Road's End

September 27, 2009
I'm HOME! I finally finished my road trip and am now sitting comfortably on my comfy couch in Sacramento!

I'll be working to fill in the massive gaps in the blog entries...

3,000 miles to home...

I've got a pretty good idea of my route home now and I'm not sure there's a straight line in it at all ;)

I'm just outside of Santa Fe, NM now and will head to Denver, CO for a couple of days. From there I'll go check out Salt Lake City, UT before heading down to the Grand Canyon and Scottsdale, AZ.

Here's the rough map:
and a rough schedule:
9/11 - Stop in Denver, CO
9/12-13 - Explore Denver and surrounding areas, meet with the Denver 250 crew.
9/15 - Stop in Salt Lake City, UT
9/16 - Explore SLC
9/19 - Stop at the Grand Canyon
9/20 - Stop in Scottsdale, AZ
9/21-24 - Figure out a route to get to California and hopefully meet sdebaca.
9/24 - Stop in Sequoia National Park or Kings Canyon
9/25 - Stop in Yosemite National Park
9/28 - Arrive back in Sacramento?

Climbing a mountain in the Flatland

September 2, 2009 - Day 84 - Oklahoma City, OK to Coppell, TX

The jaunt from Oklahoma City to Coppell is an easy one, a couple hours straight down I-35, unless you're on a motorcycle and trying to find the "good" roads of the area. Then it turns into day long adventure.

To start the day off I wanted to have breakfast with geekonabike (Mike) out in Weatherford, OK before he had to get in to work. Being a little over an hour away from OKC I had to leave at 6:30 a.m. to get there in time. Out of 84 days spent on the road, this was the earliest I'd gotten up and on the road. Hopefully it stays that way. I was able to see a gorgeous sunrise in my mirrors.

Making it to Weatherford I met up with Mike and had a great time eating and chatting away at the only "diner" in town. Making our way out we snapped a semi artistic photo of us.


Mike had suggested that I stop by the local air and space museum that was more of a tribute to a local astronaut. It sounded interesting and it was close so off I went. Getting to the parking lot there was a plane and space capsule on display and by the door was a large, maybe life-sized, statue of the legend himself.


This did seem a bit "tribute-ish" but I was hoping the museum would make up for it. I wander the couple of feet over to the door and cringe at the minor entrance fee but mentally accept it for helping out the sciences. Now I know that I'm there at a weird time, a Wednesday morning at 9:30 a.m. the week after school has gone into session, but when I walked up to the doors and saw the 9 a.m. opening time I didn't expect the doors to be locked. I stared in the locked door hoping to see someone, anyone walking by to figure out what's going on but there wasn't a soul in the building. There was some activity in the attached airfield and hangars. A little miffed I took off, though not before getting the photo op with the plane and space capsule.


Back on the road I set off to see an anomaly for this area, a something not flat. A miracle for sure, Red Rock Canyon is a big hole in the ground that is unbelievably pretty. As is typical of canyons you could drive right by it and not know it was there, especially since this blended in with the local flatness. Less than a quarter mile off the main road, the park road dives down nearly 100 feet and red rock walls rise up to surround you.



There was a pond just down the road that beckoned me to take a break from the hard ride that I had coming in, all 30 miles of highway. So I stopped and sat for a bit enjoying the peacefulness and tranquility of the area. It helped that the entire time I was there I saw three other people, all in different parts of the park.

The next destination for the day was nothing new. I've been saying that I'm going here for ages but now I'm actually going there. It's nice to have something realized in life.


There's not much to Nowhere. The entire town is made up of two buildings and what looked to be an RV storage park. It was rather amusing that, while 20 feet from the middle of Nowhere, I was honked at for parking the bike at the edge of the road. Apparently it's not just a big city thing.

From here I made my way south and stopped for lunch at the world famous Meer's Store and Restaurant. The location is unique to say the least as is the building itself. Multiple additions, settling foundation, and uneven floors make this seem like a house from hell but when you pay to go in it just adds character, I guess. There was a short line once inside but I wasn't too worried, it just gave me more time to look at the random decor.



Well, after looking at the decor for over an hour I was getting hungry, tired, and mad. It turns out there was a tour bus full of people in there taking up the majority of seats. Once they all cleared out we were able to go in. The burgers they serve are very big in diameter, seven inches, and are served in quarters to make it easier to eat.


The waitress brought out two of these and asked if I was going to eat both. Having only ordered one I was a bit miffed. I let that go and moved on to the single burger that I ordered. While the burger is very big around it is as flat as a McDonald's burger and wasn't too filling, even with that large bun. I'm not sure if it was the wait that killed it for me or the service but I was a bit of a sour grape by this time and didn't really enjoy the meal. So, if you are hungry and drive past this place go ahead and stop in, but that's only because there's nothing around for the next 20 miles. Other than that I wouldn't recommend going out of your way for this place.

The next destination for the day was Witchita Wildlife refuge and Mt. Scott, the only mountain in Oklahoma. The stars of the refuge are the wild buffalo, prairie dogs, and Texas longhorns. The land in the refuge is very pretty too.


Driving in a few miles I came across a small herd of longhorns and snapped some pictures from a safe distance. I didn't want this day to turn into a running of the bulls. Another couple miles into the park I came across the prairie dog habitat and stopped to check them out. There were tons of them in the field and by the railing. As soon as I got off the bike all of the dogs by the railing bolted for their holes. After sitting there for a few minutes some of the dogs decided to come check me out and one got within 10 feet of me. He would've come closer but the wind picked up and scared him away.


I was itching to climb a mountain again so I left the prairie dogs to their sunbathing and went in search of some altitude. I didn't have to drive far to get over 1,000 feet above the surrounding land.


Even at this elevation the weather was still warming up so I got back on the bike and on my way. Standing around in motorcycle gear in the heat is not fun at all. On the road again, my bike was steered towards this AWESOME little town near the Texas/Oklahoma border.


I passed up the photo ops for the Ryan police department and Ryan Cemetery due to the heat but just know that they're there.

The rest of the ride was a quick blast down more secondary highways all the way into Coppell. I started the day in OKC in the low 60s and in Ryan it was over 100! I was glad to get to a house with A/C.

Pictures

Carb issues in Fairfax

June 30th to August 1st, 2009
Fairfax, Va

Coming into Virgina from New Jersey I was having some issues with the fuel delivery on the bike and the day spent wandering around D.C. didn't seem to help. Looking through the forum I found posts with similar symptoms and concluded that it was just a blocked fuel filter so I set out to add in an additional fuel filter.



When I was installing it I took a look around the carbs and noticed that the boots connecting the airbox to the carbs wasn't seated completely so i figured that was the issue and set to correcting that.

Working on the carbs is something that I've been putting off for, well, ever. I never wanted to have to clean the carbs, adjust the jetting, correct the fuel mixture, nothing. The best way to avoid doing all this is to leave the bike stock and ride it. I've been doing just that. :) Despite all that, here I was, working on the carbs. I was among good company though...

Working on the bike in the Virginia humidity is not what I consider fun but at least there was some shade.

I'd check in on the forums now and then to see if there were any more revelations from those that really know the bike. The general consensus was that this was a carb issue but no one knew exactly what it was. There was also the possibility of water being in the fuel so I drained the float bowls several times and added some IsoHeet to the tank. The combination of all this seemed to help the mid-range stumbling but not the choke issues so I was stumped.

One of the resident Ninja 250 gurus was local to the area so I thought that he might have some input. Leon was the first person to complete the Iron Butt Rally on a Ninja 250 and has well over 100,000 miles on a 250. John and I scheduled to meet up with Leon for some lunch and a traveling carb party but since the main issue worked itself out it turned into an eat and ride meeting.


John left for a business meeting and Leon and I ventured to his daughter's house, a.k.a. Leon's Carb Garage. With the bike running decently now, with the exception of the choke issue, I decided to forgo working on the carbs so we talked for a bike and I got to see the legendary Ninja 250 chopper, a custom chopper that is built using primarily Ninja 250 parts.



We went for a nice ride towards Fairfax and met a motorcycle friend of Leon's. For some reason he wanted to hear about my travels and record them. He had me hold a voice recorder as I was telling the story. Even telling the very light version of the trip I only made it to the part about my engine blowing up before it started raining and Leon and I both had to go.

Back at John's I caught him moving his skeleton bike into the house. All I can say is some people are desperate to get their lean on...

I did some routine maintenance on my bike (chain adjust, etc) and replaced one of my rear brake pads. For some reason the pads weren't wearing evenly and the inner pad had gone down to the metal. I had been avoiding the rear brake since Wes pointed it out in Kingston...

Washington gets another tourist.

July 29, 2009
Washington D.C.

As have been most days lately, this was a lazy start. By the time I got ready to leave the house it was nearly noon and D.C. was 20 minutes away, without traffic. Of course there was traffic so it was over 30 minutes to get into the city. I can't imagine what the roads would be like during rush hour. One highlight of the drive in was the carpool only section of highway. It was a full two lane, in each direction, divided highway to be used only by carpoolers and motorcyclists. Pretty neat stuff. Another benefit of this road was that it dropped me right into the heart of D.C. near the White House, all the museums and monuments.

I circled around for a bit trying to find some free street parking close to my destinations. I was able to find a spot right in front of the Washington Monument and the White House.



After parking, the one problem with motorcycle touring presented itself: Dealing with gear while off the bike. I don't want to walk around with my jacket, pants, boots, gloves, and helmet but I really don't want to leave them sitting out in a city like D.C.. Fortunately I had borrowed a backpack that John had that surprisingly swallowed all of my gear and I was able to strap the helmet to it as well. That meant cool and comfortable walking around with out the fear of my stuff getting stolen since it was all on my back. Ideally I'd have a locking top case that I'd be able to fit everything in but this worked very well.



Now I am ready to start my touristing duties. First up: the Smithsonian Museum of American History.


(This isn't the museum but it sure does look like one doesn't it?)

I had looked online at the various Smithsonians and this seemed to have a good selection of exhibits that I'd be interested in. What I spent the most time looking at was one that I hadn't seen on the website at all...



The sad thing is that the first area was depicting a working laboratory from the early 20th century and it reminded me of some of the labs that I worked in during college...



There were displays on science based regulation and watchdog people/groups that made the laws that we know today. One such group affectionately called the Poison Squad had their own poetic motto



The next series of displays was of the effect of science on the general public and how it was embraced. This time period was the hay day of the kid's home chemistry set and popular literature/advertising was equally effected.



Included with society's acceptance of science was the fascination with nuclear power. Getting the public used to the idea of this new found power took loads of propaganda in the current war times. Everything from folk songs to clothing bore the mark of the atomic symbol. Did you know that the bikini as we know it got its name because of the atomic era?

Along with this mass propaganda pushing the technology there was a group encouraging the careful use of it and urging caution with regards to the ramifications.


Learning about the atomic bombs was very cool as they had a good display set up for it. There was a nearly life size model of the Uranium reactors first used to enrich the material and information about the various sites around the country that contributed to the effort to complete the weapons.

Finishing the physical science portion of the exhibit I wandered into the DARPA Grand Challenge area. not only was there an autonomous car on display but there was even an autonomous motorcycle there. This bike navigated a desert trail by it self and, should it fall over, could right itself and keep going.


To finish out the lower level of the museum was an exhibit on transportation in America. Every way to travel around the country was represented from trains to cars as well as some history and significance of each. There was even a 40 foot section of Route 66 taken from Oklahoma.


Now here's a question for you the reader... How comfortable do these boots look?


These are the boots of the first noted person to hike the Appalachain trail in one trip. It took him over 140 days! That's a long time to be wearing those things...

About this time I had to leave the museum to move the bike off the main street so went to see some more of the sights. I drove around a bit trying to get a good photo op with the White House with no luck. On the drive through the city I got turned around and a little lost all while having some minor fuel issues with my bike. I decided to forgo the photo op with the infamous Einstein statue and head back to John's, hopefully avoiding some traffic.


The rest of the pictures can be found HERE

Ithaca goes to Washington

July 28th, 2009
Chatham, NJ to Fairfax, VA

Today was a lazy day, getting on the road from Alan's house to John's at the crack of noon. I went a very non-direct route through the New Jersey countryside stopping for lunch at Costco. This Costco was unique, at least to me, in that it sold French Fries. Very weird.

The clouds were ever present today and were spectacular. Stopped at a light I saw these overhead...



With the weather that I've encountered on this trip I've really taken a fascination with the clouds around me. There is something beautiful and serene about looking up that them, even while doing 70mph on the freeway.

Continuing on I stumbled across this church that just emerged from the trees. With the combination of the trees around it and the overcast skies the building was very eye catching.



Passing through the south eastern corner of Pennsylvania I got the great idea to stop in Philadelphia for some quick photo ops with the historical sights there. Making this deciscion at the last minute I hurriedly got off the freeway too early and ended up in North Philly, I think. I used my GPS to find the local attractions and specifically the Liberty Bell. Do you know how many points of interest there are in Philly with the word "Liberty" in the name? A LOT! It took several pages of searching to get the right attraction but I got it. Getting back on the freeway I passed by this cool little mural.



Making my way downtown I forgot that the bell is not just out in the open so that photo op went out the window. I circled the area and got what I could though.



Out of the city I was greeted by traffic and rain, two of my least favorite things. I made my way straight to John's house after that to beat the incessant heat and humidity. Not to be outdone by Philly, Northern Virginia gave me 20 miles of stop and go traffic.

I finished off the day with a very delicious meal of spaghetti with Sriracha Marinara sauce. Quite tasty!!!

More pictures

Riding the Tri-State

July 27th, 2009
Chatham, NJ to New York and Pennsylvania and back

Having left my bike at Enid's house for the weekend I returned on Monday morning and met up with Alan. With him on summer break and me on my trip we both had time and the desire for a good motorcycle ride. The route we hashed out turned out to include a lot of the same roads that I had planned on riding when I went to Hershey so I was very glad we went that way.

We headed north through New Jersey, along the back roads and stopped for lunch just over the border in New York. To go that 90 miles or so took almost three hours due to the slow roads, some minor "detours", and construction breaks (as seen here).



When we stopped we took off our gear to look around for somewhere to eat and saw a place across the street. Instead of leaving our bikes in the gas station parking lot we put our gear back on and rode over. Again, taking our gear off we walked up to the door but it didn't open when we tried. The restaurant was closed! At 3pm too! What the heck is up with that? So we tried the place next door and that was closed too! Finally we saw another cafe down the street and decided to walk over, instead of dealing with our gear again.

This place had typical American fare with hamburgers being a primary feature. They had standard hamburgers as well as a "California" one. Being Californian I figured this would be served with avocado or something like that but I was wrong. Apparently a California burger is served with lettuce, tomato, raw onion and a side of mayonnaise. Isn't that just a normal burger?

On the road again we continued through New York on our way to the back roads of Pennsylvania and I spied this guy guarding a surplus store



We were able to ride some very nice twisty roads that took us through a little state park in PA called The Promised Land. If for nothing else it was fun to see that but the road through the park was nice, bumpy but nice. In the middle of the park is a nice lake that provided great views along the way. One of the views was nice enough to warrant a stop.



Continuing on we were trying to find the best (aka twistiest) roads in the area to take back by searching our GPS units. There was one such road around the east side of the lake so we headed that way. Somehow we ended up where we started without finding the right turnoff so back we went. Once we got to where the GPS told us the road was we understood why we missed it...



Apparently this is a snowmobile trail or something and we weren't able to take it, for better or worse. Alan made the assertion that, had the road closure sign and gate been there he would have taken it. That would have been a bit of fun...

The rest of the ride back was uneventful and mainly highway. We did pass a sign that pointed to "The Land of Make Believe". Too bad we didn't see that until we had passed the exit...

Pictures

The Big Apple

July 25th and 26th, 2009
Wandering around The Big Apple

The day started out with a train ride from Chatham into the city. We walked from Enid's place just in time to catch the train with only enough time to say our quick "goodbye"s and "thank you"s and pose for one group shot before jumping on the departing train.



It was a quick ride into the city that left us dealing with the mess that is Penn Station. With only one wrong turn we were on our way uptown.



We walked through Central Park, past a Latin Reggae concert and stopped at the zoo. Enid had given us tickets that were good at any of the metro zoos and we hoped to use it here since it was right there. Getting to the ticket office we notice the unfortunate sign that the zoo closed in half an hour and no matter how small the zoo there was no way to see it fairly in 30 minutes. We kept on walking. From outside the zoo fence we were able to see a sea lion though...



The park was filled with sunbathers and people escaping from the city life. There were people laid out on the grass, perched in the rocks, sitting at the base of the trees, everywhere. For anyone that likes to people watch this is an amazing place to do it. One of the comedic highlights for me was a heavy set guy that we saw walking towards us with his shirt off. He was sweating up a storm and fondling his man-boobs. It took quite a bit of self restraint to stop my self from laughing out loud or taking a picture. It was hilarious.

Getting out of the park we wandered up to the Guggenheim to start our museum hopping. We got there only to see a MASSIVE line that wrapped around the side of the building. It turns out that on Saturdays (or at least this one) the museum doesn't charge a set fee but requests a donation of anything you think is fair. That meant you could get in free or give what ever you felt like. It was getting close to dinner time and we were both hungry so that desire won out over getting into the Gug for free.

Off we went in search of food. Sarah's cousin recommended a sushi bar that was on our way so off we went looking for that. Dozens of blocks later our hunger is growing ever more audible and this mystery restaraunt is nowhere to be found. We start looking for anything sushi and come across a restaurant called "Amber". It turned out to be very good sushi and good drinks to boot. We walked out of there very satisfied with our choice. Starting our walk back we got two blocks down and saw the restaurant we were looking for. Doh!



Sunday was the museum hopping day. Setting out for the morning we got breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts. The unique thing about this shop was that it was right next to a subway station and a church that was holding service. It was very odd to be sitting on the steps as people were going into the church and the subway station, all with the city moving at it's normal speed up on street level...



Up on street level we came across a street fair on 53rd street and wandered through that. There were booths with food, clothing, accessories, crap, and tons of other stuff. It was fun to walk through. We came across a booth selling shirts with the phrase "Trickle Up Effect" on it. It was for a cool little company that employs homeless workers that are looking for work. Pretty cool and worth the support so I picked up a t-shirt.



First order of the morning was visiting the Museum of Modern Art, only a couple blocks away from the street fair. Getting in was easy and we were greeted by cool artwork straight away.



Of course as soon as we got into the museum my camera warned me that I had a low charge on the battery. So the rest of the day I was in battery saver mode and took a dramatically reduced number of photos.

The first exhibit on display was a collection of "junk" from a Japanese artist's deceased parents that covered a huge floor area. There were some really cool exhibits there including one where they marked your height, name and date on a white wall. With the thousands of people that visit the museum a day the marks added up to quite a work.



With my height standing slightly above the average my name was clearly visible on the wall, to the left of the joint...



unlike like Sarah's...



notice the difference between them? ;)



So more great art and several hours later we finished the museum tour with this piece



For food we headed down to Little Italy, skirting some serious thunder storms with hail and lightening. Fortunately we were inside eating when the skies really opened up and were entertained by a lady running up and down the street selling umbrellas to unprepared diners. When we left the restaurant in search of desert she chased us down shouting "Umbrella, Umbrella!" behind us. It was rather amusing.

Down the street was a desert place that has THE BEST canolli I've ever had. Mind you I have only had two and I think they were both from this shop so I might be biased.



By the time we were done with desert the skies had cleared but only long enough for us to get to a subway station. Thank goodness for the subway.




Pictures