Back In The USA

Canada is a memory now as I sit here in my office out in a campsite in the Olympic National Forest.Yes,I'm back in my tent again and happy to be back in the US.Canada is a wonderful country,the countryside is exceptional as are the people for the most part but the cost of gas and food is sky high compared to here and I was burning up way too much money to hang around.Yesterday morning I headed out at 6AM and headed north a short distance to Horseshoe Bay where I caught the ferry to Vancouver Island then headed south to the city of Victoria where I caught another ferry to Port Angles WA,USA. Customs was a breeze,no searches or any inconvenience at all .They were very friendly actually and were just hanging out talking with people and asking us about our bikes and our travels.There were about 10 people on bikes waiting.It's a much better way to cross the border that sitting in traffic at some border station.Here they check you in Canada before you get on the boat,no wasted time , they do their thing and then when the boat comes in and unloads you just board .On the US side you just pass a booth where they ask you if you have anything like citrus fruits and wave you on.

Last night and today and tonight I'm staying in a campsite in the National Forest.Not a bad place really,a little too much noise at night from stupid people but I just put in the ear phones and turn on my Ipod and they are gone. Boy,that thing has saved me time and time again from the inconsiderate . It's a nice day today here in Washington.

There are hot springs down the road and I think I'm going to go and soak for a while and relax today. Tomorrow I travel and need to get south some.I need to get online too .My clutch cable broke yesterday .I had a spare of course but now I no longer do because I used it so I need to order two more and have them delivered at my friends house in Bend, OR where I will be going next week.Gotta maintain my inventory of spare parts,you never know when these things are going to break and without one or two extras a small problem like this could be a major problem.Yesterday that problem cost me no money and about 45 minutes to fix on the side of the road. It was a minor inconvenience .The bike needs a service though.I need to take a day real soon and change all the fluids,put on new tires,re set the timing,check all the major nuts and bolts for tightness and so on.I'm a third of the way thru this journey now and about half way thru the driving.I've covered six thousand miles this past month. They were the hardest miles that I will be riding on this trip.I won't be doing these rough dirt roads and high mountain long distance riding now.It's going to be coastal roads and under 5000 foot mountains for the most part now as I head down into California.There will be some high elevation riding as I cross the mountains heading east on my way towards home.I plan on going to Idaho and back to Montana heading in a northeast direction up RT12 as I work my way back up to US2. I liked that route so I'm going to take it again on my way east.Should be cooler up there in mid to late September and my bike and I both like that. I want to ride down the west side of Lake Michigan this time and see some people there too .Might even cross back into Canada and ride across Ontairo to Northern NY or Vermont before heading home.! Or,I might ride south east from Ohio into West Virginia and go and take the southern route home.Or, I might do both!!! Well,the sun is coming out and it's after 11 AM so I think I'll shut this off,go register for another night and take a swim in the lake before heading out to find the hot springs.

Now it's a couple hours later,decided to skip the hot springs today.It's a 15 mile dirt road in so that's 30 miles of dirt riding and I don't have a spare clutch cable.I'm relaxing in my campsite instead doing chores.I just treated all my leather with mink oil.Boy, my boots and jacket really get beat up and dried out from the road.The wind and sun really do a number on them so I brought along the mink oil and use it every two weeks to keep things good.Now I'm sitting in the tent reflecting on my time in Canada. Canada was a good place to go.From the very first encounter with that woman in the Mexican cafe where I ate lunch after entering right up to the boat ride out I had a good time.

At the hostel in Castle Mt up in the Rockies I met so many nice people like the guy from Australia who was bicycling thru the Rockies and the Brazilian couple I had dinner with.Then there was the Chinese people from Hong Cong. They were really nice too and spent lots of time talking with me about America and traveling.They were very impressed with how free I was and how I am able to just get on my bike and go wherever I choose.It was alien to them even though they now have similar freedoms.

The Columbia Ice Field was another place that really got me excited.That was just incredible. Walking around in this morain at the very edge of the glacier where creation is taking place.Man that was truly inspiring.Solid rock just crushed by the weight of this ice and pulverized ,being turned into abrasive material to wear down the other rock beneath it.Mind boggling ! And then there are the flowers that colonize the edge of the ice.They grow in broken up rock! It's amazing that anything can grow there yet these plants do and actually do well. The tourist areas were a joke of course.Lake Louise ,I started to go but the traffic jam turned me off and I pulled a uie and Jasper ,oh man what an overpriced money pit that place is but once outside of these places it's incredible.In Jasaper I actually had to pay 20 dollars for a shitty 10 inch pizza! That was the cheapest thing I could find to eat there.But,as always the next day brought a whole different set of circumstances. After leaving Jasper I rode on to this town in the middle of nowhere where I took a motel.This place was terrible.80 bucks and all they had for internet was fucking dial up!No AC,no parking by the room so I had to shlep all my gear up a flight of stairs ,It sucked but I got on enough to email home and that kinda shit.The next day was a different story! As I rode away from the dive of a motel I took the night before I was hungry.There was no food there other than some convenience store shit which I refuse to eat or waste money on so I rode on empty for a few hours.I finally came across this place where I met the two guys that bought me that great lunch.That's when things returned to good again. So,all in all my time in Canada has been a very pleasing time to me with little exception.

What a nice day today is here in the woods.It's 70 degrees and sunny.I probably should have packed up and hit the road but I really need this tent time to recharge my own batteries . Hit the road mid morning today.It was a a sunny day for about a half hour then the fog rolled in and the rest of the day was damp but not wet.I rode down the west side of the Olympic Peninsula and into Oregon.Upon my arrival in Oregon I started looking for a place to spend the night only to find everything full.As I pushed on it was the same story everywhere I stopped.Gave up on a motel and decided to camp.I saw this sign that said camping 14 miles next left and went only to find that state park full like the motels before and turned around.Traveling south and it's starting to get near sundown.I'm worried about hitting a deer as I see another sign,camping 6 miles next right so I follow the signs to this other state park and finally get a campsite. I am home for the night! I get all set up and these people from New Hampshire pull in next to me.What nice people.They are younger with a son about 10 years old and driving around the country looking for a place to start a new life.Sort of like the 1930's but with enough resources to accomplish their goals.Spent most of today hanging with them talking..

Mid day when the drizzle stopped I got on the bike and went into town where I saw a coffee shop with free wifi and got all the info about tires and dealers who sell Avons from the manufacturer .Then I got all the info I needed to order a couple new clutch cables and my friends phone number and address so I can have those shipped to her house.I was able to find two bike shops in her town that sell Avons so Monday morning I am going to call one and order a set of new tires for my bike and find out how long it will take to get them.I don't want to wear out my welcome waiting on parts so I'm not going to her house until I know that stuff is there so I can just visit,do a quick service,and be on my way again.Soon I'll be in Northern California and in the redwoods again! I don't think I'm going to bother going to San Francisco though.I don't know anyone there and like Vancouver and all other cities it's a money pit that I can't afford so I'm going to bypass it and stay out in the country. So,tomorrow I head down the coast some to another place and some new people.A new set of circumstances and a new location.Life on the road really suits me .Sure wish I could live like this long term someday.

Got up to light drizzle and about 50 degrees but as the morning progressed it warmed up some and dried out .There were blue patches in the sky as I rode out of the park towards the highway .It was a slow go at first but as I rode a while I picked up the pace some and moved on down the coast.Found this nice little cafe after about 2 hours and stopped for a second breakfast.It was close to noon now and I was about 60 miles down the coast in blue skies and warmer temps. Rode for a short time after eating and came to a state park on the beach with camping so I went in.There were sites open so I took one and set up camp in a new place.

Took a long walk on the beach after getting set up and found a sand dollar.Ah my first real encounter with the Pacific Ocean on this trip!It was warm in the sun and windy out on this beautiful stretch of beach.There were people strolling along and some surfers , a very beachy scene that I am very accustomed to seeing at home. Tomorrow I am going to do my parts ordering and probably move another 50 miles down the coast to another beach before heading inland towards Bend ,OR. The bike is running good and I'm feeling good .I've really taken a liking to the road.I feel very much at home camping in my tent now surrounded by strangers .I like meeting all these new people and am enjoying this time very much. It's cold now.The sun went down and there is a cold wind off the ocean.Think I'll be needing my thermal underwear tonight for the first time. Yes it was a cold night and a cold morning as well so I packed up and headed on down the coast.The park I was in last night sucked to be honest.The beach was nice but the camp-ground was full of RV's with all families and screaming kids running all over the place.My Ipod got lots of use there. I rode down the coast about 50 miles to a national forest campground tucked away in this valley with a nice ice cold stream and only 15 campsites.It's quiet and secluded with beach access too about 15 miles north of Florence Oregon where I turn inland to go to Bend.

Went into town after setting up camp.Found a nice cafe where they had seafood and bought myself a fine lunch of fish & chips,chowder,and a bottle of Becks non alc beer.Got my cell phone out and tried to call the bike shops in Bend that I got off Avons site with no luck.It seems they are both out of business! After leaving the eatery I spotted a Honda motorcycle dealership so on a whim I went in to see if they could order me the tires I want.He shoots,he scores! They will be here on Wed afternoon so I'm staying in this great campsite in the woods for two nights while I wait .They won't mount them but I don't care,I have tire irons and everything else I need to do the job and want to service the whole bike anyway so I'll tie them on my pack and do it when I get to my friends house in Bend.I love it when things come together. I called MG Cycle in Wisconsin to get two clutch cables and they are sending them second day air so Wed I have both tires and clutch cables and I'm good to go . Went to the supermarket after the bike shop.In the parking lot while tying on stuff and sticking things here and there in the pack some guy comes up to me and tells me how envious he is.He's about my age so I said well why don't you just do it.I hear this a lot.I don't get it,I'm in the bottom 25% of wage earners and I'm out here doing it .I think these guys are afraid to actually let go of their mickey mouse lives and go out in the world and face the unknown.Me on the other hand,I love the unknown.I'm enjoying it on a daily basis and I can say first hand that it's addictive not to mention extremely pleasurable. The roads here are good,not quite as nice as California but nice enough to put a smile on my face on every turn and overlook.Can't wait to turn eastward and see the interior of Oregon some.Well,that will come soon enough so for now the woods by the ocean will just have to do ! It's so hard being free! Yeah right. I like it here.I think I'll stay another night and maybe even mount my new tires here.It's quiet and the parking space is paved so it would be a good place for me to work some.Just returned from a walk on the beach.It's so wonderful camping in these woods just a quarter mile off the ocean.I'm out of the wind and 10 feet from a creek that has a wonderful sound that I listen to all night.It's such a peaceful and relaxing place.Yes, I think I'll stay a third night here for sure! Was talking to this character from Montana before.An old goat like me but in really bad shape.Wants to ride but he can't .I just don't get it with these guys.Loose weight and get the fuck in shape! Really,is it that hard to do?This guy was talking like his life was already in the past,like he was one step away from the grave and he's a year younger than me..To hell with that man! I'm going to keep doing this shit well into my 80's if I live that long.I love it too much to let myself turn to shit and vegetate .So,tomorrow I get my new tires hopefully and then I'm going to service my bike getting ready for the second half of this incredible journey. On my walk at the beach before I met this woman who was telling me how I really need to go to the Tetons and Yellowstone.Guess I can work that in somehow but only after all the crowds have left for home.Mid Sept sounds about right and I guess I can do that and still head up into Idaho and up RT12 thru Missoula .I really liked crossing the northern plains on RT 2 so that's the route I'm going to take east but for now I'm thinking about California.I really love California.Guess I should get serious about moving there.I keep coming back and everytime I do it's harder and harder to leave.It's bikers paradise! Incredible roads all over the place and the scenery is unbelievable.What to do for a living? This is the question I keep asking myself.Could I get a bike shop going and work on vintage bikes,get a small store and open an art gallery,maybe figure out a way to combine the two into a very unique gallery.Where do I get the bread to do it man!Sell my property in the Adirondacks? My 66 Valiant convertible?A couple of bikes?All of the stuff I have?Some of the stuff I have?It's a gamble but I think it's one worth taking.I'm 61 years old now with no heirs and what the fuck,I may as well spend it before the fucking government gets their grimmy mitts on it when I'm dead! Well,it's lunch time out here in this wooded paradise.There is grilled cheese on the menu today cooked on my one burner gasoline powered coleman stove.I have some non alcoholic beers chilling in the stream.Life is good,as a matter of fact,it doesn't get much better than this!

Took a real long walk on the beach after a two hour nap.Oh to relax is wonderful! The beach was pretty cool.There was a fog starting to roll in and cover the mountain tops but there was still plenty of warm sunshine and blue skies.I saw a flock of pelicans fishing and some crows picking apart a crab on the shoreline. It was deserted and strewn with driftwood.My kind of place.Today was a beautiful day of relaxation.A very mellow day in a very nice place.I'm sitting in my tent now letting the fire burn down some as I write this with the last remaining daylight.I lost all three of my flashlights ,well,only two really, the third one the bulb burned out on.Guess tomorrow when I'm in town I should replace them.Such a stressful decision! Do I really need a flashlight?Well,I guess I'll answer that question tomorrow.Time to sit by the fire now and dream about what can be and where I'm going with my life.This three month time out is really helping me clear my head and I'm grateful for it.

An Update (Aug 14 2010)

August 14th, 2010 Update: I haven't been online since Vancouver except to find new tires for my bike.Spent the past 10 days camping and riding down the coast from Port Angles WA to Florence OR and then turned east and inland towards Bend OR where I am now.I have been writing a post but need to go thru it and pick some photos for it so I'm just saying hi for now and showing you some pictures of the lava field I rode thru yesterday on my way here.Things are good with me and my bike.So far I've riden a shade over 7000 miles.I'm at the half way point now and heading to Crator Lake and on to California next week after servicing my bike here at my old friend Robin's house.Today I work on the bike,tomorrow we go river rafting.Life is good out here on the road!

Riding In The Canadian Rockies

The Canadian Rockies ! well,here I am in the Canadian Rockies.It's beautiful!Crossed over on Monday afternoon and then rode up to a place called Crowsnest Pass where I held up in this motel. Todays ride was an incredible journey thru mountains and small towns.I met these people traveling on bikes after I entered the Banff National Park and we hung out talking.Ran into them again later on down the road and they told me of a good place to camp.I looked and found the town and a hostel there so I went for that to get a bed and shower plus some company.Met a nice man from Montreal here.We talked some and then I settled in.Nice place.It's filling up now with mostly young couples but there are a few single guys here too.It's dormitory style with a mens section and a woman's section .I like it.Tomorrow I will be on my way heading up into the park to see all this incredible beauty and find a place to camp before turning west. These mountains are something else.Glaciers and turquoise rivers with nice roads that I can negotiate with no problems at all.It's good to be back in Canada. The hostel is filling up now.someone just took the bunk on top of me.It's nice being around people.Unlike "Cosmic Bob".He's a loner to put it mildly. Actually he has a very dark side.He's a very disturbed individual .He's a survivalist ,which in itself isn't all that bad but when you factor in the 40 years of drug use and abuse with the arsenal he's sitting on and it's a time bomb waiting to explode.He's sitting up there on his mountain with dozens of guns,boxes of ammo and a warped sense of what should be.He's convinced the world is going to come to a very violent end any day now.It's sad to see my old friend in this state.He was always kind of out there but in a good way.He's a creative talented guy .Very sensitive. his politics aren't that of a reactionary but he's convinced himself that the shit is going to hit the fan and he's gonna have to fight the bands of surviving assholes off to protect his little piece of ground so he can get an extra 3 months after the apocalypse. I worry for him.I tried to talk some sense into him but he's not interested in hearing anything but gloom & doom.This is why he's in Montana,you can have all the guns and ammo you want there no one gives a shit about what you do as long as it doesn't spill over on to they're property.The mans mind is fried from living in a psychedelic waste land for 40 years.Maybe I just found the subject for a book! I really do want to learn how to write and then write a book.One sort of based on me but not really.So,I could use my experiences intertwined with his crazy life and come up with a totally off the wall character. A left wing survivalist! A guy willing to go the distance to do battle with the Sarah Palins of the world high on acid shooting from the hip and serious about his twisted mission.That's Bob in a nut shell,a left wing survivalist ,a former follower of Bog Whan.There it is right there,he was so impressionable that his beautiful creative ,very sensitive mind has been poisoned.He backed himself into this bizarre fantasy about the end of the world and now he believes it. It makes me very sad.This is the young man I met walking up the road where my camp is in the Adirondacks all covered in snow 30 some years ago.A young man filled with ideas and creativity.The guy I cut logs with to build a cabin and who taught me how to use a chain saw and hunt grouse .What a shame! No doubt,we'll hear about him on the 6 o'clock news someday but there is nothing anyone can do about it. Yes, "Cosmic Bob" will be the main guy in my book for sure! That's assuming he's wrong in his assessment of reality. I dread to think about "what if he's right" The Rockies are a memory now as I roll across the beautiful mountains of British Columbia towards Vancouver.My time in the Rockies was high quality time for sure and time I will remember always .Yesterday on the road when I stopped for lunch I met this guy.I pulled into this cafe and as I was getting off my bike this other bike pulled up. The guy was a local and started up a conversation with me outside.We talked about bikes and art and the beauty in nature when his friend,a truck driver pulled up. he introduced us and the three of us went into the cafe sat down and had a two hour lunch! These guys were really nice men.They showed me on the map all these cool places to go and we talked of all the places we all have traveled to over the years. They were both the same age as I am and we all had been to many of the same places.It was an incredible lunch as we talked of Nova Scotia,the Yukon,Newfoundland,and other places we'd all been.When it was time to go we pulled out the map again and they made sure I got it right and then refused to let me pay for my lunch! No,you are out guest they said and there was no arguing about it.That is how my weekend started and it has been good ever since. I rode all afternoon after lunch following the route they suggested and the road was incredible.It took me thru these beautiful mountains with all these lakes on this two lane secondary road.I only went thru one semi large town where I gassed up and bought food then found myself going down into this steep gorge .At the bottom was a dam and a hydro electric generating station with a small town and just out of town was this free campsite operated by the power company where I am right now.This place is great! An ice cold crystal clear stream where I bathed upon my arrival and a lake about 10 miles long behind the dam where I went swimming today.Lots of very friendly people in this place too.I was going to head out this morning but this man on a bicycle came along and talked me out of it.He told me all about the area and the gold mining history .How the little towns got their names like 100 mile house.That's the name of the large town where I bought my gas and food.It was a stage coach stop,just a house at the 100 mile mark from vancouver or someplace on the trail to the Klondike up in the yukon way back when or something.My stay here has been very enjoyable and restful .I'm ready to ride again tomorrow and go to Vancouver . There are giant forest fires burning here.The air is heavy with smoke.I have been in this smoke since way back in the upper Rockies.Time to move on now and breath the salt air of the coast. Got an email from my friend Greg who lives in the Vancouver area today when I got on line at the local bakery.He's on his way back west from touring eastern Canada and the US.We both were at Mid Ohio at the beginning of my trip and talked about hooking up out here for some riding.He wants me to hang around until he gets back August 15 so I guess I'm in Canada for awhile! Actually this is a good thing 'cause I can do a major service on my bike at his house.Greg and I both do motorcycle restoration and do stuff for each other long distance so it will be good to actually get to work with the man in the flesh.When I first met him 15 years ago it was on the telephone.He got my name from someone I painted a bike for and was seeking advice about how to reproduce the paint work on a 1965 Yamaha YDS3 so I talked him thru the job.Told him what materials to use and just how to use them and we became very good friends.It turned out that he is one of the most talented and skilled metal workers I've ever known.I sent him parts that are no longer available and he reproduced them! Made jigs so he could duplicate them at will too! Greg is a good friend and I will definitely wait around to spend some time with him even if it means not going somewhere else I had planned later on if I can. It's getting dark now as I sit here at the table in my campsite.Guess it's time to shut this thing down and chill for a while before climbing into my sleeping bag for the night.

So,now I'm in Vancouver. I am having a wonderful time and tomorrow I am heading out on my way down the west coast.Decided I can't wait for Greg to get back.Two weeks is just too long to stay here spending money.I need to keep forward motion.So tomorrow I take the ferry to Vancouver Island from Horseshoe Bay and head south to the ferry to Port Angles WA,USA !