Day 33: Made it!

My friend Natasha who lives in Nova Scotia but happend to be in Victoria took me out for breakfast to a really nice little cafe. We went to the Sitka Skateboard and surf shop. They have a beautiful 4' halfpipe with pool coping that they just use to store stuff on top of. Such a shame.




I left Victoria at about 1:50 and went to Nanimo to take the ferry to Horseshoe Bay. I planed to get gas in Nanimo but the trans Canada suddenly turns into the ferry terminal. So I was suddenly in line for the boat. Getting off the boat I went into the village of Horseshoe bay looking for a gas station. No luck. Driving around the village I had to switch Willow to reserve. Decided trying to make it to Squamish was my only choice. Tried to go slow and coast down all the hills, but it didn't matter and I ran out of gas just outside of town beside this friendly bear.



Got it sorted and made it to Logan and Vika's place in Whistler just after dark. They came down to the driveway for big hugs and they helped me carry all my stuff inside. They promptly fed me chile and beer and politely listened to long winded stories about the trip. So nice to be here! Today Willow can rest, Logan is going to take me to try downhill mountain biking for the first time....

Day 32: CANADA

Had an uneventful drive the rest of the way up the Washington Coast. Made it to Port Angeles just in time for the 5:15 ferry to Victoria. The Canadian customs guy I had wsy super nice and also interested in motorcycle touring. He flew planes too, cool guy.

CUSTOMS GUY: "What are you taking in from the US?"
ME: "Uh... one can of beer, a broken chocolate chip cookie and half a quart of engine oil."
CUSTOMS GUY: "That sounds about right. Welcome home!"

Over due update:

I apologize for the lack of updates over the last three days. It's been an exciting adventure without a lot of time to spare. I'll try to make it up to you, here is a day by day update.

Aug 11th - Day 29:
Aimed to leave Trav's place at sunrise but after packing, bike maintenance checklist and fuelling up, we did not make it to the bay bridge until 7:40 where we sat in weekday morning traffic.

One of my goals was to get a photo of little Willow with the Golden Gate in the background but it was so foggy we could not see it at all. Crossing it was an uplifting feeling, finally out of town and on the number one.



It was foggy, damp and cold. The turns were tight and changed elevation a lot. On my left side the centerstand lever drags on the pavement and on tight right turns my actual pelican case drags. With all of our layers of clothing on we drove shivering most of the day. When a glimpse of the coast did appear, it was breathtaking! In Nova Scotia, one of the nicest rides we have is the cabot trail which traces the coast of Cape Breton. The number one is like that on steroids. Eventually as Hwy 1 turned inland toward Leggit the sun came out and it got warm. For the last 22 miles before Hwy 1 meets Hwy 101 it is nothing but beautiful tight turns among big perfectly spaced trees.

Like touristy suckers we took a detour to drive thru a big redwood tree. After a short break at this tree, Willow decided she did not wanna start. So we gave her about two hours to cool down and by that time she changed her mind and we were off to search for a camping spot. Trav had informed me that we were in a part of California called the "Emerald Triangle" which is a space in North Cal where a huge amount of marijuana is grown. This made total sense when every single side road we tried to take was blocked off with heavy duty gates. After 6 or 7 failed attempts it was getting dark. I saw a truck pulling out of one of the gates so I approached the diver and explained our situation.



The drive was Renee. A gypsy woman in her 60's who claimed to have raised five kids on the road by dumpster diving. She has been living in her truck since 2006. She told us that if we never revealed the location to anyone, she would take us to the non-gated side road where she parked her truck to sleep. I agreed to the conditions and what followed was some fairly intense off roading in the dark. Poor Willow and Fred. Once we got to the spot we set up our hammocks and Renee, slept in her truck beside us. She said if she saw bears, she would start the truck to try to scare them off.


Aug 12th - Day 30:
I woke up in the morning to find my hammock swaying above a patch of poison oak. We talked to Renee and learned a lot about how to survive as a gypsy and a little more about the marijuana industry and then we were off. The drive out in the morning seemed way less intense then it had seemed in the dark.



When we made it back to the pavement, Trav and I parted ways. He was such a good friend to go the first day with me! I picked up some supplies in Garberville and found an internet connection so I could call my friend Shaun (I'm not traveling with a phone). It was about 9:00am and Shaun and his friend Tim were already past Seattle after leaving Vancouver early that morning. I called them again at lunch they had made it to Portland!!!! They were really cruising.

We decided to meet for the night in Coos Bay Oregon. I got there first, got a motel room, picked up some beer and did my laundry in the sink. It was getting dark and I was starting to worry. I was just sitting down to update the blog when I heard the bikes pull in. Vancouver to Coos Bay in one day! Look at a map! That's crazy! Oh, and I forgot to mention that both Shaun and Tim were riding two up with their girlfriends. Oh, and I also forgot to mention that Shaun was riding a 1979 CB 400!!!! These guys put my mileage to shame. We went to the nearest restaurant which was a steakhouse. I tried to eat cow for the first time since Kansas but, I could only get a couple bites down. After dinner and beer we all fell asleep pretty quick.



Aug 13th - Day 31:
Went out for a greasy mom & pop breakfast with the couples. Then parted ways, They are continuing to San Francisco and I was eager to cross into my last American state before making it back to Canada. Heading north on the coast it was cold again and the wind pressure high. It was very tiring. The last few days were the first days of the trip that I really wished Willow had a windshield. On one of my gas stops I met a guy named Paul who has made a bunch of big motorcycle trips south. He said some of his stories were on a blog called Adventure Rider. I can't wait to have some more time to read them. In person he was very fascinating, kind and knowledgeable.



I stopped at Rockaway Beach. It's pretty cool, I get it. Then crossed into Washington. I ended up getting slightly lost while looking for a camping spot. I found myself on a skinny highly populated peninsula on the south west coast. There was for sure no camping here just one large sea side home after the next. So I started looking into motels. But no-vacancy anywhere. I guess this is a vacation spot. So in a last ditch effort I pulled into "Sunset Resort". A place on the ocean with a beach volleyball court, a tennis court and a parking lot filled with BMW SUV's towing speedboats. Clearly I could not afford to stay here. Like all the other places the sign said NO VACANCY. I got talking to the super nice and helpful lady at the front desk who no doubt took pity on me and said they had a room they were using for storage. I told her I would happily sleep amongst the boxes if I could afford it. This is the room they gave me. 50 bucks cash. I was even able to cook the food I had gotten for camping on the stove. Score.



Aug 14th - Day 32:
Thats today. I'm going to try to make it to Canada. Wish me luck.

Day 29: Heading North!

It's just before sunrise on Aug 11th, 29 days since we left Nova Scotia. I've convinced Trav and Fred to ride with me for one more day, it's going to be really nice to have a guided escort across the golden gate and out of town. Can't wait to get on that coast:

Day 22: Trav is Home!

Trav Says:
Had a decent sleep, and hit the road not long after sunrise. It's both exciting and strange to be in familiar places again. I'm eager to get home, and we're only a few hours away. I figure out the best route to avoid highways/freeways, and head for home. We stop for breakfast in Copperopolis, which has an awesome name. The foothills are nice. All the rolling hills are yellow with dried out grass, sprinkled with Oak trees. Just as beautiful as many of the other places we've visited along our trip, but it has the magic of not having snow in the winter.

We're able to take backroads all the way to Walnut Creek, and then we take 10 minutes of freeway to get to my place.

As I type this, I've home for 24 hours now. It's incredibly relaxing, but small hints of sadness are creeping in that the journey is over. Kev will continue his journey up to Vancouver, and he's trying to pressure me to go with him.

Overall, this was a fantastic adventure. Tons of bike problems, but I don't regret any of it. Kev is a fantastic person, and makes a great riding partner. It's great that we're both patient and easy going, as some of the most challenging parts of the trip could have sucked otherwise. I poke fun at Kev in earlier blog posts, but the truth is that I couldn't think of anyone better to do a trip like this with.

Kev Says:
Arriving at Trav's house was a bittersweet feeling. It feels wonderful to have made it here safely, but I am saddened that this marks the end of the journey for Trav. He is excited and relieved to be home and able to relax. Over the next few days I'll be preparing for the next leg of my journey from San Francisco to Whistler BC where I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch great friends.

It's going to be different to continue on the trip without Fred, Trav and Jimmy the GPS. I'm trying to convince them to join me for the first day or two or three.... Also, my friend Shaun and his girlfriend Rosanna are planning a motorcycle trip to Northern California over next couple weeks I'm hoping our paths will cross. Whether the trip turns out to be just Willow and I or with other friends too, I am excited about the adventures that lay ahead. I've been dreaming about Hwy #1 for a long time, I'm imagining it will be EXACTLY like this:

Day 21: California

Kev Says:
Not even 30 minutes out of Tonopah we saw the Sierra Nevadas, still sprinkled with snow and in a dark blue haze far away. Soon after that we crossed the state line into California. At first the change was slight. Mostly, just a bunch more road signs informing you of things you can now be fined for. Seat belts, littering, not turning your lights on. All of them still heavily punctured by gunfire just like the signs in Nevada.

We took HWY 120 which is filled with a succession of dips so abrupt it feels more extreme then some roller coasters I've been on. On this stretch Willow had an anniversary. Her odometer hit 50,000. I know it's not exactly accurate, but it was neat to see. She had 38,100 when I got her.

We stopped at Mono Lake and learned the minimum amount possible about tufas and then continued into Yosemite. The drive through the park is beautiful, but I could not get over how busy it was. A huge line of SUVs, station wagons and RVs following each other single file like a high speed parade. We stopped a couple times to take pictures of the valley and gawk at rock climbing routes and also to check out bridal veill fall. By this time it was getting dark, we had no camping reservations to stay and it was still a long drive out of the park. We drove until eventually we found a small offshoot road where we thought no one could see the bikes and hung the hammocks just before all the light faded. Thankfully no bear encounters.

Trav Says:
Had a decent sleep in Tonopah, NV. Ate breakfast in a small casino, then set out toward California. Explored an abandoned motel/casino just north of Benton, CA which was interesting. Entered Yosemite park (for those of you who don't know, it's pronounced Yo-sim-ite), and made it to Yosemite valley around 5PM. What a wonderful place. Spent some time at Bridalveil Falls, and then ended up having a race against the sunset to find a camping spot. We drove maybe 30 mins west of the valley and eventually found a good place down a side road and onto a dirt path into the woods.

Lots and lots of cars on the roads in Yosemite. When I drive a car, I find I'm modestly impatient. I've really tried hard to avoid adopting any of my bad car driving habits while riding a motorcycle, but it can be a challenge. When I'm riding an amazing mountain road with wonderful turns and twists (like through Yosemite), I want nothing more than to drive at a good (safe) pace for a motorcycle. So when I'm stuck behind slow traffic, it feels like I'm being robbed of something. Thankfully, thinking back on the trip so far, I can't recall too many occurrences of this.

Since we're on the topic, I would like to say that I think Kevin is a safer rider than I am. He's more patient and drives more responsibly. Good job Kev.

Day 20: The Lonely Highway.

Kev Says:

Crossed over into Nevada and things got lonely. After passing through the first town we went into a 200 mile (320km) stretch with no gas! About 50 miles in Willow decided to have a complete electrical failure and quit. I looked her over, thinking maybe the main ground wire had vibrated off as it did before. Nope, second place I looked was her main fuse. It was blown, but I had spares. Replaced it and continued on. 10 miles later. Quits again. Scan exposed wiring for shorts, find that the ground from the right rear signal had pulled out. Fixed it, replaced fuse, continued on. 10 miles later dies again. I have only one fuse left and 130 miles more to go to ANYWHERE. This time I inspect the wiring harness with a greater degree of scrutiny. Find a wire going to the taillight in behing the license plate that had been rubbed bare. Fix this and with fingers crossed that it was the problem, we continue on. Seems to have been the ticket!

We rode west on the lonely ET highway all after noon. Every single sign was riddled with bullet holes. You could tell the pace at which various beer consumers liked to drink based on the frequency of their brand of empties along the road. Our only company was long horned cattle that stood in the ditches and followed us past with their heads in unison. At 179km Willow ran out of gas. Despite me keeping the rpm under 4K and keeping my chin on the handlebars for two hours. Fred and Trav went the last 20 miles into town to fetch a jug of gas while I checked out big beetles and little lizards in the desert. When they got back we headed for town together directly into without question, the most gloriously dramatic sunset and impressive lightning display I had ever seen. It is exactly for days like this that I wanted to do this trip. I could not be happier.

Trav says:

Goodbye Utah, hello Nevada. Nevada is divvied up by a bunch of mountain ranges, with long long valleys between them. It's typical to enter a valley, see the mountains on the other side and think "OK, I can get there in 10 mins", but not actually get there until 35 mins later. Something about the vast open landscape which has no reference points except for the perfectly straight road makes you underestimate how far distances are. I like deserts, so I find the whole thing fascinating.

We rode on Route 375 which goes by the Air Force Range which contains Area 51, as well as where a bunch of nuclear bomb testing was done during the cold war. Pretty fascinating stuff.

Willow ran out of gas, and even though we had an extra liter of regular gas at her disposal (specifically for this purpose), apparently Willow is too good for regular gas and premium is demanded. Kev made me drive 20 miles to go get premium and then come back. What a jerk-face. It all worked out in the end, since we were rewarded with a wonderful sunset and lightning storm ahead of us in the distance.

Day 19: Grand Canyon & Zion.

Kev Says:
Wow being sick was not so great I felt pretty helpless and it slowed us down by a full day. Yesterday I was feeling good enough to ride for a bit so we went down from Kanab to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. I was still feeling a little under the weather so we decided to set up the hammocks and nap for a bit. I found a pretty prime location near the canyon edge, probably one of the better views I've had during a nap. We woke up from this to yet another thunder storm. We tried to outrun it and mostly succeeded getting only a little wet. Then we went back into Utah and through Zion State Park. So awesome, if you're into motorcycling, rock-climbing or photography, go there now.

Trav says:
Kev was selfish and decided for "the team" that is he was too sick to ride a motorcycle. So we spent a full day in Kanab, UT, and he started feeling a bit better later in the day.

I had previously seen the Grand Canyon form the South Rim, so I was interested to see what the North Rim looked like. We got there around 11AM, and although the views are most certainly spectacular, I think the views from the South Rim are a bit more impressive.

Kev's body is still pathetically fragile after dealing with his illness, so we're trying to take it easy today. We rode through Zion in the evening, and were treated with amazing views. Of all the parks in Utah, none of the locations seem too touristy or developed, which I felt was refreshing. Zion falls outside of this category, and you must pay a fee to enter the park, and the road feels specifically designed to shuttle thousands of tourists through the park. Still, it was extremely beautiful, and I would highly recommend it to anybody.