Ben's Cross-Country Motorcycle Trip Log

Back on a bike, in Argentina!

2011-10-15T12:51:00.002-05:00

I'd like to point readers of this blog to some newer posts: I moved recently with my girlfriend to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Last weekend we rented a Harley Davidson Road King for a wonderful day trip through the Argentina pampas.

We would like to rent a bike again for a longer trip, hopefully at least 8 days, to the Argentina northwest (Cordoba, Cafayate, Salta, Jujuy). But bikes here are expensive, so we're looking for sponsors. If anyone is interested in sponsoring or contributing to the adventure, or have any ideas about who to approach, please let us know!

UPDATE Nov 10: we're leaving on Saturday morning! Follow our motorcycle trip through the Argentine northwest here.

Epilogue

2006-11-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

In one moment many years ago, I was inspired to travel across the United States on a motorcycle. Having never ridden a motorcycle, or known anyone who had one, this idea might have seemed absurd on its face. Perhaps it was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance that got the bug in my head. Or the realization, after racing with the BU Cycling team in my freshman year, that I loved the speed and the road and two wheels but could only go so far by pedaling.

Regardless of how I got there, however, I knew in the summer of 2005 that I was going to get a motorcycle. First I signed up for the MSF's riding course in Beverly, MA. I bought motorcycle books and travel diaries and a helmet. I got my license riding a Honda Nighthawk 250, and a few weeks later, by sheer coincidence, I had my very own Honda Nighthawk 750, the big brother of the 250, the '92 model on a line long out of production. (Or maybe it's the big sister model; whether motorcycles are male or female is something I never did figure out, and one of the reasons I never gave mine a name, but it was my only baby til I met Tristyn.)

The first step in my crazy idea to go across the country on a motorcycle thus complete, I set the departure date for the imaginary adventure as the following summer. Then, everything else in life aside, I waited a year.

The idea slowly grew into a plan. A non-plan plan, as I called it: the route and schedule would be decided on the fly. It was set for July in the summer of 2006 and expected to be a month long. The plan began to include many details: things I would need, logistics to arrange, concerns to take into account. The riding season of 2006 came around, the bike came out of storage, got a full tuneup and was running in peak condition. It was D minus three weeks, I had almost everything prepared to leave, had the final shopping spree for gear on my calendar... and then I got hit riding home one night and broke my arm.

My wrist immobilized, a cast for six to eight weeks, surgery, physical therapy: the trip was cancelled. I told myself it was only postponed, but with family visiting in August and classes in September, there was no way it was going to happen that summer. All the imagining and planning had been ruined, I was crushed and my arm wasn't healing fast enough.

Eventually the cast came off, the pins came out and I started to regain strength in my wrist. And then one day it occured to me: why not do it in the fall? I could take a semester off; I was a semester ahead anyway. The weather would be better in September than in July and I would have as much time as I wanted. The new plan floated in my brain for a few days until I realized it was not only feasible, it was a great idea. It was just a matter of working out the logistics, like making sure my scholarship wouldn't disappear when I returned and getting health insurance to replace my school policy.

Then one day, D-Day was there, for real this time. The bike was loaded up with all the gear I thought I would need and the tools to improvise everything else. I had a new digital camera and compact laptop to chronicle the journey and work along the way. With butterflies a-flurry in my stomach and a huge road atlas strapped to the bags, I was off.

The rest, as they say, is history. Or more correctly, it's the contents of this blog. 14,000 miles through 37 states. Weather ranging from desert heat to mountain snow. Amazing days and days when I wondered what the hell I was doing. Moments when I couldn't have felt more alive and moments when I was sure I was going to die. Hours when I thought I could ride by myself forever and hours when I just wanted to be home. Nights when I wanted to sit up all night watching the stars and nights when I was sure I would be eaten by a bear. Mornings when the road and sky beckoned and mornings when the rain made me want to cuddle up all day in bed. Rides when the bike flew like it was built yesterday and rides when I expected the wheels and chain to fly off at any moment.

I saw the most beautiful sunsets and nearly went broke twice. I learned that fear is best when I am aware of it and happy it's there but don't let it overwhelm me. I learned that we really don't need much to live on, but that good toys in their place are wonderful to have. I learned to love this country and its history and the pride of its people. I learned to love the road and appreciate the yearning for home. I learned to love my own company. I learned what's at stake.

Many times, I could not have continued without the kind help of strangers, and they were always there. Many times, less kind people could have stolen my gear or the whole bike, when it was uncovered and in the open, yet nothing was ever stolen.

I learned the importance of good gear. My gloves that kept my hands warm and dry enough to ride in the worst conditions. My sunglasses that, despite cracking and needing to be superglued back together several times, I could not have lived without. My tent, its rain cover and my sleeping bag. My compass. My gasoline-fueled camping stove. And all the other containers, fibers and doohickeys without which I could not have done the trip.

I learned that it's good to have people who worry about you, even if they worry about silly things and call after every rain storm. Like fear, those who fear about me serve a crucial purpose, so thank you to those people.

After all that I have seen, there is still a certain longing for the things I missed: the cities I didn't see, the lakes I didn't swim in, the beers I didn't try and the people I didn't meet. But I could spend a thousand lifetimes exploring my world and still have the world to see. That just means there's always more road to ride. The people who tell me this is a "once in a lifetime experience" befuddle me: it will be very sad indeed if I never do something even bigger and better than this. There will be many more journeys to come. Already this weekend, Tristyn and I loaded up the bike again to go camping in Salisbury Beach. The bike is going into hibernation soon for the long New England winter. Maybe I'll buy a car. Or I could get a pilot's license. But I think the most important thing I learned on this trip is that the journey doesn't have to be out there, miles away, navigated on a map. I am the traveller and the road, and the journey is wherever I go.

2006-11-19T18:38:00.000-05:00

(I back-posted for New York on 11/16, see below. More coming soon.)

I Did It

2006-11-17T13:13:00.000-05:00

Home

2006-11-16T17:56:00.001-05:00

Arrived in Boston. Will write much more later.

Back to New York

2006-11-16T13:00:00.000-05:00

(Back-posted)
From Philly I tried to take the NJ Turnpike up to Paterson to meet my aunt, who was going into NYC to have dinner with a friend. But as with the last time I tried to take the turnpike - which is also numbered as I-95 - I took the regular I-95 exit instead and missed the turnpike completely. I finally got to the turnpike but was too late to meet her to go to their scheduled dinner, so I rode to Queens myself and met them for a second dinner.
In the morning I rode into Manhattan and met UJ for brunch, just like on the first leg. (He took a video of me coming and leaving on both occasions, so hopefully I'll post that soon.) Then I headed north out of the city towards Boston.

Philly

2006-11-15T14:39:00.000-05:00

I visited my friend Josh last night in Towson, MD. I knew him freshman year, when he was a junior; then he left BU to tour with his band, and besides one time when he visited Boston, I hadn't seen him in two years. He's studying and living in Towson now with his girlfriend Erin, and we caught up on old times and watched a very trippy movie, Before Night Falls, about gay writers in the Cuban revolution.
At 10am this morning I set out, northbound for Philadelphia. The nice weather from yesterday continued. My destination was the Reading Terminal Market, where I was under strict orders from UJ (a former Philadelphian) to eat a particular piece of heaven at one of the stalls: the foot-long roast pork sandwich with greens and provolone at Dinic's Roast Beef & Pork. Suffice it to say, it lived up to the high expectations. Then I bought a treat for later at an Amish bakery stall.
Back at my bike, two businessmen walked by, and one (the boss I assume) looks over the bike, looks at me and says "I'll give you some advice, the best advice I've given," and proceeds to tell me how to drive to Massachusetts, "take this road" and "that one sucks," with his subordinate laughing stupidly at random intervals. Asshole. His route goes nowhere near where I need to go, anyway.

Departing that semi-illegal spot, I rode a few blocks down to the Historic District, where I parked in another spot of questionable legality, the end of a dead end cobblestone road near Independence Hall. I was walking around the nearby park taking pictures and seeing the sights, when I see a bicycle cop walking towards my bike. So I sprint back as he's looking at the license plate and about to write a parking citation. He's not much older than me. I tell him I didn't realize it was illegal (I mean I figured it was, but there were no signs either way) and would move it right away.
"Well you can move it, but I'll have to write you a warning. For my records, you know."
"OK."
He takes out his radio and reports, "Disregard that, I found the owner." Then to me: "Can I see your license sir?" So I hand him my license.
"Oh, you're from Mass?"
"Yup. It's a Mass plate too."
"Oh wow, I'm from Mass too. I won't give you a warning then. Have a nice day." And he left.

So I rode around the block and parked in front of a meter, next to a grassy area covered with leaves where I now sit on a ledge. The squirrels in the tree above me seem to be using me for acorn-throwing target practice.
It's starting to drizzle. In a few minutes I'll get back on I-95 and head up to NJ to meet Aunt Shari.

2006-11-14T18:00:00.000-05:00

Richmond

2006-11-14T17:03:00.000-05:00

After fumbling around the city for a while, I found National Battlefield Park, the Civil War memorial/park/museum. I will be leaving shortly for Towson, MD, to see my old friend Josh, whom I haven't seen in a good long while.

Virginia

2006-11-14T13:10:00.000-05:00

The ride last night after dinner was long and dark. At one point, a deer crossed the road in front of me, the third or fourth time that's happened so far on this trip. At first I thought it was a car turning onto the road, but it didn't have headlights, so I slowed down, saw it was a deer and slammed on the brakes as it strolled past. I finally got to Staunton River State Park shortly before its posted closing time of 10pm and camped for the night. The leaves made a good cushion for my tent and I had the campground all to myself. The Virginia state parks system is very impressive - there's a sign at the entrance boasting "voted best state parks in America" and I believe it - and they even had laundry machines which I used in the morning.
Then I rode 150 miles to Richmond, where I currently sit at the 3rd St Cafe eating french toast and satisfying my caffeine addiction. (Free refills were undoubtedly one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century, but with coffee they have a downside.)

Blue Ridge Mountains

2006-11-13T17:25:00.000-05:00

I had breakfast at Cracker Barrel this morning, one of their big combos with grits, eggs, biscuits, gravy and sausage. Yum yum yum. Then I meant to take I-40 West (actually north) from Newport, towards I-81 North (actually east) towards Richmond, but accidentally went south (east) on I-40 back towards Asheville. But it worked out better that way, because I was able to get on the Blue Ridge Parkway instead. It's a scenic route that goes northeast through North Carolina and Virginia, pretty much the route I wanted to take. It winds through forests and mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains I assume, not a fast ride (compared to the interstate) but a lot more fun.
Shortly after setting out, the cold hazy weather from earlier in the morning disappeared, and it suddenly became sunny and warm. It was lovely thin-glove weather the rest of the day.
The Parkway detoured onto other roads several times, and I ended up on route 221, a scenic route parallel to the parkway, which took me into Virginia. One of the last towns I went through in North Carolina was Sparta, a town I read about in Tom Wolfe's great book, I Am Charlotte Simmons. The main character of that book, Charlotte Simmons, is from Sparta, NC, but I didn't realize it was an actual place until I rode through it. It's a farm town, like all the towns in the area, with big country houses far apart on large tracts of farm land. Charlotte went to Allegheny High School (the name of the county), and as I rode through, a school bus from Allegheny Elementary stopped in front of me to let off kids returning from school, and the kids in the back seat all waved to me.
Route 221 turned left at that point, into Virginia, past Independence, to Galax, where I stopped at a Pizza Hut for the Monday night $5.99 large pizza special. I'm sitting there now, half the pizza eaten and half in a box for later. As usual with Pizza Hut, the service is terrible but the pizza makes up for it.
Southern culture is quite charming. Everyone is proper and polite, it's all yes sir and yes ma'am, good Christian values as they would say, and I haven't encountered any unfriendly people yet. I don't know the first thing about farming but I think I'd like to try living on a farm someday. Maybe not an actual active farm, but a ranch house on several acres of hills with streams and a lake wouldn't be too bad.

I didn't get as far as I thought due to the slower going on the scenic roads, but I'll try to ride a few more hours to a state park, camp for the night and ride to Richmond in the morning.

2006-11-13T09:22:00.000-05:00

It's a frigid, hazy morning. I'm heading out soon towards Richmond. Brrrrr

Accents

2006-11-13T00:36:00.000-05:00

It's kind of funny to hear Native Americans speaking in thick southern accents. I mean, it shouldn't be funny, but it is for some reason. They're supposed to have, well, native accents. Crisp and clear, like in the movies. You don't see Chief Flying Eagle saying "The suh-un is rah-zing too-deh-ay"...

Oh, and the guy at Wendy's asked me to repeat my order: "Whut wuz thee-at? Pleez see eet ageen slowwwly..." Since when is my accent hard to understand? I thought I didn't have an accent.
Silly me...

Great Icy Mountains

2006-11-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

The ride into the park was much longer than it seemed on the map, and signs were lacking, so by the time I got in it was almost dark and getting very cold. Surprisingly, there was no entrance station like all the other national parks I've been to, so it would have been free even without my pass. (Maybe the first half of the park is free and then they charge you, I don't know.) I started riding along the park road, up into the mountains, as it got darker. At a good vantage point I got some long-exposure shots just in time. I kept going up but started to encounter snow and ice on the side of the road. With no indication that the elevation would drop or that the temperature would rise if I kept going, and with the road being too dark to see if there was ice on it, I decided to turn back and not risk it. So I backtracked through the mountains, back through Cherokee territory, got a big triple combo and tea at Wendy's, and got on I-40 heading northwest towards Knoxville. However, my next destination being Richmond, VA, I wasn't sure if I wanted to go all the way to Knoxville, so I stopped at a motel in Newport, TN.
Depending on how early I wake up, I might go to Knoxville for breakfast, or I might try to see the park again from the northern side. Then I haul ass to Richmond.

Carolinas

2006-11-12T14:53:00.000-05:00

I had breakfast at a cafe on N Main St in downtown Greenville. From there, route 25 headed north, became I-26, to Asheville, NC. Uncle J recommended an itinerary of things to see, including the Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Unfortunately, entry to the estate (on top of any tour) is $47. Instead of that, I'll head west a little, towards Smoky Mountains National Park, where my national parks pass will get me in free. I was going to go to Charleston, WV, but I'll take UJ's recommended route instead through Richmond to see Civil War sites.
I am currently sitting on a bench outside the Biltmore information center - the only free area on the estate. My hands are going numb from the mountain cold, and nasty gray clouds are moving in so I expect it to start raining any minute.

2006-11-11T21:07:00.000-05:00

Just checked into a motel in Greenville, SC. It was pouring the whole way, so my stuff is all spread out on the floor to dry.

Veterans Day

2006-11-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

I brought only one pair of amazing Eddie Bauer jeans on this trip. I've washed them a few times but otherwise they've been on me every day for two months straight, usually over long johns. That's a lot of wear and tear, obviously, especially from occasional road debris (pebbles and such) that hit me as I'm riding, so they've gotten several holes and tears along the way. One such little hole on my right knee gradually expanded into a huge hole, to the point where it wasn't cool anymore, and became a problem in Florida where my grandparents [legitimately] didn't want me wearing them to restaurants.
So this morning I finally took out the little sewing kit I've had in my toiletries bag all along, and sewed it up. It looks pretty good, if I may say so myself. (Before and after shots:)

I got breakfast at a Krispy Kreme, three custard donuts and a coffee. Then I rode into downtown Atlanta, to the Centennial Olympic Park. I caught the tail end of the Veterans Day Parade (or maybe the parade was very short and I saw the whole thing, I'm not sure), then went to the CNN Center across from the park. I went on the Studio Tour, seeing the studios of CNN, Headline News and CNN International. (Photography wasn't allowed on the tour.) The tour guide was a bitch and was basically reciting a memorized script in a monotone, but it was interesting stuff anyway. What I really want to do is sit in the studio as AC360 (on CNN) or Hardball (on MSNBC) are broadcast, but I doubt you can do that.

I'm having lunch in a sports bar in the CNN Center now. I'm heading out soon. The skies were gray when I came in so I'm hoping it's not pouring outside.

Atlanta

2006-11-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

I got a much later start today than I had wanted, after sleeping through my alarm. Instead of getting to Atlanta for lunch time, I had lunch at a Popeye's in McRae, and got to Atlanta in time for sunset. (It was beautiful but the batteries in my camera were dead.) I sought a Panera Bread to do some work, but the first one I got to was closed for renovations, so after an hour of riding through heavy city traffic, I got to an open one. It'll probably be too late when I leave to find a campsite - most parks close at 10 pm - so I'll look for a motel. I'd like to see some sites in the city tomorrow before moving on.

I used secondary highways for most of the way. The trees are covered in autumn leaves, shades of red, yellow and green. I got on I-16 off route 441, and the scenery ended, but was made up with speed. The last few miles on I-75 into Atlanta were fun.

Curves

2006-11-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

Press Play. You can mute the sound, it's just wind noise. The camera is mounted as usual on the left side of my handlebars.

Walker State Park, GA

2006-11-10T10:00:00.000-05:00

2006-11-09T20:59:00.000-05:00

Set up camp at Laura Walker State Park, Georgia.

The boys a few days ago

2006-11-09T13:57:00.000-05:00

(Press Play)

2006-11-09T13:43:00.001-05:00

At a rest stop 8 miles north of Titusville, FL.

Northbound

2006-11-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

Heading back to the road in a little while.

Sweep

2006-11-08T05:40:00.000-05:00

I've been watching the election coverage on MSNBC with Chris Matthews, Keith Olberman and the whole all-star panel. The Dems have swept the House and are on the brink of taking the Senate; it's down to final counts or recounts in Montana and Virginia, both of which the Dems have claimed as victories. I haven't written any columns in a while and haven't put any political thoughts on this blog, but I'll make an exception now. This is a mandate to deal with reality in Iraq; to restore habeas corpus and the rule of law that were eliminated in the name of fighting terror; to force some fiscal sanity; to finally investigate and oversee the Administration as Congress is supposed to do; to end the disgusting use of religious fundamentalism for political mobilization; to get rid of Rumsfeld; to create a visionary energy policy and investigate the alliances that devised the old one; to constructively engage Iran and North Korea; to remove the neocons from the stage of policy debate; to actually have rational policy debates instead of mindless partisan hackery; to reform the lobbying system; to end the reckless hubris of Bush and Cheney's blindly ideological Unitary Executive structure. And so much more, but that would be a nice start... maybe after the Dems have succeeded in their initial legislative agenda (some of which I disagree with, but such is the way it goes), they can finish the job that Mccain-Feingold started by banning 527's and establishing a system of voluntary public financing (via fund-matching) of elections. Then we can have, in 2008, not only results to be proud of, but campaigns to be proud of as well, and maybe, just maybe, amazing things will start happening.
It's a lot to hope for, but hope won tonight, so it's no time to start giving up.

2006-11-07T17:43:00.000-05:00

I learned a lesson today, to avoid huge dealerships for work on my bike and find little shops like this one (All Makes Cycles in Delray Beach, for the record). The dealership guys looked at it and decided it needed a $400 service before they'd even look at what the specific problem was. Sean, the founder/owner/mechanic at this shop, identified three specific problems - the air filter was saturated with oil, the chain was shot and the spark plugs were bad - and fixed those. I haven't taken it on the highway yet but it seems to be riding really smoothly. The knocking and power problems are gone. I'll only really know in a few days but my bet is he did a great job.

We're going out to dinner now, then I'm watching election results live all night.

Election Day

2006-11-07T15:16:00.000-05:00

I won't be able to vote today, because I'm not home and I didn't register absentee, but being a political junky, I'm following the coverage very closely.
I'm going to pick up my bike from the shop in an hour, hoping it's all fixed.

In The Shop

2006-11-06T14:41:00.000-05:00

I took my bike to get fixed this morning. Four mechanics had ten different ideas of what to do to fix it. At the first shop the two mechanics said the problem was the chain and sprockets and general wear and tear; they wanted to do a full service tuneup for hundreds of dollars, and only then figure out what the problem was. But they would have taken several days to order the parts, so I went to another shop down the road, where the mechanic said it was probably a slipped clutch, so he could rebuild the clutch but it would take a week...so he referred me to a friend of his at a third shop, where I ended up leaving it. It was a cool shop - a very small operation, not a huge fancy dealership like the first one - just one guy in a real mechanic's shop, old parts and grease and a loft for the office. After checking a few things out and listening to the problems he said the sprockets were fine, the chain was terrible, it had nothing to do with the clutch, but it was probably related to the plugs and the air filter. At the previous tuneup in Arizona they replaced three of the plugs but couldn't get the fourth out because it was stuck (all these guys frowned when I told them that; I guess if it's really stuck they need to tear the threads and drill new ones which is really complicated).

The bottom line is, I don't know much about mechanics (I really should but I'm afraid I'll screw it up if I try learning by myself), so I should have gotten a full service (not just a tuneup) several thousand miles ago. The bike has been burning oil lately, too, which I should have realized was a symptom of bigger problems. This mechanic (Sean at All Makes Motorcycles) replaced all four plugs, and said that the shop in Scottsdale had put the wrong kind of plugs in. He replaced the chain and ordered a new air filter, which should arrive tomorrow. Apparently when the bike fell (as it has several times), oil saturated the air filter which ruined it. Of course there's no guarantee that the problems (knocking, loss of power, burning too much gas and oil, etc) will all go away with these repairs, but my fingers are crossed.

I should really take a mechanics course. Maybe I should buy an old crappy 50cc bike just to mess around with it as a learning tool. I'd need more tools and lots of space to work, not easy in Boston. Considering that Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is one of my favorite books, I'm pretty terrible at maintaining my own bike. (I check the fluid levels and lube the chain regularly, but there's a lot more to good maintenance than that.) Sean said the worst case scenario is that the top end of the engine will have to be rebuilt. That would cost $1000 at least. The bike's only worth $1500 in good condition now, so if that's the case it won't even be worth fixing it. I really hope it's not, though, because this bike has sentimental value now that I can't put a monetary value on.

As for my schedule, I'll get the bike back tomorrow afternoon, then stay up most of the night watching election results. Thursday morning looks like the most reasonable departure time. I had wanted to get back to Boston by next weekend but that's not possible. Hopefully the weather will still be good (above freezing) when I get back and Tristyn will forgive me for being away so long. I still have sites to see going up the east coast but I'll try to put in many miles each day between them.

Fogies and Munchkins

2006-11-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

2006-11-05T15:37:00.001-05:00

The bike shops in town are all closed today, so I'll have to wait til tomorrow to get it fixed.

Catching Up

2006-11-05T02:39:00.000-05:00

I last wrote after returning from the hookah bar in New Orleans. The next morning I slept late and rode out to the Lower Ninth Ward, an area hard-hit by Katrina, to see what it looks like now. I was told there are still whole blocks of abandoned homes, but I just saw a lot of demolition and construction. A city being rebuilt. I got some pizza at a place that was under ten feet of water a year ago; you wouldn't know it now. The refinery is back up and running, the train tracks are intact, the roads are either badly potholed or newly paved. There were many mobile homes. Not much to take pictures of, but maybe I was just in the wrong neighborhood. Anyway, I went to New Orleans to see the city as it lives, not the relics of the past that was destroyed, so it's probably good that I spent most of the time in the French Quarter.
(Note: The first photo above is the Superdome, where thousands of people were living on the brink for a week as Bush and Brownie did their wonderful heckuva job. It's fitting to see New Orleans a few days before this election.)

From New Orleans I got on I-10 and rode around 400 miles to Tallahassee, Florida, to visit my old friend Yonit. "Old" in that our parents knew each other in their 20's, we knew each other growing up, our families moved to Israel around the same time, we moved back to the states around the same time, and we generally have very similar backgrounds. So there was a lot to catch up on and talk about. We went to Ruby Tuesdays (very good) in the evening and Whataburger (not so good) in the morning. After a late start, I left Tallahassee around 1pm, back to I-10, east then south to the Florida Turnpike, (which was very expensive so I'll avoid it on the way back north), 450 miles to Delray Beach, to visit my grandparents. I arrived around 10pm and in good Jewish-grandma fashion was promptly fed more than I could eat.

The bike has been having problems all day. There's been some kind of mechanical issue for a while now (mostly since the tuneup in Arizona, which I suspect was a better job on the outside than the inside) - but it wasn't affecting my riding at all so I was ignoring it. Today it became a big problem, though - the bike would suddenly lose power and refuse to go over 65, getting jumpy and slowing down the more gas I gave it - and the knocking sound which was previously only in low gears at low speeds is now loud at all speeds. Whether those are the same problem or two separate ones I don't know, but I was barely getting 20 MPG today. I initially thought the knocking was in the transmission, but now I suspect it's in the engine; maybe a clogged fuel line, or a bad spark plug, or a clogged air filter, or any of a hundred other things that my non-mechanic's mind can speculate. The bottom line is I can't ride it back north until it's fixed, so I'm taking it into a shop tomorrow. (Unless the shops in the area are closed on Sundays.) I'm hoping it won't be too hard or expensive to fix.

Hookah Cafe

2006-11-03T01:59:00.000-05:00

I'm staying at a hotel in the French Quarter, where the New Orleans nightlife is centered. My destination tonight was the Hookah Cafe, a couple of blocks away. My own hookah is currently in storage along with the dried-out remnants of my Israeli tobacco stash, so this was a real treat. I walked in feeling pretty chill, but when the bartender suggested I find myself a table I realized I was still several notches too tense. Not to worry, the vibe was fantastic: comfy chairs, dim lighting, great decorations, a DJ playing a smooth mix of jazz and R&B. I started with a strawberry-apple-vanilla hookah, a chocolate martini and a lamb kabob appetizer. At the next table was another guy by himself, a fellow traveller named Mike, and he invited me to his table. He's 23, Canadian, also a web programmer, in town for a business conference. Between the two of us we had four hookahs (of different blends) and some more drinks. I'm still not sure exactly what his company does - something about "pipelines" for emergency responders - but we work in similar fields and had a lot to talk about. We exchanged websites and hopefully we'll stay in touch. My trusty old hookah (bought for around $7 in downtown Jerusalem) will appreciate the pack of apple shisha I bought to carry (or mail) home. The place brought back memories of all the flavors we smoked in high school. We never thought of using individual plastic mouthpiece covers then, though.

Last I heard, some folks was trying to open a hookah bar in Allston, but the legal hurdles they had to jump through made it nearly impossible. Boston's strange combination of yuppie college kids and a puritanical municipality squash all the potential for a funky-hip vibe that other cities have. But maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and find that the hookah bar actually opened. Either way, my new apple blend should go well with the remaining strawberry and melon I have in storage. And I should get some deep sleep tonight.

2006-11-02T21:02:00.001-05:00

In New Orleans. Going out in search of food, drinks and jazz.

Dallas to Baton Rouge

2006-11-02T01:29:00.000-05:00

I woke up yesterday in Dallas. Looking through city attractions online, I picked one to see, the Frontiers of Flight Museum. En route I stopped at Burger King for a coffee, the last time I'm doing that. (Let's just say coffee isn't their primary product.) Dallas is a big city, more a metro area than a single city, and I wasn't sure where I was on my map. So while sitting in BK I asked two local guys if they could help me. They looked at the map, and looked some more, and had no idea how to find their own neighborhood. One of them kept saying West End was down the street, but there was no West End on the map.
I eventually located myself with a nearby airport and navigated to the museum. It was a little disappointing, with very little I hadn't already seen somewhere else. (Unlike the Cowboy Museum it didn't bring anything to life.)

Then I got on the freeway and started the long ride into Louisiana. I stopped in Shreveport for dinner at Subway and decided to keep going to Alexandria. There I decided to keep going towards Lafayette, but at the junction of 190 I decided to go all the way to Baton Rouge. Three motels were full, so I checked into a run-down Days Inn and slept for a long long time.

The whole Dallas to Baton Rouge stretch was a little over 400 miles, I think. It was raining most of the time and pretty cold. There were two accidents along the way, both of them cars that went off the road and into the muddy median ditch; one looked like a two-car collision and the other like it just lost control. My tires didn't seem to notice that the road was wet. My one remaining sidebag cover blew off, and I lost the tarp I was using to cover the bike somewhere. (I must have dropped it on a parking lot and forgotten to tie it back down.) I also left my little shampoo bottle in the motel in Dallas. I bought a new tarp and shampoo at a Walmart near the motel this morning, but the tarp is too big, so I'll have to fold it over to make it work.

There was construction at one point along the highway, and the right lane was closed. There were warning signs several miles in advance, and then a quarter-mile notice to merge left. Everyone did, creating a very slow line, except one bitch in a Sebring who thought she could just cut to the front and skip the line. Then an amazing occurence of collective thought occured: every one of the hundreds of drivers she passed (including myself) decided to make sure she couldn't get in. Long after I had passed the block and was back in two lanes, I looked back in my mirror and could still see her trying to break in. Sweet justice.

I couldn't quite understand the language in Shreveport. I think it was a dialect of English, but "cookies" were pronounced "kickers," the letter I is "ah" and the words were generally incomprehensible to my foreign sensibilities. I'm at a coffee shop on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge now, so the accent is gone, but I assume it will return in New Orleans.

2006-11-02T01:28:00.000-05:00

I'm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It's been a very long ride so I'm going to sleep now, I'll post more in the morning.

Cowboy Museum

2006-10-31T20:29:00.000-05:00

I spent the early afternoon in the Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. A good museum should bring its subject matter to life, not merely display it as relics of a dead past, and this museum does that superbly. If nothing else, it made me want to ride a horse and start watching Westerns. The artwork was extraordinary. Some of the guns and saddles were exquisitely crafted. There was a whole mock town and a great exhibit on the cowboy lifestyle.

Manequin scenes:

Sculpture (The End of the Trail, on the defeat of the Natives; and a giant marble cougar):

Paintings (photography wasn't allowed for some of the paintings but I think these were ok):

"Don't smoke a pipe inside [the wagon] especially in the morning; spit on the leeward side of the coach.
If you have anything to take in a bottle, pass it around; a man who drinks by himself in such a case is lost to all human feeling.
Don't discuss politics or religion, nor point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed , if delicate women are among the passengers."

Odometer Milestone

2006-10-31T19:58:00.000-05:00

(Press Play. You may want to mute the volume, it's just engine noise.)

For the record, I have gone 9,890 miles so far on this trip.

2006-10-31T12:17:00.000-05:00

The weather is very cold this morning. I'm at Panera again charging my batteries, then I'm going into the city to see a museum.

Oklahoma

2006-10-30T19:58:00.000-05:00

On route 40 heading east into Oklahoma, I passed a sign for the Route 66 Museum in Elk City (one of many such museums in the region), so I stopped in for a visit. It's a nice little tribute to the Mother Road, the great [nearly] cross-country highway that was. They quote someone who said, after the interstate highway system that made 66 obsolete was built, "Now it's possible to drive from coast to coast without seeing anything." I guess my 5-day drive on route 80 last year with Colin was like that, but certainly not this ride.

The picture is fuzzy, but that's a dog standing on the back of a pickup on the highway. Not tied down or anything, just standing up.

Riding from Elk City to Oklahoma City, I felt something fall in my lap. I looked down and saw my little compass/thermometer, a critical piece of gear, held onto my lap by the wind. It was tied to a strap on the handlebar by a keychain ring, but the strap had finally come undone, and it just blew off and landed in my lap. I grabbed it before it blew away and put it back on when I stopped for gas.

I got to Oklahoma City past dark, with the plan of finding a cafe downtown. But I wasn't sure which exit led to downtown, if there is a downtown at all, so I got off at a random exit. There was a gas station on the left (where I thought I would use the light to check my city map) but no left turn was allowed, so I kept going, past steak houses and motels, thinking there probably isn't a cafe where you can just sit with a coffee and chill for a couple hours anyway...and then suddenly on my right, there was a Panera Bread. The gods of the road smile upon me.

Santa Fe to Amarillo

2006-10-30T12:34:00.001-05:00

On I-40 heading east out of New Mexico, there's a speed limit of 75 MPH and a sign warning, "Speed monitored by aircraft." You don't have to look up at the sky to know that that's Department of Transportation lingo for "Welcome to the Autobahn."

The Plaza

2006-10-29T12:58:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in the Plaza of Santa Fe, with a roast beef sandwich and coffee from one of the many cafes. It's a Sunday morning and hundreds of people are walking, talking and lounging on the many benches. The scene is very tranquil and eclectic. No one is rushing. Two men are puffing slowly on cigars. A man with 5-foot dreadlocks passed by with his kids. Large tour groups walk by. No one is speaking loudly except a few kids playing. An empty police car is parked at one corner. A kid with a big earring and a ponytail is walking his German shephard. There's an unsecured wireless network in the park which I'm connecting to. Even the pidgeons are enjoying the weekend, until the kids start chasing them with Indian war cries. The cars are all driving 5 MPH. The cafes are all full. The sky is what the Weather Channel meteorologists (in their scientific lingo) call "fair."

The skyline is very low here. With an abundance of open land, all these desert cities have the luxury of building out instead of up. Maybe the pace is slower because of that: it takes longer to walk down the street than take the express elevator.
The clocks switched back an hour last night, so sundown is going to be really early from now on. I'm still on the old routine of late sleep and late start, but maybe I'll have to start starting each day earlier.
There's an expression used here a lot, "I sure don't." I've never heard it used so often before. Like "I sure do," just in the negative. It's kind of funny, like it has a built-in reassurance, the "sure" added in case you're about to ask "really?" I'm not sure if it's just a New Mexico thing or if it's used east of here too.

The kids just caught one of the pidgeons and let it go. An older fellow sees my laptop and asks if my battery exploded (because of the Sony recall); I say "not yet" and wish him a good day. It is a good day.

Alamogordo to Santa Fe

2006-10-28T22:59:00.000-05:00

I slept in late this morning, waking up to a nice sun-heated tent, a cold shower (that got lukewarm as I was finishing), and my usual camping breakfast of oatmeal and hot cocoa. My first stop was the Space History Museum in Alamogordo. It has an outdoor rocket park and five museum floors. I like the architecture of the building, modern and sort of rocket-like. (There's also an IMAX theater but I didn't go there.) The museum lives up to its name very well, chronicling (that's a funny looking word) the history of astronomy and space exploration. I crashed the shuttle on a simulated landing, so I'm not quite ready to be an astronaut myself. They have a whole exhibit on the X-Prize (won by SpaceShipOne), and on the X-Games, the rocket races that are supposed to start in a couple of years.

The museum took a little over an hour to see, and when I got out I was in for a nasty surprise: I had forgotten to shut off the bike, and the battery was dead. (Either by design or otherwise, the key doesn't need to be in the ignition for the bike to run - it can come out after it's turned on - and like all bikes, the engine starter is separate from the main power switch and the headlight goes on when the power is on...the bottom line being that it's easy to park the bike and forget to turn it off.)
Luckily, the museum was on the top of a hill. So I push-started it: 2nd gear, rolled it fast down the hill, popped the clutch at the bottom, and it started. I'm not sure exactly why - maybe because I wanted to get lunch but didn't think it would start again if I stopped so soon - so I pulled into a parking lot with the intention of letting it idle for a few minutes to get some juice back into the battery. I stopped, put the sidestand down - and it shut off. I had forgotten to put it in neutral so the safety mechanism killed the engine. So now I was back at square one, with a dead battery, but at the bottom of the hill. Needless to say I was feeling pretty stupid.
The parking lot was on a slight hill, so I unloaded the gear and pushed the bike a little bit up the hill, then rolled it down and tried to start it again. Not enough speed. I pushed it up again a little higher, still no luck. So I started to roll it back up the big hill. The bike weighs 550 pounds dry and unloaded and I'm not in the best shape after so many weeks on the road, so this was a nearly impossible task. I would push it a few feet and have to stop to catch my breath. By this point I was drenched in sweat and my throat was burning.
Then two sport bikers, Jeff and Frank, rode by, saw I was in need of assistance and stopped to help. First the three of us sprinted the bike up the parking lot hill, then (after catching our breath) pushed it fast down the hill, but it wouldn't start. So Frank offered to go get his car, since he lived close by, to jump the bike. He came back after a few minutes with jumper cables, and that solved the problem. I made sure to put it in neutral when I put the bags back on...

After that whole ordeal I was quite famished, so I went to Wendy's and devoured a triple burger combo. I used the drive-in so I wouldn't have to shut off the bike. By this point the alternator had charged the battery enough to start it, though, so I was able to shut it off to get gas.
Having lost so much time, I decided to skip Roswell and head straight to Santa Fe, around 250 miles. I rode long past dark, stopping only for gas and coffee, and finally made it to Santa Fe, where I checked into a Travelodge.

2006-10-27T23:00:00.000-05:00

One of the main roads from Mexico into this part of the US is route 54, via El Paso and Las Cruces, so there was a Customs station checking every vehicle passing through.
"American citizen?"
"Yup!"
"Thank you, have a nice day."
That was right after White Sands National Monument. (I'm not sure what the difference is between all the classifications - Park, Monument, Forest, Refuge.) Only a few miles of the Dunes Drive are open, and there's not much to see, just a lot of white sand.
That whole area is part of the huge White Sands Missile Range. Every so often along the road you can see some kind of military installation. There's also an Air Force base nearby.
I camped in Oliver Lee State Park, outside of Alamogordo. My first stop today is the Space Museum in Alamogordo.

New Mexico

2006-10-27T17:08:00.000-05:00

I crossed into New Mexico on I-10 this morning. My first point of interest was the Shakespeare ghost town, at the end of a dirt road off of Main St in Lordsburg, but it seemed to be closed and anyway didn't look very interesting, so I skipped that. I stopped briefly in Deming. There's a lot I'd like to see in this state but I don't have time to see everything.
I'm in Las Cruces now, eating a snack lunch at Sonic. I've never been to Sonic before, it's pretty good. I'll head towards Roswell next, then north to the major cities. I'll be camping tonight.

I thought my gas mileage would improve after the tuneup, but it's actually gotten a lot worse. I started running out of gas after only 100 miles, and then filled up 4 gallons, so something's not right, but I don't know what.

The weather's fantastic, warm and clear skies. The radar shows a storm off in the east, so hopefully that'll be gone by the time I get there.

2006-10-26T20:00:00.000-05:00

Checked into a motel in Willcox, AZ.

Really Leaving This Time

2006-10-26T12:11:00.000-05:00

I was supposed to leave yesterday, but after saying goodbye to everyone and test riding a Wrangler and other cars for fun, it was already mid-afternoon and the kids convinced me to stay. So I'm still here now, the next morning, but this time I'm actually leave now. Heading east on route 10, not sure where I'll stop.

2006-10-25T00:09:00.000-05:00

I stayed in and caught up on some online stuff this morning, like picking classes for next semester. Then I picked up my cousins from school on my motorcycle, with a little extra revving for Brendan's friends' sake. After dropping off Brendan and going back to get Morgan, though, Brendan realized he didn't have the key to the house, so he walked back to school, defeating the whole purpose...so I picked him up again. Then the kids tricked me into riding bicycles with them to the JCC, where we shot some hoops and I got them slushes. (I say tricked because they were supposed to do homework before that...) They had basketbal practice, then their parents came and we all had pizza.
I'll be leaving tomorrow morning. I don't yet know my next destination.

Suns

2006-10-24T02:24:00.000-05:00

I went to Tempe's manmade Town Lake looking for sailboat rentals this morning, but the place doesn't rent sailboats and is closed on Mondays. So after a long morning ride through the Pheonix suburbs, I returned to Scottsdale and passed out on the couch for an hour.

Everyone got rides on my bike today. Brendan got a ride to school, but none of his friends saw his arrival so it didn't have the desired social effect. (He got a faster ride in the afternoon which made up for it with an adrenaline effect.) Morgan got a ride around the neighborhood. Mari didn't want to ride. Perry went for a spin by himself (he rode a friend's Nighthawk or similar bike in college.) Then I did something very stupid and dropped the bike without putting down the sidestand - my first time doing that - so it was an embarassing end to the cool-cousin show.

Following dinner (Chipotle burritos), my uncle and I went to a Suns vs Sonics basketball game. It began with the most tone-deaf school choir I have ever heard screaching the anthem, but got better from there. The halftime show included acrobats doing slam dunks and Halloween-themed cheerleading. (Needless to say the cheerleaders looked much hotter in their regular uniforms than in hag costumes.) I was reminded that Nevada Pale Ale is a very good beer. The Suns put up a lame defense and lost by a few points.

I'll be leaving Arizona on Wednesday morning.

Troopers

2006-10-23T01:05:00.000-05:00

This morning we hiked up Camelback Mountain, so named because it looks like a camel's back. My uncle, 3 cousins, one of their friends, myself and the dog. A bunch of real troopers. It was a moderate hike, about a mile and a quarter, with some parts that were just walking up and others that required more climbing. Morgan (the youngest) and I got all the way up the mountain. The dog would have been happy to run up and down the mountain had the humans gotten out of her way.
We were sort of rushing back down the mountain, to get to a party of some friends, a double birthday party for a father and daughter. The party was at Jillians, the arcade/bowling/billiards/club place. Half the crowd was middle aged friends of the father, the other half elementary school friends of the daughter. I obviously didn't know anyone, and didn't feel like shmoozing with the fogies, so I sat down with my cousin Brendan and another kid. The kid asks me how old I am, I tell him 21, he says he's 10. Not being very good at 10 year old conversation, I said as a joke, "I was 10 once too!" The kid scrunched up his face in confusion for several seconds, then declared, "well you had to be 10 once if you're 21 now! You had to be 1...2...3..." By 6 I was thinking, jeez kid, you're not really going to... but he literally counted - slowly - to 21. Finally I smiled at him and said, "it was a joke, kid," and got back to eating my burger. Poor guy.
After the party, my uncle and I went to an indoor shooting range. I had never shot a gun before and he hadn't shot in several years, so we watched the safety video, got a one-minute lesson in gun mechanics and signed our lives away on disclaimer forms. Then we rented two 9mm semi-automatic pistols and 50 bullets each and went out on the range.
Even with ear protection, it's LOUD. There was less of a kickback on the guns than I expected. I had my target board (an outline of an upper body) set to 25 feet away. The circle in the crosshairs is pretty big, so I wasn't sure exactly how to line it up with the target. I got most of the shots in the general area I wanted, though, so my aim could have been worse. A shooter in the next lane was firing a 9mm in a rapid stocatto at a target further away than mine and got every single shot within an inch of the heart. Another guy was firing 3-round bursts from what looked like a modified M-16. (Those are probably cool on the range, but I honestly don't see why they need to sell fully automatic rifles in the shop.) Anyway it was fun and a good experience. I think I'd like to do range shooting occasionally, but I don't think I'd like to own a gun, not now anyway.
Back at home there was good conversation, more gymnastics with Morgan, a promise to take Brendan to school tomorrow on my motorcycle (so I need to get up early), and an episode of Desperate Houswives, which I've decided is not my kind of show. Good night.

2006-10-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

2006-10-22T01:51:00.000-05:00

My bike got a new rear tire and a tuneup today. They even washed and shined it, so it's looking pretty amazing now. (I'll get a photo tomorrow.) Maybe I'll get 50 MPG again...
I rode ATV's with my cousins around their big yard, got the dog to like me, was my littlest cousin's gymnastics monkey, played on jungle gyms and swings with the kids at a carnival, watched Batman Begins, resolved a crisis at work and ate lots of good food. The weather is amazing, too.

In Scottsdale

2006-10-21T01:10:00.000-05:00

I had Route 87 south from Winslow all to myself, a straight line through the desert, passing through Strawberry and then Payson, where it became a major highway winding through the mountains. I was enjoying the curves a little too much, however, because I got pulled over for speeding. I pulled to the side as soon as I saw the cop behind me, so he didn't need to flash his lights, and I didn't argue, I just said I was sorry for speeding - so he gave me a warning (for "65 plus") and let me go. Then I continued at a much slower pace to Scottsdale, where my cousins were eagerly awaiting me on bicycles at the end of their block. Riding to the house, we matched our speeds by them pedaling as fast as they could and me riding as slowly as I could. Then a scrumptious dinner at Outback's and lots of good conversation. The dog (a big beautiful Golden) didn't like me at first but forgot about that when I gave him food treats and scratched his neck. The cats ignored me and the hamsters are squeaking happily in the next room.
Tomorrow I take my bike to the shop, and go on some kind of fun outing with the family.

Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona

2006-10-21T01:05:00.000-05:00

Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona
Such a fine sight to see
Its a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford
Slowin down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
Though we will never be here again
So open up, I'm climbin in, so take it easy
(The Eagles, "Take It Easy")

Well, the corner is there, on a stretch of old Route 66. All four corners of the intersection, in fact, all adorned with those words, and Eagles tributes, Route 66 tributes and Eagles music playing.

Talking about the Eagles...

Twenty-one and strong as i can be
I know what freedom means to me
And i can't give the reason why
I should ever want to die
Got no cause to be afraid
Or fear that life will ever fade
'cause as i watch the rising sun
I know that we have just begun
I might spend my life upon the road
Just tryin' to add to what i know
Then someday i might settle down
And all my friends will be around
("Twenty One")

Meteor Crater

2006-10-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

700 feet deep, 4000 feet across, it's the first confirmed meteor crater in the world. Way down in the middle (the speck in the big photo) was a shack, a pit with scientific instruments and two scientists standing around, doing whatever meteor crater scientists do.

Grand Canyon

2006-10-20T11:27:00.000-05:00

I rode yesterday south on 89A into Arizona, passing the road to the northern rim of the Grand Canyon (because that would have required backtracking north), around to the southern entrance. Then further south to Flagstaff, where I decided to spend the night instead of going all the way to Scottsdale. (On the way, a huge elk crossed the road just a few dozen yards in front me.) Flagstaff is up 7000 feet so it was pretty cold. I realized this morning that I gained an hour; apparently Utah and Arizona are not on the same time zone, for some reason. I'm going to get breakfast in Flagstaff, then ride east towards Winslow, to the meteor crater and the famous "corner in Winslow" mentioned in the Eagles song. From there, south to Scottsdale, where I'll spend a few days with my cousins and get a tuneup and new tires for my bike.

2006-10-20T02:42:00.000-05:00

I went to the Grand Canyon today. I'm in Flagstaff, AZ now. I had hoped to make it to Scottsdale today but I'll get there tomorrow instead, and see the meteor crater near Winslow also if I have time. I've been working on an emergency at work for the past 5 hours so I'm exhausted, I'll post more tomorrow.

2006-10-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

There are people here from all over the country and the world. At a table nearby in this diner is a European couple having a very amusing conversation. They keep switching between some Eastern European language and English with a British accent. In the English part the guy was talking about how strange it was when he first got to America. He rented a car, an old automatic, and couldn't find the clutch...

Bryce Canyon

2006-10-18T20:59:00.000-05:00

En Route to Bryce Canyon

2006-10-18T20:58:00.000-05:00

At Bryce Canyon After All

2006-10-18T20:16:00.000-05:00

"When the road is impassable, take a different road."
- Ancient wayfarer's proverb

My acceptance of not being able to see Bryce Canyon on this trip was premature. I needed to take route 14 to 89 anyway to go south to Arizona, but once I was on 14 it seemed silly not to try to take 89 north to Bryce, the route I had originally intended to take (but didn't because I couldn't find the route 14 exit the first time). This time the road reached the same elevation - officially 9,910 feet according to the sign at the summit - but the road was clear and the going was safer.
I arrived at the park an hour before sunset, and set out along the "amphitheater" section - the midsection of the park where most of the rock formations and view points are located. I rode to the end and then worked my way back, stopping at each view point, returning to the entrance just as it got dark. Now I'm at a diner just outside the park, and food has never tasted so good.
I won't describe the park; I'll post photos soon and they will speak louder than words.

Impassable

2006-10-18T14:49:00.000-05:00

There was snow on the ground this morning in Cedar City, but it was in the upper 30's and slowly melting. I called the Bryce Canyon visitor center to ask what the road conditions there were, and they said there was no ice on their roads, but the temperature was forecasted to range between 22 and 39 degrees (F). So I decided to head towards the park and play it by ear.
The direct route was I-15 to UT-14 to UT-89, but I couldn't figure out where the 14 exit was. So I got off at 143 instead, a smaller road which also leads to 89, which started winding up through snowy mountains, from a starting elevation of 5000+ feet. There was snow along the side of the road, but the temperature was above freezing and the road itself was clear. Signs warning that snow tires might be necessary were posted but the lights indicating that they were required were not flashing, so I kept going.
I rode very slowly, in case I suddenly hit an ice patch. For a change, when I saw "Sharp curve, 15 MPH" signs, I was happy to downshift and oblige. I probably went 15 miles, up at least another 1000 feet in elevation. My fingertips were numb, the engine was running weakly and the inside of my faceshield was fogging up. But the road was still passable so I kept going.
Then I reached a section where the whole road was covered in slush for several yards. My back tire (already worn down from so many miles) started slipping and sliding out. I pulled out of the slide, straightened up and rode another ten feet or so as my mind accepted the reality that this road was impassable and I wasn't going to get to Bryce Canyon on this trip. Then I slowly turned around and headed back down. Back at the bottom is the town of Parowan, where I stopped at the public library to warm up.
(I asked the librarian at the library if she knew what the elevations were. Between 5000-6000 at the base in Parowan, 10000 at the peak. I didn't quite make it to the peak, but I probably got to 8000 or so before I had to turn back.)

from my phone

2006-10-18T12:56:00.000-05:00

still sick, heading to bryce soon

2006-10-17T22:50:00.000-05:00

Well the snow isn't just on the ground now - it started snowing pretty hard when I checked into a motel. I hope it's all melted by morning because ice and motorcycles don't go well together.

Snow!

2006-10-17T19:51:00.000-05:00

I got to Cedar City, Utah and decided not to continue today to Bryce. I still have a cold and it's almost dark, so I'll find a warm bed (hopefully without bedbugs) in one of the motels nearby.

Morning in Zion

2006-10-17T16:05:00.000-05:00

I slept in late today, much to the chagrin of the park ranger, who kept coming over to remind me that the 11:00 checkout time had passed. I got out by his final 15 minute ultimatum (around 12:30), and he looked disappointed that he couldn't issue me a fine. I rode around some scenic roads in the park for a while, then exited the south entrance of the park into Springdale. I'm at a little cafe now, eating a small pizza and drinking vanilla tea. My throat is a little better but my nose is still running and I'm feeling generally achy. I'll try to go to Bryce Canyon and camp wherever I am at sundown.

A Lesson in Preparedness

2006-10-17T05:51:00.000-05:00

When I set in last night, the ground was dry, the sky was clear and there was no wind to speak of. So I tied down my bike cover very lightly and left my stove and utensils on the picnic table. But at 4 AM I was woken by a full-blown thunderstorm, and realized the bike cover had probably blown off and the stuff on the table blown away. So I put on my raingear (which I had luckily brought into the tent) and tightened down the cover, collected the utensils and secured them on the table. My tent's rain cover has never failed me yet, so I should stay dry inside my tent. I'm a little concerned that if the ground gets too wet, the bike's sidestand will sink in and the bike will fall, but it seems ok so far. I'll try to go back to sleep.

2006-10-16T21:56:00.000-05:00

2006-10-16T20:34:00.000-05:00

Set up camp at zion national park.

2006-10-16T15:00:00.000-05:00

At 5 AM I was woken up in the motel by a rapping sound on the wall by the bathroom. I got up to see what it was, it was coming through the walls but didn't sound like it was from a person, so I went back to sleep. At 6 AM I was woken up by the front desk telling me the room next to me was flooded and would I please check if I had my water running. Well I did not have the water running, but the bathroom floor was completely flooded. I went back to sleep. At 9 AM I woke up, waded through the puddle in the bathroom to take a shower, packed up and checked out. I demanded my money back from the manager but I made my reservation online so they said I have to run it through them and refused to discuss it further. That along with the bedbugs in the Motel6 in San Diego the previous night have made two nights of horrible motel experiences.
When I went to load up the bike, I found ants crawling all over the handlebars and front. I poured water to get most of them off but they kept coming back. On top of all that I have a cold; my throat is sore, nose won't stop running and I'm feeling generally drowsy. An Advil sinus pill and tea helped a little. Maybe the fresh air riding to Utah today will help.
I'm in the food court in one of the many malls on the Strip now. I came to Vegas to see Penn & Teller, the show was awesome, but I don't want to gamble so there's no reason to stick around. I'll get a sandwich for the road and head out on 15N soon.

Penn & Teller Show

2006-10-16T02:40:00.000-05:00

I came to Vegas and paid $90 just to see the Penn & Teller show, because I love their Showtime show so much, and it was definitely worth it. It was their usual wonderful combination of magic, psychic debunking, political statement, comedy and messing with the audience's minds. (For the uninitiated, Penn is the tall guy in the picture and Teller is the short guy who never talks.) They started with the timeless magic cup trick and then did it again with transparent cups so we'd see how it was done. (Breaking all the rules of magic is one of their trademarks. As is refusing to use planted volunteers in the audience.) Penn juggled fire, caught the burning end to show it wasn't as dangerous as one would think, then smashed liquor bottles in half (leaving jagged glass that would certainly cut his hand) and juggled those. There was a fire breathing "romantic" skit with a female magician. They threw knives at a female volunteer and just barely missed (or so it seemed to the volunteer...) They did the infamous segment of burning an American flag inside the Bill of Rights, as done on the West Wing, for their political statement of free speech. They did an amazing demo of psychic methods - hot reading, cold reading and the third (I forget what it's called) - guessing jokes picked from a stack of joke books by random people in the audience, to show that it's all tricks. (The people were definitely random because they had people in the audience pass them around to anyone they wanted several times. The books also seemed real because they had the audience go through them to check that they weren't trick books.)
The final trick was the best, seemingly shooting revolvers at each other and catching the bullets in their teeth. I have no idea how they did it. The bullets were really fired, they went through glass plates in front of each of them, and two experienced shooters from the audience were used to draw recognizeable markings on the bullets and verify the smell and appearance of freshly fired bullets. They wore bulletproof vests so I suppose it's possible that they actually fired at each other and then put the bullets from the vests in their teeth, but I find it highly unlikely, considering that it could easily crack their ribs at best and the bullets didn't seem to be flattened. There was obviously some illusion to it but what it was, I have no idea.

Sitting next to me in the audience was a couple in their 60's I would guess, very well dressed, obviously wealthy. The husband was drinking whiskey and we were chatting before the show. He's a huge South Park fan and suggested I go to the meteor crater in Winslow, Arizona (as mentioned in the Eagles song). Just goes to show that you can't judge people by their clothes, as I would never have guessed anyone over 30, let alone someone dressed like that, would be a regular South Park watcher and swear more creatively than drunk college students. There is hope...

2006-10-16T02:38:00.000-05:00

In Brief

2006-10-16T02:36:00.000-05:00

Jetskiing in Mission Bay this morning. Rode from San Diego to Las Vegas. Checked into the motel. Penn & Teller show at the Rio. Nachos and margarita for dinner. Sleep.

Video from the concert

2006-10-14T22:53:00.000-05:00

A collage of clips I took at the Hollywood Bowl last night. Press Play.

San Diego

2006-10-14T20:29:00.000-05:00

More California highway fun this morning, with heavy traffic on 405 through L.A. More lane "sharing," this time with the road bright and dry (unlike last night). At one point I was in the regular lane doing 25 or so and a whole bunch of Harley choppers roared by in a lane of their own. (Then the Israeli part of me said "don't be a sucker" so I joined the parade, albeit much slower as I don't do this every morning on my daily commute.) The traffic cleared up later on, which meant the lanes were doing 70, 80 and 90 respectively. I was in the carpool lane (allowed because motorcycles don't pollute that much, or something like that) following the car in front of me and passing the cars in the left lane. There were sections with a wide area between the regular lanes and the carpool lane - about 4 feet wide and separated by yellow lines - so I used that as my own lane when the traffic slowed down again.
Route 405 turned into 5, which went all the way to San Diego, about 130 miles altogether. I continued on 5 into the city, getting off by Mission Bay. I stopped at a burger place, and as I sat eating lunch, a woman sitting at a table nearby (who had been panhandling by the entrance when I walked in) suddenly went into what appeared to be a seizure - she was sitting up one moment, then her body flopped backwards against the wall and I'd rather not describe the rest...at first I thought it was deliberate, but quickly realized even if it was, it required some kind of attention, so I went to the front desk and got the manager, who took his time coming over...he finally called 911, and I got out of there by the time the paramedics showed up. Fortunately there was a wifi cafe across the street, so I'm sitting there now enjoying a fast internet connection, mocha and a chocolate crepe.
I'm going to stay at a motel in San Diego tonight, get up early and rent a sailboat in Mission Bay for the morning, then ride to Las Vegas in time to find a motel and see Penn & Teller.

Hollywood Bowl

2006-10-14T11:00:00.000-05:00

Silly me. The sign said "Def Leppard Journey," so I thought "Journey" was the name of the tour. Someone asked me on the entrance line if I had come to see Journey and I thought he was kidding. It didn't even occur to me that it was the band Journey (formerly my favorite band) until they got on stage...
It was at the Hollywood Bowl, a huge amphitheater built into a mountain. I was seated way up top, happy again to have such a good camera. (I used to bring binoculars to concerts, but those don't have image stabilization, so I think I can officially declare my binoculars obsolete.) Journey was on first, for an hour and a half, then they changed the stage for 15 minutes or so and Def Leppard did two hours. The girls behind me shouting along with every song were tone deaf, but it's all part of the fun. In a way it's funny that these guys who were huge in the 70's can still sell out a show and still have kids singing their lyrics by heart. Rockers never get old, I guess. Or as Neil Young sang and Def Leppard sings in one of their intros, "it's better to burn out than to fade away." Amen. I'd rather do neither, though, given such a three-option choice.
One thing they didn't have in the 70's is the huge high-definition screens that cover the back of the stage and the sides, adding a whole new dimension to the performance. Oh, and I almost cracked up when Steve Perry called for everyone to shine a light - by opening their cell phones! (In the 21st century, lighters are a fire hazard...)
The drummer for Def Leppard has one arm - he lost the other in a car accident years ago - so he plays with one arm and lots of foot pedals, which is pretty amazing.
The only problem was, the Bowl seats 18,000, it was almost sold out, and everyone drove there in a car. By some miracle they had enough parking, but it also turned the freeway into a parking lot. And it was raining the whole way in, until about halfway into the concert. (Umbrellas weren't allowed into the Bowl, but I managed to sneak my backpack - which happened to have an umbrella in it - past the security guard without it being checked, so they didn't make me leave it at the information desk, a good thing because the line to retrieve checked items at the end was a mile long.)
The traffic going in gave me a chance to enjoy the absurdly dangerous but legal practice (only in California) of lane splitting (or lane "sharing" as they call it). That basically means motorcycles are legally allowed to create a lane wherever we feel like it, between cars, between lanes, just about anywhere but the shoulder I think, so long as it's "safe and prudent." (We can also use the carpool lanes which is nice. The AMA must have a very strong lobby in this state, though the mandatory helmet law must have been a painful concession...) Anyway, with traffic at a standstill, lanes wide enough for several motorcycles, and without all the gear on my bike, I gained a little time (and lost a few heartbeats) by doing that. The drivers are used to it so they don't mind.
They even had a special area of the Bowl parking lot designated for motorcycles, a very smart and space-saving idea. Altogether I'd have to say California is a very motorcycle-friendly state.

(I uploaded a video collage but it's still "processing" so I'll post it later.)

2006-10-14T03:33:00.000-05:00

The concert was great, it was Def Leppard and Journey touring together. The traffic was exhausting, though, so I'm going to sleep now and I'll write all about it in the morning.

2006-10-13T15:47:00.000-05:00

I bought tickets to a Def Leppard concert tonight at the Hollywood Bowl, and the Penn & Teller show in Las Vegas on Sunday night.

Los Angeles

2006-10-13T14:27:00.000-05:00

I stopped in Santa Barbara yesterday evening, ate a large pizza and rode down the main drag of State St. Some day I'll go bar hopping there, but I was very tired and wanted to get to LA, so I didn't stay long. I'm staying at cousins in Northridge, a neighborhood north of the San Fernando Valley. I'm not sure where the technical borders of LA are, but it's enormous.
This morning I gave my bike a much-needed shower, then took a bunch of freeways into Hollywood. I stopped at the first cafe I saw on Sunset Blvd, for brunch and a few hours of work. The turkey sandwich is great but I bit my lip really hard and it's still bleeding. The people at the table behind me are discussing a movie production.
I'll explore the area for the rest of the day, stay in Northridge another night, then go to San Diego tomorrow.

2006-10-12T19:08:00.000-05:00

San Luis Obispo

2006-10-12T16:20:00.000-05:00

This is a pretty funny place. A muscular shirtless guy in his 50's was in the cafe before. There was a hobo with a guitar. There's a theater producer at the table behind me. Everyone's tanned and mostly thin. (The skin cancer doctors must do good business around here.) The toilet has a wood seat. There are mountains off in the distance.
I'm heading off to Santa Barbara now.

Seeking Wifi

2006-10-12T13:57:00.000-05:00

While getting food in Cambria yesterday, I noticed a sign for an internet cafe along the main street. So I went there this morning expecting a wireless network, but they only had two desktops and no wireless, and my cellular card didn't work there at all.
I got back on route 1 and got to San Luis Obispo, where I was going straight on the road through the town, but must have missed a sign to turn off back onto route 1, because I clearly wasn't on it anymore. So I turned onto a side street to make a u-turn, and right in front of me I see an internet cafe with free Wifi. Waddya know.

Morro Bay

2006-10-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

Camping in San Simeon

2006-10-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

I was going to head towards a state park some 30 miles south of San Simeon to camp, but I got to San Simeon State Park shortly before sundown, checked if I had an internet connection (I did), so I decided to camp there. I didn't have food for dinner, though, so I detoured a few miles down the road to Cambria and stocked up on rations at the general store, then came back. As I stood at the entrance shack picking up a self-registration card, I heard a man talking to his daughter in Hebrew. I asked him in Hebrew where they're from. From Modiin, in Los Angeles for a few years. Without even asking my name, he invited me to dinner. Not so much invited as simply stated matter-of-factly that I would be joining his family for dinner.
Well it turns out, after not speaking Hebrew for two years, I still remember a couple of words. And the meal turned out to be a feast. The family (parents and three kids) were on a camping trip for a week, so they had a huge cooler and portable propane stove. On the menu: hamburger on a roll with vegetables, seasoned rice, chicken, beans, two types of juice and soda. There was more but that's just what I ate, and I ate quite a bit of it, and there was plenty left after the meal for another meal. There was lively conversation and I left quite full. Pretty sweet the way that worked out.
The internet connection here turned out to be pretty weak and intermittent; it's not working now at all, so I'll go to sleep and post this in the morning.

Hearst Castle

2006-10-11T23:00:00.000-05:00

Pacific Coastal Highway

2006-10-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

Carmel

2006-10-10T23:20:00.000-05:00

Video collage from Monterey Aquarium

2006-10-10T23:06:00.000-05:00

(Press Play)

Monterey and Aquarium

2006-10-10T23:05:00.000-05:00

Pacific Coastal Highway

2006-10-10T23:00:00.000-05:00

2006-10-10T20:47:00.000-05:00

"Remember that at every step, where your feet are planted, where your heart is pumping, where you can see the sunsets from behind a screen of leaves, you are home."
- C.P.

Last morning in SanFran

2006-10-10T13:22:00.000-05:00

I chilled at the Canvas "Cafe and Gallery" last night, near Golden Gate Park. It's a cafe-bar, the kind I have yet to find in Boston (Allston for sure, but hopefully I'll find one in Cambridge). The sandwiches come with salads, the beer is on tap, there is funky artwork all over the walls. There are several brightly lit rooms and then a darkly lit one where I sat, where they had live music, a really funky quartet from France. Sort of Jazz, with a synthesizer and vocals and lots of weird instruments. More a play than a concert, really, because the female vocalist kept shouting and running around the room and acting out the music. The light over the band went on and off in synch with the music too.

I had time to catch up on my favorite political blog, Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish, and then watched an hour and a half of him debating another brilliant journalist/intellectual on the decline of Conservatism. Andrew's premise was that true conservatism is based on a premise of doubt and fallibility; that conservatives (specifically Burke and Oakshotte) liked freedom because they were skeptical of power claiming absolute certainty, liked free markets because those closest to the interactions are most likely to have the best information, and were skeptical of liberals who claimed to have all the answers creating a Great Society. Conservatism has been destroyed, in his view, by the merger of fundamentalist religion into politics; doubt and dissent being the enemy of fundamentalism, even a sin; so that the essence of conservatism has been destroyed by those who claim to be the most conservative.
His opponent in the debate was David Brooks, also brilliant, who argued that it is not fundamentalist religion that destroyed conservatism but rather partisanship - not "doubt is wrong" but rather "the other side is wrong"; that religion is simply an opportunistic tool of political conservatism; that there is in fact no governing philosophy to the current administration; and that while there is room for doubt and skepticism in politics, freedom as the Founders saw it was a "self-evident truth" and a liberal democracy needs leaders who espouse strong, certain views in order to be elected.
I think they're both right, really. There are many reasons why so-called conservative politics have been destroying this country for the last six years, and ideological fundamentalism and partisanship are obviously two huge parts of it. And I think I want to dive back into my classes next Spring (and my double major of philosophy and political science) with a focus (in my own studies if not the actual classwork) on practical applications.
The debate also made me miss debating. Not competitive debating, but debating like that, about real issues (not made-up "motions") with real people in forums (this was CATO) that have a real impact.
So to sum up last night, I enjoyed good music, had good beer, and got a wonderful intellectual workout. A very good evening.

Now to this morning...I checked out of the motel and drove two blocks to Peet's where I got (as I have every morning here) a pumpkin spice latte and (just today) a cinnamon roll. I'm going to plan my route for today shortly, and then head out.

2006-10-09T21:30:00.000-05:00

Last night after riding to and walking along the Golden Gate Bridge, we ate at "The Stinking Rose: A Garlic Restaurant," where everything (almost) has garlic, including the garlic ice cream on the dessert menu (which we thankfully did not order). Every table is in a booth enclosed with red curtains, like a fortune teller's office (or whatever the term is for where a fortune teller works...) The food was amazing. I was also impressed by the the waiter's wireless PDA which sent the orders straight to the kitchen. The cabbie on the way back was pretty cool too.

Tristyn is on the plane back to Boston now. In a little while I'll go looking for a cafe recommended by Colin. Tomorrow I head south.

2006-10-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

The motel is a few blocks from City Hall, Symphony Hall, the public library and many other landmarks, but it also seems like hobo & freak central. The person who has showered this morning and walks in a straight line without muttering gibberish or shouting at strangers or asking for money is the exception; the entertainment in the subway station was a tone-deaf hobo singing a combination of folk music and gibberish acapella...it was cute for a little while but then it all gets annoying. I am assured by a resident friend that not every neighborhood in the city is like this, however. Despite all that it is still a really awesome city.

Golden Gate Bridge

2006-10-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

Fisherman's Wharf

2006-10-08T14:28:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went down to Fishermen's Wharf to see the air show, part of the Navy's Fleet Week. There was a WW2 biplane doing stunts, a cargo plane flying very low off the water, and then the Blue Angels. Their wing-to-canopy distance in close formation is 18 inches and they're always flying supersonic.

San Francisco

2006-10-06T20:39:00.000-05:00

When I left Sacramento this morning, it was 80 degrees and the sky was clear. Then suddenly on route 80, a massive gray cloud came out of nowhere, dropping the temperature 30 degrees within minutes and keeping the sun hidden for the rest of the day. So the skies were gloomy when I got to San Francisco and checked into the motel, but the city was anything but. The Blue Angels are in the area practicing for a big show soon, so every few minutes they would fly overhead in very close formation and make a deafening sonic wave. I tried to capture them on camera, but couldn't; it was impossible to guage their location or heading until they were gone. Then they must have landed or left the area because I stood in a big courtyard for a while waiting for them to come back but they never did.
After some errands, pizza and "pumpkin spice" coffee (very delicious) at Peet's, I got on the BART subway system and headed to the airport, where I currently sit awaiting Tristyn's arrival. The BART is clean and fast, but I'm not sure how the pricing works yet; I just got a $10 ticket and got on.
I'll be in San Francisco with Tristyn for the next few days, so if I don't post here for a while, you'll know where I am.

Sacramento

2006-10-05T23:43:00.000-05:00

I rode close to 400 miles today. Route 5 through the mountains was great, but got dark and boring about 100 miles from Sacramento. Once in the city I looked for a Mexican restaurant I had eaten at when I was here for a few days last summer, and with help from my phone's GPS program I found the right address on the 2nd try and made it here. Very yummy. I'm so exhausted though, I look forward to checking into a motel somewhere in the city and sleeping very well. Then I go to San Francisco in the morning, do some errands, check into the motel and pick up Tristyn from the airport. Big day tomorrow!

Medford, OR

2006-10-05T15:30:00.000-05:00

I got into Crater Lake yesterday afternoon, rode around the "rim drive," and camped there last night. It was around 40 degrees at the campsite when I got there (colder in the morning), so I collected dead wood from the area and made a campfire to warm myself up. I think it's the first time I made a campfire by myself from scratch. I used gasoline (siphoned from the bike as with my stove) as a starting agent, and it works much better than lighter fluid: it burns longer, giving the wood time to catch, and doesn't explode as much when it catches. So I had a nice fire for an hour or so, until the wood I collected ran out. I also lit my stove and made some dinner. With hot cocoa of course.
I thought I slept well, but I've been tired all morning so I guess I didn't. It was raining when I woke up. I collected more wood from a wider area and made another fire, the gasoline working again despite the damp wood.
I left the park while it was still raining, very much in need of a gas station, which I found in the little town of Prospect. Now I'm in Medford, Oregon, at a McDonalds, recharging all my electronics (my ipod especially, as the interstate will be boring without music) and drinking a huge cup of coffee to wake myself up. Then I get back on route 5 and continue south into California.

Crater Lake

2006-10-04T20:00:00.000-05:00

White Eagle

2006-10-04T09:01:00.000-05:00

This hotel is amazing. It's owned by the McMeniman brothers, who make their own coffee, beer and wine, and has a pub/cafe downstairs (with live music every night) and a European style hotel (bathrooms and showers down the hall) upstairs. I asked the bartender for something strong and bitter and was served the best beer of my life. The music was "delta blues/roots," guitar and bass and vocals. It hit all the right notes, what else can I say. I left the bar when the band took a break and fell asleep hearing bittersweet melodies resonate the walls. Now it's morning and there's jazz; I'll go down soon to get breakfast in the cafe.

I found myself last night. Now I'm ready to start heading home. (After San Francisco.)

I'm gonna leave in the mornin
Leave in the mornin
No telling how long I'll be
(from a song last night)

Strumming my cup with my fingertips
Sipping sweet sweet bitter ale
Hit that note, hit the spot, touch that wire
That's where it's at
Tomorrow I ride hard
Wind, follow me.
(from one of many napkins last night)