2007 Adventures

Arrived in Beunos Aires

jc — Sun, 2 Dec 2007 10:35:00 GMT

Just a very quick note to say I have arrived safely in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I am here visiting my mate Steve and to see to Police concert tomorrow night. I will publish some stories tomorrow about my last two days in the U.S. and to say some thankyou's

cheers

James

My VISA card arrives in Simi Valley, Los Angeles.

jc — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 20:46:00 GMT

Yeah - everything is back on track! After a magnificent ride down the Pacific Coast Highway, I arrived at the Grand Vista Hotel, Simi Valley and received the great news my replacement Visa card was delivered to the hotel lobby. I now have US$800 cash and my Visa card - everything is cool again. And as a bonus, my initial booking fee of $148/night was dropped to $69 because I mentioned that they were advertising this cost on hotels.com. Plus, they gave me a complimentary Breakfast vouchure because I told them it was my last day of my wonderful cross American adventure. Thanks Grand Vista Hotel :) This was a really really nice hotel too with model facilities a big pool and spa, restaurants and best still a guest laundry facility that I could use to clean all of my clothes - which were disgusting by now. I couldn't of stayed at a better place for the last day of my trip. I highly recommend staying here, if you are passing through Simi Valley.

My good luck had returned. ;D

Oh what a day!

jc — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:40:00 GMT

Well what an interesting day - full of sheer delights and pure frustrations! The day started magnificently with one of the best night sleeps I have had on the whole trip and awaking to a beautiful morning right in the middle of the Yosemite Valley full of the most spectacular cliff rock walls and formations you have ever seen. It wasn’t anywhere as cold as I thought it was going to be, so I was off to an early start to get some photos before I left back to Oakhurst to see if I can get the emergency money being wired to me by Visa International – as organised the day before. Today I wanted to get things squared away early, so I could ride to San Francisco and get a picture of the Golden Gate bridge and me at sunset. After spending a few too little hours photographing Yosemite’s (by the way, is one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen on this earth!) I raced back to my previous hotel in Oakhurst to see if Visa had left any messages about my money and hopefully I could just pop up to the bank and collect it and be on my way. Well this is where the frustration part began. Yes they had left a message, but the news was not good. Bloody Westpac (my bank) had denied the clearance of the emergency funds – which was money already in my account. To make it even worse, they gave no reason. I couldn’t believe it because yesterday I had made about 3 phone calls to both Visa and Westpac to make sure everything was going to work. So after calling Westpac (on Skype through the internet on my laptop, because a) I still don’t have a mobile after some prick in Brasil pick-pocketed it, and b) the return charges telephone number to Westpac doesn’t not work in the United States, as the operator refuses to connect the call, and c) the hotel wouldn’t let me call them without paying and I didn’t have any money) and explaining the whole situation for the 4th time, because you cannot speak to the same emergency assistant at Westpac and they don’t take very good notes – the Westpac assistant tells me that the transfer was refused because it was higher than my daily cash advance limit. Well you could of knocked me over. I couldn’t believe after all the phone calls I made yesterday and even spoke to them about the transfer amount, that they failed to pickup on this problem. Unbelievable! Absolutely pathetic Westpac, if you are reading this. So after going around and around the hoops again between Visa and Westpac on an internet telephone line that only works 50% of the time, I believed I had made new arrangements for some money to be transferred. Now I had to wait 2-3 hours for the fax to be sent by Visa USA to Westpac Australia and back again with approval. Surely it couldn’t fail this time, right? So I thought I would make good of this time and blast off west towards the coast and get closer to Los Angeles. As it was now 3pm, there was no way I was going to make it to San Francisco for sunset, so I decided to cut my loses and head a bit more south west for the start of the Pacific Coast Hwy and decided to aim for Santa Cruz on the beach. Also, I haven’t mentioned that my North Carolina buddy, Larry, had kindly offered to charge the hotel room to his credit card in case I had problems getting the money in time. So I had a backup plan. Oh yeah, I am now out of money, apart from $40 after spending that unscheduled night in the most expensive hotel in Yosemite’s. So considering I have to ride 180 miles, which is 1 tank of gas at $14, I definitely had enough money to make it to the coast, with spare change for a couple of beers! ;) So I hit the road. To my pleasure, the GPS had chosen the most magnificent sweeping back roads and there wasn’t hardly any freeway riding the whole way. I made good time and nearly 3 hours later I arrive in Santa Cruz at around 6pm and well after dark. I thought the best thing to do would be to go straight to a hotel and explain my problem and ask if I can use the phone or internet to call Visa or Larry to get his credit card number. The first hotel wanted $150 dollars for the night which was too rich, so I got advice where some cheaper hotels were located. After an 8 mile ride I entered the second hotel, the price was perfect at $60, but after explaining the situation, the owner got all worried and said he couldn’t help me unless I could secure the room with a major credit card. Nor would he take a credit card number over the phone. Well I couldn’t do this either, because my Visa card expired 3 weeks ago and Westpac didn’t send me the replacement in time before my trip (Yes - I notified Westpac 4 weeks before I left and they still stuffed it up). By this time I was getting a little annoyed and it was about 7pm. I then thought the 2-3 hours had well and truly passed that Westpac and Visa needed to clear the funds. So I gave Visa a call (from the hotel carpark using the hotel’s wi-fi internet and skype) and was told that Westpac still hadn’t responded to their fax request! Man I just about blew a fuse. After explaining virtually the whole story again to Visa (you cannot speak to the same person there either) I convince them to phone Westpac and find out what’s going on. Visa do however confirm that Westpac have approved the issuing of an Emergency Visa card and now they needed an address to courier it to. But they needed to know an address in 20min otherwise the card would not be sent that night. So I hang up and try and figure out where about I will be tomorrow night in Los Angeles. Then when trying to book a Los Angeles hotel, they won’t let me book because I don’t have valid credit card! Jesus!!!! So I start explaining the whole story again for the 20th time that night. After pleading with the hotel guy, he finally shows some sympathy and lets me reserve the room. I quickly call back Visa and give them the details so they can send the card. While I was doing all this, Visa had contacted Westpac and got verbal approval to clear the funds. Yippee! Now I had to find a Western Union outlet so I could collect the money. The Visa lady gives me an address that is close by but is still about 7 miles away. So off I blast, I’ve got 20mins before they close at 9pm. The GPS is spot on takes me right to the door with 10mins to spare – except the lights to the shop are turned off and the sign on the door says they close at 8pm, not 9. Arrrrrgggggghhhhhhh! I jump back on the bike and find a coffee shop just around the corner that has wi-fi. After buying a coffee, I log onto the internet and call Visa again. The lady says ‘sorry’ and gives me another address. Melissa’s Video is an outlet and they shut at 10pm and they are only 1 mile away. So I blast off on the bike again, but this time the fuel light is on and I am now low on fuel. The GPS says to pull over and the shop should be only 50ft ahead – well it isn’t and there aren’t any shops at all. Now it’s 9:50pm. I have no power left in my laptop, hardly any fuel and $20. Now things are getting a little tough. I ride off and see a Travel Lodge motel down the road. I pull in and ask the hotel guy for some help and explain the whole thing for the 21^st time. I tell him that I have a buddy that I can call that he will charge the room to his credit card. The hotel guy says he cannot do any telephone transactions. My blood pressure is rising now. I stay calm and ask for his help, can he suggest anything. He thinks and says the other Travel Lodge down the road might have a different policy – so he gives them a ring and explains the whole story (again). Yes – they can help. Off I go, 4 miles this time, Yellow fuel light blazing. I walk into the reception. The back door opens and a little Indian young man walks out. ‘Can I help you?’ I tell him I am guy he just agreed to help on the telephone. He asks me to explain the situation again because he didn’t really understand the phone conversation. I thought - You have got to be joking right? So here we go again! He says in a curry voice, ‘Well that is sounding a little difficult Sir, unless you have a major credit card I cannot give you a room.’ I had to walk outside and take a couple of deep breaths , I think his life was in danger. Barely remaining calm, I asked him to rethink the situation and if I walked out of there I didn’t know what to do next and would probably go to the closest police station. He then called a name and another young Indian came out the door. What is the problem, Sir? Oh my god, if I have to explain this again I think it will be worth hitting these guys and getting free accommodation for the night in a lock up! After going through the whole thing again, this other guy finally agrees to book the room on Larry’s credit card. I wake Larry up (who is in Florida) and as usual he’s sounds happy to hear from me and is pleased to help. They give me the keys and I have a bed for the night. Phew!

Larry, sorry for waking you up buddy – but I surely appreciated your help tonight. I owe you big time. Hopefully you will get a laugh out of this story. It’s all good fun and adds to an adventure like this. Thanks again mate.

So there you go... a challenging day.

Tomorrow, I am up early and riding the Pacific Coast Hwy down to Los Angeles. It will be a long ride as I have to cover 350miles and 85% on one of America’s most famous scenic drives. Hills and Cliffs on one side and Armco, Cliffs and Sea on the other with a million bends in between. What a way to finish my cross USA motorcycling adventure!

And hopefully I can find Western Union on the way and get my cash and my emergency Visa card will arrive at my hotel destination and on Thursday I can do some serious shopping before I leave on Friday..

Wish me luck.

Cheers

James

Larry, I got your message about the bike freight

jc — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 13:17:00 GMT

Larry, I read your email about the bike freight. Thanks a heap mate. I am on the road to SF after staying in Yosemites. Wow what a place. I am just about to go to the bank and get some money... hopefully everything will work out there. Then hopefully I can make it to the Golden Gate bridge before sunset. I will call you tonight.

cheers

James.

Yosemites National Park

jc — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:44:00 GMT

If you have read my blog yesterday, you will have seen that I lost my bank card. God what a pain! And I just don't know where it has gone either. I suspect I left in an ATM at the town I visited after Death Valley, but the bank says it’s not there - so buggered if I know. Otherwise it got sucked out of my bag at 180mph across to the Sequoia Nat. Park.

Anyway, I spent the whole morning mucking around trying to sort out a replacement card and how to get money. This really delayed my departure into Yosemite's. Also, I didn't expect after riding 15 miles to the entrance of the park I would have ride another 36 miles to get to the famous rocks and valley. So after blasting along this gorgeous 35 mph road at 70 mph, I did eventually make it to the Valley and got some cracker photos while the sun was setting. But unfortunately this meant it was about to get very dark and it was already turning very very cold.

So my options were to a) ride back in the dark for over an hour (because there was no way I could sustain the same sort of speed at night and risk having a problem and then being eaten by bears, or just dying from the freezing), or b) find some accommodation in the park. So after heading for the Yosemite's Valley Village, the place opens up to a quite a sizeable township. After stopping at what I thought was a big lodge, turns out to be a huge Parks and Rangers facility. They direct me to the closest public accommodation, which turns out to be fruitless as they are fully booked. The guy behind the counter gives 3 options, a) ride 50 miles back to the town I stayed at last night, b) ride 45 miles to a different town or c) stay in the swankiest hotel in Yosemite's just 3 mins down the road.

He says that I am luck too because it's quiet after Thanks Giving so they have a special on their rooms at $190/night - but normally they are $485/night!! Man that is still expensive for one person, considering I have been averaging about $60. But after thinking about riding for an hour in bitterly cold weather in thick forest, probably full of deer just wait to jump out on me, the extra $130 was sounding pretty good, plus I'm sure the place is flash and I would also be right in the middle of the park for sunrise and some great photography before I leave. Anyway I managed to get a room and the place is pretty special. I can't wait to see the outside of it in the morning. The place is called the 'Ahwahnee Hotel' and has hosted several American Presidents, included JFK, the Queen and numerous superstar Hollywood actors. It is supposed to be one of the top hotels in North America. Check it out: http://www.yosemitefun.com/ahwahnee.htm

So I made use of the bath and had a magnificent hot soak for about an hour before hitting the dining room followed by a lounge in front of the biggest open wood fire place I have ever seen, with an Irish Coffee and where I am writing this blog from.

So tomorrow I need to get out of the park by 9-ish and head back to the town Oakhurst where I should be able to collect some money from the bank that is being wired to me from Visa Intl. From then it's onto San Francisco to get a picture of me at the Golden Gate Bridge and then it's straight down the Pacific Coast Hwy to Los Angeles. Yosemite's is definitely a magnificent place. In fact it has that same awe inspiring feeling of Rio. I would love to see this place in late spring with flowers, greenery and snow. Wow what a place!

Enjoy these pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71/43YosemitesNationalPark

ttfn

Ps. Hey Eric, I cannot believe you based jumped off El Capitan. You are one mad bad mofo dude!

Update on card problem...

jc — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:50:00 GMT

It looks like the card has been lost and not at the ATM - maybe it sucked out of my wallet at Mach5. Anyway, I have been in contact with VISA Intl and it looks like they can wire me some money this afternoon or tomorrow morning that I can collect at the bank. So I think I will be staying at Oakhurst again tonight... which isn't too bad as its a pretty cool town. So now I am off to Yosemite's Nat. Park to get some good photo's - as the sun is blazing outside.

Ah its all fun, isn't it. ;)

Dramas! - Lost my bank card

jc — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:26:00 GMT

B U G G E R ! ! !

I was just heading off to Yosemites Nat. Park and went to the ATM to get some money. Where is my card? Shit, I think I have left it in the Bank of American ATM in Ridgecrest, the last town I stayed at near Death Valley. It was one of those drive in ATM's and I think I rode off before cancelling the transaction and forgot to get my card back. I have checked my account and that was the last transaction, so hopefully nobody has collected the card and it is still in the ATM. The banks have just opened and luckily there is a Bank of America in this town. So I am just about to pop in. Hopefully the other bank still has my card and I will be able to ride back and get it. But this will take all day and then I will have to return straight to Los Angeles. So there goes San Francisco. If they don't have it.. I'm probably stuffed. I have about US$350 in my wallet, so I have enough for fuel to make the return trip and stay some where for 2 nights.

I knew I was tired that night. That was when I nearly run out of fuel in the desert after dark.

Wish me luck everybody..

Arrived safely in Oakhurst, near Yosemite National Park.

jc — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 05:33:00 GMT

What an amazing day! I had a good night sleep last night and managed to get away by 9am, despite the cold. I was looking forward to today, as I was entering California and hopefully a real change in terrain with forests and canyons. A welcomed change from the desert, dirt and rocks. I need to see some greenery! I had chosen to go through the Sequoia National Park a couple of days ago to not only see the trees, but because the road looked simply stunning on the map. Well, was I glad I made this decision.

Even though running south instead of heading straight north to Yosemite’s National Park increased the travelling time by probably half a day, the extra time was worth every mile and the extra time. I thought the roads in North Carolina were special and unique, well after riding Hwy 190 on the way to Sequoia National Park that idea was dispelled. Maybe because I spent the last week on long straight desert roads made this road feel better – but I would certainly like to ride it with one of the other guys because this road was definitely special.

I don’t know how many curves were on this road, but it felt like riding the Dragon but for a couple of hours. It just didn’t stop. I actually had to stop twice and have a break to give my hands a rest. Every corner had a constant radius which meant you could tilt it in and commit confidently to each corner. No gravel, perfect tarmac, open corners – utopia! Just so much fun! And to make it even better, I had the entire road to myself – well except for a couple of tin tops and two Corvettes that got in my way.

Here’s some pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71/42TheSequoiaNationalParkAndThePerfectTwistyRoad

It was funny, because this road is downhill a lot and loads up the brakes. You knew when you were catching up to a car because you could smell burning brakes and sure enough 10 corners later, there was somebody struggling along. Even the Corvettes were struggling on brakes. But Bonnie just kept asking for more and was a pure delight to carve up mile after mile of flip flop corners. Wow what a ride. I got to end and just wanted to turn around and do it all again. Everybody knows how fast the Busa is in a straight line, but after this trip, don’t let anybody tell you they don’t turn. You just have to grab the bull by the horns and get into it.

After finishing Hwy 190, I tried to find two other roads that appeared to be just as good on the map – but unfortunately I had to turn around on both of them, as they were just horrible goat trails winding up the mountain and would of taken me hours more to get to my destination.

I can certainly recommend this area for a motorcycling holiday as just like North Carolina, there are back roads everywhere that could be explored for weeks. Not to mention how pretty the Sequoia forest is.

After riding all day, my hands and bum were starting to ache, so I stopped off at this little cafe that turned out to be a real surprise. It was like a rabbit warren of smaller eclectic bars, shops and grocery stores that made this stop a different experience from the usual hamburger bars you come across. If travelling on Hwy 99 up to Yosemites, look out for signs to the Gift Shop, Bar and Grocery Store about ½ a mile south of Traver.

After a delicious Tortilla Chicken Soup, I was back on the road and had a 50min ride to Oakhurst, the gateway into the Yosemite’s National Park. I arrived there at 7pm, which was great and meant an early night’s sleep. I am back up at 2500’ft from dropping down to sea level, but Yosemite’s is still much more elevated than this, so it will be interesting to see how cold it is in the morning.

I am going to try and start as early as I can, despite the cold so I can see as much of the National Park by 12. I then need to ride in to San Francisco and get onto the Pacific Coast Hwy by night. Unfortunately I won’t have enough to even stop in SF, which is a shame as I need to get to Los Angeles by Wednesday night so I can off load the bike on Thursday and do some shopping and then fly out on Friday morning.

I guess I will just have to come back to San Francisco and California again. I’m sure you could spend 6 weeks in California and still not scratch the surface. Even though 6 weeks was enough time to ride across the States, another couple of weeks would of been nice so I could of stopped and watched all the places I went through.

James.

I made it through Death Valley

jc — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 05:12:00 GMT

Well today I realised another lifelong dream – to ride through Death Valley. I don’t know why this has been an ambition of mine. Maybe because this place is regarded as one of the most extreme places on the planet as far as temperature differences are concerned. Well today it was just beautiful, nice and sunny but only about 20’deg, except in the basin, which is below sea level, where it felt like the temp was about 25’deg. I was reading in the visitors guide that Death Valley holds the world record for the highest temperature over consecutive day, I think at 135’F (~57’c) for 6 days in a row. Then in the evenings it can get down to ~-10’deg and tonight it is about -6’deg. Apparently November is one of the best months to visit the place because the weather is very mild. Well thank god. Looking at the terrain, I could easily imagine the place in the full brute heat of the summer. The place is just covered in rocks and must just keep heating up. There are absolutely no trees, only spindly little bushes.

Here's some photo's http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71/41OnTheRoadThroughDeathValley

When you are driving along, there are signs on the side of the road like, ‘To avoid overheating, do not use Air Conditioning for the next 10 miles’ and ‘Radiator Water next 1 mile’ – scary. Something that I didn’t expect is how mountainous the whole area is. Riding into Death Valley the elevation is over 5000ft, then when you get to the basin, it is a couple of hundred feet below sea level. Then when you leave, it’s over 5000ft again. There were many places of Death Valley I could of seen by road, but I just didn’t have enough time.

I did how ever meet another really friendly motorcyclist while stopping for a drink. Alan was there by himself on a riding holiday for Thanks Giving week on his dual sport KLR650. He was having a ball burning around the numerous mountainous dirt trails. Stay in touch Alan, and when I return next summer, let’s try and catch up somewhere.

I think the continuous number of days riding is starting to wear me out. I am finding it really hard to get up early and get things packed and get back on the road. And for the last three nights, after I have had dinner and got back to the hotel I have fallen asleep on the bed fully clothed with all the lights on and TV blearing and then waking up about 7 hours later. I have however had a good nights sleep and feel good now – but I am finishing writing this blog at now a 5:30am. So I will try and get another 1-2 hours sleep as it is well below freezing outside and I probably won’t be able to start riding until 9am.

After a very late start yesterday because of sleeping in and updating the blog, I was quite late leaving the Death Valley and it was getting dark and getting very cold with another 80 miles riding a head to get to my destination. While leaving the Death Valley, I had to go through some smaller valleys to get back onto the main road. These were some beautiful long drifting roads and the temptation to open up the bike was just too much. After covering a very quick 30 miles in twilight, I was on the main road and heading south – but lighter on gas than I would normally be. Before long I hit my turn off to head up to Lake Isabella, but I was low on fuel and had the fuel light on. This road was disappearing off into the moonlit mountains and the GPS was telling me there were no gas stations in that direction within 40 miles. So instead of heading off down this road and hoping for a gas station to appear that isn’t in the GPS (which happens a lot) and risking freezing to death – I turned the opposite direction and headed for some lights I could see on the horizon that corresponded with a town showing on the GPS. Luckily I only had to go for about 10 miles before hitting the edge of the town and a fuel station. The option of turning around and heading back to Lake Isabella sounded a bit dangerous as if I had a problem I would be out in the middle of nowhere in extremely cold conditions. So an unscheduled stop in Ridgecrest was the call. It turns out that Ridgecrest is a military town and there a huge US Navy Airbase here that is the Navy’s primary weapons testing centre. While riding from Las Vegas for the last two days, I have passed many military looking sights and airports that can be seen in the distance in the middle of valleys. But what I never expected to see was many valleys that looked like a massive rifle ranges, with huge distance marker signs spaced in what looked like ½ mile intervals and many lines in the earth making grid like patterns. I assume these are weapon testing ranges as I also pasted a compound that contained a heap of tanks like vehicles covered with radars and cameras. I couldn’t really get a good picture of these ranges because they were just so huge that it was very hard to photograph. So in the morning I am going try and see how close I can get to the Airbase and see if I can see some more jets. I wish I had a couple of more days, as I would love to do some research and find out where a good viewing point is in the mountains to watch some jet fighters screaming around. I don’t know how close I got to Area 51, but I passed through a very little town yesterday that had sign saying ‘Last fuel station before entering Area 51’

So today it looks like I have some really nice twisty motorcycling roads ahead going up to Lake Isabella and then through the mountain ranges to the Giant Sequoia National Park. I am going to try and then get up to the Yosemites by sunset. But time is running out and I have to get to Los Angeles by Wednesday night. I am also worried about the fires that have also started up again in South California, as this might delay the trip down the Pacific Coast Hwy from San Francisco to LA. Fingers crossed.

James

Sequoia Nat Park > Yosemites" />

Arrived in Death Valley

jc — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 08:19:00 GMT

Well after partying in Las Vegas last night I arrived safely, but with a hangover in Beatty, just on the edge of the Death Valley National Park.

So today I was going to head off to Yosemite National Park, but the forecast says it will only be 17’F (-10’c I think) tonight and the place I wanted to stay at is very elevated, at around 8000ft. So I have decided to go south through lower terrain to Lake Isabella. And the following day I will head North again and go through the Giant Sequoia National Park – home of the world’s tallest trees at 250-300ft high. After that I will head up to Yosemites. I am really looking forward to seeing Yosemite, as I have seen so much of it on TV and it just looks spectacular.

I am starting to get very tired now and finding it hard to make tracks by early morning as it is very very cold until midday. I think after Yosemites, I will just head straight over to San Francisco and take a day off riding and just look around SF. Then I will head down the Pacific Coast Highway to Los Angeles.

So now I am packed and about to blast off through the Death Valley. It's 11:00am and its finally stating to warm up outside.

James.

Viva Las Vegas

jc — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:12:00 GMT

Vegas was cool, but so much bigger than I expected. I tried to see all of the major casino’s, but didn’t even scratch the surface.

I started my Vegas experience with a bang (of course) and did a night chopper flight over the lights of Vegas. http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71/40LasVegasNevada

It’s was awesome and for US$100 with Grand Canyon Helicopters, I thought it was well worth it. Straight after this, I went and saw an awesome show called Le Reve, by the same producer as Cirque du Soleil’s ‘O’. The whole show was in this incredible purpose built round diving pool in a huge domed amphitheatre It’s near impossible to describe, so just have a look at this trailer on youtube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=R4f88xxDnro I have never seen a show like this and probably never will in Australia. It was unbelievable! If you ever go to Vegas, make sure you see one of these big shows.

I managed to see the huge light display called the Fremont Street Experience. It’s a massive tent like structure as long as six football fields that you stand under to watch a visual light and sound show. It’s so big that it’s like just looking up at the sky, watching TV – very impressive.

After this I hit a couple of bars and casino’s to try my luck. After 4 in the morning, it had been gambling roller coaster ride, but I was about $30 after mainly playing Roulette. And in Vegas, if you play any games, you get to drink free. So by this time, I was well on my way.

It was Thanks Giving here on Thursday, so I thought Vegas would be a good place to have Turkey dinner. I did some asking around and found out where the best Thanks Giving dinner was. Luck would have it that it was at the Wynns Hotel, the same place where I was seeing Le Reve. But what I wasn’t counting on was the 2 ½ hour wait. I didn’t have enough time before the show to wait and they closed the buffet during the middle of the show so I couldn’t eat it afterwards. As every restaurant in the Casino was overbooked, for my Thanks Giving dinner, I enjoyed a microwaved meat lovers quiche and a glass of red wine in one of the cafes on the edge of the gambling area. Oh well.

I enjoyed Vegas, but I wish I had more time there. As the first night was wasted as I was just so weary from the last 4 days of long riding and exploring the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park, I couldn’t even think straight, let alone keep my eyes open. But if you had 2 full days and 2 full nights there, that would probably be the minimum time you’d need.

On leaving the Vegas, I tried to detour via the Hoover Dam. Unfortunately this was in the opposite direction I wanted to leave but it was something I wanted to see. After riding for about an hour, with heavy traffic I came around a bend to see the mountain valley and the water of the dammed lake – and a line of cars that went for miles. Obviously every Thanks Giving holiday maker had the same idea as me. After sitting in a traffic jam for about 20 mins, my clutch wrist was beginning to hurt and my hangover was getting angry. I couldn’t stand it any longer and by how slow the traffic was going, I thought it was going to be another couple of hours before we’d get to the dam. Forget it, time to turn around and cut my loses. I still had a 3 hour ride ahead of me and into Death Valley where I did not want to be after sunset, as it gets well below freezing out there and very quickly after dark.

Arrived in Las Vegas

jc — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 21:00:00 GMT

Hey Guys,

I have finally made it to Las Vegas, after a couple of day’s hardcore riding across Arizona, Utah and Nevada. After the Grand Canyon, I blasted up through Navajo country into Utah and into the Zion National Park, which is apparently where the Road Runner and Coyote cartoon is based on, so you can imagine the rock formations and how extreme they are. Absolutely astounding! The country out here is just amazing. I have never seen anything even close to like it in my life. The size and proportions of everything are insane. The mountains and huge, the deserts are huge, the plains are huge, the canyons are huge, the rivers, the cliffs... and on and on and on! I will write more about Zion and getting there and post some pictures tomorrow. But tonight I have to take a hot bath, because my body is starting to ache a little after 6000mi. Then I am hitting the Vegas strip in style. I have been having so much luck on this trip, I think I will put $100 on the Roulette wheel and see if I can win the cost of the trip back in one shot... I think a win on your number pays 31 times back.

So everybody wish me a bit more luck. ;)

Oh yeah, tomorrow is Thanks Giving Day here in the States. So all my American friends (old and new)- I am wishing you all a Very Good Thanks Giving Day. And to all of you that have helped me on this adventure – A very sincere thank-you indeed!

Tomorrow I am spending the day here in Vegas and will probably eat my Turkey in front of a slot machine. Hahahaha!

Grand Canyon on a Rotor and a Prayer!!

jc — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:57:00 GMT

Oh man what a day! I was up at sunrise for an early departure to the Grand Canyon. After popping my head outside after waking, it was pretty bloody obvious that it was below freezing outside. After checking the Weather Channel, it was confirmed – only 27’F, which is a couple of degrees below 0’C. Considering I had an over an hour ride ahead of me and up a bloody mountain... I thought I would hang around a little bit and let the sun warm the place up. Hmmm – this is a good time to wash Bonnie with some hot water. Hotel rubbish bins do come in handy hey! After an hour or so, we were ready to burn. The ride from Flagstaff to the Tusayan (the closest town to the south rim) was through beautiful Pine forest and went through an elevation over 8000ft. Surprisingly it wasn’t anywhere as cold as I thought it was going to be. Arriving at Tusayan at about 10:00am, I had made plans the night before to see the Canyon as fast as I can and then make a departure for Zion National Park to the north by 1pm, as this ride was just over 4 hours and I really wanted to get there before sunset, as it’s through forest and the Deer and Elk are a problem around this area... a bit like Roos. Imagine a Roo with Antlers jumping into you – Spike! After looking around the Visitor Centre at all the different activities you could do, it finally dawned on me – why am I in such a rush? This is one of the greatest places in the world, stop and suck it in. So what would be a super cool thing to do? To Helicopter into the Grand Canyon, of course! Considering I have never been in a Chopper before, doing it for the first time at the Grand Canyon is as probably as good as it’s ever going to get! So sign me up for the best Chopper ride you’ve got please. I was in luck, the ‘Supreme deluxe this is gunna cost you a freaking packet!’ flight had a spare seat at 12:00. So I was straight off down to the airport just a couple of minutes down the road. Man did these Choppers look the bomb. Red, sleek and real fast bloke! So after using a slight dose of my Aussie charm, the girl behind the counter had me locked in and sitting beside the pilot – Beauty! I was a little nervous on take-off, but probably more excited than anything else. You see, because at this point I had still not seen the Canyon at all and I was about to see it for the first time by diving off the edge in a Chopper – yeeha!!! After takeoff, we flew along the forest at only about 200ft above the tree tops and still quite some way from the edge and hence we still couldn’t really see the canyon, believe it or not. I didn’t understand why we weren’t going straight for it. But after flying for about 5mins over the forest, our pilot turns straight for the Canyon and stars the music from ‘2000 Space Odyssey’ in our headsets. Then in time with the building music, we fly straight over the edge of a 6000ft drop – Bam! Welcome to the Grand Canyon. My eyes nearly fell out of my head. I didn’t know what to do, look around or take photo’s. This place is E N O R M O U S!

Anyway.. I would like to write more, but it’s 6:30am and the sun is coming up and I want to get to the rim to get some sunrise shots. I am so excited to be here at the Grand Canyon – I have just achieved a major goal of this entire trip.

Enjoy the pics.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71/33GrandCanyon

Arrived in Flagstaff, Arizona

jc — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 20:05:00 GMT

Just a quick note to say I have arrived safely in Flagstaff, Arizona. I didn't quite make it to the town on the rim of the Grand Canyon, but I am only 50 miles away towards the south. I will write more about the days travel. Now I need to have a shower and get changed. I think I am covered head to toe from truck dust and bugs.

How can you tell how happy a motorcyclist is? Buy counting the bugs in his teeth!

talk soon.
J.

Arrived in Santa Fe, New Mexico

jc — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:30:00 GMT

I arrived safely in Santa Fe, New Mexico this evening. I had one of the best rides of the whole trip today. Probably because yesterday was so boring going across Texas and today crossing into New Mexico, the landscape changed into the classical American Desert Mountain country. Also I decided to get off the interstate and head off down a road that was going to detour me to Las Vegas, New Mexico (this is another Las Vegas that isn’t as famous as the big that everybody knows.) I decided to go to this town because I thought it would be funny to get a picture of me and Bonnie in the other Las Vegas – also after I have seen the big one, if anybody asks me if I have been to Las Vegas, I can say, “Which one?” ;) Anyway, what I wasn’t exactly expecting was how amazing the country was and how open the roads were. Man did Bonnie and I have some fun for about 100mi. After you check out the pictures, you can imagine what we did. Whaaaaa.... Whaaaaaa.... Whaaaaaaaaaaa. We certainly had a ball and that story will be told another day ;)

Las Vegas, New Mexico was pretty cool. I didn’t really have time to check it out fully, as I was racing time to get to Santa Fe before the sun set and it started to get really cold – as I am in the desert on a clear night and at 7000ft. But I did have time for one quick beer to celebrate the earlier ride. After sharing one with a local, he tells me the old Sheriff of this town killed Jessy James, way back in the cowboy and Indian days. I’ll have to look that one up. But definitely by looking at the architecture and some of the old houses in the town, you could see this place easily dated back a couple of hundred years and was full of stories.

If you eat Mexican in Australia, you have probably eaten at a restaurant called Santa Fe – right?Well I’m here now in the real place and it is flash.It looks like it is the local cool town for the rich. There are a heap of really expensive shops and restaurants everywhere.But the cool thing is architecture. Nearly all of the building are made of clay and have round corners with wooden rafters coming out at the roofs. In fact, now I completely understand why some of the Santa Fe restaurants I have eaten look the way they do.If you have a look at the photo of the hotel I am staying in, you will get a very good idea. But I am about to go and walk the streets and have myself a real authentic New Mexico Tortilla and will get some more snaps.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71/28OnTheRoadToSantaFeNewMexico

I plan on getting up at sunrise tomorrow and taking some early morning photo’s.. as I think this place will be extraordinary to photograph in the right light.

As I got off to a bit of a late start this morning, I didn’t cover as many miles as I was hoping – I think I did 280 miles today. So I am a little behind plan. Tomorrow I would like to get to the Grand Canyon for sunset and just looking at the map, its 490miles – shit that’s a big day! Tonight I have to find out whether I can stay right on the ridge or if I have to stay in Flagstaff which is a bit south. The good news is that the weather is just beautiful out here at the moment and they are forecasting good weather again tomorrow –but they are forecasting freezing here tonight, so it’s going to be bloody cold until a couple of hours after sunrise.

Anyway, everybody keep your fingers crossed for good weather for the next 4-5 days. As I really want to get around to the North rim of the Grand Canyon and into Zion National Park – which is meant to be one of the most spectacular places in the US. But it snows there big time and its coming real soon.

James.

Arrived in Armarillo, TX

jc — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 21:09:00 GMT

Arrived safely in Armarillo (Texas) last night around 8:00pm after riding 330mi from Dallas. The weather was good all the way and I was happy that the temperature actually rose somewhat as Dallas was quite cold when I left. The ride, just like everybody said was dead boring. The roads are very flat with long stretches of straights – but very smooth. The only thing worth mentioning of interest is the Oil drones scattered along the road and across the land, bobbing their head up and down. There’s hundred of them and they are much smaller than I thought they were going to be. Today I will stop and get some pictures. Also there were a couple of crops of Cotton, which look pretty cool with white fluffy flowers for miles – just like Cotton should look I suppose! Looking at the map today, I have decided to make a little detour on route to the Grand Canyon and stop of at Las Vagas (New Mexico), Sante Fe and Los Alamos. They won’t take me too much off track, but I need to get some pictures and see something. Sante Fe sounds like it pretty interesting. It’s elevated at 7000ft, so it will be interesting to see how cool it is at that height – as this is the same height as the Grand Canyon. The forecast is for about 65’F (17’c I think)... which is pretty good. I think I will then finish in Alburquerque, New Mexico, or if I am still feeling strong, continue towards the Grand Canyon on I-40 for another 70 miles. It would be good to get to the Canyon early tomorrow.

Wired for Sound!!!

jc — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:19:00 GMT

I finally purchased a decent pair earphones so I can wear them in my helmet. I found a slimline type with kind of sound deadening plugs, made by Sony. Combined with a balaclava, I can still clearly hear good music at 90mph. Connected to my GPS MP3 player... I’m rock’in baby. Man is it easier to chew through the miles now. Just listen to an album and that’s generally 45mins and 55-65 miles put away. Only problem, I was listening to Metallica yesterday and getting into it... whoops there’s the speedo well over 100 again! This bloody bike , you only have to accidently put pressure on the throttle and you are doing another 40mph in just 2 seconds! I had a dream last night that I was pulled over by the cops again and telling the cop I didn’t mean to speed, I was just looking at the GPS for half a second and before I knew it ‘Bonnie’ had got away from me again. I tell ya, she’s like a bloody thoroughbred just waiting to bolt if left unchecked!!

Leaving Dallas for the Grand Canyon

jc — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 09:00:00 GMT

Two weeks to go and I have made pretty ambitious plans to cover some extreme miles and see some amazing country. Unfortunately it appears that all the good country is either on the East or West coasts and there is very little in the middle like Texas. I am not saying Texas is a bad place.. it’s just flat. I have studied the maps and have made a plan to ride about 350mi a day and this allows me to go through a lot of the major National Parks like the Grand Canyon, Zion, Death Valley and Yosemite. Also I will stay at Vegas for one night. I am however concerned about the weather as all of these places are elevated around 4000-6000ft and all get snow – guaranteed! If I have some luck with the weather I could be ok, but the whole thing could go very pear shaped if a big cold front comes through and dumps the first snow. So there will have to be some very careful weather watching as I approach the Grand Canyon. If the weather has come or will come while I plan on being in the area, I will have no option but to stay south and head for San Francisco. One thing is for certain, Motorcycles and snow are not compatible, so I will only go into the elevated areas if the weather is looking 100%. Looking at the map I am two thirds the way through my duration, but only half way across the US. I am a little concerned about this, but have to keep in mind that while I was in North Carolina I did a shit load of riding and clocked up many miles. So far I have done 4500mi, but don’t have this far to ride to complete what I want to do. The longest ride I have done in 1 day is 550mi and that was from New Orleans to Dallas. It took 12 hours but I had many delays in traffic and was held up on the interstate for 40mins while they cleared a wreck. I have based the remainder of the trip on 350mi a day, which is definitely doable, providing you get an early start. My gut feeling is I won’t be able to get up north to the Redwood Nat. Park in Californa... but that’s cool because if I am running out of time I can just head straight to San Francisco. At this stage my plane is still leaving from Las Angles, but I am thinking about changing it to San Fran. So apparently I have 2-3 days ahead of dead boring riding trying to get out of Texas and it will not start to get interesting until I get into Arizona and closer to the Grand Canyon. I am very excited about this part to the journey. ‘Bonnie the Busa’ (my Suzuki Hayabusa) is awesome and yesterday I bought her a brand new rear tire (Lester/Larry – I bought a Michelin Power Pilot 2CT Dual Compound) and had her checked over. She’s ready to burn. I’ve just got to tell her to slow down, as she’s a bit partial to over 100mph and the State Troopers don’t seem to like that – can’t figure why! ;) Anyway, I have many stories to add on the blog, but have been spending too much time enjoying myself with new friends that I have met along the way to waste time writing stuff. Hopefully over the next 2 days of boring riding, I will be able to fill you in about them and all the fun we have been having. Time to hit the road. Wish me luck with the weather.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71/0MyPlanAndActualProgress/photo#5135688283015544098

Cheers

James.

Here is a link to a map of my plan

Arrived in New Orleans.

jc — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:38:00 GMT

Just arrived in New Orleans safe and sound in my Hotel. Big ride today... 355mi in 5.5 hrs. Not too bad I guess. GPS said I had a moving average of 79mph... but I'm bloody knackered. Staying in a nice hotel near the French Quaters. Time for quick shower and hit the town for some good food and music. I will report back tomorrow.

Riding my butt off!

jc — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:26:00 GMT

Hi everybody,

Everything is going fine. Sorry I haven’t added anything to the blog for over a week – but I have simply been having too much fun riding my butt off with some new found buddies. I will detail everything about what happened in North Carolina soon, but basically I meet two motorcyclists at the top of a mountain on the Blue Ridge Parkway road in North Carolina, who turned out to be the best blokes you could ever meet – Larry and Lester. Originally riding up to the North Carolina to see the Autumn colour leafs on the advice from Amy, without my knowing I had accidently found myself in arguably the United States’s Motorcycling holly mecca! The home of roads called ‘The Dragon’, ‘The Snake’, ‘Little Switzland’ – I was in the middle of motorcycling nirvana!! So for the next 4-5 days, we have been wearing our tires out carving it up. Yeah Ha!!!!

I have many photos and stories to tell about North Carolina while staying with Larry and Alabama while staying with Lester, which I will try to upload in the next few days.

I am now getting ready to ride to New Orleans this morning, which will take 5-6 hours. I am heading south and looking forward to some warmer weather. Then I am off to Dallas and will be starting the long hike to the West from there.

Check out some pics from North Carolina and Alabama here.http://picasaweb.google.com/jamesc71

Well its 12 noon and I have a 5 hours ride ahead to New Orleans... looks like I will be arriving there a bit later than I wanted. Oh well. Wish me luck. Talk tomorrow.