The door slammed and locked behind me as I walked out of the Hays Valley Inn, downtown San Francisco, at 5.30 am on the 25th of September. It was pitched black outside and I’d been surprised to see luggage in the little foyer, but no people. It was a pretty respectable part of town, decent accomodation, nothing flash but far from shabby. Street cleaners had been through and everything was wet – the area was devoid of cars and it was very quiet. Silent that is, except for the loudest snoring that I’ve ever heard in my life.  Continue reading “The Big Apple” →

Horizons Unlimited, for my non biking readers, is a community developed by a couple of overland motorcyclists, Grant and Susan Johnson. HU has been around for along time, I think more than 20 years, and has a global reach. They hold a dozen or more rally’s over the world every year, including several in Australia, attracting people who happen to be riding in the area where they are being held, as well as people who plan their trips around them. Knowing that there would be other like minded people attending, I’d specifically scheduled it into my trip. Continue reading “Horizons should be unlimited” →

Made it – another part of the plan has fallen into place.

I would not have been a true Aussie if I hadn’t stopped in the Napa Valley on the way through to San Francisco though. The preference would have been to stay a few days however I had to settle for a couple of tastings instead. Additionally, I needed to be careful – I was heading for a big, busy city and I had a feeling I was going to need to have my wits about me when I got there. The best of the wineries that I visited was Freemark Abbey. By the number of limos with bored chauffeurs milling around, I had a feeling it could be pretty good. Continue reading “San Fran Baby” →

Wow – what a day. It had it all – good roads, very, very bad ones, 5 degrees and howling winds and 32 that would melt you. Awesome scenery, vineyards, interesting food, perfect bitumen and, best of all, some really good people. Continue reading “The Sinkyone Wilderness” →

I’m so glad I decided not to travel down to Humbolte last night. Most of the sites were either taken or reserved by 2.30 pm so I would have been turned around or had to try and camp illegally in the Park. They really don’t like you doing that here! Continue reading “From Redwood forests to the Pacific Ocean” →

Seeing the Californian Redwoods had been one of the big objectives of my trip to the US. Their development is a direct result of the sea mists that only the northern American coast produces, so I was heading into the right area to check them out. Feeling rested and ready to ride, I was hopeful I’d manage to get to the Humbolte Redwoods State Park near Weott that evening. I did have a bit of ride in front of me though.  Continue reading “Redwoods here I come” →

It was pretty cold once again and I packed up as quickly as I could. I was keen to make some miles and wanted to be well into California by nightfall.

The route I chose was south through the mountains. It was all bitumen and looked perfect for a morning of fast riding. This certainly proved to be the case with close to 200 km of lovely twisty roads winding through green forest and along rivers and lakes. There was some traffic, but I had it all pretty much to myself, arriving in Klamath Falls just before lunch. I’d only been 40 km from Klamath before heading up to Crater Lake the day before, but the detour had certainly been worth it. Klamath Falls wasn’t though. Continue reading “‘You’re such a child Papa’” →

It was a whole lot colder than I expected last night – my water bottles were frozen when I tried to make a cup of coffee in the morning, as was some of the food I’d left out (for the bears). Despite that, I’d slept well and hadn’t felt it. I’ve said it before, but the tent, mattress and sleeping bag were really doing their job. There was a light frost and it was hard to do much until the sun hit the campsite – it was just too cold on the fingers. Thank goodness the valley was running east / west because, every 5 minutes, I’d have to stand in the sun to thaw out. I’m sure you’ve all had your phone shut down because it’s too hot (especially if you’ve left it on the dash in your car). Mine shut down because it was too cold! Continue reading “Grand statements of achievement” →

I was advised that there was no self-service at gas stations in Oregon. If the attendant catches you pawing at the pump, they’re likely to get pretty upset. It’s the only state in the US where this is the law – it’s about job creation, so it’s not a bad thing. The whole business of paying before you fuel up takes a little getting used to though. Some terminals work well and others ……. Fuel is pretty cheap here at $2.84 9/10 USD per gallon this morning for 92 without ethanol and, yes, 9/10 of a cent. This is the equivalent of $0.99 per litre in AUD. Could live with that. When I crossed over from Canada and saw the price, I nearly had a fit. Forgot it was per gallon! Continue reading “Kurt, Eddie and the Frankentrike” →