For some reason life has been pulling rank over the blog so I would say I would update more often but it is probably just a lie. School is going well, I pulled a 91 average across my first round of exams. I bought another toy, a chinese Norinco SKS. What can I say, life is good.
"People can be divided into three classes
The few who make things happen
The many who watch things happen
And the overwhelming majority who have no idea what has happen."
~Unknown~
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
An Update
Sorry it took so long to get this posted up. The past few weeks have been a little crazy. Because my trip report was so long, I had to post it up as 4 Posts. As you read down they should be in order. I'll get the pics up and go through and correct the spelling and grammar errors soon.
Today was a particularly rough day, just the stress of everything in addition to a lost cell phone and a close friend opening my eyes to an issue that I hope can be worked out. Regardless, I recently came across a quote that has been getting me through.
"We only live once, but once is enough if we do it right."
~Gary Ryan Blair
Today was a particularly rough day, just the stress of everything in addition to a lost cell phone and a close friend opening my eyes to an issue that I hope can be worked out. Regardless, I recently came across a quote that has been getting me through.
"We only live once, but once is enough if we do it right."
~Gary Ryan Blair
The Trip
I guess I'll pick up where I left off.
The first day my travels took me from Wasilla, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Other than a little rain and and a mid day temp in the upper 40's - low 50's. I saw one moose and one back bear. The dielectric grease I put on my front spark plug cap solved all of my problems when it came to my troubles with the from cylinder cutting out when it rains. One thing that I did not account for in my travel times was construction. I spent approximately 2 hours making no progress. I made it to Whitehorse by about 11 PM. I was already able to notice my daylight diminishing.
Day two I headed out from Whitehorse with the intention of spending the night in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. As i was riding I decided to make a change of route and I took British Columbia Rt 37 "The Cassiar." It was mostly a 2 lane road with minimal guardrails/lines on the road. It cut through some of the most amazing mountains I have ever seen. It was truly the middle of nowhere but it was still amazing. It struck me as rather weird that I had not seen any Ski Resorts and that is when I realized that all of the skiing in the area was via helicopter. Around sunset I came to a section of road that the brush on the sides had been cleared. In the course of 20 miles I saw at least 11 bears. This was rather disheartning considering i was only 20 minutes from where I was about to set up my tent for the night. Luckly the campground I stayed at was run by the providence so they had bear boxes and food caches. When I arrived I just cought the ranger station before it closed. I ended up throwing my tent up under a pavilion because of an impending thunder storm. The winds were picking up so I had to strap my tent to the pillars of the pavilion.
When I woke up there was no wind at all and the ground was dry so that was a plesant supprise. Day three I finished my ride down the cassiar and jumped on BC rt 16 and started my journy towards Jasper and Banff. Once I was off the Cassiar, signs of life were a lot more abundant. Overall the day we rather uneventful. It was the end of the day that was a little more action than I had Anticipated. As the sun was setting I was still about 2-3 hours outside Jasper national park. The roads were wet but I didn't hit any direct rain. This became interesting when I cam to a freshly paved stretch of road that lasted about 20 miles. The wet roads without lines were a less than pleasurable experience but it only got better. As I entered into Jasper it actually started to rain and apparently the route I was on has heavy tractor trailer traffic at night. I couldn't see exactly what was going on because of the road spray and the lack of lines on the road but i do know that there were several instances that I could see a rock wall to my left and nothing to my right. I have no idea how far down it was but needless to say I was excited to get to my campground that evening.
On the fourth day I awoke to blue skies and Amazing mountains. It was probibly in the mid 40s and it took a wile for everything to warm up because the sun had to peek over the mountains. I can not begin to describe the views in Jasper and Banff. As I continued my ride I zig zaged back across British Columbia and headed toward Vancouver. I made it to the US border just at sunset and crossed in some small town in Washington. Seattle was probibly one of the prettyest cities I've seen at night. My campgound was about 30 minutes from Portland, Oregon. Because I didn't get in until around 2:00 AM I ended up just throwing my tent up and paying in the morning.
The first day my travels took me from Wasilla, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Other than a little rain and and a mid day temp in the upper 40's - low 50's. I saw one moose and one back bear. The dielectric grease I put on my front spark plug cap solved all of my problems when it came to my troubles with the from cylinder cutting out when it rains. One thing that I did not account for in my travel times was construction. I spent approximately 2 hours making no progress. I made it to Whitehorse by about 11 PM. I was already able to notice my daylight diminishing.
Day two I headed out from Whitehorse with the intention of spending the night in Fort Nelson, British Columbia. As i was riding I decided to make a change of route and I took British Columbia Rt 37 "The Cassiar." It was mostly a 2 lane road with minimal guardrails/lines on the road. It cut through some of the most amazing mountains I have ever seen. It was truly the middle of nowhere but it was still amazing. It struck me as rather weird that I had not seen any Ski Resorts and that is when I realized that all of the skiing in the area was via helicopter. Around sunset I came to a section of road that the brush on the sides had been cleared. In the course of 20 miles I saw at least 11 bears. This was rather disheartning considering i was only 20 minutes from where I was about to set up my tent for the night. Luckly the campground I stayed at was run by the providence so they had bear boxes and food caches. When I arrived I just cought the ranger station before it closed. I ended up throwing my tent up under a pavilion because of an impending thunder storm. The winds were picking up so I had to strap my tent to the pillars of the pavilion.
When I woke up there was no wind at all and the ground was dry so that was a plesant supprise. Day three I finished my ride down the cassiar and jumped on BC rt 16 and started my journy towards Jasper and Banff. Once I was off the Cassiar, signs of life were a lot more abundant. Overall the day we rather uneventful. It was the end of the day that was a little more action than I had Anticipated. As the sun was setting I was still about 2-3 hours outside Jasper national park. The roads were wet but I didn't hit any direct rain. This became interesting when I cam to a freshly paved stretch of road that lasted about 20 miles. The wet roads without lines were a less than pleasurable experience but it only got better. As I entered into Jasper it actually started to rain and apparently the route I was on has heavy tractor trailer traffic at night. I couldn't see exactly what was going on because of the road spray and the lack of lines on the road but i do know that there were several instances that I could see a rock wall to my left and nothing to my right. I have no idea how far down it was but needless to say I was excited to get to my campground that evening.
On the fourth day I awoke to blue skies and Amazing mountains. It was probibly in the mid 40s and it took a wile for everything to warm up because the sun had to peek over the mountains. I can not begin to describe the views in Jasper and Banff. As I continued my ride I zig zaged back across British Columbia and headed toward Vancouver. I made it to the US border just at sunset and crossed in some small town in Washington. Seattle was probibly one of the prettyest cities I've seen at night. My campgound was about 30 minutes from Portland, Oregon. Because I didn't get in until around 2:00 AM I ended up just throwing my tent up and paying in the morning.
The Trip
The next morning I stopped in Portland to get new tires on the bike. Once again the saying "If there is a "MLK" Blvd you're probibly in the ghetto" came to mind.... and yup. The bike shop was a little sketch but the old guys had my tires and the price was ok so it all worked out. I was back on the road by approximately 11:30. It took a while to get through Oregon and the heat was starting to get to me, As I entered Northern California I got my first taste of triple Digit Temperatures. Near Reading I noticed a big change in the temperature every few miles. It was the rocks on the side of the road. If there was gravel on the side of the road on the south side of a mountain it was radiating the head even after the sun was starting to set. You could defiantly feel the difference between the north and south sides. Once the sun set my fun was only just starting to begin. I could not find my two campgrounds so I just headed south. I was mentally breaking down and made the decision that I was going to head towards San Francisco so i could see the Golden Gate Bridge. I eventually just broke down and realized that I was beat down and I needed a good nights sleep to regroup my thoughts and go from there.
In the morning I realized that the golden gate bridge was going to add 3+4 hours of travel that I didn't have the time for so I proceded down California. It was well over 100 degrees, I was not ready for that heat by any means. It was so bad that I had to ride with my shield down on my helmit and had to stop for water every 45 minutes or so. I just happened to catch Los Angeles in rush hour. Normally this would have been miserable but riding a motorcycle does have its fringe benifits. I have never split lanes before but I have to admit, it was a rush. I was sitting still in the HOV land and notice 2 or 3 bikes driving between the cars every 5 minutes or so. After about 30 minutes of watching this I got a little dareing. I waited until a loud bike went past and followed suit. He would go by and you could see the cars freak out and get over as far as they could. It was nice b/c I was loaded up and was only sneeking through by inches.
Orrigionally I had planned on driving down to Tijuana but after talking to several fellow 2 wheeled adventurers they warned me that if i ride my bike in i'll be luckey if I walk out. But keeping in the adventorus spirit they told me to go to Mexicali. Apparently there is less of the shady business. With that in mind I cut down to a small border town of El Thats where I spend the night.
Normally I am pretty good about taking my parents advice but on this instance I took an unnessary risk and luckly got away with it. My father works for a private contractor doing distructive testing of gun barrel failures. Apparently there is some termoil with some top mexican officials and all government emplyees that are going to the Yuma Proving Ground were advised not to travel over the border. After breaking myself physically, mentally and financially for this trip I was feeling invincible.
First thing in the morning I headed for the boarder.Centro, CA. Thats where I spend the night.
In the morning I realized that the golden gate bridge was going to add 3+4 hours of travel that I didn't have the time for so I proceded down California. It was well over 100 degrees, I was not ready for that heat by any means. It was so bad that I had to ride with my shield down on my helmit and had to stop for water every 45 minutes or so. I just happened to catch Los Angeles in rush hour. Normally this would have been miserable but riding a motorcycle does have its fringe benifits. I have never split lanes before but I have to admit, it was a rush. I was sitting still in the HOV land and notice 2 or 3 bikes driving between the cars every 5 minutes or so. After about 30 minutes of watching this I got a little dareing. I waited until a loud bike went past and followed suit. He would go by and you could see the cars freak out and get over as far as they could. It was nice b/c I was loaded up and was only sneeking through by inches.
Orrigionally I had planned on driving down to Tijuana but after talking to several fellow 2 wheeled adventurers they warned me that if i ride my bike in i'll be luckey if I walk out. But keeping in the adventorus spirit they told me to go to Mexicali. Apparently there is less of the shady business. With that in mind I cut down to a small border town of El Thats where I spend the night.
Normally I am pretty good about taking my parents advice but on this instance I took an unnessary risk and luckly got away with it. My father works for a private contractor doing distructive testing of gun barrel failures. Apparently there is some termoil with some top mexican officials and all government emplyees that are going to the Yuma Proving Ground were advised not to travel over the border. After breaking myself physically, mentally and financially for this trip I was feeling invincible.
First thing in the morning I headed for the boarder.Centro, CA. Thats where I spend the night.
the trip
Normally I am pretty good about taking my parents advice but on this instance I took an unnessary risk and luckly got away with it. My father works for a private contractor doing distructive testing of gun barrel failures. Apparently there is some termoil with some top mexican officials and all government emplyees that are going to the Yuma Proving Ground were advised not to travel over the border. After breaking myself physically, mentally and financially for this trip I was feeling invincible.
First thing in the morning I headed for the boarder. I’m not quite sure what the allure of the southwest is but I could not stand the smell. The only way to describe it is aloe, poverty, heat, and sand. I was only about 5 miles from the border so I was there in no time. Getting in was the easy part. I pulled up to the border and they flagged me over to the side. After being told something in Spanish I busted out my extensive knowledge of the Spanish language “no habla espanol” (yeah its that bad). I explained that I had ridden from Alaska and just wanted to go far enough to say that I’ve been to Mexico. The guard sitting on his lawn chair looked at me like I was nuts and waved me on. I drove for about 2 minutes and realized that I had no idea what I was doing and I couldn’t read the street signs. I found the line to get back into the country. There was a line for passenger cars and another line for Sentry System/motorcycle. I had no idea what the sentry system was so I just go in line with the passenger cars, and I sat there. I sat so long that my bike started to overheat. I guess is customary for bikes to go to the front of the line. The lady behind me informed me that I should just ride the curb. Normally I would have but the curb is also where the telephone poles are and there was no way I could make it through. Eventually there was a pull off lane that I could jump back into the motorcycle lane and cut to the front. When it was my turn at the gate the guard gave me a glare and took my passport. After getting grilled about why I was in mexico just long enough to turn around he wrote something down on a slip of paper and told me to pull up to one of the bays. When I got there I was to give my passport to an official. They asked the same questions. They started to dig into my gear and I think they got discouraged by how tightly my gear was packed. They only unzipped the side of one saddlebag and my tank bag. After that the boarder guard went to talk to, who I presume was his superior. When he came back he said I was free to go and gave me my passport and the slip of paper and told me to give the slip to the exit guard. Before I put my gear on I took a quick look at the paper. It said, “Just came in to turn around and leave”, “Hands Shaking”, and “Excessive luggage”. All I could do was laugh, of course my hand were shaking, I had all my gear on and was dehydrated sitting with an internal combustion engine between my legs.
First thing in the morning I headed for the boarder. I’m not quite sure what the allure of the southwest is but I could not stand the smell. The only way to describe it is aloe, poverty, heat, and sand. I was only about 5 miles from the border so I was there in no time. Getting in was the easy part. I pulled up to the border and they flagged me over to the side. After being told something in Spanish I busted out my extensive knowledge of the Spanish language “no habla espanol” (yeah its that bad). I explained that I had ridden from Alaska and just wanted to go far enough to say that I’ve been to Mexico. The guard sitting on his lawn chair looked at me like I was nuts and waved me on. I drove for about 2 minutes and realized that I had no idea what I was doing and I couldn’t read the street signs. I found the line to get back into the country. There was a line for passenger cars and another line for Sentry System/motorcycle. I had no idea what the sentry system was so I just go in line with the passenger cars, and I sat there. I sat so long that my bike started to overheat. I guess is customary for bikes to go to the front of the line. The lady behind me informed me that I should just ride the curb. Normally I would have but the curb is also where the telephone poles are and there was no way I could make it through. Eventually there was a pull off lane that I could jump back into the motorcycle lane and cut to the front. When it was my turn at the gate the guard gave me a glare and took my passport. After getting grilled about why I was in mexico just long enough to turn around he wrote something down on a slip of paper and told me to pull up to one of the bays. When I got there I was to give my passport to an official. They asked the same questions. They started to dig into my gear and I think they got discouraged by how tightly my gear was packed. They only unzipped the side of one saddlebag and my tank bag. After that the boarder guard went to talk to, who I presume was his superior. When he came back he said I was free to go and gave me my passport and the slip of paper and told me to give the slip to the exit guard. Before I put my gear on I took a quick look at the paper. It said, “Just came in to turn around and leave”, “Hands Shaking”, and “Excessive luggage”. All I could do was laugh, of course my hand were shaking, I had all my gear on and was dehydrated sitting with an internal combustion engine between my legs.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Trip
It was good to be back in the country, even if I was only gone for 45 minutes. My luck started to turn, I just happened to run into a cold front in Arizona. I never thought I would be that cold in Arizona but between the rain and the temp dropping at night it was one extreme to the other. It turns out that my fathers cousin works for the chain of hotels that owns the Marriott. She happened to be in New York visiting my grandparents. She got me here employee discount but I had to push the extra 200 miles. It turned out it was totally worth it. I stayed at a residence in, IT WAS HUGE. I had 1 1/2 bathrooms, a kitchen, fireplace, living room, dining room, 2 walk in closets, and a second bedroom UPSTAIRS. I wish that I could have stayed longer but after a few hours of sleep I was back on the road.
The last day of my trip went well. I never got into the rain but there were several sections that the road was wet. The cool weather was also like a breath of fresh air.
Over all I covered 5,500 Miles in 8 days. I camped 4 nights and spend 3 nights in cheep hotels. The bike averaged in the low 50’s as far as miles per gallon. I paid as much as $6.50 a gallon for gas and as little as $3.50.
Looking back I can only think of one statement to describe the situation. A mountain climber was asked why he took such senseless risks and he responded that you never really know who you are until you push yourself to your breaking point. Through this trip I was able to see how I would handle 16-hour days on the bike, and camping on the dirt at night. It was an amazing trip, one that I’ll never forget
The last day of my trip went well. I never got into the rain but there were several sections that the road was wet. The cool weather was also like a breath of fresh air.
Over all I covered 5,500 Miles in 8 days. I camped 4 nights and spend 3 nights in cheep hotels. The bike averaged in the low 50’s as far as miles per gallon. I paid as much as $6.50 a gallon for gas and as little as $3.50.
Looking back I can only think of one statement to describe the situation. A mountain climber was asked why he took such senseless risks and he responded that you never really know who you are until you push yourself to your breaking point. Through this trip I was able to see how I would handle 16-hour days on the bike, and camping on the dirt at night. It was an amazing trip, one that I’ll never forget
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
