road trip post for thursday

So I got up Thursday morning at the Grand Canyon and headed for Joshua Tree. The most interesting thing I spotted that day was the General Lee. Heading north on (I think) AZ 64. Straightenin' the curves... flattenin' the hills...

After Prescott, AZ 89 turns into a really great motorcycle road. Awesome views and all:

Then there's a lat stretch with a lot of cactus...


And then, between the AZ/CA border and 29 Palms there's nothing for almost 100 miles. The rotting carcass of an abandoned gas station...


Not a single building...


...for miles.


I was really glad I gassed up before I hit that stretch, and I did finally make it to Joshua Tree.



Which was really beautiful.

road trip post for wednesday

Wednesday in Mesa Verde I noticed this deer sneeking around the campsites just after dawn. She was probably just getting ready to pounce as I woke up.


Bear trap at the campsite. I couldn't decide if this was comforting or not.

Mesa Verde has a bunch of cliff dwellings and ruins from the indigenous people that used to live there. The biggest ancient housing development overlooks this valley. One of these rooms would go for $500,000 in Chicago.

After Mesa Verde I went through 4 Corners. It's the spot where the borders of Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico meet.

Which bike is prettiest and obviously doesn't belong in the hog pen?

I asked the Navajo woman what to put on the frybread. She said that the tourists like to put stuff on it, but they eat it plain. So I had it plain. It was good. Silly tourists.


After my dry spell on the sticker hunt in Missouri and Kansas, this was a great day for stickers. I found the dear and Mesa Verde stickers in the morning, and 4 states in one sticker at 4 corners.


The grand canyon was grand indeed. It's a little weird because it's hard to know what to do. you know this thing is big and amazing, but it's hard to take in. It actually made me a little dizzy just looking into it. So what do you do when you see a really, really big hole in the ground? You have somebody take your picture in front of it.

This was the best part of the Grand Canyon was spotting the elk. He was right next to the road and didn't care who took his picture. I guess when you're that big you don't get spooked very easily. You can tell his antlers are brand new. He hasn't even unwrapped them yet.

road trip post for tuesday

My homemade coffee maker.:
Friendly dinosaur with an internet connection:


Rockies. Every time you take a picture it looks like a postcard, and postcards don't do it justice.


And the ride was amazing. Probably the nicest twisties I've ever been on.


Telluride was ridiculously beautiful. It was hard to believe. I wanted to say, "There just happens to be a beautiful thousand-foot high waterfall at the end of main street? Oh come on!"

They say that the altitude can get to people, and I think they're right. I caught a pretty serious buzz from the ginger ale I had.

I didn't make it to Mesa Verde before dark, so it was a slow, tense, ride to the campsite. I saw a couple of deer on the way. Last summer I saw a couple of bears, but they didn't scare me as much as deer do. You never hear about motorcyclists being killed by bears, but deer do it all the time. Deer and cabbies are a my worst nightmares. In fact, I can't imagine anything more terrifying than a deer, talking on a cell phone, and driving a cab. The deer alone are bad enough. So I was glad when I got in to the park, set up my tent by my headlight, and crawled into my sleeping bag.

road trip post 2

I found a visitor's center in Cañon City that has wifi.

The pics from yesterday were 3rd of July fireworks at my girlfriend's family's house in Munster, IN, Flood debris in Iowa City, The convenience store where all of my discretionary income went when I was at the Univerity of Iowa, and the camping spot in Lovewell State Park in Kansas.

I wrote this last night:

I'm writing this in a tent just outside Pueblo, CO at about 9:00 PM on Monday. I'll have to upload it whenever I get a chance.

So here's a recap of the trip so far.

Saturday:
In spite of 4 detours I managed to get to Iowa City a little early. The funniest thing that happened on the way, was that I pulled into a gas station and got some gas and water to have with the lunch I packed. I was a little worried about leaving all my gear on the bike while I was inside because I didn't want anything to get stolen. So I was watching it like a hawk. Of course, everything was fine when I came back out. And, while I was sitting there, some guy on a chromed out Harley pulled up and went inside. Not only did he leave the keys in the ignition, he left the bike running. Apparently, people aren't worried much about theft around there.

The detours were due to flooding:When I got into Iowa City I met Cecilia, who I was staying with, dropped off my stuff, and we wandered around town for a while. When I left the University, it wasn't under the best circumstances. They basically screwed me over and stuck me with a bill for $5,000. This is why I took a leak on the Old Capitol building before I left over a decade ago, and vowed never to go back. But a lot has happened since then. I've found ways to resolve things without peeing. I managed to get myself squared away financially and finish school at Eastern Illinois, and since I only made that vow to myself I figure I could let it go. And I'm glad I did. It was a nice little visit.

Cece rider modeling her helmet-and-evening-gown ensemble (*Edited* I accidentally wrote "night gown" the first time. A very important difference, and a good reason to know your gowns better than I do. I apologize.):


My first sticker of the trip from the Iowa City Co-op:

Sunday:
Not a lot to report on Sunday. I left Iowa City at 9:30 and was busting my butt to make it to the campsite and set up by nightfall. Missouri was hot. It was over 100 during the hottest part of the ride. I used the old wet bandana trick, which helped, but the hot air dried it out pretty quick.

Monday:
I stopped at a bunch of places today. I didn't get a sticker in Missouri because I was in too big of a hurry, so I wanted to try extra hard to get one out of Kansas today. I asked in at least 4 places and looked in even more, but no dice. I found Kansas bells, Kansas magnets, Kansas pencils, Kansas Christmas tree ornaments... but no sticker. But looking was fun.

I found a statue commemorating buffalo hunting

Personally, if I hunted an animal to near extinction it's not something I'd be bragging about. I guess people used to actually shoot them from trains just for fun. There aren't a lot of places to hide on the plains. But one of them did manage to get away and survive. I found him hiding in plain sight in a local museum.


He just acts like part of the display and they don't shoot him. Very clever. Eventually he'll find a mate and they'll breed a race of super-intelligent buffalo. Beware my friends. Payback time is coming.

I ate meat for the first time in about 2 ½ years tonight. When I got into camp I had a couple of other campers chat me up. They were impressed that I was in a tent instead of an RV. I told one guy about my trip out west. Later, as I was setting up the tent. He walked over with a plate of food. He said that they thought it was neat what I was doing and that I should have a good meal. Some of it was grilled pork, and I ate some of it. Most of the reasons I don't eat meat didn't apply because it was already slaughtered and cooked etc, and there was no way I was going to give it back and say no thank you. So I ate some of it, and thanked them. And it was pretty good.

One more thing I found today. A road that goes right into the sky...

First Road Trip Post

Map at:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&dirflg=h&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=108089249157435559216.000451249d5c0e7916efd

I left Saturday morning. Right now I'm at a diner in some little town in NW Kansas that has wifi. So far I'm on schedule, but it's pretty grueling, and I might think twice about trying to make my Mariner's game in Seattle on the 19th. That would probably mean missing the performance at Portland Actors Conservatory on the 17th too... I don't want to miss either one, but it seems like I might have to chose between that and missing everything else in between.

I'll write more tonight if my campsite has electric, and post when I can.

For now, some pics...

No. Seriously?

When I tell people I'm going to Vietnam I get either, "Wow, that's really cool." or "Why?" My answer is that I've been fascinated with Asia for a long time, and I want to visit Vietnam in particular because my Dad was there for the war. (Several of the elderly folks I know seem to think the war is still going on and are concerned about me getting shot, but I try to assure them that I'm much more likely to get shot in Chicago.)

My Dad was in the war for one year. He did a tour on a river boat, and I don't know much else, other than that it affected him deeply. He didn't talk about it much, but he screamed in his sleep. I think the weight of holding all of that inside for so long played a large part in cutting his life short.

In an odd way I think that the war, which was officially over by the time I was 2 played a big role in my life too. I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for by going there. Maybe going there and seeing a country with a quickly growing economy that has rebuilt and moved on will give me some kind of "closure". Kind of like the sense of relief that comes from seeing an old girlfriend with a new boyfriend. But I don't really feel any guilt about the war, even though I know Dad did. Before he died, I told him that I wanted to go there and do some volunteer work, and he really liked the idea of his son going back there to do some good. Maybe I'll learn something about my relationship with my Dad while I'm there. Maybe I won't. Either way, I don't think teaching and helping kids with developmental disabilities will be a waste of my time, and I hope that in some way my work there will be a fitting tribute to my father.

Holy Crap!

I just bought a one-way ticket to Hanoi!


I've been doing research, and getting rid of stuff, and taking classes, and talking to people about this for months, but now it seems real. I've really been looking forward to this for a long time, but now I'm actually really excited.

As I've been doing research, I've come to the conclusion that I would rather find a volunteer position in Vietnam than a regular teaching job. It seems like it would be a better fit for me, and I'm hoping to do some more volunteer work in the future, so why not now?

I found a guy through idealist.org that is connecting me with a volunteer position in a school in or near Hanoi that would take care of my lodging for me. After I booked the flight I could let him know when I'll be arriving so we can get the ball rolling on work papers and that sort of thing. It's a relief to move from just thinking and talking about this trip to actually making it happen.

And on the other hand, it's also a little scary. Mainly because I have no idea what I'm doing. For instance, I have a lay over in Taipei. Where's Taipei? I've gotten pretty comfortable being a competent and confident person, and this whole things just blows all of that out of the water. This is good. I think this is just what I need right now.

Now, I'm going to look up Taipei...