Wait! I almost forgot to mention that we went out for a walk the other day and ran into our friend Jorge from the Rossco hostel who was out for a stroll with his wife and their baby. After some chit chat, Jorge said his bike club is going out for a group ride in a few days and asked if I wanted to come. I had every intention of doing some rides around the area while we had all this time here but for some reason never did. In fact I’m still on the same tank of gas 6 weeks later (maybe I should have brought that fuel stabilizer after all). So of course I said yes.

But first I had to fix a couple of issues with the bike. 1. The engine had a very loud knocking noise at start up that eventually improved as the bike warmed up. It had been going on since before we arrived in San Cris but I was never able to figure out the cause. It reminded me of a car without a muffler somewhat, so I thought it might be related to the exhaust. However after checking the exhaust and coming up empty I began to worry that it was actually related to the head replacement that I had done under warranty last July.

So I posted a video online and within a few minutes someone noticed I was missing a nut on one of the bolts that attaches the exhaust to the front of the bike. Well DUH! Figures I’d have a loose nut, that would totally cause the problem. Not quite sure how I missed it but I did. Part of the problem is the weekly cleaning Tigger hasn’t been getting. I’ve been keeping the bike somewhat dirty intentionally down here just to try an make it look, well, dirty. I know it’s probably like keeping that red Ferrari dirty, meaning that it’s still going to be a red Ferrari. Regardless, I miss washing the bike every week as it gives me a chance to do a full inspection and possibly notice stuff like that. I also may have noticed that the centre stand was sitting much higher than normal, something Lori had tried to mention a couple of times before. “No honey, I think it’s fine,” I told her. DOH!

It would appear that all those big topes we encountered where we had bottomed out the bike, had actually been smacking the centre stand up which squished the little rubber stopper upwards bending the bracket the stopper is attached to. Now for some ridiculous reason, Triumph welded this bracket to a section of the exhaust pipe. So the centre stand was basically sitting against the swing arm/shaft drive and every time I rode over a bump of any kind it would smack against the swing arm loudly. Luckily the only riding I had done over the last 6 weeks was to the supermarket and back. Of course I got the deserved “I told you so” from Lori when she found out.

The solution is to try and bend the bracket back or cut and re-weld the thing. I opted for door #1 at least for now, see how long it lasts. If it gets bent back, then I’ll deal with having it re-welded then. Jorge suggested a shop he takes his bike to might be able to help and sure enough they did. I was in and out within a few minutes, we actually spent more time talking about bikes and gear. Centre stand bracket fixed and Tigger has a new nut to hold the exhaust on, sounds much better!


Just like the three amigos.

Now let’s go for a ride. We all met up the next morning at the mechanic shop and I discovered that this was actually a BMW club that was heading out for a ride.


One of these things is not like the other…


A rose amongst thorns.


Oh and I think I finally discovered why the Weather Network always says it's 30-somehting Celsius in San Cris. Not even 10 minutes outside of town and the temp just soared. It actually hit 37.5 Celcius (that's 99.5 F) while moving!


We did some off road, some crappy roads and some excellent twisty type roads. I brought the SPOT tracker so I could track where we went but according to the map, there are no roads here. But it looked something like that.


We stopped somewhere south of Chiapas de Corzo for some lunch only to discover the restaurant was all out of meat. So we rode across the street for something a little different.


The gang sitting down to lunch. I know what you're wondering, what's for lunch?


Boy do I have a fish tale for you...


You might lose your head though…

After lunch/dinner (lupper) the big group (of 14 or so) split up and our group of four took the uber twisty 190 libre back home at a…very brisk pace let’s say. Got a chance to stretch Tiggers legs a bit after a long rest. Ahhhh!

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San Cristobal is a very popular tourist destination and its population swells during Holy week (the week leading up to Easter). Navigating the pedestrian walkways becomes kind of like playing the game Frogger. But take your eyes off the path for one second and you get a shoulder into the abdomen by a young Mexican girl.


Not only does the visitor count go up, but it seems there are just as many indigenous people on the streets selling stuff. In fact they seem to be carrying at least twice as much stock as normal.


Some people let the excitement of it all go to their heads...


Some just like to sit back, relax and read a good book.


Others like to eat.


The big mercado isn't quite as busy for some reason. Funny thing is that even though you’re at the market, there are ladies walking around trying to sell you the same things that are at the various booths.








The place is almost like a maze to me but Lori can literally spend hours walking around here. Somehow I don't think it's because she's lost...




I become a basket case after about 10 min here…






Girl cops get to ride the fun toys around here.


We sat down on a park bench for a break and within moments this girl came up to us trying to sell us something.


Rasta chia pet?


C'mon, just look at those eyes. Every day on our way down to school we walked past him and he would just stare at us with those incredibly sad eyes.


So we started to bring food for him everyday. Sometimes some left over chicken, other times some pepperoni. On the way home from school he would always follow us looking for more.


We caught up with yet another moto rider travelling around the world.


Anna Grechinshkina has been on the road on her own for the last 20 months and is also heading all the way to Argentina. Sorry about the blurry pic, the camera somehow ended up in manual focus mode without us noticing.


Another boring sunset as our time here comes to a close. It’s been nice Sun Cristobal, we will miss you!

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And then there was one!

Earlier this afternoon I dropped Lori off at the ADO bus station where she caught a bus that will take her to Cancun. At the moment she’s almost halfway into her 18 hour ride there, a bus ride I would later find out took more like 21 hours. That 219km (139 mile) section between Palenque and San Cristobal that took us about 5 hrs on the bike, took the bus about 7 in a torrential rain and fog. Don’t worry though, this isn’t one of those broken down 30 year old buses missing a wheel and with chickens and goats on the roof. These are brand new luxury buses. She’s then flying out of Cancun the following day and should be home in a jiffy. I’m excited for her as she’s off on her own mini adventure and she’ll get to see the kids in a couple of days. Being away from the kids is one thing that continues to be difficult for her, more so than for me I have to admit. I’m told it’s a mom thing.


All her bags are packed she’s ready to go…

I know we had a rough start here in Mexico but don’t worry, we always intended on returning home for the summer. We have a few family commitments we want to get to, not to mention we miss everyone back home. So after we put it in park for a month here in San Cristobal, it made sense to hang around a little longer instead of pushing further south for a few reasons. Flights out of Cancun are ridiculously cheap and well, Mexico is close enough that we can also ride home - which incidentally is what I’m going to be doing over the next little bit. Technically, I guess I can be home in less than 3 Iron Butt rides from here, but I’m thinking of taking the long way home.

Funny enough, getting only as far as Mexico was one of the many plans (or ideas) we had discussed before we started this journey. It’s just that the plan changed about a dozen or two times since then. So while Lori makes her way home the quick way I’m left in unfamiliar territory - all by myself….don’t wanna be…

Not to mention I’m left with the daunting task of having to pack the bike all by myself. This may not seem like a big deal, but you’ve never seen me pack. Lori can pack the same amount of stuff in 3/4 of the space that I can. I’m really not that bad at it, it’s just that she’s really that good at it. Then there’s the fact that she does all the legwork in figuring out where we’re going to stay in each town. She’s a vital part of this team and I guess I’m wondering how exactly am I going to get on without her? This is completely uncharted territory for me. You know it’s quite possible I may never leave this place…

I had a few days off before leaving town so I did the unthinkable, like hand wash my own laundry and hang it up to dry. The horror continued when I packed up the bike. Actually I had no idea how true that part about me possibly not leaving really was. After getting the bike all packed I had this feeling that I was missing something. MY KEYS! They were nowhere to be found. Well that’s just great! I rummaged through everything that wasn’t already packed, twice, three times, searched the apartment several times too, even checked the bike, maybe I left them in the ignition. Nada! “Could Lori have taken them by accident,” I wondered to myself. That would be a little inconvenient to say the least. Called Lori and told her the good news. She of course searched through everything (twice) she brought home but still nothing. Visions of having to stay here another couple of weeks while Lori couriered the spare keys to me started running through my head. I went back to the bike a dozen or so times wondering if maybe they had fallen down between the crash bars or bash plate or got stuck somewhere, maybe got under the seat somehow…wait a sec…the seat…I pulled something out from under the seat a few days ago. Yup there they are, still in key slot in the back of the bike. Whew!


I drowned my sorrows in great food.


And checked out some art.


I tried to stay entertained.





We had been carrying a bunch on small things to give away to kids in Central and South America, pens, pencils, small little rubber balls, lollipops, stuff like that. So I put together a little care package and gave it to the kids down below our apartment. No sense of bringing all that back.


Lori got a warm welcome back in Ontario, reaffirming my "take the long way home" approach.


I sent her some pics in return. What? I was just trying to warm her up a little.

And just like that I was outta there heading north-ish!

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We arrived in Mexico on December 6th, and I finally pulled away from what was our home for the past 2 months on April 6. I made one last stop to feed the puppy all the left overs I had at the house before hitting the slippery streets of San Cris. Before I could even leave town, I dumped Tigger on the right side as the car in front of me came to an abrupt and unexpected stop. I grabbed a handful of front brake forgetting how slippery the road gets when wet, and down we went. “Well this isn’t the way to start our solo adventure now is it,” I thought to myself. I quite literally walked away uninjured simply stepping off the bike as it fell under me. I did manage to break one of the tool tubes under the side case, but only the mount at the front. I removed the contents none the less and left the partially broken tube hanging under the case. I just didn’t feel like taking the tool kit that was located at the bottom of the other case out and removing the rest of the tube. Mañana. I was actually happy Lori wasn’t there with me at that moment as she would have probably gone down with Tigger. Even though I had just gone on that group ride the previous week, I felt rusty after our 2 month break. I scolded myself for not paying more attention to the road, turned off the tunes and made a conscious effort to re-focus on the task at hand.


By the time I hit Tuxtla I had started to feel much better and decided what I needed to get back into the swing of things was to twist throttle some more. So I kept it north of 5K RPM’s for the remainder of the day. I ignored both GPS’s which were insisting I take a different way than I had planned out on google maps. I soon discovered the reason for this. Apparently there is no actual ramp off the 145D to the 180, at least not the direction I was heading in. There is a break in the road where the ramp should be and it simply turns to dirt for a couple hundred feet to join the other highway. Hmmm, wasn’t expecting to do off-roading today.

It was a very hot 33C most of the day, before finally dropping to 12C as I left Cordoba and snaked my way up a very twisty section of highway past 8000 feet elevation. This part turned out to be the highlight of the day as I got to ride through the clouds that were hugging the mountain.

My destination was a hotel in Puebla. Turned out that a kids baseball team had the same destination in mind. Nice that there was a foosball table to keep them occupied till about 1030pm. Not so nice that the foosball table was literally right outside my door. Hmmmm.


The following morning I had to do a double take over my left shoulder as I took the cuota out of Puebla. That really what I think it is? Funny I don’t remember an active volcano being there when we passed through Puebla on our way south. Maybe it’s be new . Turns out Popocatépetl (which means “smoking mountain” in Aztek) is in fact an active volcano. It’s the second highest peak in Mexico at over 18,000 feet and apparently had some significant seismic activity in Feb with 1-2 km ash plumes. Sounds like fun. Oh gee would you look at the time…gotta go.


It was a hazy morning so the pics didn't turn out too well.

Another highlight today was being nearly run over by a transport while cruising down a mountain. I looked at the speedo, I was doing 150km/h (about 93 mph) and Cledus back there was gaining on me. “Okie dokie then,” I thought. Ended up in Guadalajara at the Blue Pepper Youth Hostel. Cheap accommodations and friendly atmosphere, although parking was on the front sidewalk. Staff speak English, or so I’ve read, although we seemed to get by just fine in Espanol. Guadalajara seemed like a very big city, I passed several Starbucks on my way out of town the next day, not to mention they had Stella at the local 7-11. I think Lori and I could have enjoyed a few days, maybe a week hanging out here.

Day 3 was moto day. Someone I met at one of the stops mentioned there was a huge bike rally happening in Mazatlan starting today. So I thought “hey, it’s on my way, I’ll go check it out”. I passed probably a hundred bikes all day long, all of them heading north. The only one that passed me was a dude on a crotch rocket going what I estimated to be in excess of 200 km/h. And he was 2up to boot. Not only did he pass me once, but 3 times in total. I guess you need to fuel up more often when your purring along at Mach one. Maybe the pillion needed frequent breaks. At least they were in full leathers.


Also remembered a (very Canadian?) pub in Mazatlan, Lucky B’s where Lori and I had dinner at one night on our southbound portion of the trip. They had Canadian hockey showing on the TV’s and some pretty awesome food, and you could simply ride the bike up the sidewalk and park right next to your table almost. Gotta love Mexico. So that’s where I headed.

Now as good as the food is in Mexico, one thing they don’t do very well is beef. So I've had this crazy craving for beef for the last month. Lucky B’s Mexican Burger did not disappoint. Great beef, chorizo, chihuahua cheese, sautéed onions, red onions, lettuce, tomato, avocado - simply delicious. Only thing better would have been having a frosty beverage to go with that delicious hunk of meat, but since I still had another 2 or so hours to get to Culiacan that day, a lemonade would do. The bike rally thing turned out to be less exciting than I thought, but maybe it hadn't got started yet.

Day 4 had me passing hundreds of bikes heading south to Mazatlan (including a total of 6 ST's) while I continued north to Hermosillio. I’m seriously starting to think that the city just doesn’t like us (or maybe just me). On our initial visit, our computer mysteriously died. It seems I would not ride away unscathed this visit either. I pulled into the Starbucks to use their wifi and figure out where I was going to stay the night. Getting off the bike I noticed a oil blotches on rear rim and the back of the shaft. Hmmm! I don't recall installing a ScottOiler on my shaft drive. Seems my final drive had developed a leak somewhere after my last fill up and was oozing out of the rubber boot. Crap! The good news is that I’m about 3hrs away from the states. The bad news...I’m 3 hrs away from the states. How much oil has leaked out? Would I make it?



The next morning on my way out of town, I passed by a shop that appeared to be selling oil. So I doubled back and inquired about some 75w90, I was doubtful but you never know. Guy brings out a 80W90 but it’s GL-5. WooHoo! So I thought I would top it off before I left the parking lot and hoped I made it across the border. Put the bike on the centre stand, start undo the filler screw at the top aaaand, oil starts pouring out? Huh? Apparently I didn’t lose that much after all. This was very bizarre because I filled the oil myself back in Canada and know for a fact I didn’t over fill it. I guess it looks worse than it really is, much like having a small laceration on your face, it just makes a heck of a mess but you don’t lose that much fluid. I felt better that the final drive wasn’t running dry and I hit the road for the final stretch.

A short while later I got pulled over for an inspection at the military check point north of Hermosillio. Now we’ve been through a few of these in Mexico but it’s always been “move along”. Not today. He asked me to open one of the side cases and his nose led him to our first aid kit. Really? “Great, this should be fun” I thought.
“What are these pills for?” he asked.
“Allergies.”
“What about these pills?”
“Anti-diarrheal”, of course we never covered this in Spanish school so I had to explain it with some visual cues.
“And these ones?”
“Nausea”
Seriously dude? Of all the luggage on the bike; the tool tubes, the Wolfman bag, the tank bag, the Givi bag….you pick that side case, and then out of all the stuff sacks and bags inside that case, you sniff out and make a b-line for the FA kit? Really? He pretty much went through the entire FA kit, item by item. No strip search so that’s something I guess.

Made another quick stop about 20km’s before the border at the Aduana to return my moto paperwork and get a refund for the deposit. Apparently the $ will be returned automatically to the credit card. We shall see…

Of course I then managed to pick the slowest lane at the border crossing. The car in front of me got tagged for an inspection, then I did too. Really? Is there a sign on my back? The two guards looked around here and there and we chatted for about 10 min about Mexico. They asked if I felt safe, any problems? It was all pretty friendly actually.

Almost hard to believe what took Lori and I four months to do, took just over 4 days to undo. Coming back across Mexico took just 33 hours of riding time and 3123km’s, sticking to toll highways the entire way back.


If you’ve ever wondered how expensive the cuota highways in Mexico are, well it cost 1,792 Pesos (or about $143CDN) for my return leg, 41 tolls in total. That's essentially end to end through Mexico. Although that is pretty expensive, taking the Libre roads would have more than doubled my time to get back. Considering that’s also about what I paid for accommodations over the 4 days, I think it would have all been a wash. Besides, I had plans to meet my friend Mike in Arizona.

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First order of business once I got clear of the border was to fuel up the bike. $2.19/gallon - nice! I'm used to paying 13.57 pesos per litre which is about twice the price. I was also able to use up my remaining Pesos to pay for my gas at the Circle K. Speaking of filling up, my insatiable meat craving guided me to the nearest 5 Guys Burger & Fries for lunch. “Is it possible to get extra meat on mine please.” Thought of Denis Leary for some reason.

It felt a little weird being back on the roads in the states, it felt more dangerous somehow. Maybe being passed by someone texting on a cell phone in one hand and a cigarette in the other had something to do with it. Cops everywhere along the highway waiting to pull someone over, just not any of the winners I’ve seen so far apparently. I somehow made it to Needles (unscathed) where I met up with Mike at a campground right along the Colorado River.


Pretty nice spot.


Brand new REI Half Dome 2 and Exped SynMat UL 9 waiting for me when I arrived, thanks to Mike who was nice enough to deliver my new gear. That REI dividend and 25% discount code were perfectly timed I gotta say. I know this sounds crazy to some but I was so stoked about sleeping outside again. The sound of water flowing by, just being in nature, comfy bed, no foosball games or screaming kids. Turned out to be the best sleep I had in weeks. Although I did strangely find myself missing being woken up by the sound of roosters crowing in the middle of the night. I’m sure I’ll get used to this tranquility eventually.

We made a little detour on our way to Death Valley the next morning that nearly ended in my getting arrested. Ok maybe not exactly, but it was my first brush with the law on this trip. I survived 4 months in Mexico, passing buses and transports and cops, on single yellows, double yellows, in construction zones, around topes, you name it. But park the bike in the wrong spot to take a pic at Hoover Dam and it was almost handcuffs and strip search for me! Have to admit that my usual quick wit was caught off guard by the officers greeting: “What side of the road do you drive on in Canada?” A query that I understood to be in regarding my parking the bike to the left of the oncoming traffic lane or rather the implication that I rode it on the wrong side of the road to get it there. My typical response would be “depends how sober we are” but I was kind of taken aback by the question that I simply asked him to repeat it to verify that yup, he is in fact a dick. My wit eventually caught up with me and I told him I wasn't driving at the moment but I curbed my attitude once he established that this was only “an educational experience”. And that it sure was.


Since I did pay for these pics with my freedom, I thought I'd show you the place.


Incredible to see the water line 130 feet lower than what it was in 2000.


The Transformers made this place look so massive that it was almost underwhelming seeing it in person. Still pretty cool.

Mike and I celebrated my freedom with breakfast at a burger joint in Vegas. It had been a few hours since my last feeding after all and the meat level meter was flashing dangerously low. Must have meat! MEAT!


Our next stop would really heat things up. Death Valley.




Badwater Basin. Looks like you can just strap on a pair of ice skates and go, although I'm not sure you'd get far on this salt flat. Besides, I did say it was hot. Today's high was a cool 98F (or about 37C). The highest temperature ever recorded on the planet was right here in Death Valley in July, 1913. A toasty 134F (57C). I know what you're thinking, "but it's a dry heat!” I’ve discovered what that really means to me is blowing out bloody crusties from my nose a few times a day.


At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is the lowest point in the Continent. Can you see the "sea level" sign up on the mountain?


All that walking around is exhausting, so we took the rest of the day off at a campground in Furnace Creek. I never thought I could hang a hammock in the dessert. We were really looking forward to our canned beans and tuna for dinner when our camp neighbours came over and invited us for some pasta and sausage. We reluctantly accepted, but only because we didn't want to see them have to throw out all that extra food.


Even managed to do a little laundry.

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What do a WWII concentration camp, a 760,000 year old lake and a ghost town have in common? They can all be found in California and be visited in the same day. Oh and there’s also a stunning view of the Sierra’s from each of them. Ok so the Ghost town doesn’t exactly have Sierra views but the road leading up to it sure does.

Bright eyed and bushy tailed we departed Furnace Creek the following morning at 7am to a perfect 20C (68F). We found ourselves puttering along the 190 when a group of BWM touring bikes caught up to us around Panamint Springs. These guys were really moving. As if on cue, the road turned super twisty just beckoning us to gear down and twist the throttle and we found ourselves in the middle of the pack blasting through the curves and s-bends that unfolded before us. Forget morning coffee, you should definitely check out this section of road for that morning pick-me-up. We soon split up as they made the turn to head south while Mike and I continued north.


A few clicks later we found ourselves pulling into the Manzanar historic site right off the 395 in the Owens Valley. Apparently I don’t know my WWII history well enough because I was unaware this place even existed. Manzanar was one of 10 concentration camps, or “internment camps” as they were called, in the US, where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned without any due process after Pearl Harbour was bombed. The Canadian government followed suit “relocating” 22,000 of its own citizens. These folks were given a few days at most to gather up what belongings they could fit into a suitcase, sell, toss or simply walk away from the rest and off they went. A dark cloud in the history of both countries. Suffice it to say there is quite a bit more to Manzanar and this part of history.


After breakfast in Bishop we visited one of Mike’s favourite bakeries, Schat’s bakkery in Mammoth Lakes. Cause you know, one can never have too much good food. Definitely a must-stop if you’re ever in the area.


In case one of the best sandwiches you’ve ever (not) had doesn’t interest you, the chocolates might. On second thought, you might want to skip this place unless you have the will power of a monk. Mike and I were still full from breakfast but being forward thinking sensible adventure riders (with zero will power apparently), we took our sandwiches and baked goodies to go. I know what you're thinking, blah, blah, blah. You're still starring at the pic aren't you?


Next up, the 760,000 year old Mono Lake. We made a stop at the visitor centre and caught our second short movie of the day. The first was at Manzanar. No popcorn at either one . What’s remarkable about Mono Lake is that it has no outlet causing the build up of salts. This in turn causes the water to be very alkaline. It’s surprising to learn that it has a pretty thriving ecosystem.


Today was about seeing the sights rather than putting huge miles down an we weren’t done yet. We continued north up the 395 before taking a side road which took us east along some über twisty stuff until the pavement ended. A few dirt miles later, we arrived at Bodie, my first ever ghost town.


Hey I ain't afraid of no ghost!






Before Tyvek, there were tin cans.


Sadly they didn’t have Premium on tap.


Bodie started out as a mining town around 1859 when gold was discovered in the area. It's rumoured to have been one of the largest cities in all of California at one time.


But with 100mph winds and long bitter winters, I can see why people left. Bodie actually rivals Barrow, a small town in Alaska for most nights below freezing annually. Yes we’re still in California.




I can't even imagine how many horses had to pull this thing here. Let's just say those wheels aren't titanium.

With daylight slowly becoming somewhat of a premium, we took off north again to find a camp for the night. Mike’s GPS indicated there was some camping at Twin Lakes but when we arrived, we discovered that unfortunately none of them appeared to be open yet. While entertaining thoughts of doing some stealth camping there, we were warned that the temps would be dropping into the low 20’s (-6C) overnight. Being sensible adventure riders (as Mike called us) and the fact we didn’t want to freeze our butts off, we decided to keep moving north.

We found another place to camp at an RV park about 30 min north where it was supposed to be much warmer. But just as we were about to set up, the camp host says, “oh by the way, there’s a weather warning for 60MPH winds tonight.” Clearly we were not meant to camp tonight. We hoisted the white flag and found a motel in town.

Manzanar, Mono Lake, Bodie, a side trip to Twin Lakes, and even a couple of short films. That's quite a full day.

The following morning we headed across the Sierra’s making a stop at Ali’s Cafe in Markleeville for breaky. A tiny cafe seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but the place instantly felt like home to me. 2 guys, clearly regulars, sitting drinking coffee talking trash about fishing giving the waitress some friendly attitude. The waitress turned out to be the Ali, from the sign out front, and man she was giving it right back to these two characters. Kind of reminded me of the show Cheers. Excellent food and free entertainment, another place I’d happily come back to.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a good pucker up moment on the bike. I had one for about an hour straight while crossing the Sierra’s on highway 88. Beautiful sunny morning, great road and definitely beautiful scenery. But a good winter tire would have performed better than my bald, ready-to-be-replaced Heidenau K60 rear on the sections of ice that covered the road. As a bonus the temp dropped to -5C (23F). I tried to focus on just maintaining my speed over the ice and keeping my lean angle as close to zero as I could. Other than some sweaty armpits and numb fingers from the freezing temps, we both made it across just fine.

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With the temp soaring back to life on the other side of the Sierra’s, we were pleasantly thawed out by the time we arrived at Mike’s place in San Ramon. First order of business when we got back was FOOD! I translated the growling emanating from within my belly as my stomach’s plea for more MEAT! I can’t explain it but I really did have a serious craving for meat ever since returning to the US. Maybe it’s something in the air, I’m not sure.


While I’m happy with a 5 Guys or Habit burger or even a dehydrated Mountain House cuisine when camping (ok so happy might be a strong word for the Mountain House), this was more like a symphony going off in my mouth with every bite. Seriously the best steak I’ve ever had. Mike and Kati were taking better care of me than me.

Tigger went in for service at CalMoto the following day leaving me wheel-less . I wonder if there’s anything we can do about that? Hmmm…Hey Mike, you got a motorcycle I can borrow?


Hello sexy!!


But I said motorcycle.


This <em>is</em> a motorcycle. No really! While it could have come straight*out of the latest Batman movie, it's actually a*Polaris Slingshot. Let’s see, how about a 2.4L DOHC engine making about 173 HP, weighing about 1750 lbs., 5 speed manual tranny, carbon fibre reinforced belt drive, ABS, traction control, stability control, locking glove box and a back up camera. A BACK UP CAMERA! Oh and this thing will also push 1G around a corner. You’re gonna want one! (said in a Denis Leary voice of course). Wanna know how it rides? Like a jacked up adult Go-Kart, that's how!

What’s that? You need a bottle of water from the store? Oh let me go get that, back in 10. 10 min later - What? You need some milk? Sure I’ll be happy to pick that up. 10 min later - oh darn, I forgot the eggs. I’ll be right back.

I was actually excited to have some down time after being on the go everyday since leaving San Cristobal, Mexico 9 days ago. You know, relax, maybe catch up on the blog. Mike and Kati’s idea of down time is meeting friends for coffee at 730, come back and make breakfast by 930, spend a few hours renovating their kitchen, lunch, then Mike and I then took the Slingshot to Best Buy and to get some groceries. Man does the Slingshot get a lot of attention on the road. With all the people staring at us, I felt like I was back in Mexico on the bike. After getting back Mike took me for a 22 mile (35KM) bicycle ride. I think he may be trying to break me . In fact I had no trouble passing out, I mean going to bed that night by 9pm. These guys are running circles around me. Next day, it's simply rinse and repeat. They are literally the most active 65+ couple that I have ever met. Something to seriously live up to in my opinion.

We went to check on Tigger. The seal in the final drive was indeed kaput. No problem, we’ll just replace the seal, right? Only it turns out the drive is non-serviceable. So that $5 seal actually cost $1438 because they had to replace the entire unit instead. Thank you warranty. It would also take several more days, so I thought it would only be fair if I took CalMoto’s brand new BMW GSA out for a spin. Keyless start, on the fly performance settings (rain, dynamic, off-road modes and more), fully adjustable suspension (rider, rider + luggage, rider + pillion, rider + pillion + luggage). All at the push of a button.


I wiped the drool off my chin, threw my leg over and took her for a good run. Have to admit, it was a fantastic ride. If only I had 20K+ burning a hole in my pocket.

The next day Mike was heading out to fly some RC planes with his buddies and invited me to tag along. “Sure why not,” I said, thinking I’d go watch. But when we arrived, Mike handed me a plane and a remote.


“You just throw the plane off the cliff and don’t crash. Oh and if you do crash it down by the beach, you have to walk all they way down there to get it.”


Nice view, but a long walk down (trust me, I speak from experience).


I know he said fly but what he really meant was dogfight.


Bogey 6 o'clock!


I noticed some dolphins having fun in the surf down below.

Mike also wanted to make sure I got the “American Experience”, as he called it, so the following afternoon we stopped by the shooting range. This was the first time I’ve ever fired a weapon and have to admit it was a pretty cool experience. I managed to save an imaginary hostage by emptying a clip into the orange zone (of the bad guys chest), and even killed a zombie trying to steal my pizza. I also learned first hand just how hot the shell casings get as they exit a gun when it’s being fired, when one flew over the stall next to me landing on my neck. It then proceed to squirt down my shirt as I did a little dance trying to get it out.


Turns out that I’m actually a decent shot. Who knew?

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With Tigger still in the shop, Mike’s friend Doug was generous enough to lend me his steed; a 2005 BMW GS for a few days and Mike and I were off again. Thank you very much Doug, the bike ran like a champ! We did an encore run down the Pacific coast, just like the 4 of us did last fall.






We headed up Nacimiento Road.


Just as beautiful as the last time.


We rode through and above the fog line finding a perfect camp spot at the top.

Super stoked about being able to use my hammock. Lori shipped me my Underground Quilts underquilt and topquilt so I would be toasty warm. The only question is: do I set up the tarp? Nah! We're not expecting any rain tonight anyway. You probably already know where this is going, right? Well it is, sort of. So I woke up at around 2am to what could have been the scene to a horror movie, fog completely surrounding the mountain and us on it. It was a very eerie yet at the same time cool sight.

Thinking I could simply will the fog away I went back to sleep. About an hour later I woke up again, this time to the sound of rain drops falling around me, I could actually hear it coming down on Mike's tent more than anything else. Only it wasn't raining! The fog seemed even thicker than before and now both my (down filled) quilts were starting to feel pretty damp from all the moisture. Great!

Down is a fantastic insulator but only if it's dry. Once wet, the stuff is pretty much useless in keeping you warm. I guess I'll set up my tarp after all, something that would have been much easier in the daytime. Doh!

A little while later I hear Mike up and giggling away. He was laughing at the fact that it was raining without actually raining and that he was a few feet away from a perfectly dry spot. The fog had completely soaked all the trees around us and they were simply dripping on us. We weren't getting any more sleep at this point so we got up and started breaking camp and making breakfast. While cooking we hear what sounded to be a tank coming up the big hill towards us. A few minutes later with the ground shaking a CAT 325C excavator crawls past our campsite. Good thing we were up. Gotta say, everything is truly an adventure riding with Mike .


Jetboil eggs and bacon - yummy!


Although we did make a stop for second breakfast at the Morro Bay bakery.


We continued down the coast for a bit, stopping for a short hike up to a waterfall along Highway 1, then checking on the Elephant Seal pups at the Rookery. Did you know Elephant Seals are able to dive to a depth of 5800 feet? For perspective, a White shark can dive to a maximum of 3900 feet. About the only thing that dives deeper is the Sperm Whale at 8200 feet.


If for some reason the views, waterfalls, Elephants Seals, or many of the other points of interest along Highway 1 don't tickle your fancy, you might want to check your pulse. It's just magnificent out here!


San Miguel Mission along Highway 101 dates back to 1797.


San Miguel Mission was part of a network of Christian Missions extending from the southern US south through Mexico and as far as Argentina and Chile.





We continued east away from the coast, ending up in Fresno at Tim's house for the night. Now Tim is a good friend of Mikes and let's just say that he lives in a very unique neighbourhood.




Oh...I think this is going to be fun!

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Tim lives in a very interesting neighbourhood in Fresno. Forget that 3 car garage you’ve always wanted, these guys have hangers for garages. HANGERS! WITH PLANES IN THEM!! I didn’t even know places like this existed.


That's a mighty fine hanger (and plane) you got there.


But before we go anywhere else, you need to meet Tim's dog, Buddy - the wonder dog. Buddy has only 3 legs due to an unfortunate accident, but man is he just the happiest dog ever.



The flight was an absolute thrill!

The next morning Mike and I headed to Sequoia National Park. After checking the weather, and because we’re sensible adventure riders, we took the truck instead of the bikes.

Perhaps not as tall as the Redwoods, the Sequoia tress are absolutely massive. They can weigh in excess of 2.7 million pounds. Since I don’t know anything that weighs 2.7 million pounds, I can’t even put that in perspective for you. Even a giant Redwood tree only weighs 1.7 million pound. Only - HA!


Apparently the largest of the Sequoias, the General Sherman Tree. Although I’m not sure how they get it on the scale to check…


These guys are simply massive!


Apparently a Sequoia tree falls only uphill.


Say, did you know that Donald Duck's ancestors came from California?


I heard a crack and thought this Sequoia was going to fall over. So I went over and tried to support it as best as I could. I think it did the trick . But before we could get back to the truck it began hailing on us. HAIL! Fun-wow.


We found an opening in the path and made a run for it. Actually we just put our rain jackets on and hiked on.


Hiking up to Moro Rock.


View wasn't too shabby.


Oh and the temperature dropped to butt-freezing cold!

Back at the parking lot we saw a bunch of teeny-boppers*getting out of a van wearing nothing but cut-off jean shorts and a t-shirt. They were heading up to Moro Rock where we just came from. Mike mentioned they might want to put some more clothing on. The one girl said, “but this is all I brought.” Ahhh, to be young and...

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The next few days seem almost like a dream.


Of course there is nothing like a little turbulence or a sharp turn by an expert pilot to wake you up to reality.






Tim was leading a Formation clinic for about 20 other pilots, so I got to spend the first day up in his plane with him flying formation with several planes. It felt almost surreal to be up there with a plane on either side of us only a few feet away. When it was all said and done, I had been up for 6 flights that day. WOW! I can't even begin to tell you how much fun that was.


The day capped off by a party back at Tim's house...er hanger.


Celebrating a successful day.


The next morning we headed back for round 2. Breakfast and a pre-flight meeting at the airport with all the pilots. Today was going to be a big day.


So what's the plan Stan? There is quite a lot to organize and get sorted out before 20 planes go up together.


New plane for me and a new pilot. I flew with Goose today.


Goose is his flying alias, but it turned out he had yet another alias: Cabana Boy.


We checked the weather forecast before heading out.


20 planes taxi-ing down the runway.




Here we go...


Getting 20 planes together in the air takes a bit of skill...and patience.










Catching up to the first big group.


It was pretty wild to have 20 planes all flying in a tight formation only a few feet away from each other.


Everyone coming back for a landing. Everyone landing single file even though we took off in finger formation, 4 at a time.




The West Coast Raven Formation Team. Thanks everyone for an amazing time over the weekend, it was just amazing to be a part of it all.

Ok so I took way more video than I know what to do with over the course of the weekend. Here are a couple of the shorter ones. If you'd like to see the rest, check out our youtube channel Life's 2 Short Short Adventure.

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With Tigger already fixed up (actually I snuck back to San Ramon over the weekend to pick up my bike from the dealership before heading back for all that fun in the sky in Fresno), I headed out on my own again for a couple of days. Mike and Kati were heading to Lake Powell the most direct route and I wanted to head over the Sierras.

Mike's expertise of everything California became obvious to me within the first couple of hundred miles as I managed to fill up at the most expensive gas station around. Not to mention I had to pay attention to the GPS again.

Sonora Pass was closed the previous week from the winter still, so I was looking forward to taking a new pass over the mountains. It was nice to have Tigger in tip top shape again and fresh rubber on the rear. The previous tire had kept me company for 18,000km's (11,250 miles), and still had some miles left on it. I'm really liking the Heidenau K60's. The front has over 33,000km's (20,625 miles) at this point and I expect it to last to 50,000km's (or about 30,000 miles). As long as you don't need to do a tire change on the road, these things are fantastic.


Sonora Pass did not disappoint. No vehicles to speak of and as twisty as anything I've ridden in California. Just a blast.




I really can not get enough of the Sierras.


I ended up camping at Twin Lakes for the night. Beautiful spot with the snow capped mountains acting as a backdrop. As I was setting up my tent, I caught something moving out of the corner of my eye. I turned around to see a deer walking past not 10 feet from me.


The next day started out by taking my breath away, on more than one occasion actually and for different reasons. It turned out to be a really long day, mostly on account of my own stupidity.

After stopping to stare at that scene above for far too long, I continued south along to 395. Of course I just had to turn into Mammoth Lakes when I saw the sign. Y'all know what's in Mammoth Lakes right? Shat's Bakkery of course. Lots of chocolates, mouthwatering sandwiches...you know the place.


They even give you a cookie with your sandwich. Need I say more?


Much nicer backdrop for the second half of that sandwich.


So Mike had mentioned the Bristlecone Pines during a conversation. Some of these trees are 5000 years old. When I saw the sign, I just had to pull in and take a look.


It was eerily quiet here, I can only describe it as a sound-proof room, only it's outdoors and the views are stunning.


One of the most unique places I've ever visited.


I saw one person on the trial the entire time.


So before I left on this little hike, I checked out the sign in the parking lot. It indicated that this hike is pretty strenuous and that it's about an hour long. So I thought nothing of it and took off in my motorcycle pants, moto boots and a t-shirt with camera in hand (for my 1 hr hike). Had I read the rest of the sign clearly I would have caught that the big loop is actually a few hours to hike. So I found myself out there for about 3 hours wondering if I was heading back or heading away on this trail. Not a sole in sight, me with no water, no shade from the sun (have I mentioned it was a beautiful sunny and hot day?), oh and I was at about 10,000 feet. I also didn't bring my phone - so no way to tell the time, no compass. Just me and Stupid along for a hike.

The path was full of switchbacks and elevation changes that are not for the faint of heart. I considered turning around and heading back the way I came but really didn't relish the thought of having to climb all those hills again.Luckily enough, and perhaps by design for dumb-asses like me, they built the trail in a loop. So after another half hour, my blistered feet and I found ourselves back at the parking lot downing pretty much all the water I found on the bike. After a brief rest I hit the road again. I didn't intend on spending so much time here and because I was meeting Mike and Kati at Lake Powell the following day, I still had a long way to go today. A quick stop for dinner in Vegas, I finally pulled into a Casino & Hotel in Mesquite AZ by around 9pm. Completely exhausted from my 14 hour day. Had one of those funny but sad chuckles walking to my room. My room was 3 wings over from the lobby and 57 rooms down the hall(s). "Of course" I thought. I've been in smaller airports than this.

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Needles, Hoover Dam, and now Lake Powell. I was starting to connect the dots along the colorado river.


What another stunning place. Lake Powell is man made and I'm told it has more coastline than all of the United States. It was once a stunning canyon much like the Grand Canyon.


Sunrise from my campsite on the lake. I'd say it's still pretty stunning!




Mike mentioned that they usually slow down and relax when they come to Lake Powell so I was looking forward to just kicking back. This is us hiking...I mean relaxing up Cookie Jar Rock.


Long way up.


The view climbing up was fantastic. You can see Kati in the bottom right of the pic.


It's pretty cool to see all these tiny eco systems thriving on what is essentially all rock with a little tiny bit of dirt.


We finally made it to the top.




Brilliant colours.


Proof I was there .


Another first for me - a floating outhouse. It's actually much nicer than just a regular outhouse. You simply dock your vessel and then drop your other vessel at this floating port-o-potty. They keep this place afloat with your donations .


You'd think a lake this size would add some humidity to the air. Nope. It was what I call stupid-dry out here. Even the falling rain never made it to the ground. It simply evaporated on the way down.


Mike & Kati know all the good spots here. Of course the water level changes so much every year that all the places they know also change. So it's kind of a new adventure every time they come. We had this island oasis all to ourselves one night.


I suffered through another blissful night camping in this Paradise.


The next day we went for another cool hike down a rather large slot canyon


Amazing stuff to be out here.

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We kept seeing beaver tracks everywhere and followed the tracks to this guy.


Mike found a really nice spot to stop for the night.


This one was a bit of hike to get to the top, thought the view was worth it. I didn't bring the camera when I came to set up the tent at sunset, much to my regret. I ran back down to the boat but by the time I got back it was all but over.


Another fantastic camp spot.*


View from the tent in the morning.

What an amazing time this past few weeks with Mike & Kati. I dare say the most fun I've had on the entire trip has been out west with them. Lori and I can't thank you guys enough for your hospitality.


As tempting as it was to stay longer, I was missing Lori quite a bit and felt like I should make my way home. Mike and Kati dropped me back off at the marina later that morning and I was off.


Somewhere on the road in Colorado.


7 degrees Celsius (45F) at 11,000 feet crossing the Continental Divide, with lots of snow behind the sign.


Skirted this pretty large looking cell here. Rain finally caught up with me somewhere through Missouri.


Initially I had plans on checking out the North Rim, Bryce and Arches but for some reason when I got back to the bike, I just felt like putting down miles instead of sightseeing. So 3 days and 3254km's (2034 miles) after leaving Page AZ, I was back in Brantford. Home for the summer.

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