Last Post

Well, this is it. Today we check out of the Best Western Long Beach and head out to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). Our flight isn't to later in the evening, but we are on standby for an upgrade to 'premier economy' using frequent flyer points, so I expect an early check-in may help our chances of getting this. We also have access to the Koru Club Lounge where we can 'chill out'.

I have been asked what has been the highlight of the tour? There have been so many great experiences that it is hard to rank them. To visit 22 states and travel 17605 kilometres (all on the wrong side of the road) by motorbike was something that most people will never get to do.

In some ways calling it a 'holiday' is not an accurate description, because rarely were we just sitting around relaxing. There was always something to do. Our daily routine consisted of early morning starts, packing the bike up, riding 4-6 hours per day with stops to see and do stuff, finding accommodation, unpacking the bike, laundry, emails, checking weather reports etc, finding somewhere to eat, planning the next day's route, fueling up the bike, and trying to get an early night.

I think a better description is to call it an 'adventure'. It was hugely satisfying to accomplish and we saw some great sights and met some great people. A friend suggested I should write a book. Instead of 'Balls of Steel' he suggested that it be called 'Buns of Steel' (there were some days we both got really saddle sore early on)!

I am not sure how easy it will be to adjust to 'normal' life again after spending days roaring down a highway on a Harley - but we are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends again after being away for 9 weeks.

California - Santa Monica

For our last full day in LA we decided to go to Santa Monica for the day. Maurie, Evan, Dave & Mary also decided to join us - so it was nice to do something as a group for our last day. Santa Monica is a popular beach and shopping destination. This is the beach that the TV series 'Baywatch' was filmed at. When I watched the series, I always wondered how the life guards could run in slow motion and still manage to save people from drowning?

We took the Metro Rail to 7th Street/Central Station and then caught a Metro bus to the pier at Santa Monica. The pier has entertainment, buskers, fishing and food. The pier is also the end of the famous Route 66, so we had to have a photo taken under the sign that stated 'End of the Trail' (quite appropriate really).

Dave, Mary, Maurie and Evan decided to walk down the boardwalk to the nearby seaside community of Venice for a look around, while Tracee & I walked a few blocks to the Third Street Promenade to do some shopping and have some lunch. The promenade offers many trendy, boutique shops. The street spans about 4 blocks and is closed to traffic.

We all met up again at the bus stop later in the afternoon for the ride back to downtown LA to catch the Metro Rail back to Long Beach.

California - Disneyland

We decided that while we were in LA we would have to go to Disneyland . We caught a Long Beach Transit bus from the corner outside our motel and then transferred to a Metro bus at Norwalk transfer station for the ride to the main entrance of Disneyland. The trip took about 2 hours - but public transport here is as cheap as chips (about $1.50 one way). Riding a bus is also a great way to see parts of LA that are not normally on the 'tourist route' and you get to see some interesting characters on the public transport system (to say the least).

Disneyland is spread over 85 acres (34 ha) and encompasses the historic Disneyland Park (The Magic Kingdom), California Adventure Park (wilder rides for teenagers and older), Resort hotels and Downtown Disney (shops, restuarants, entertainment). It would take 2-3 days to see and do every ride/attraction - so given we only had one day we paid to see Disneyland Park. It was a boiling hot day - so we found it quite energy sapping.

Having been to the Gold Coast Australia theme parks a number of times, I couldn't help but compare and I found that Australia offerred a comparable if not at times better experience with some attractions. I guess Disneyland was the first theme park that all the others have copied - and it was great to see lots of happy smiling kids running around having a great time and of course the Disney characters made it unique from any other park.

Tracee is not 'adventurous' when it comes to extreme, adrenaline rides (like me), but we did ride the Pirate ship around the lagoon, the train that travels the perimiter of the park to get a good overview of attractions and then we really broke out and went for a spin on the 'Mad Hatters' tea cup ride!

Early in the afternoon we received the news from home about the earthquake and that then became priority as we caught up with the news from family and were relieved to hear that all were safe and there was no major damage to our home. The news of the devastation it caused to other property in the Christchurch area was sobering and we felt quite helpless being on the other side of the world!

We left the park soon after that and made our way back to the motel by bus, eager to get on the internet and keep updated with the news back home.

California - Long Beach

We left Carpinteria and rode the Ventura Highway south towards LA in the morning fog, which made the ride a bit chilly. It was a morning of contrasting temperatures. As we headed inland the temperatures got quite warm, especially around Thousand Oaks. The traffic was steadily building up the closer we got to Los Angeles. We hit some cooler air again around Santa Monica and then as we came down a hill on the freeway the morning sea fog was replaced by the yellowish haze of pollution over LA in the distance!

We rode the freeway system through to Long Beach and actually arrived at our motel earlier than expected. We managed to check into our room early - around 1:30pm. We were just unpacking the bike when Evan and Maurie arrived on their Triumphs, followed about 15 minutes later by Dave and Mary on their Harley.

We had a catch up with the others and then left them to check in while we took the bike to a nearby car wash to use a self-service bay to give the bike a good waterblasting and a clean. The bike has to be free of any dirt and bugs as there are very strict agricultural controls over importing into NZ. If your bike is deemed to be 'dirty' you can be charged around $400 to have it cleaned to the required standard to enter the country. We had managed to pick up a fair bit of muck while travelling on wet roads - particularly where there were road works.

Later that night we joined up with the others and walked to the centre of Long Beach for a few drinks and a meal.

The next morning Tracee and I rode the Harley to the USA Mainfreight depot to crate the bike up ready for shipping back to NZ. This took a few hours by the time we got the crate moved for us by forklift to a free area, gave the bike a last spot clean, removed the fuse, packed up the windshield, used tie-downs to secure it and then screwed the cardboard packing on with a battery drill.

After we said goodbye to the bike we caught a taxi back to the motel and then caught the metro train and a bus transfer to the Lakewood Shopping Centre for the afternoon. This is a great service - you can travel anywhere in LA for only a few dollars - although you have to be a bit careful where you exit the bus. We were dropped off a few blocks from our motel and the area we had to walk through was a little dodgy - definately not where you would walk after dark!

We caught up with Dave, Mary, Maurie & Evan after dinner and then called it a day.

California - Carpinteria

It was 'pea soup' when we left Morro Bay this morning. A thick sea fog had rolled in over the coastline making visibility very challenging.

We headed south on Highway 101 and I was tempted to take the more scenic Highway 1 route at Pismo Beach, but the fog really made this pointless, so we continued down the 101 and stopped at Santa Maria for a look at the local Harley Davidson dealership and also it was a good time to stop for a late breakfast.

Not far down the road from Santa Maria we branched off on to Highway 154 and rode over the hills of the Los Padres National Forest. We linked up with 101 again at Santa Barbara. The influence of Spanish architecture is everywhere, with stylish homes and hotels set amongst towering palm trees. It reminded me of the artwork on the Eagles 'Hotel California' album cover.

It was only another half hour down the road before we stopped for the day at the seaside community of Carpinteria. The beach here is superb.

Tomorrow we will complete our Harley touring with only a 2 hour ride to Los Angeles - where we left Long Beach back on the 13th July.

California - Big Sur

We left Monterey and headed south down Highway 1 a short distance of only a few miles to the resort town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. This is a lovely little town set on hills next to the beach with many specialty shops, restaurants, art gallerys and cafe's that are very chic and up-market. Tracee was drooling at the shops while I was having heart palpitations at the prices. Our relationship is very balanced like that. She is the accelerator - I am the brake, so between us there is moderation when it comes to spending!

Carmel has a famous resident. Clint Eastwood was mayor here for a couple of years and has a home in Carmel Valley. He also owns a local restaurant - and according to a local I chatted to, plays the piano there most Tuesday nights (he is a jazz enthusiast). Unfortunately we were passing through on a Monday - otherwise it would have been cool to check the place out.

We walked up and down the shops, bought a coffee and purchased some decorations from a specialty Christmas shop, then hopped back on the bike and started out on the coastal part of Highway 1 that is known as 'Big Sur' (abbreviated from the name given by Spanish colonists - 'El Pais Grande del Sur' which means 'Big Country to the South').

This stretch of coastline is 160km's of great riding on winding roads with views of mountains, cliffs and rocky coves. It is very comparable to the coastal highway between Westport and Greymouth. On a fine sunny day, in terms of scenery, I would rate the Westport/Greymouth route close to 10 out of 10. The Big Sur would be around 8 to 9. What it has over the New Zealand West Coast equivalent is that it is longer and the roads are higher above the coastline, with some impressive bridges. The day was perfect to ride this route - sunny, without a cloud in the sky and a nice sea breeze to keep you cool. We also met a neat Scottish couple at one of the lookouts and chatted to them for about half an hour.

We stopped for lunch at the town of Big Sur and then continued down the coastline for about 2 hours to our stop for the day - the community of Morro Bay.

We walked down the hill from the motel to a nice seafood restaurant on the waterfront. Had a table overlooking the water where we could watch seals swimming past and pelicans dive bombing for fish.

California - San Francisco Bay Area

We awoke to a cold wet morning in Eureka. So after breakfast we donned our wet weather gear and headed south on Highway 101. we passed through the Humboldt Redwoods National Park with more stunning redwood trees lining the highway and then began winding down mile after mile of sweeping corners as we descended down from the forest and started to see more rural land and vineyards.

After a stop for lunch and fuel at Ukiah the traffic was noticeably getting denser the closer we got to San Francisco. The weather had cleared up except for some very strong cross-winds from the sea that were blowing the bike around a bit on the freeway.

We branched off the 101 and started navigating a series of freeway merges and exits until we found ourselves riding across the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge. This was quite 'freaky' to say the least. The bridge is 7.2 km long and is crossed by 250,000 vehicles per day (even more than the Golden Gate Bridge!).

I would have thought that for a Saturday the traffic would not have been as heinous as it was around San Francisco. We were in a couple of traffic jams with cars bumper to bumper and crawling at a snails pace in places. It was a relief to get through to the south side of the bay area.

We had booked into a motel for the night in Sunnyvale. This location was chosen because of it's close proximity to the Shoreline Ampthitheatre at Mountain View where we had tickets to a rock concert in the evening. One of our favourite bands - the 'Dave Matthews Band' was playing. You may not have heard of them, but they are huge in the USA. Even if you do not like an alternative rock genre, you would have to be impressed with the musicianship of these guys. I have posted a video clip (below) to give you an idea of their sound. The show was first class.

The Shoreline Amphitheatre is an outdoor venue under a marquee. There is a section for reserved seating, but the cool thing is the lawn section on the embankment where you can bring your own seats (or hire them like we did) and look down on to the stage. There are also big screens at the venue if your position did not give a clear view. I have attached a photo of the venue (below) to give you an idea of what it looks like.

We took the Harley to the concert and were told by the parking attendant that motorcyclists have their own designated area - right outside the entrance! We got there early - so the bonus of a handy park allowed us to grab a bite to eat in plenty of time before the show and also choose a good place to sit on the lawn section. By the time we got back to the motel after the show it was 1:00am in the morning. We were both quite cold from being outside in the night air at the venue.

The next morning we were in no hurry to check out of the motel, so we walked to a nearby Denny's restaurant for a cooked breakfast. We then packed up the bike and took a leisurely ride down Highway 101 and then branched off and linked up with Highway 1 to the town of Monterey to stop for the night.

Monterey is a fishing port and market that has become quite a trendy resort town. It is famous as the setting for a couple of John Steinbeck's novels (Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday) and author Robert Louis Stevenson lived here for a while. More recently, the town is known for it's annual jazz festival.

We walked around the restaurants and gift shops along Fishermans Wharf and had some lunch. After walking around the downtown plaza browsing in shops we fueled up the bike and checked into our motel for the evening.

Dave Matthews Band

California - Redwood National Park

We had a big day ahead of us, so we were on the road at 7:00am. It was freezing as we rode out of Klamath Falls on Highway 140 West. We rode around the western edge of Lake Klamath and stopped briefly to take photos of some pelicans. We were then riding through a lot of shady forest and were at a reasonable altitude of around 5,000ft. I had to stop and put gloves on as my bare hands were burning in the cold.

We descended down a (5%) gradient about 10 miles long to the town of Medford and then connected breifly with Interstate 5 North before branching off at Grants Pass on to Highway 199. Just after Cave Junction we crossed the state line into California. We stopped for lunch at Crescent City and resumed our journey on Highway 101 South. Our reason for taking this route was to see the giant redwood trees of the north California coastline.

Redwood National Park has some of the largest original redwood forests in the world stretching along the coastline. the 58,000 acre (23,500 ha) park includes many smaller state parks. I have to say this route was the ride of the tour so far. The tress were stunning. As you rode down the narrow Redwood Highway you were flanked by a corridor of huge towering tress that dwarfed you - it made you feel small and I couldn't help but be in awe of these giants of the forest.

We stopped at small groves along the way and walked along some trails accessible from the roadside for photos. As we headed further south we came out of a clearing on a hill and saw the Pacifc Ocean again for the first time since we left Long Beach on 13th July. It reminded me that we were now on the 'homeward' leg of the tour, having toured east through the mid-west, north up to the Great Lakes and Canadian border and west to the Pacific coast again. In a matter of days we will complete the loop and be back in Long Beach!

Our stop for the day after about 500kms of riding is the town of Eureka (population 28,000). The town was founded by gold miners in 1850, hence the name 'Eureka' (I found it)!

Oregon - Crater Lake National Park

We left Bend around 8:00am and headed south on Highway 97. The route was predominantly pine forest interspersed with patches of volcanic rock (lavaland forest is located in the vicinity). We passed through two national forests (La Pine and Winema) before we reached the junction where we turned on to Highway 138 and headed west towards the north entrance to Crater Lake. There was a lot of haze in the air and a roadside sign alerted motorists that a 'naturally caused' fire was burning in the forest.

We turned into the entrance of Crater Lake National Park and rode in to the junction where the road bisected into the east rim and west rim routes.

Crater Lake is 5 miles wide and ringed by cliffs almost 2000 feet high. The lake rests in the remnants of a volcano called Mount Mazama, which erupted and collapsed into itself forming Wizard Island and other volcanic features. The water is an intense blue. At 1,943 feet deep it is the deepest lake in the USA and one of the deepest in the world.

We stopped at the lookouts along the way to take photos and admire the view. The haze from the forest fire affected the view somewhat, but it was still very spectacular. We stopped for a coffee at the Rim Village and then exited the park at the southern entrance. We rode down Highway 62 and connected again with Highway 97 for the ride to our stop for the day, Klamath Falls.

Oregon - The Dalles & Bend

We left Spokane and headed west on Interstate 90. We turned off at Ritzville on to Highway 395 South and had a fuel stop at the town of Kennewick before branching on to Interstate 82 East and crossing over the Columbia River into the state of Oregon.

We rode west on Interstate 84 on a great road that overlooked the Columbia River. This route was the same taken by early explorers Lewis and Clark who left St Louis in the early 1800's and opened up what would become to be known as the 'Oregon Trail' for all the early settlers who would follow with their wagon trains.

After stopping for lunch at Boardman around noon we continued along the Columbia River Highway for another hour and a half. After rounding a bend just before our destination of the day (after a ride of 440kms) at the town of The Dalles we saw on the horizon the large mountain peak of Mount Hood, dwarfing the other peaks of the Cascade Mountains - very impressive.

The town of The Dalles (population 12,000) got it's name from french fur traders. 'Dalles' is french for 'sluice' and describes the effect the river had on carving out a path through the valley.

The next morning we decided to get on the road early due to an extreme weather warning for Oregon with temperatures predicted to be over 100f in places (about 38c). We set out on Highway 197 south and climbed through the foothills until we linked up with Highway 97 south. We had a view of the Cascade Mountains on our right and surrounding us were arid rolling hills of juniper and sagebrush, typical of the high desert country in eastern Oregon. In one place we saw a lot of squirrels foraging for food on the side of the road.

We stopped at a rest area where we met some other bikers who informed us that the HOG (Harley Owners Group) Rally of Oregon was on at the moment. Apparantly there is a group ride from Bend to Medford tomorrow via Crater Lake, so we may see a few bikes on the road!

Apart from this one stop we had a leisurely ride of only 220kms for the day. We stopped for lunch at our destination in the town of Bend (about 80,000 people) around noon just as the temperature was starting to soar. We checked in to a motel where the motel manager said that he had checked out two New Zealand motorcyclists that morning! I said; "Their names wouldn't happen to be Evan Fahey and Maurie Barrington by any chance?" The manager pulled out the check-in slip and confirmed it had been completed by Evan!

Washington - Spokane

It was sunny when we left Kalispell this morning, but still cold (around 45f or 7c). We took Highway 2 West. The ride was excellent as we passed through the Kootenai State Forest over rolling hills covered in pine and past a few lakes.

After a few hours of riding we had crossed the state line of Idaho and stopped at Bonners Ferry for fuel and lunch. Well, we actually had a second breakfast as we changed from Mountain Time to Pacific Time when we crossed the state line and gained an hour. What was 11:45am Mountain Time was still the middle of the breakfast menu at the diner in Bonners Ferry Idaho at 10:45am!

We branched on to Highway 2 South and rode to Coeur d'Alene and then linked up with Interstate 90 West. Within half an hour we had crossed the state line into Washington and reached the city of Spokane, our destination for the day. Spokane is Washington's largest inland city with over 200,000 people. The city was rebuilt with brick after a disastrous fire in 1889 and is the smallest city to have hosted a world fair (Expo 74).

After checking in to a motel, I decided it would be a good idea to find a car wash with a high pressure water blaster to wash the crud off the bike picked up from our wet excursion through Glacier National Park yesterday. We were given directions to a self-service car wash with bays that had high pressure hoses. There were vending machines where you could change notes for $1 coins to activate the wash. I placed a note into what I thought was a vending machine, but it turned out to be payment for the automatic car wash! Kiss goodbye to $5! Teach me for not reading signs! I then found what was the coin vending machine and placed a dollar note in the slot and received a coin. I then placed a second note in the slot and the 'out of service' light started flashing. Kiss goodbye to $1. I used the coin I received and that gave me 2 minutes of high pressure water to give the bike a quick rinse and then focus on washing the dirt and muck from under the chassis and fenders. An expensive wash - $7 all up. Tracee demonstrated extreme self control by not laughing at me.

Montana - Glacier National Park

Yesterday we had a relatively short ride of 285 kms from Helena on Interstate 15 North. We stopped for lunch at Great Falls and visited the local Harley Davidson dealership on the way through. Our stop for the day was the town of Conrad. This was to be our base for our assault on Glacier National Park the next day.

This morning we had an early start, leaving at 7:00am. We continued north on Interstate 15 and turned left on to Highway 2 West at the town of Shelby. The road wound up the foothills of the Rockies with some stunning views of the Rocky Mountain peaks. It was overcast and freezing cold however and the road was still wet from rain earlier that morning. The clouds still looked threatening over the peaks - so I was feeling a little pessimistic about our chances of staying warm and dry!

The gateway to Glacier National Park is the town of St Mary - only a few miles from the US/Canadian border. We stopped for fuel and then headed into the park.

Glacier National Park covers nearly a million acres (405.000 ha) over the northern Rocky Mountains and adjoins Waterton Lakes National Park across the Canadian border. The park contains a wide variety of landscapes including 4 glaciers, limestone cliffs, lakes and waterfalls. There are also moose, wolves and bears roaming the park (not that we could see any on our way through).

The access from the west to the east entrance is via the Going-to-the-Sun Mountain Road. This is 80 km of winding road that takes you past St Mary Lake, over the narrow mountain road of Logans Pass with breathtaking views down forested valleys and across to mountain peaks and past Lake McDonald. It would have been more breathtaking if the day was not cold and overcast.......and then it rained.

We have been very fortunate on this tour with the weather. Apart from a couple of light showers and a couple of close calls with lightening storms, we have generally had warm, hot conditions (heat waves at times). Today made up for it. We stopped and put on our wet weather gear about 30kms from the east exit and then rode all the way to the town of Kalispell our stop for the day. Although not wet through - we were both chilled after riding at high altitude over the Rockies.

Because we had not stopped more often to do some short walks and take photos after we hit the rain, we arrived too early to check in. We left our luggage at the motel and went off to find a warm diner for some hot food. The receptionist said that it was a pity we had not gone through the park yesterday - it was a perfect day. All part of the adventure I guess!

Montana - Nevada City ghost town & Helena

After leaving Bozeman we took Interstate 90 West for about half an hour then turned off on to Highway 84 South. We then branched on to Highway 287 at Ennis and rode to our destination for the morning - Virginia City and it's neighbouring 'ghost town' - Nevada City.

One of my goals for this trip is to visit a 'ghost town'. There are many around - but most are only accessible on dirt or gravel roads. Some even need a horse or 4WD. This one we are visiting is alongside a state highway.

Located high in the Rocky Mountains in a basin along Alder Gulch, Virginia City is not a ghost town - but has over 100 historic buildings that have been preserved since the gold rush that caused this boom town in 1863. It has a chequered history and is infamous for the outlaws that robbed gold and the secret society of 'vigilantes' that hunted down the outlaws and publicly lynched them in the streets of Virginia City.

We spent some time walking up and down the boardwalk looking at the shops with memorabilia and souviners. We then hopped on the bike and drove a couple of miles down the road to Nevada City. The entire town of Nevada City is an official 'ghost town' and has been made a state museum. It is fenced off and you need to pay an entry fee - but the town is in it's original state from when after all the gold was mined and the residents moved away. The only modern enhancements are that the grass is mowed to make it easy for tourists to walk around and a few fire hydrants scattered around to protect the buildings (which would be tinder dry).

After lunch at the local Cafe' we rode through to Twin Bridges where we turned on to Highway 41 and rode north until we connected with Interstate 90 West again. We turned off at Butte on to Interstate 15 North and rode through Deer Lodge State Forest to our stop for the day after 424kms of riding - Helena.

Although it only has a population of around 28,000, Helena is the state capital of Montana. It was originally known as 'Last Chance Gulch' when it was founded as a gold mining camp in the 1860's. There are a number of historic mansions in the area built by mining millionaires, some of which have been converted in to B&B inns.