when i left this morning i reconfigured the load and put the huge camera case INTO the sidecar...,thereby getting rid of the sail that caused my bike to drag so much...i knew it was dragging from this but not that much...i honestly didn't think it would fit in the sidecar and it doesn't really, but kind of...like i said, the whole first 75% of today was super smooth...fast (58-65 mph) no fighting the drag...the bike tracked straight without my trapezoids burning...nice ride...but at the end when i got a little higher, i started to have the same problem...the bike worked harder but better if i just left it in 3rd through 52-55 mph...but as soon as i shifted to 4th even on the flat it would bog down and lose speed to 45 mph...
mark and ben at ural nw said it could be the valves are tightened too much...that's all i have left to check, but it's out of my league...so maybe a shop, or better yet, i'll just keep on pushing until it drives me batty or i can't leave 2nd gear...
so now i'm in taos, n.m....and i'll tell you more about that tomorrow
time to relax
----jleep
nice to have the cameras going...had the helmet charged, new canon, and of course the trusty iphone...got to the border and took the obligatory photo of laru and sign, me & laru w/sign, and me, laru and a photo of my dad w/sign...it's one of the cooler state signs...two peppers, one green one red, on a yellow background with new mexico in blue i think...also saw a dead coyote on the side of the road just after the border...
blew through n.m. on hwy 56/412 until springer right at the hwy 25 jnct...the landscape started to change around here...got gas at a fina...when's the last time you saw a fina gas station...more of the 90 grade gas...it's like water...beef jerky and cashews, then on hwy 25 for 3 miles and back on a smaller road #58 that took me into cimarron, n.m....the road was a little rough but interesting with dips and curves and the massive rockies staring me down...i shot some helmet cam footage on this road into cimarron where there was a strip of median that had 5ft x 3ft portraits of notorious cowboys and other shady figures from the 19th century...pretty cool...
leaving cimarrron i got on hwy 64 that took me further into the mountains...helmet cam on the whole time through cimarrron canyon state park, ute park, eagle's nest where you could see baldy mountain (a 12,000 ft peak), thru carson national forest on windy roads that had me climbing in 2nd and 3rd gear. coming down the into taos, n.m. i started thinking the elevation must be messing with my bike...because it was just hard to keep the bike over 50 going downhill into a head wind of only 5-10 mph...
last night i talked to the guys at ural n.w. and explained that this had occurred coming into the little elevation that the eastern and central panhandle of texas offered...more wind mind you but minimal elevation...they suggested a few things...clean out air filter (i did), check sidecar brake adjustment (i did and it was to tight and dragging), and check carb sync (i did and it was a little off, the right carb needed a little increase in the throttle) when i left this morning i reconfigured the load and put the huge camera case INTO the sidecar...,thereby getting rid of the sail that caused my bike to drag so much...i knew it was dragging from this but not that much...i honestly didn't think it would fit in the sidecar and it doesn't really, but kind of...like i said, the whole first 75% of today was super smooth...fast (58-65 mph) no fighting the drag...the bike tracked straight without my trapezoids burning...nice ride...but at the end when i got a little higher, i started to have the same problem...the bike worked harder but better if i just left it in 3rd through 52-55 mph...but as soon as i shifted to 4th even on the flat it would bog down and lose speed to 45 mph...
mark and ben at ural nw said it could be the valves are tightened too much...that's all i have left to check, but it's out of my league...so maybe a shop, or better yet, i'll just keep on pushing until it drives me batty or i can't leave 2nd gear...
so now i'm in taos, n.m....and i'll tell you more about that tomorrow
time to relax
----jleep
dumas tx to taos nm
got to dumas tx (north-west of amarillo) on monday night...stayed thru this morning, had to wait for a package with my new camera and other cool stuff from looper...lounged all day in the room and reorganized my crap...keep expperimenting with random local type food places, hit or miss...a burger joint in town was more hit than miss...met a guy named george (skelly) here at the motel...he's riding a 1994 harley fxr (i think that's right)...really cool guy in his 60s...rode from massachusetts to dumas heading into colorado (just south of denver)...he's taking the harley to a friend who's never had the chance to buy a bike due to the needs of his family...skelly just got a new harley (road king?) in mass...skelly's self-appointed nickname refers to skeletor from he-man...it's appropriate because unfortunately skelly has lost lots of weight due to lung cancer...he's terminal and has decided to live the hell out of his last days...hence the new bike and the passing on the old to an old friend...he and talked quite a bit about life and such...heard about his family and he mine...skelly had the most positive outlook for facing down death...some people drop into a depression and sort of give up you know? he can barely hold up his harley and he's out there giving em hell...i hope to have the same courage...nice to meet you skelly
if you want to contact him or hear of his story from him...
george "skelly" larkin
153neptune@comcast.net
if you want to contact him or hear of his story from him...
george "skelly" larkin
153neptune@comcast.net
Monday, October 11, 2010
more
thinking about seminole....particularly this one person who seemed like someone who was angry about everything around him or what he'd gone through...i don't know which, but there'd be these comments that made me feel that i fell in the category of his hated much, and then there'd be these moments that seemed like we were on the same page...i realized that when we seemed to bond was when i also was wrapped up in the misery of either the moment or the thought of when something tragic had occurred to me....
just now i read something that relates and makes sense but hopefully isn't too much of a stretch or contrived...."things outside himself he found banal and not worth his attention....one result of democracy was a concentration of each man's attention upon himself..."
for some people it's never really good enough and it's okay....this is something i know, but it's magnified when you're on the road and that's the thought process you get to be surrounded by for what seems like an endless amount of time
---jleep
just now i read something that relates and makes sense but hopefully isn't too much of a stretch or contrived...."things outside himself he found banal and not worth his attention....one result of democracy was a concentration of each man's attention upon himself..."
for some people it's never really good enough and it's okay....this is something i know, but it's magnified when you're on the road and that's the thought process you get to be surrounded by for what seems like an endless amount of time
---jleep
just thinking
about early oklahoma....i've heard of and experienced road hypnosis (in my 64 impala after 9 hours or so driving the ascent of the cascades seemed like a descent)...think that's what it's called....but a couple days ago, for the entire day, i felt like i was playing a motorcycle video game...it seemed as though i was riding a stationary bike that had all of the right sounds but didn't move...rather the landscape in front of me got bigger, as though it was a green screen, but not that fancy, more like a bad b-movie where it's obvious the scene in front of or behind the actors is fake...weird huh?
continued
last night, after thegood/bad day, i had to leave the road early due to a major thunderstorm that had golfball-sized hail and lightening...i got maybe 190 miles from o.k. city...and today the same to dumas, tx...because this is the only place on my route to the national parks where i could find a fedex place...
today was schizo windy...mainly w/nw but then random gusts from other directions would happen. laru did an average of 40 mph today...some places going downhill i was slowed down to 48 mph by the extreme winds...checked the news just now and apparently there were 30-40 mph gusts and a steady 15-20 mph head wind...i think i'm going sdtraight into the wind from here on out more or less...something i kind of counted on, but again didn't allot enough time for it....minutes are like gold out here...expecting to be on the cali coast by sat/sun....
today's ride was probably the sketchiest...i was moved all over the road and had to pay atttention with a death grip at all times...you can't fight it, but you have to be aware when deciding how to countersteer...the hack came off the ground a few times...goggles covered in bug shit and lots of roadkill (fucking nasty skunks, 'dilla, deer, etc...)
so after what was visually pretty boring terrain, although i can feel the rockies coming, but not a boring day...i'm catching up on this and will try to do better wioth the blog...since chris left and i got my dad's ashes (plus what would have been his recent birthday) i've just kind of been "fuck it" you know? but i'm coming back around and am planning on doing it again in spring, but in reverse....i have a nice coffe-table book idea, i think...it could be more...but now that i know i and laru can do it, it'll happen again....i've learned some lessons and will be that much more ready to anticipate some of the roadblocks that have confronted me thus far...
showered, laundered, blogged, drunked...and ready to take on the gnarly desert and mountains the next few days...i love you family and friends
i'll try and get some pics up soon
----jleep
today was schizo windy...mainly w/nw but then random gusts from other directions would happen. laru did an average of 40 mph today...some places going downhill i was slowed down to 48 mph by the extreme winds...checked the news just now and apparently there were 30-40 mph gusts and a steady 15-20 mph head wind...i think i'm going sdtraight into the wind from here on out more or less...something i kind of counted on, but again didn't allot enough time for it....minutes are like gold out here...expecting to be on the cali coast by sat/sun....
today's ride was probably the sketchiest...i was moved all over the road and had to pay atttention with a death grip at all times...you can't fight it, but you have to be aware when deciding how to countersteer...the hack came off the ground a few times...goggles covered in bug shit and lots of roadkill (fucking nasty skunks, 'dilla, deer, etc...)
so after what was visually pretty boring terrain, although i can feel the rockies coming, but not a boring day...i'm catching up on this and will try to do better wioth the blog...since chris left and i got my dad's ashes (plus what would have been his recent birthday) i've just kind of been "fuck it" you know? but i'm coming back around and am planning on doing it again in spring, but in reverse....i have a nice coffe-table book idea, i think...it could be more...but now that i know i and laru can do it, it'll happen again....i've learned some lessons and will be that much more ready to anticipate some of the roadblocks that have confronted me thus far...
showered, laundered, blogged, drunked...and ready to take on the gnarly desert and mountains the next few days...i love you family and friends
i'll try and get some pics up soon
----jleep
monday night oct ?
so i'm in dumas texas watching the jets vs vikings (not started yet because of thunderstorms or something) geeeez come on let's see em play, only the people that deserve to be electrocuted will get electrocuted, right??!! this will keep things rolling right along...
yesterday was horrible and great all at once. i finally got to leave seminole, o.k. for o.k. city and snag some new rubber for laru yesterday. i left the comfortable grasp of the oxford inn and its lounge after 6 days of home-sickness, boredom, booziness and too much mazzio's...i met some great people...my kind of people (i don't know if i'm exactly their type of people, but it worked out with no jail or black eyes) thanks for the machete mike, and thanks to whomever played for playing round of drinks tag...nice mix of cowboys, bikers, vets, and all around blue-collar folks.
steve, at atomic brown scooters in o.k. city, hooked up a duro tire and a russian c-97 spare rubber (super big knobbies) for $75. i switched out the tires while steve checked and corrected the alignment on the sidecar. the bike's still pulling a little, but i have a new rear and sidecar tire....should get me to california. Also, steve actually didn't have ant spare tires...he called a client that had requested steve put on some new tires among other things for his 2006? gear-up...he told me on the phone sat., while i was in seminole, that he wouldn't even know when he could get tires until mon. i was damn dissapointed after waiting around all week for them to open again...i assumed they would have plenty of tires, but, like most listed ural dealers, they're just getting into it and don't have much stock of anything ural related. i don't know if i mentioned this already but they were closed due to the death of a close family member....sorry for your loss guys...back to super steve---he didn't want to leave me stranded so he called the customer with the 2006 gear-up and asked for his brand new spare tire rubber...the person graciously agreed (thanks!! whoever you are)...
so after an hour or so i took laru for a test drive, and she did fine...on a SUNDAY (you're the man steve) laru was up and running
...so i paid him and went to grab the camera to take the pics and some video before i left...no camera
no fucking canon t1i that has been the work horse throughout the trip...my yaschica 120 mm and 4x5 were where they needed to be, but no digi!!!!!!! right when i got into o.k. city i got gas and had to use the restroom...the camera was under my sidecar cover and hidden from view...i never like to leave tyhe bike and since chris has left it's sorta been a worry...but nothing has occurred so far...i was in a somewhat "bad" neighborhood...bars on business windows, sketchy looking dudes that had been up all night most likely...but it wasn't like the southside of atlanta or chicago for that matter...nothing against those places, but i know not to be there at the wrong time...this was a sunday morning with the sun beaming down and there non-cracked out people milling around the outskirts of the city...
this is a massive hit to the trip...i can make a police report...but the memory card is the most valuable....photos from wilmington, n.c. saying bye to josh and family thru atlanta (joe and his family..my sister and receiving my dad's ashes)...every state line up until oklahoma that i shot with a picture of my dad and me since chris left our ritual....videos of scenery throughout the south...shot-gunning beer videos solo in those states....
so after reacting to the news with disbelief and later anger that came out with a nice and stupid punch to my extremely hard and large camera case, i've finally just let it be another part of the trip...
i'm taking photos and some video with my iphone and using the yashica more...also my photo project got a lucky a couple of times now...and the wonderful jen has just overnighted another digi
i'll be in dumas, tx until i pick up my fedex p[ackage tomorrow at 11:00 am or so...then it's off to taos, n.m. tomorrow
yesterday was horrible and great all at once. i finally got to leave seminole, o.k. for o.k. city and snag some new rubber for laru yesterday. i left the comfortable grasp of the oxford inn and its lounge after 6 days of home-sickness, boredom, booziness and too much mazzio's...i met some great people...my kind of people (i don't know if i'm exactly their type of people, but it worked out with no jail or black eyes) thanks for the machete mike, and thanks to whomever played for playing round of drinks tag...nice mix of cowboys, bikers, vets, and all around blue-collar folks.
steve, at atomic brown scooters in o.k. city, hooked up a duro tire and a russian c-97 spare rubber (super big knobbies) for $75. i switched out the tires while steve checked and corrected the alignment on the sidecar. the bike's still pulling a little, but i have a new rear and sidecar tire....should get me to california. Also, steve actually didn't have ant spare tires...he called a client that had requested steve put on some new tires among other things for his 2006? gear-up...he told me on the phone sat., while i was in seminole, that he wouldn't even know when he could get tires until mon. i was damn dissapointed after waiting around all week for them to open again...i assumed they would have plenty of tires, but, like most listed ural dealers, they're just getting into it and don't have much stock of anything ural related. i don't know if i mentioned this already but they were closed due to the death of a close family member....sorry for your loss guys...back to super steve---he didn't want to leave me stranded so he called the customer with the 2006 gear-up and asked for his brand new spare tire rubber...the person graciously agreed (thanks!! whoever you are)...
so after an hour or so i took laru for a test drive, and she did fine...on a SUNDAY (you're the man steve) laru was up and running
...so i paid him and went to grab the camera to take the pics and some video before i left...no camera
no fucking canon t1i that has been the work horse throughout the trip...my yaschica 120 mm and 4x5 were where they needed to be, but no digi!!!!!!! right when i got into o.k. city i got gas and had to use the restroom...the camera was under my sidecar cover and hidden from view...i never like to leave tyhe bike and since chris has left it's sorta been a worry...but nothing has occurred so far...i was in a somewhat "bad" neighborhood...bars on business windows, sketchy looking dudes that had been up all night most likely...but it wasn't like the southside of atlanta or chicago for that matter...nothing against those places, but i know not to be there at the wrong time...this was a sunday morning with the sun beaming down and there non-cracked out people milling around the outskirts of the city...
this is a massive hit to the trip...i can make a police report...but the memory card is the most valuable....photos from wilmington, n.c. saying bye to josh and family thru atlanta (joe and his family..my sister and receiving my dad's ashes)...every state line up until oklahoma that i shot with a picture of my dad and me since chris left our ritual....videos of scenery throughout the south...shot-gunning beer videos solo in those states....
so after reacting to the news with disbelief and later anger that came out with a nice and stupid punch to my extremely hard and large camera case, i've finally just let it be another part of the trip...
i'm taking photos and some video with my iphone and using the yashica more...also my photo project got a lucky a couple of times now...and the wonderful jen has just overnighted another digi
i'll be in dumas, tx until i pick up my fedex p[ackage tomorrow at 11:00 am or so...then it's off to taos, n.m. tomorrow
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
georgia thru oklahoma
a little more on georgia:
jenny thank you for meeting me...i love you sis...dad will like it around the parks of utah...rich, (my brother) i wished we could've met that day...but shit went down and i had to deal with it...you know how it is. love you man...take care of yourself and i'll see you in spring...
i got to eat great bad food that fed my nostalgia...waffle house and krystals...i still need chick fil a and sonic...oh hyeah and steak and shake...but it's too late cause i'm in oklahoma now
jenny thank you for meeting me...i love you sis...dad will like it around the parks of utah...rich, (my brother) i wished we could've met that day...but shit went down and i had to deal with it...you know how it is. love you man...take care of yourself and i'll see you in spring...
i got to eat great bad food that fed my nostalgia...waffle house and krystals...i still need chick fil a and sonic...oh hyeah and steak and shake...but it's too late cause i'm in oklahoma now
i'm back
sorry for the delay of this post...after arriving in atlanta, ga. chris left....i also received my father's ashes from my sister....these two changes in the middle of the trip (one expected and one not) kind of threw me off my game. the south has been a blur...
chris and i left wilmington, n.c. in perfect time...they were just beginning to flood due to the incessant rain...10 inches fell in the24-36 hours we were there. tuesday september 28th we left in the morning during the only lull in the storms...we hauled ass across south carolina and landed on the border of georgia, near augusta...we got a nice motel at the "carolina inn" and bombed to atlanta the next day...
an old friend of mine, joe, and his family put us up for the night....while i switched the sidecar and rear tire lloyd, joe's father, entertained us with stories and mary, joe's mother, hooked us up with wings for dinner. i got to visit a few old friends from back in the day (15 yrs old to 20) while chris stayed in his tent at joe's house and read.
the next day while waiting for my sister to bring me some of my father's ashes chris tells me he's burnt and needs to attend to other affairs...he left that afternoon and i decided to stay at joe's another night to figure out my new game plan...
with decent rubber on the rear i took off in the morning friday october 1st...
thanks again to joe and his family...want to say goodluck in your lives to jason and his family and to johnny...thanks for the strong coffee lloyd, that got me cruising down the road...thanks and good luck to kevin and the rest of joe's friends for the coffee and talk....
chris and i left wilmington, n.c. in perfect time...they were just beginning to flood due to the incessant rain...10 inches fell in the24-36 hours we were there. tuesday september 28th we left in the morning during the only lull in the storms...we hauled ass across south carolina and landed on the border of georgia, near augusta...we got a nice motel at the "carolina inn" and bombed to atlanta the next day...
an old friend of mine, joe, and his family put us up for the night....while i switched the sidecar and rear tire lloyd, joe's father, entertained us with stories and mary, joe's mother, hooked us up with wings for dinner. i got to visit a few old friends from back in the day (15 yrs old to 20) while chris stayed in his tent at joe's house and read.
the next day while waiting for my sister to bring me some of my father's ashes chris tells me he's burnt and needs to attend to other affairs...he left that afternoon and i decided to stay at joe's another night to figure out my new game plan...
with decent rubber on the rear i took off in the morning friday october 1st...
thanks again to joe and his family...want to say goodluck in your lives to jason and his family and to johnny...thanks for the strong coffee lloyd, that got me cruising down the road...thanks and good luck to kevin and the rest of joe's friends for the coffee and talk....
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
so far
we've gone about 6 thousand kilometers and it's been 3 weeks...we're not going any further south and east, so should make it back to seattle after going through mesa verde, canyonlands, arches and yellowstone national parks in about 14 days...hopefully...barring any major bad weather or mechanical problems...total mileage should be about 10-11 thousand kilometers
sat morning
on our way out to n.c. we wanted to check out robert e. lee's house for wise...we rolled up and found out there was some kind of wine tasting deal, but asked the parking dude if we could not pay and just take a couple photos real quick...he gave us the go ahead and we pulled around to the house where a bunch of wealthy southern patrons were going in for the wine...chris unloaded with camera in tow and made it up 2 stairs before a couple of "fancy" people asked him to pay the $10 to enter...he explained we just wanted a couple photos and would be out in a few minutes...they refused and we had to leave (our first taste of southern hospitality) we had the $10 but we weren't going to drink and at it became a matter of principle...that really left a bad taste in my mouth for about 50 miles and i finally let it go...we blasted to the outer banks and finally got our first jolly rogers flag, a couple postcards and water...lots of water...damn hot. we were going to stay in kill devil's hill, but it was a little busy, and i felt like riding another 60 miles or so to a nice little campsite in hatteras....we stayed next to a pond that was the home to a billion turtles, cooked more dogs (no fire ban), charged everything, fixed the flags, drank some beer and went to bed to read...
we left early on sun morning to get to the 1st of 2 ferries that would getr us back to the mainland...a little bummed we didn't have the time to check out kittyhawk..but we had to make time and the timing was off...the first ferrry was right on and right off...we rode for 12 miles to the next ferry where we would have to wait about 4 hours for the 3:30- ferry...the 12:30 was booked...they take reservations for the small $10 2 hour ferry ride to cedar island, and we didn't know it...so as we were heading to the long wait for our reserved 3:30 ferry we were discussing how late we were going to get into wilmington, n.c. where we would stay with mutual friends josh (moped rescuer: http://www.mopedrescue.com) and mellisa's ( http://www.melissabrandt.com )house...we thought maybe we would pay someone to let us on in their place for the 12:30. so without the details so no one gets into trouble we slid a fifty to get on....all of the big storms that should've hit us the day before had not shown up...but about 8 miles away from their house we could actually see the low pressure and high pressure meet and form a stormy rain that would not stop (even now, the next night)... it's dropped about 10 inches so far and roads are closed due to flooding here in wilmington, n.c. we've been delayed a day because of this, and decided to organize, catch up blog, photos, wash ourselves and clothes, etc.....it's a nice unexpected break (lazy day...beer...bad t.v....moday night football) but dissapointing because i may now not be able to make it to daytona bch., florida to see my mom, uncle and family...not just because of time but the next 4 days say thunderstorms and we just can't take that time....i'm really bummed out... love you mom...take care of yourself uncle rich...and give my mom a hug for me john
tomorrow we hope to leave around 12:00 (i have to take care of bank issues) and head to augusta, georgia, about 275 miles...we'll be going through the middle of south carolina...
about to have dinner and then work on more photos...
oh yeah...the rain...so earlier i needed to go to a bank that's a shared branch with mine in seattle...i caught a, what should've been an $8, cab...after "getting lost" and driving through 3 foot deep flood waters, the cab dropped me off at the bank...i go up to the doors and it's locked..the tellers inside point at the rising waters and say there closed from behind the counter...(i had just called there and no one explained those plans, even though the weather hadn't changed in 12 hours...and why the hell couldn't you have given me the courtesy of at least coming to the door and telling me this to my drenched self?) after calling cabs and being told it would be a couple hours i then proceeded to walk the 2 1/2 miles back to the house....i was pissed, but decided to embrace the wetness and had a beer and a shot at every place i could as walked back...oh yeah and i got to see the entrance to unc campus...woo weee
we left early on sun morning to get to the 1st of 2 ferries that would getr us back to the mainland...a little bummed we didn't have the time to check out kittyhawk..but we had to make time and the timing was off...the first ferrry was right on and right off...we rode for 12 miles to the next ferry where we would have to wait about 4 hours for the 3:30- ferry...the 12:30 was booked...they take reservations for the small $10 2 hour ferry ride to cedar island, and we didn't know it...so as we were heading to the long wait for our reserved 3:30 ferry we were discussing how late we were going to get into wilmington, n.c. where we would stay with mutual friends josh (moped rescuer: http://www.mopedrescue.com) and mellisa's ( http://www.melissabrandt.com )house...we thought maybe we would pay someone to let us on in their place for the 12:30. so without the details so no one gets into trouble we slid a fifty to get on....all of the big storms that should've hit us the day before had not shown up...but about 8 miles away from their house we could actually see the low pressure and high pressure meet and form a stormy rain that would not stop (even now, the next night)... it's dropped about 10 inches so far and roads are closed due to flooding here in wilmington, n.c. we've been delayed a day because of this, and decided to organize, catch up blog, photos, wash ourselves and clothes, etc.....it's a nice unexpected break (lazy day...beer...bad t.v....moday night football) but dissapointing because i may now not be able to make it to daytona bch., florida to see my mom, uncle and family...not just because of time but the next 4 days say thunderstorms and we just can't take that time....i'm really bummed out... love you mom...take care of yourself uncle rich...and give my mom a hug for me john
tomorrow we hope to leave around 12:00 (i have to take care of bank issues) and head to augusta, georgia, about 275 miles...we'll be going through the middle of south carolina...
about to have dinner and then work on more photos...
oh yeah...the rain...so earlier i needed to go to a bank that's a shared branch with mine in seattle...i caught a, what should've been an $8, cab...after "getting lost" and driving through 3 foot deep flood waters, the cab dropped me off at the bank...i go up to the doors and it's locked..the tellers inside point at the rising waters and say there closed from behind the counter...(i had just called there and no one explained those plans, even though the weather hadn't changed in 12 hours...and why the hell couldn't you have given me the courtesy of at least coming to the door and telling me this to my drenched self?) after calling cabs and being told it would be a couple hours i then proceeded to walk the 2 1/2 miles back to the house....i was pissed, but decided to embrace the wetness and had a beer and a shot at every place i could as walked back...oh yeah and i got to see the entrance to unc campus...woo weee
d.c. on
so d.c. was really hot...98 degrees...hotter than anyplace so far. we called ahead to modern classics the day before and dropped laru off there around 11:00 am on last thursday...just want say hell yeah thanks again to wellesley and greg at modern classics http://modernclassicsdc.com for squeezing us into their booked schedule (5 weeks out!!). they're new to the ural game and i would guess about 75% of their focus is on scooters (vespa, etc.) chris and i checked the sites around our nations capitol on thursday and booked the nearest but certainly not the cheapest motel (motel 6 $130 for a single.) after taking the efficient metro to ford's theater to see the lincoln assassination display and walking about 5 miles around the obvious places, i headed back to the motel while chris took in more sights. i was able to try a five guys burger and fries, and man was it good...chris got back around 8pm. we watched the office and fell asleep early where we promptly received bed-bug bites that night...even though they could've been shady and rip us off, (because the nearest ural dealer was in richmond, va. and the rear tire wouldn't have made it), they didn't...and greg knows his shit....this was greg's first time servicing a ural and it didn't show....they changed the rubber on the back, i also grabbed another tire that's now strapped to the front of the sidecar, and they did the 10k service which included spark plugs, all fluids changed, adjusting the brakes, tightening all cables, etc. after we paid and took a couple photos they hooked us up with a cooler of beer....after shotgunning a hile life we headed out into the comnstruction-plagued, heat-stifling city streets around 1:00 on friday....
the alignment on the bike is still an issue, but i've given up on it...my body is startinmg to adjust the constant amount of force to keep laru on track....later friday night we landed in west moreland state campground (near the birth places of george washington and robert e. lee). as we rode around to pick our site for the night we couldn't believe it but we saw another ural gear-up and pulled into the site next to it....turns out a biker named greg was there with his 2 daughters...they weren't there but as we began to unload greg and his daughteres come running over from another site kind of frantic...the daughters thought we were on their dad's bike and he wanted to know what the hell was going on. after the initial meeting the daughters were bummed out and kept saying "hey no copying!!" we haven't seen a ural yet!! his ural was rad and had some nice tweaks to it (custom seat, large axe and mount, etc.) they were a really nice family, and greg saved our asses that night by letting us borrow his compact camping stove to cook our dogs...after a couple beers we were starving and almost burned down the park not once but twice trying to get my stove lit....apparently a gas leak...no fire due to the ban, so after dogs we went right to bed to read...the next morning we took off early said goodbyes to greg and family and headed to the outerbanks (obx) of north carolina
---jleep
the alignment on the bike is still an issue, but i've given up on it...my body is startinmg to adjust the constant amount of force to keep laru on track....later friday night we landed in west moreland state campground (near the birth places of george washington and robert e. lee). as we rode around to pick our site for the night we couldn't believe it but we saw another ural gear-up and pulled into the site next to it....turns out a biker named greg was there with his 2 daughters...they weren't there but as we began to unload greg and his daughteres come running over from another site kind of frantic...the daughters thought we were on their dad's bike and he wanted to know what the hell was going on. after the initial meeting the daughters were bummed out and kept saying "hey no copying!!" we haven't seen a ural yet!! his ural was rad and had some nice tweaks to it (custom seat, large axe and mount, etc.) they were a really nice family, and greg saved our asses that night by letting us borrow his compact camping stove to cook our dogs...after a couple beers we were starving and almost burned down the park not once but twice trying to get my stove lit....apparently a gas leak...no fire due to the ban, so after dogs we went right to bed to read...the next morning we took off early said goodbyes to greg and family and headed to the outerbanks (obx) of north carolina
---jleep
Sunday, September 26, 2010
photos from niagara and so forth
portrait of steve
south of the northern pennsylvania border
niagara
buffalo, ny
for moms
buttonwood, penn
michael @ the falls...informative german
caution...trains every 2 hours
the early masses
ms. laru doing 60 on the curvy 555 in penn...super fun
night shot buttonwood
mexico, penn
adjustments
leaving ny
favorite night shot @ buttonwood in mexico...almost full moon made it seem like late morning
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