West Coast

Krista and Apryl were nice enough to set me up with a bed and play host in LA, which was great because LA was overwhelming.  It felt a little like NYC in that there were people all over the place (most of them just happened to be in cars).  It was like a sunny warm and dry version of the city that had been squashed flat and had the effective subway removed.

Just a couple days there and I'm already missing the bakery - and I hardly got a chance to see the Bigfoot Lodge.  We saw the view from the hills, saw the hollywood sign and some stars in the concrete and ate some great food.  Arlo, the puppy that likes to pounce, and I were buddies also.  Driving in LA did not appeal to me in the least (thanks Apryl for driving) ... and a motorcycle seemed crazy.  People are driving every which way and quickly - they are also angry because there are no left turn signals.

I navigated west to the beach and then followed 101 and the 1 north: huge beaches, surfboards on beetles, volleyball in the sand etc.  The desire to get home was pretty strong and it didn't leave me until I got into the redwoods.  There is something about those huge old trees that makes rushing around seem silly.  I did manage to escape the forest before the moss started growing on me ... but only just.

Oregon decided to spend a bunch of stimulus money on fixing roads I think because there was construction everywhere.  I finally gave up on the coast and turned in to get on I-5.  Despite the construction I made some serious miles until  I got to WA.  Washington welcomed me home with darkness and rain (only real rain of the trip).  Reluctantly I gave up my dreams of being in my own bed and found a motel for the night.

And finally after a short cold ride this morning I'm home again.  The apartment is trashed from digging in the closets looking for those last couple items ... but the pjs are awesome!  I think I need one more post as an end cap - maybe tomorrow.

Wonderful Windmills

Made it to the Village Bakery in L.A. and am overjoyed to just be sitting with my americano.  I'm a little worried about the air being a general shade of gray (I pondered and didn't see any other color being better: yellow - no; brown - yuck, and blue - just weird).  Traffic was good for an adrenaline generating thrill, but before that part there was the windmills.

The windmills by Palm Springs are so cool!  Looking at them reminds me of huge flowers or a steampunk landscape.  The wind what is pushing all those blades makes for a rough ride on a motorcycle though.  Thankfully the windy part didn't last too long.

Halloween

Construction, grooved hwy, traffic and smelly cows made getting out of El Paso suck.  I had to go through a iimmigration checkpoint (not at the border).  The check consisted of them asking me if I was a citizen, I say yes, they say okay go.  There was also a cracked out dog sniffing for drugs and multiple very impressive arrays of cameras and camera like objects.  Really that dog was nuts - I think he gets to eat some of the cocaine that he finds.

I finally took the visor off my helmet: less drag, and noise.  But by the afternoon I was missing the shade.  Instead of putting it back on I choose to take a little nap on a wonderfully cool concrete table at the rest stop.  I was reminded by a sign at the stop that there are poisonous snakes and scorpions about ... spiders too I bet.  Not the best thoughts as I try to take a snooze.

I was bored on the ride so was watching the miles per gallon readout on my bike as I pulled up next to the big rigs or when I was behind them.  There seems to be a little bit of a shock wave that extends out next to the trucks that helps my mpg.  Behind the trucks is no fun because there is some serious buffeting from the left and right that make it really uncomfortable.  There was one truck, the magic truck where the experience was completely different.

After my nap I was merging back onto the road and I noticed this pocket of dead calm behind a truck hauling a chunk of a skyscrapper crane base.  It was tall and the openness of the tubes seemed to prevent buffeting - in fact it was eary how quiet it was in that pocket.  Oh, not only was it quiet and calm but I was getting a 50% gain in mpg.  The mpg boost, quiet, and the puzzle of how it worked kept me attached to the truck like a pilot fish to a shark for a while, until I decided that I wanted to get out of sun sooner vs saving the gas.

I'm too tired to find there words to do it justice but there was a sunset by Red Rock - golden and stretching all the way to the east, the super high clouds created by jets and then blown apart to look like a school of fish

Austin - El Paso

There was a small group of people traveling down Hwy 10 and with all the rest stops and gas ups we kept passing each other.  Those trucks are the tortoise to my hare like bike (a larger gas tank would help).  I really enjoyed getting in to the desert.

Some Photos

There is something beautiful and sad about the places that we have built and then left.

Under the Hill Saloon and Mark Twain guest house in Natchez on the river.

Always a fan of cool bridges.

Natchez cemetery

Austin food trucks for the brunch win today!

Cacti for the yard - do you even have to water them?

XOXO Austin I love the park by the river.

Natchez Pottery

I ended up catching part of a work shop by Yoshi Fujii which made me remember how much fun making pottery is. The town has a nice little pottery co-op space, which seems like a great way to share the cost.

Fallingwaters to Natchez

Tuscaloosa was fun once I met up with a couple people from ebay (Rebecca and Caesar). Caesar and I got talking about there is a space for us to expand and create into, which was almost a direct quote from a book that I'm currently reading. 

The pine trees are back!  Thank you Mississippi, I didn't expect this from you.  I don't understand why if you have enough money to build a huge house (I mean really huge) why would you build it next to a hwy?

Just as the sun was getting low in the sky the temp dropped down enough that I had to zip up and turn the hand warmers on again.  It was so warm this morning that I was really caught off guard.  The locals are saying that it is pretty cold for them, but heading that way.  I thought all the south was supposed to be warm - like all the time.

I'm looking forward to the change from this wet and humid to the dry of the desert.  Like St Louis Lisa said - the desert is a magic place.  Also looking forward to Austin ... My new friend here says that it is a little like NOLA.

Fallingwaters

Before computers I wanted to be an architect, so I found myself getting more and more excited waiting for the tour to start.  People do travel from all over the world to see this building but I think the international tour creds were boosted by the Young World Leaders conference that was going on in Pittsburgh.  Dutch was a nice addition to the language soup I was served in NYC.

I like to build things in the same way that Wright did ... just on the edge of what is possible.  The house leaked until better paint was developed to seal it and the huge cantilevers had to be tweaked with some additional cables.

 

My favorite parts:

* the natural architecture flowing from the ground into the house

* how the house disappears when viewed from the guest house

* original desk in design was "too small to write a check to an architect"

 

While I was in NYC the tree got fulling into the fall business.  Growing up in the northwest I thought I had a pretty good idea about trees and fall etc, but when there are only a couple evergreens in the whole landscape, things start to get a little epic.  Do a quick image search for "pennsylvania fall" to get a taste of what I'm riding through.

Stoop Sale



 

A little of NYC

I love exploring on foot because it gives you the time to really see the world around you.  For example this bike - which belonged to someone on the same street as Natalie.  I would be fun to have some company.

This puppy is hard at work soaking up the sun and guarding the door.

I'm not sure why this caught my attention, but the wires continued up the side of the building.  It seems a little crazy that the cable guy can just poke holes in the building wherever a new jack is required, and with a motivation only focused on running new wires ... there is a beauty and also an element of chaos that bugs me. (look closely and you can see Jax fetching the ball)

This is Jax - like me he was also visiting for the week and was our companion on many walks.

 

The subway was a highlight ... it seems a little odd to actually say that.  Natalie likes to play a game of trying to spot rats and we did see one.  A tiny gray mouse, various musicians and one screaming child were also in attendance.  I was happy to experience a (short) period of the train being delayed between stops without lights, only one navigation mistake, and a couple of young kids that reminded me of my son.

To Natalie's distress I was often humming for whistling the MC Frontalot song.

 

Central park was huge, wonderful, full of people, full of weddings, and containing more rocks then I would have guessed.  I'm curious if the park stabilized the local property values because I know I would love to live or work next to it.

 

NYC and I aren't done with each other yet...

No Sleep, Till Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Bontanical Gardens are free Tuesday and Saturday mornings and a great place to get some pine needles in your hair.

I have been having a great time just exploring the local neighborhood, getting coffee and eating.  The huge tourest activities feel like something that I need to put some time into, but I haven't gotten over the hump of wanting to deal with that scene.  Natalie's roommate was saying that she just took the Stanton Island ferry out and back and enjoyed it.

Poetry reading tonight - that seems fitting right?

NYC

I made it!  The drive out of DC today was delayed by a group of pink wearing marithoners that wanted to go everywhere that I wanted to go ... or more acuraley, everywhere my GPS was directing me to go to get out of the city.  But once onto the Hwy the trip was quick, but took a toll on my pocket book ;)

Do non-engineers get excited about driving under the harbor?  With the toll booth being near the entrance it felt like a ride at the carniville.  Crossing the bridge into the city proper I felt this huge wave of accomplishment and joy for setting my own personal goal and then following through with it.  I'm looking forward to echos of that same type of experience in the years ahead.

Even without having to look out the window there is a feeling of the mass of the city surrounding me.  I'm not sure what that feeling means to me exactly, but I'm curious.

10-14

Gravel in Wyoming


Adam and I went to the golf driving range today - something that I have never done before but it seemed in line with my interests.  I was spot on ... really enjoy smacking the balls with the club and watching them shoot off into the distance. 

While I was working figuring out how the clubs work and rotating vs. just a linear weight transfer, Adam was busy reinjuring his shoulder and going into a deep enough state of shock that his body thought it was a good time for a nap.  Way to keep a trip to the driving range interesting Adam - interesting and scary.

Note on shock: elevate legs to get more blood to the organs and brain, we did this later but I think that Adam would have been happier had we did this sooner.

Blue Ridge Camping

While camping on the Blue Ridge I happened into this wonderful site and after finally figuring out the trick to my rainfly, I decided to try to make a fire.  Try is the key word here because I didn't have matches or lighter.  So being the boyscout that I am I got up my knife ... I considered the chances pretty slim and after only managing to get the sticks a little warm and darkness setting in I gave up.  Anyone have any tips for next time? 

Mothers never stop.  At one point my camp neighbor, an older gentleman, came over to offer me some matches.  We compared some boyscout stories - he had tried to do what I was doing, I on the other hand was handed two matches and some pocket lint at scout camp.  Of course he was only came over offering help because of his wife.  I can imagine that she thought that I was some poor man that was going to freeze to death, because I had too much pride to ask for matches and her husband wasn't going to come see if I needed help.

Pictures

I spent the day wondering around the monuments and museums. 

 

 

Anyone play fallout?

Lincoln Memorial

Gardens outside of department of agriculture

Yellow handles are marked "for astronaut use only" ... sorry martians, these are not the handles you are looking for

Before there was northface there was fish skin!

conservatory

Lisa your secret is out!

Arlington VA

Yesterday was day two of the Blue Ridge Parkway and it rolled out all sorts of experiences for me. I gave up on pictures ... I mean really there is only so many amazing mtn views that you can handle before they blend together - also it takes forever to stop, stip the gear off and get the camera out.  But let me try to describe a couple things.

The morning was clear and sunny with the sun beaming down between the trees to create a zebra stripped road in a green and orange tunnel of leaves.  And yes is was just miles and miles of that ... I'm ruined for any other motorcycle road. 

The next moment would have to be riding near the ridge of top of the mtn with the clouds rolling and boiling over the tree line and down the slope. It reminded me of that place of quiet behind the waterfall.

But of course I crossed over into the cloud/fog and the world turned first gray and then creepy. It's odd to look down and see the sun lighting the trees below you while you are in gray limbo.  The leaves changed from colored parade confettee to angry insects attacking my helmet.  I suppose I will always love fog, even when it is cold.

After the gray and cold returning to the sun was a welcome change.  In the way the Blue Ridge Parkway feels like a view on rails into the country side.  Because it just keeps going and going without really being connect with local roads you get this feeling of being seperate.

The city and traffic of today feel hectic after all the quiet of the parkway and camping, but I'm curious what this stay with Adam in Arlington will be like.

In general I haven't done much route planning for this trip, so when I left Nashville I just pointed my bike toward the Mtns figuring that I like Mtns and there should be something interesting there.  Firstly, I discovered that people plan entire vacations to visit the roads around the Smoky Mtns.  Secondly, there is this road called the Tail of the Dragon - 300+ curves in 11 miles.

Last night after watching a bunch of movies on that road I had worked myself up to the point where I couldn't sleep, or when I did fall asleep I would wake myself up again.  In the morning I had a nice chat with a guy named Rick who was from Oklahoma and was also going to brave the roads, so I figured I could do it also.

I think the number of motorcyles at the gap was the largest that I have ever been a part of ... it really gave the whole experience the feel of a theme park.  Unlike the sport bikes (they may ride that hill all day) I took the corners easy, hit the bottom and turned around to do it again from the other direction.  Also adding to the themepark feel was the photographers camped at a couple of the corners shooting all the bikes and then selling prints online (not a bad gig really).

 After the crush of all the traffic I excaped onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The parkway is epic!  The picture above is just one example of the many outlooks.  I stopped taking photos because I would still be up there otherwise.  But mostly I just focus on the corners and keeping my lines good, because ... well let's just say this isn't a good road to be distracted on.

Anna/Bri - I saw a very puffy cayote
Natalie - saw a very cool blue jay, and an enormous soaring bird with splayed wing tips
Megan/Joe - I miss walking down to the elysian
Lisa - I need some tea!  My shoulder is killing me.
Carl - video of what it looks like with the fall colors http://youtu.be/ys1GytM3KLc
Everyone - I'm missing you all today.

Nashville

Listening to bluegrass in Nashville ... Seems fitting. 

The transition from the deep solitude of riding the motorcycle to the neon of  tourest central is a little jarring to night. 

Sad to Go

Heading out tomorrow with the target of getting down to Nashville.  I signed up with the couchsurfers, but it might be too last minute to get that going.  I'm already looking forward to the roads in the Smoky Mtns.

I have been hanging out in this coffee shop in St. Louis almost every day and it already feels like a home.  If you are in town you should checkout The Mud House, in addition to the coffee the food is great.

Canyon to my left

Top of Slip Rd, Kaycee, WY

Reflecting on Yellowstone to Saint Louis

Steve and I did our duty and watched Old Faithful, which is still Faithful after the earthquake in the 80's.  The earthquake changed to geyser to more often be bigger blasts less frequently.  We also happened to catch the Bee Hive geyser we thought was more impressive (could be that we were right next to it).  The lodge was an unexpected pleasure.  I had some expectations I just about other timber construction that I have seen before, but the tall space created inside with almost a scaffolding feel to the stairs leading up to a roof-top observation platform was very cool.

The next morning split up with him traveling south to the Great Tetons and I choosing the east exist of the park.  The ride out was sunny, curvy and a view of the lake and post forest forest fire trees.  The trees were bleached into silver and black contrast without the thick second growth of pine trees we saw in other parts of the park.

I had a strong feeling of curiosity about where my path would lead now that I didn't have a set destination or timeline.  Wyoming kept drawing me back over and over again to the present with the rock formations, canyons and wonderfully fun roads.  While taking a little break and paring down my layers from the cold morning, I found a historical marker explaining that the local site had a artifact history dating back 10k years.  And after walking down to the stream to fill my water bottle (filtered of course) I could see why the choice made over and over again was always that this was a pretty nice spot.  It was one of those moments where you feel the historical import of the place seep into you.

By random process of GPS and iphone I ended up on gavel/dirt road that couldn't have been more fun.  The knobby tires on the bike got a chance to come out to play as I navigated the twists and switchbacks.  I need more practice riding on gravel/dirt - with a lighter bike. 

I pushed into the evening and went slow up and around Mt Rushmore with a full moon looking down on my terror of kamikaze-deer.  The rock felt different than anywhere else I had seen so far - more raw and hard.  Again the geology of the land became the conversation in my head (other than reminding myself that the deer are trying to kill me).

Coming down out of the Mtns the lights of Rapid City seem to span to the horizon, but I came realize later I was seeing lights for multiple towns and an air force base.  Rapid City was a nice relaxing place and I ended up spending a couple nights there.  Being on the road is forcing me to be a little more forward in starting conversations with people, which is good both for my own growth but also I love those experiences of connecting with people even for just a short moment.

I had been warned and thought that I was prepared, but after the high of Wyoming and the start of South Dakota the plains were rough.  My plan was to open myself up into the space around me, but the winds failed GPS wanderings made for a rough couple days.  Seemingly endless fields of dead sunflowers (all curled over the same direction) and dry brown corn do make the vibrant greens, yellows and oranges of the fall leaves pop into a semblance of frozen fireworks.

Last night brought me to Saint Louis to watch the presidential debate with Lisa and her sister's family.  I'm going to be here for a couple days so maybe I can get some pictures posted and do a little programming on the laptop.

Done for the day - Nebraska I don't think your giving me your best effort.

Reflecting on Seattle to Yellowstone

Coming down out of mountains and into eastern WA is when I really started to sink in that this was more than a weekend trip up to the cabin with the boys.  The smell of the forest fires would serve to be a constant companion for the next three states.  The ride to Spokane wasn't anything too exciting and mostly just a time to reflect as I was just on the 90.

 

Darrin, a friend of a friend, was nice enough to host me in Spokane.  We had some dinner at new restraunt in his neighborhood, while getting our ears talked off by the manager.  Megan say that Darrin and I are alike - I'm not exactly sure in which ways, because I didn't feel like we could really connect.  Maybe I just don't have enough people like him in my life to know what to expect.

 

The ride out of Spokane, through the panhandle of Idaho and into Montaina was the first really great riding experience of the trip.  The scenery was still very much NW but with a air of being less spoiled by population.  Not sure if I already said this but smells are very much of experience on a motorcycle and that valley coming down into Montainia was clear and pine sented after the haze of smoke everywhere else.

 

The ride to Missoula went quickly and I got had some time to relax at a local coffee shop before Katy finished work.  Katy is a friend of Michelle's and awesome.  I'm still to new to this experience of crashing on someone's couch, but Katy's made it easy.  We met up with some of her friends and sat on the patio to enjoy warm weather.  They also had a great time getting me worked up with bear stories.

 

 It was a long ride to Yellowstone with not enough sleep, but the coffee in Butte helped.  Butte seemed interesting - at least from a historical aspect.  I got into the park and found the camp site that Steve had thankfull already reserved.  They went quickly and there was even more demand as we went deeper into the park.  The northern park where we camped the first night felt pretty dry and alot like eastern Washington.  I keep comparing everything to home - I suppose that when that is all you know...

 

So what do you do when you have a hammock-tent and only one tree?  Well if you are me you figure out how to rig something up using the bike and some rope.  I think Steve has some pictures.  It worked well for about half the night, but by the morning the bike and slid back enough to put my butt on the ground.  Mostly I was just happy not to have gotten by a bear (slept with spray, and a big knife).  Steve and I made an early trip down to reserve the next camp site; An early COLD trip!

 

I'm happy that I had enough sleeping bag to manage to cold, but my gloves are not up to the same level.  The next campground was busy and it took forever to get our slip.  I'm not sure if he didn't like the look of us, but it had to be the sadest site I have ever seen.  We were in a little slip crammed in next to the trail to the office.  I had to make friends with our neighbors (thanks Duke and Robin) because we didn't have any trees for my hammock.  It worked out fine because, they like everyone else, were in an RV and didn't care about the rest of the site they had. 

 

 

 

Hazy Mtns in Eastern WA

I'm getting an early start out of Cody with the idea of getting to Rapid City today.  The laptop doesn't know how to read the TIFF files that my SLR is making ... need to switch it to JPEG.

Cody, WY

I found a little coffee shop with some free wifi (civilization!) - there is also a little brass band playing accross the street.  I'm in some serious need of a shower, and one for my clothes also!

Yellowstone

Made it to camp site; did not immediately get eaten by bear.

Butte Montana

It's cold this morning!  Still not a cloud in the sky but the smoke is still heavy on 
the hills.  The buildings in town feel old almost like there just isn't enough people to wear the structures out. 

Missoula

First time I've seen a homeless kid with a compound bow. Is it a Montana thing?

Day One

(there are bugs on the camera lens)

First day done.  I know that it had been said before but the real difference between traveling in the car vs on the motorcycle is the amount of exposure you have to the environment around you.  Because of this exposure I noticed the smokey smell this side of the Mtns even before I noticed the hazy air.

People are super friendly, curious where I'm going and into talking about the bike.  The smoke has sented everything and the sky was mostly just a blank gray all day.  The pass went quickly but the rolling farmland seemed to stretch on and on.

The Eve

So no tubes in the bag but a patch kit, so I should be fine.  Also I found out that my friend I heading east tomorrow also,  so it will almost be like I have a chase car.  All the gear is strewn out on the floor and I have decided that I only need to pack well enough to make it to Spokane and that I can reorganize once I get there.

Today I mounted and wired the GPS and replaced the battery on the bike ... not sure if the battery needed it but I feel better about it after the number of times I ran the old one into the ground.  The GPS locking mount was a fail but the non-locking option worked pretty well.  I still need to figure out a better way to route the wires and maybe pick up some eyelets for the terminals.

First Post

I'm tired and need to get to bed, so this won't be a long posting.  I took the bike down for service today and picked up some more odds and ends ... I wonder if I ended up with any spare tubes (I'll have to check tomorrow).