Traveling to (and in and from) America... Part Two

"If you end up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it."—Frank Zappa

In that vein, click here for a very interesting Ted Talk about "multipotentialites", those of us who had or will have many different careers.

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”—Neale Donald Walsch

"Man is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."—attributed to The Dalai Lama

www.pikipiki.co.za

During my recent trip to the Americas, I had two full days between adventures 1 and 2, so I put both the DR650 and the Royal Star Deluxe Classic

up for sale (unfortunately, it's the end of the riding season in the PNW and both are still available at very reasonable pricing); sold a few other items; visited with a number of friends; and ate a LOT of peanut butter and dark chocolate.

19 August—This time I got the early start I planned on, so I was able to take a leisurely two days to ride the 538 miles to the Canada West Horizons Unlimited Travellers' Meeting in Naksup, BC (I am using their spelling for "Travellers")

stopping for the night at a campsite in Grand Forks, BC.

where I got to spend my first night in the awesome Redverz Atacama Expedition tent. I bought it for only $300 from another adventure motorcyclist via the ADVRider flea market. The tent will sleep three AND has a garage (the area between the two brown stripes) for your motorcycle!

As I rode through the Cascades, the smoke from the season's raging wildfires was heavy in the air, though only enough to irritate, not enough to make riding dangerous. It cleared up a bit the second day as I climbed into the Kootenay mountains toward Nakusp.

The Travellers' Meeting was one of many held yearly around the world and, if you ride a motorcycle, I highly recommend attending one. Or more. They offer a huge smorgasbord of 40- and 80-minute seminars on everything from changing a tire in the middle of nowhere to "bodging" (repairs done making due with what you have at-hand) to "dancing with your motorcycle" and more.

Shortly before the Meeting I submitted a proposal to make a presentation to the group about my project to donate motorbike helmets to the children of Đà Lạt. My proposal was accepted and was relatively well-attended. Before the end of the Meeting, participants donated CN$60 and US$20 toward the purchase of helmets, allowing me add five helmets to the existing order that afternoon. Thank you to all who donated.

When I originally signed up for the meeting, I paid for a camping site, all available meals, and a Horizons Unlimited "The (international) borders are only in your mind" t-shirt. Because I gave a 40-minute presentation, they comp-ed all of it and gave me a full refund. I used the money to buy the HU five DVD set covering all aspects of Adventure Motorcycle riding. What a deal!

I also volunteered to help other presenters with the technical aspects—basically a 21st century version of the AV nerds in high school. The downside of that was that the head nerd got there first and grabbed all the prime presentations and I therefore missed a couple I really wanted to see. I could've bailed on my commitment and sat in on the presentations anyway, but that's not me.

There were attendees from pretty much everywhere. I was pretty sure that I'd be the one who traveled the farthest, and then I talked briefly with a guy from Italy. I'm pretty sure that if you added up all the countries in which someone there had ridden a motorcycle, you'd probably tick all 192 at least twice... a very interesting crowd with a lot to offer! I'm glad I got to go.

Since, upon arrival, I was unable to find the brand-new camping chair I bought at REI, I walked into town to look for a chair to use at the camp site. Sitting outside the local thrift shop was an old webbed folding chaise lounge with a $4 price tag. I bought it immediately and carried it back to my campsite. Over the next three days, at least four people stopped by and asked me how I carried that on the motorcycle :-)

As I was leaving Sunday morning, I used one of my new ROK straps (GREAT find!) to secure it to the top of my luggage, rode to the thrift shop, and since they were closed, left it leaning on the door with the $4 price tag still on it. I hope they can sell it many more times!

One last thing before leaving Nakusp... back in the early 00's, I decided to design and build a teardrop trailer for camping and even had a web site documenting the build in excruciating detail from day one. Back in 2009 I wrote on the Home Page of that site that, "Although I love camping, I'm DONE with sleeping on the ground." Six years later, thanks to my Thermarest LuxuryLite UltraLite L camping cot,

also purchased second-hand from another ADVRider "inmate" through the Flea Market, I'm camping in a tent, yet still NOT sleeping on the ground. It disassembles and rolls up into a 15"x6"x6" package that easily fits into one of the panniers; sets up in three minutes; and is worth every penny. I'm pretty sure it's the reason that after sleeping on it for five consecutive nights, I was sorry to see the camping end. That's good news if I decide to start long-term adventure motorcycle traveling.

Heading home... 583 miles with detour.

The original return-to-Tacoma route was planned for Highway 2 though the heart of the Washington Cascades. As I approached, signs warned me that, due to heavy smoke from the wildfires, the road was closed about 15 miles down... so I stayed on US-97S toward Wenatchee. Just before the intersection with WA-17, I saw signs for Bridgeport State Park that included the icon for camping. It was late in the day and I was tired, so I headed down 17 toward the park. Good decision!

Bridgeport State Park sits on the edge of a lake formed by the Chief Joseph Dam and it (the park) is a green oasis in an otherwise dry and brown part of the state. The Ranger at the check-in booth assigned me to one of three outstanding tent sites overlooking the lake and away from everyone else.

After setting up camp, I headed into Bridgeport in search of dinner and a beer or two to take back to the camp site. I ended up riding through pretty much the entire dismal town and finding only a couple of quick mart-type shops scattered like fallen leaves among the mostly shuttered businesses. Then I found Maria and Kenya's Tacos truck at the corner of Columbia & 11th.

The food was so good that I asked if I could take a few photos and mention her in my blog. Her English was good when I ordered food, so I started talking with her in English. After a paragraph or three I took a breath and she said, "No English."

LOL

I restated as best I could in my very rusty Español and, with a little coaching from the guys sitting at the table, I got my point across. She smiled and said, "Sí!" So here she is...

When you're anywhere near Bridgeport or the State Park, stop by for some great food... and please tell her "John dice (dee-say) Hola!"

After stuffing myself with Maria's cooking and hitting the bodega across the street for a six-pack of Negra Modelo and a lime, I headed back to the campsite. At 7:55, as I enjoyed one of my cervezas, I had a front row seat for the local coyotes' beautiful twilight serenade across the lake... the perfect end to an outstanding evening.

Lunch the following afternoon was another great and memorable experience because I got to eat with Donna and Bob Olsen and their daughter Debie. I've known Donna, Bob, and Debie, as well as son/brother Steve since 1962 when my family moved to Cincinnati and across the street from them. Sisters Carrie and Kristen came later and now all live in the Pacific Northwest where both Donna and Bob grew up. It was way too long since we'd seen each other and we had a great lunch together. When they heard about my self-assigned project to provide helmets to Dalat's children, all reached for their checkbooks and made generous donations. Thank you!

Next: "Friends & Family 2015"; Dubai; RTW at 35K

More BDR Photos

I just found some photos from the BDR trip that I took (except the first one) with my digital camera instead of the iPhone 5S I usually use:

Happily and nervously ready for Day 2

Brett readying the herd

Beauty shot angle 1

Beauty shot angle 2

The view

Roadside attraction, BDR style

We have little idea what's next, so we talk about what just happened.



Brett modeling proper body position

The original recycling

Years after the clear cutting

Instructors' Conference

Brett facilitates a round of "Exactly where are we?"

Only in the PNW...

Most of the day's route

Post-feeding siesta

Mount Adams, lesser peaks, and the WPA-built highway

"The Mountain" (Mt. Rainier to those from afar)

John Cleese is brilliant!

Once you click through the ad...

Traveling to (and in and from) America... Part One

09 August—After a couple days in Saigon, I boarded the first of three planes that would transport me (wouldn’t it be great if Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a transporter were already realized?) to Seattle via Hong Kong and Los Angeles. It would take about 33 hours including a short stay in an LAX hotel. I now know that I will return home after a full schedule and an eventful 29 days including 5000+ motorcycle miles. The trip qualifies as a vacation because I returned in need of rest…

As written previously, the main focus of this trip is to improve my riding skills for current riding and, more importantly, because I'm considering leaving VN and embarking on an extended motorcycle journey on at least two (other) continents. The improvements will be via two Puget Sound Safety classes—the PSSOR (off-road) BDR Training Tour and the on-road Advanced Street Skills (A.S.S.) Level One course, in which they teach the S.M.A.R.T. method. Before you ask, I got no discount for being a natural smart ass, perhaps because the instructors are all also well-qualified in that skill area?

My great friend and amazingly patient hostess Liz collected me at SeaTac baggage claim and shepherded my thrashed corporeal vessel to her house. Over my previous and current objections, Liz graciously granted me her bedroom and spent the next almost month sleeping in her cozy (with a very low ceiling, at least for me) upstairs bedroom. Since my months-earlier decision to make this trip, I had, with Liz’s permission, ordered a large quantity of individual items to bring back to VN, from individual-use tubes of Super Glue to a portable battery powerful enough to jump start a V8 to a complete new set of riding gear including wool underwear and Gore-Tex boots. Each item I brought back is either unavailable in VN or prohibitively expensive. Though I never counted the boxes, they took up a hell of a lot of room… I’m certain there were at least 40 and it took a concentrated effort over two days and nights to get all opened and sorted. Then I returned a few things and ordered more. Liz never flinched.

As is my habit, I traveled out with the maximum checked luggage allowance. Even though many things were either given to friends (e.g. Da Lat coffee and a 30” peppermill) or sold (little-used and like-new motorcycle gear) or returned to family members (family heirlooms), there were enough new items to fill two more suitcases on the return trip. For a guy who divested of 95%+ of his possessions less than two years ago, I sure still have a LOT of stuff!

The three days between arrival in Tacoma and departure for the first motorcycle course/adventure passed VERY quickly. Taking priority was outfitting and checking out the Suzuki DR650 I’d purchased sight-unseen from afar via advrider.com’s free classified ads. Yeah, I know... last time that's happening! The bike wasn't as-promised. I should've known that someone who feels the need to advertise his "religion" in his email address (HosanaGTGWSU@aol.com) could possibly be (is probably?) a charlatan. The battery was DOA and emails to the seller only got me, "put it on a charger and it will be okay." Guess he thinks a battery that won't hold a charge is good-enough... and it might be if you didn't mind pushing it to start it every fcuking time! In my opinion, he sold his integrity for the $50 it cost me for a new battery because he never answered my subsequent emails. If you ever have a chance to buy something from Daniel, currently at "For God's Glory Farm" in Stockton, CA, run the other way.

The battery wasn't even the worst of it. As soon as I saw the tires he'd advertised at being 50%+, I felt the need to take it to Hinshaw’s in Auburn for a new—$500 installed—set of rubber

(that I didn't even bother to try to recoup after his failure to sell me a bike that fcuking starts) and an oil change. The oil change was mandatory by the time I arrived because the oil filler cap decided to bail at some point during the 20-minute ride to the dealership. I knew I had a problem when I put my right foot down at the stop light just before the dealership and it (my foot) slipped away from me. There was oil ALL OVER my new boot and the bottom of my new riding pants (first time I ever wore either of them), as well as the entire right-hand side of the bike behind the oil-fill cap. SHEESH!

My guess is that I neglected to sufficiently tighten it after needlessly opening it in search of an oil level. The DRZ has a dip stick on the cap and I thought the DR would also. Nope! It has a glass window that only needs to bike upright to give an accurate reading of the oil level. Fortunately, Service Advisor Pat was able to find another cap lying around, for which he didn’t even bill me. What a great guy!

13 August—A late afternoon departure for Hood River, Oregon and the Hood River Hotel. With an 8 a.m. Friday morning meet-up for the three-day BDR (Backcountry Discovery Route) Training Tour, I wanted to arrive refreshed and NOT after a four-hour ride. My hope was to get out of Tacoma with time to get to Hood River before dark... didn't make it. I rode the last hour in twilight-to-dark and for the final 30 minutes on I-84, I got to ride with bazillions of flying long-legged bugs of some kind. Unfortunately for thousands of them (and me), they were flying west and I was flying east.

The Hood River Hotel is on the National Historic Register and a very nice place.

The room was quiet and clean and the lobby restaurant did a good job with the complimentary (i.e. included in the $100 or so you pay for the room) breakfast.

I left early enough the next morning to make the 8 a.m. rendezvous, though the Columbia Gorge's massive morning headwinds (east to west) almost slowed me down too much.

If you're going to ride a motorcycle along the Gorge and are on a schedule, do what you can to ride downwind. It's a LOT easier, too.

Day one of the BDR class was almost all technical skill improvement. They took us to a dirt hill with a track up that put most of us horizontal at least once. My ego was happy that I wasn't the first. It was a very good, positive, and humbling experience that I would do again with the proper (read same) instructors... I learned a LOT. Due to my failure to take my time in separating my gear, both my camera and my phone were in the bag riding with the support vehicle, so I have no photos from Day 1. Brett, PSSOR's owner and lead instructor took a lot, and he warned us that it will be a while before they work their way to the top of his to-do list. Once I get them, I will, with his permission, post a few.

Day 2 was AWESOME! We rode the WaBDR from Stevenson to Packwood through the beautiful Gifford Pinchot National Forest and almost exclusively off pavement.

There was a LOT of gravel, mostly well-packed,
though there were plenty of opportunities to break a rear, or even a front, wheel loose (a good thing if you're paying attention). Prior to the previous day's instruction and experiences, I was tentative and tense on gravel; today, I was confident and relaxed. It made a HUGE difference! Even before we broke for lunch, I caught myself enjoying some rear slippage and specifically remember thinking, "That was really cool AND I'm still upright and jammin'!"

There was also some pretty amazing scenery and a waterfall stop that I surely would've missed had I been flying solo because this was the only sign/indication from the road

A short walk past the sign and through the trees rewards you with this view

and fortunately for most visitors, only one time was this the view (yes, that's dust/dirt on my nose ;-)

For a while I ran with the significantly more experienced guys, and that night at dinner, Rick from Atlanta turned to me and said, "You were really shreddin' it today!" I could almost feel my chest swell with pride as I temporarily forgot that once we were back on pavement and headed to the night's accommodations, I experienced what I call pilot error, slid on some wet leaves and loose gravel in a corner, and did a face-plant at about 40 mph. Had I been wearing anything but a full-face helmet, the slide would have been on my left jaw.

 

My medical insurance only covers me in 191 of the 192 countries in the world (can you guess which country's medical system is so out-of-control that it's the outlier?), so without the full-face helmet, I'd probably be facing uninsured plastic surgery to repair the left side of my jaw—after six months or so with my jaw wired shut.

This is only one of the reasons I ALWAYS wear a full-face. Are you reading this, Clint?

Both nights' accommodations were very nice, though I would've preferred camping the first night as we'd signed up for, instead of the large house with many bedrooms and a nice view of the Gorge.

I wanted to camp because I'd purchased a complete complement of camping gear for the trip. I never asked, though I'm 95+% sure that camping was taken off the agenda because we had six (or thereabouts) participants who'd won the PSSOR WaBDR Experience in a contest sponsored by Triumph motorcycles. The got airfare, expenses, the $1285 fee paid, and use of a brand new Triumph Tiger to ride... but not camping gear. It's okay, I'll get to use my new-to-me gear five consecutive days the following week (see Part Two).

Day Three was Leg 2 of the WaBDR, featuring more technical riding including some single track and "baby heads" or rocks about the size of a baby's head. There were a couple of us who'd sustained minor injuries the previous day including one "young stud" who insisted on riding beyond his ability and fell HARD at least three times off-road before he listened to the instructors and slowed the fcuk down (my words, not theirs). Everyone was given the opportunity to opt out of Leg 2 and, instead, stay on-road and ride to Sunrise at Mt. Rainier before meeting the Leg 2 group for lunch and farewells.

I chose the non-Leg 2 option because although I'd fallen on my left side the previous day, my right thumb had somehow sustained the only physical damage and hurt like hell. Medical professionals tell me I stretched or tore a ligament and as I write this seven weeks later, it still hurts. Since I'd lived in the PNW for many years and was familiar with the area, I was originally chosen to lead the opt-out group of four. Then one of the instructors decided to go with us, so I was freed up to take some photos along the way without worrying that I was holding others up.

The cruiser riding past was not part of our group

All-in-all it was a great trip with instructors and support group to match. Special thanks to Kyle (pictured on the deck in a photo above) who did an outstanding job of wrangling everything necessary to ensure we were all well-fed with very good food!

Part Two will be up soon... certainly sooner than seven weeks!