day 33 - reno, nv - marina, ca

(really I just call monterey my home...)

home! I made it! I cannot even believe it. Yesterday, after some hemming and hewing over which shop I should take the bike to, I decided to just try my luck - see if the chain lube would hold my chain until I got over the hill and down the coast. It was over a hundred degress, like the rest of the trip - I'm not sure why I thought it would be cooler... oh well. But, I kept cool yet again by soaking my shirt in water, and keeping a water bottle handy to resoak after the shirt got dry - I hope none of the motorists behind me were complaining, because it really just feels rude when someone decides to fling windshield cleaner inadvertently at you... at least they are shielded in their cars.

I80 - I love this road...

After a few phone calls with dad, we decided on a place to meet up - a cantina just past gilroy. From 80, I took 680... just before SF, 680 meets up with 101 around San Jose, and when it does there is a lot of traffic - but! in California, lane splitting is legal! This made me glad I had already shipped home my saddle bags, because I was able to just zip my way back into moving traffic. Even in second and third gear though, my bike was overheating - agh so many things to worry about with my bike!

Then after a little more traffic in morgan hill, I deviated from dad's directions to get to 152 west to a cantina - I arrived way before dad... which usually happens when he tries to take traffic into account (but I guess lane splitting not into account) - but I was glad he was there. He rode with me over the pass (I was a little buzzed I admit - and again say to myself that I shouldn't do things like that ever again - but I probably will...) and we met up with Al, just for a bit - then Al just went home. All this time, the area has been like a hive for all kinds of motorcycles - but a lovely increase in sport bikes - tasty treats! Haha meanwhile, here's my bike limping along just hoping to hop over into the fog, into Marina. When the cold fog hit my bare arms, I felt relief... I was in a familiar place, I was just a few miles away, not even a discernible distance on the map. And my bike was showing no signs of giving up yet. At each corner and street in Marina, I let out a yell! I'm home!

Through the Golden Hills of CA with Dad leading me home

We pulled into the house, to find a gang of friendly folks that Lee had invited to our house for moto GP weekend, all from Arizona. I called mom to find that she was out shopping for groceries for dinner. Lee had already arrived the night before, and would be back again along with some passes for motoGP weekend! My stuff was all inside my house, the cat was happy to see me. And all will be well again with the bike very soon!

Welcome to the familiar fog of Marina, CA!

I hope you all enjoyed this trip. And I found out that my mom was not worried at all - just as I had suspected : )

I won't be posting anymore probably - except to add more pictures, and another link to the finished timelapsed video.

Be back in Bmore probably in September!

day 29 - 32 - grand juntion, co to salt lake city, ut to reno, nv

I left Grand Junction after talking to the cute barista girl with neat tattoos. Soon after, I got pretty thirsty since it was already at least high 90's if not over 100. I decided to head north through the top of Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and then Utah again. This was a really good choice, not only because of the beautiful roads and canyons, but also because it got cooler after a whiles. But not before I had to stop at a subway and drink 80 ounces of soda... feeling a little light headed... but getting to talk to a gang of bikers from Indiana - some from Bloomington : D

dehydration and pink floyd - priceless

It was a long haul, but I finally made it into Salt Lake area around 8pm, as the sun was setting, and as a racer with numbers 285 passed me, the only one faster than me on I-80... I wonder who it was. Turns out that the Red Bull rallye that Glen is on was coming to the Miller racetrack near Salt Lake the day after I left there. Oh well. I'll see him in Monterey - haha hopefully if I can find him.

I called Tom to let him know that I'm coming to his house - so that was much easier than trying to get hold of Hannah : )
I hung out yesterday with my cousin Zack, watching moto crashes, body builders, and other gory things on google video - i love google video - talk about a new turn of historical documentation even if its somewhat hard to tell the documentaries, from fictive videos - fun times nonetheless. Then I went with Hannah to the post office to send off my camping gear! Don't need it anymore yes! Then we picked up Hannah's little brother, Pete, who was coming in to help finish the tiling in the diningroom. We had dinner at Barbacoa - their other brother, Jesse's very favorite place in the world besides Chipotles. And then I took Zack for a ride in the evening - with LED's - and then I took Pete for a ride to visit their sister, Sarah. So I got as much visiting of family as I could expect from two days.

And then off! The next morning! I've been stopping frequently. I also paid homage to the Bonneville speedway. I must admit that I did adventure off to some salt flats and it made my engine sound funny- plus not very much traction in the soft salt. So I got off and continued to the official beginning of the speedway. Where I was met by a highway patrolwoman and another guy, who were keeping people from interrupting a commercial taping for Honda? I'm pretty certain its not as good as the other one liz showed me... you think they'd have spent their entire budget already.

Look even my sunglasses look faster on the flats - awesome!

When I hit the Pacific Time Zone, I let out a holler! Wooohooo! I can call mom now without doing math : )

After only one scare of police lights, and many miles travelled at a hundred miles per hour, I hit dark just 35 miles from Reno... I was peeling, and tired, and when I got into to town, my motorcycle was making funny chain noises. But my fun and slightly insane family was waiting for me. I got to stay up late with Christina and Stephanie... my two cousins - how did they grow up so fast? and joke around quietly as cute blondie troublemakers, Andrew and Daniel, tried to sleep. They just moved into their new house.

Anyhows, Tom and I looked at the chain... and it sounds intermittently bad... but if things are too complicated... then I think it will last me until Monterey... haha although no cruisin' round downtown monterey with my led's on. Ah well at least, i can probably ride dad's bikes around... we'll see what happens tomorrow! Can't wait to go home!

day 29 - Grand Junction, CO

So last night I decided that I wanted to stay at another motel - since I wasn't going to make it to Salt Lake City last night. I stayed at the Prospector Motel in Grand Junction after finding most motels were full for the night in Delta, the cute little town 30 mi before Grand Junction...

I would not recommend it for those fearful of disreputable looking people - it was a slightly seedy motel. Needless to say, it had no wifi - haha oh well. It did cost 10 less than the last motel I stayed at. Though, since I had to borrow a little more money from my mom this morning... I'm hoping that's the last motel I have to stay at... I'm done with my tent that's too small.

Here is a picture from yesterday! I put some up on the last post too.

Plans for today - get in touch with cousins hopefully! And then head towards salt lake. If I can't get in touch with them I'm not sure what then. But whatever... the day is growing late! And I need to get goin. - Also I just added pictures to my last post - I didn't have enough battery life to get them in.

days 27-28 - Wagoner, OK to Montrose, CO

day 27 - tonkawa, ok to guymon, ok
Ahhh yesterday before I left, a guy came round with some saddle bags that he used to have on his Honda, and he sold those, a tank bag, a third bag that goes on top of the saddle bags, some sweet red foot pegs, some clutch and brake levers, and a few other misc. things for $100. Danny got them for me. Around 4 or 5 I left, and hit Tonkawa as the sun set... and as I decided that I wanted to find a cheap motel to stay at for air conditioning -- I didn't quite feel like riding around at night - and it was too hot to sleep in a tent... let alone the fact that I wasn't really seeing any great places to squat.

The Oklahoma sun - you would hide in a motel too...

Then after laying down $48 to sleep in a cool room... with shower and towels and wifi and all that jazz... I promised myself to get up at 5am. But after one wake up call from the motel office, and one from Danny... which I don't remember hearing at all... I woke up at 10:45 am - getting out of the room 20 min after check out time. Whoops. Then I after getting out of Tonkawa... my gas light came on - 187 mi... usually it comes on at 200 mi or 215 mi... I felt lucky when I found a gas station within range. Today though, it is over 100 degrees outside. So I've been stopping pretty frequently at gas stations. Little did I know I should be filling up about as frequently as I stop... because when I had passed Knowles, OK, my gas light came on again - 165 mi. This might have something to do with going 100 mph pretty consisitently in between gas stations. I've reduced my speed to 80 again... but I'm not taking my chances. Its hard to find gas stations that I have cards for at this point. It may be that even if I want to break my rule of not going to more than one motel this trip... I won't have money for it. Maybe my landlord will send my roommate the deposit to our place soon - and then she can send my parents a check - ah that would lighten my money situation up. However, I have paid my credit cards this month, and should have enough extra money to pay for all the gas I would need to get home... but it would be nice if I didn't have to pay for it until I came home...

People here are nice - as usual - and the moment that I parted from Danny, people started talking to me again. I cut my hair in Wagoner though - and cutting my own hair apparently is a hit and miss kind of thing - this time missed by a mile. So now I have really funny looking bangs... that I have been hiding with bandanas... I'm lucky I'm cute as a button with or without hair. Although every day I have to fight the urge to find the next barber shop and pay the 8-10 bucks to go without hair completely... I liked being bald - kinda miss it - but the boys at moto gp won't talk to me if i do that. Ah well.

day 28 - Kim, CO to Gunnison, CO
After I left Guymon, I saw impending doom clouds, including one lightening bolt! So I bit the bullet and rushed north underneath large dark clouds... but luckily no rain. Then just as I was in the clear from any more doom and gloom, I saw lights flashing behind me. What? What was I doing? Apparently I was going 45 mph in a 30 zone... Well as I dished out my license, registration, and (slightly forged) insurance... I got off with a warning - i with the power of photoshop win again : )

Then after wondering if I could make it to Trinidad, CO by nightfall, I passed by Kim, CO, and decided to just stay there. Kim is actually my dad's name... and its funny cause both he and the town have zero cell phone reception (remembers certain cell phone thru window and stomping incident), but I wanted to call him to ask him if he knew there was a town named Kim in colorado... and then a few other people to let them know where I am - like I've been doing most nights. After briefly surveying the five blocks of town, I decided to stay to the side of a church. I was tired, but not sleepy. Luckily it had cooled off once I had entered the stormy areas of Colorado, but this meant that I was promptly attacked by mosquitos - which I think is probably the least threatening frantic making thing ever. Swat swat swat! Aghhhhh! Swat swat swat!

No police stopped by - but a couple stopped by, I think to drop things off at the church. They didn't come over and ask me any questions, so I figured I was probably ok. For some reason... the fact that I slept in? drank too much caffeine? wasn't really used to the idea of camping again yet? or maybe because I'm just a little bit too tall for my one man $15 junior tent... if only it was half a foot longer... I got pretty much zero sleep last night. I tried up until about 4 am or 4:30... just closing my eyes, getting over the fact that I'm outside of my comfort zone... I've done this four times before by myself -- this shouldn't be a big deal. Oh well - but that means that I'm making my mad dash today with no sleep - maybe an hour - probably not.

morning in Colorado - cold and itchy from mosquito bites

I woke up, and apparently mosquitos woke up too... argh! And then I had to pee so bad. When I've been squatting at churches and places... it never included squatting like that because I have a pretty strong bladder - but apparently not stong enough for the 1-2 gallons of soda and water that I drank yesterday. So this morning was the first time I went pee in the wild... I had to use some sanitary napkins as toilet paper. Oh well... if the market had been open at 6, I would have waited... but they opened at 7:30 and I wanted to be gone. Just as I was finishing, I heard the sound of a door closing... which is really not a sound you want to hear at dawn when you've dropped trou - but nothing came of it. Get stuff in the trash can, get stuff on bike, and escape the mosquitos!

Colorado is so pretty... not like my haircut.

I've followed the Rio Grande for a good portion - amazing and beautiful! I just had no idea. I found it by accident... there were a lot of bikers there, and I'm sure they followed it on purpose - but silly me just saw a good looking road on the map - totally ignoring the fact that the little blue line right next to it is named the rio grande, I had only seen it from way high before... not right next to it like on these roads. There were many storm clouds, but they tend to the peaks and plateaus... not in the valleys, which is fine while the road is in the valleys. At one point I saw clouds every where, and decided to come back to a National Forest Campground... where I lay on a table - ah how comfy - except for the bugs which started bugging me right away. Then I heard thunder and decided it was time to leave.

Ahhh - I have to come back - so pretty - such good roads.

Hmm this cafe is playing a really good cd. Its my kind of chill compilation sounds like, with world and jazzy psychedelic sounds.

The C in Colorado can be for a lot of things... like the C in the morning is for Cold! I forget the other C's I came up with - but they were Clever - haha pun not intended - oh! C is also for Cows. Parts of Colorado are free range, so watch out for the heffers. C is also for Chipmunk. The roads - as predicted - are most excellent. I was first amazed by hwy 12 and then 149... but I also discovered that I don't like how my new saddle bags change the weight of my ride - I will probably ship them home along with all my camping gear as soon as I get to Salt Lake City (because I won't need to camp out anymore!)- and on that note:

I haven't yet heard from my cousins - they might be in Idaho, visiting the rest of their family that still live there. But I think if I hear that they are in town, or that I can stay at their place tonight, I will go tonight. But if I don't hear from them I will probably camp out near Grand Junction. But I checked at a Yamaha dealer (Yami for short - or as endearment - like I have a cute widdle Yami - errr maybe not) to see if my chain was loose - it wasn't! it's perfect and good to go - darn taco bell for stealing that phrase. Ah so far I'm a good little mechanic... well I didn't really do anything. Anyhows onward with full confidence in equipment!

day 26 - Bike Fixed!! - Wagoner, OK

My bike is fixed! The case put back on (no leaking yay!), the oil filter changed, the clutch working, the gears shifting... and now the bike has LEDs, my headphones are fixed, and most everything else is taken off the list of things to do. I'm now putting a new set of mp3s on my mp3 player... and soon will be out of here - with 5 hours of daylight left. Hopefully, I'll clear Oklahoma in that time.

I'm fairly set on a Northern route now... although I haven't confirmed with family up that way, so I may not have places to stay at... Daily posts will come again soon - now that there will be new places and adventures to report! Thanks everyone for the love and support during mech troubles - and thanks most of all to Danny who has proved himself time and again as one of the most helpful people that I know.

day 22 - Wagoner, OK

I finally got a good version of the timelapsed journey to where I'm at now. You can view it here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5644945708845429700 Luckily, a new battery will be sent soon for my new camera, which means a more complete and easier to watch timelapsing of the rest of my journey - hard to think that I'm only halfway there... or already halfway there. It turns out that Danny probably won't be joining me for the rest of my journey, not even to visit his friend in Phoenix... so I will probably alter my route a bit to up north where I've got family. Actually, if I can't fix my bike (like if I misdiagnosed the problem and need different parts than the ones I've got - like Dafan thinks I probably did...) then Danny will actually lend me his bike to go home on - until we can get my bike fixed properly... but the logistics of that haven't quite been figured out, especially since I think I know what is the problem. Oh well find out soon enough - that's for sure.

And check out that farmer's tan.

In the meantime I got to go on a ride on Danny's bike... I mean where I was riding. I went back to the awesome road that leads in to Wagoner and Talequah from Arkansas. I was using the bitch pegs to get up and over on the bike - fun times... I think the other cruisers were a little confused when I passed the other direction standing up on the bike. I miss riding everyday. Yesterday, I snuck into the pool - well not really sneaking since there wasn't anybody to take my money (whopping $2) no lap lanes... so I had to wing it - I think some of the kids were confused, I don't really think that many people exercise around here. But we get to watch the final World Cup game tomorrow - good that Germany beat Portugal today - haha something for their crowd to celebrate - wouldn't want a bunch of sore Germans hanging around Berlin during the crazy intense final game... although my german friends seem to have taken the loss in stride. Na ja. : )

day 20 - Wagoner, OK - still broke down

Ahhh - I ordered parts for the bike yesterday. It looks like the push rod broke cleanly in the clutch assembly (my chain was loose again) - they should arrive in a week. In the meantime, I've purchased some really big fireworks to take back to "Safe n Sane Firework Land" - Marina, CA. I didn't fire off any of the mortars I got... but I saw similar ones in the neighborhood and at Danny's dad's house - they're huge! I've been trying to do a few things everyday - besides lay around the house - but it's not really working. The hammock that Danny has is so nice - last night we saw a bright and fast satellite, I thought it might be the Space Shuttle... but it wasn't - we checked on the internet.

I'm drivin' a truck - it's a good way to fit in.

I looked ahead at the roads in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona - very exciting!! I will have to come back in the Fall or Winter. But not this Fall... I already have too many places to visit this Fall - and I just missed the $8 fare sale from Spirit Airlines - I was gonna try to fly from San Francisco to Detroit for $8 and then from there to Washington for $8 - then back. Detroit is not completely random since I was gonna visit Ellen when or after she moves to Oberlin.

This trip was the best thing I could have chosen to do after graduating. Especially since it is one of my goals to build my own RV and live in it after moving out of my mom's. I just saw a pretty good U-Haul truck for sale for $5500 yesterday in a parking lot. I practically jumped up and down - used campers (with no truck) usually cost 20,000, but building my RV will cost less than that - and even if it does, that would already include the truck part not just the camper part. And after camping on the first part of the trip, I feel like I'm ready to live in an RV, that I could comfortably live in one.

Anyhows to beat the heat Danny and I have been hiding out in his bedroom with the air conditioning on - and one day we went for a double feature at the movies - that wasn't really supposed to be a double feature. I hope we do that again before I leave. I've been eating lots of ice cream :D and playing chip's challenge - ahh such good times. I'm anxious to get back on the road but until then I'm content with dreaming about my future RV on the hammock.

Day 14 and Day 15 - Wagoner, OK to Pocahontas, AR to Wagoner, OK

So (day before the day before yesterday) after some fretting about the quality of roads in Missouri, we finally hit some more wavy roads passed the suburbs of St. Louis. There was a truck after a while that was going rediculously slow (with some 15 cars trailing behind) - the road lines were being dumb but I waited to pass, but getting impatient and seeing this tasty wide stretch of pavement on the side of the road, I passed on the right side. Danny told me later he had decided I had lost my mind - but followed me the first time I did it - then a van honked at me - I hesitated like usual and pulled back in line. Then I did again - ah the pavement was running out! gravel was approaching! I pulled through a patch of gravel back in line again. Danny caught up with me eventually and we passed the truck together through a double yellow line - ahh open road.

Our goal was to make it to Arkansas before nightfall, and so we stopped at Doniphan, glad to find a Days Inn, as places to stay on Hwy 21 are sparse. I swam in the pool and dragged Danny to McDonalds for ice cream - ah my childhood dreams fulfilled.

Welcome to Arkansas.

Bright and earlyish we got up to set out from Doniphan. I was excited to see more good roads! We hit the border and got dropped into Pocahontas - we couldn't find the route we were looking for - 62 - but we did find hwy 90, which proved to be a really neat road - one i could let pretty loose on - of course whenever I do that I have to slow down on the straight stretches to wait for Danny - I don't mind it though, he's really fun to ride with. Then heading downhill, I heard a strange noise almost like my bike had popped into gear... and I thought - hey that sounded like how it did when my bike broke down in february.... oh shit - I checked my clutch - god sometimes I hate it when I'm right - so now my bike is broke down by a market in between Pocahontas and Imboden. Danny and I doubled up on his bike (I hate riding bitch) and rode the three hundred miles to Wagoner yesterday. I got stung by a bee - again.

Danny is the best ex-boyfriend ever.

The roads in Arkansas are every bit as wonderful as they looked on the map! I mean it was so great to see them, but I won't be able ride them on this trip on my own bike. The scenery is gorgeous, and as everywhere else, the people are nice. I had always been hesitant to visit Arkansas, by myself at least, having heard numerous stories from when my parents lived here. But breaking down made me face my fears about Arkansas, and reallize they were completely unfounded. I just wish I could go canoeing on the big lakes and small creeks.

After driving the three hundred miles back to the bike - in hundred degree weather - we stopped for a sandwich and drove it again straight to Danny's house. We plugged in my mom's mp3 player into the truck stereo, as long as the batteries would hold out. Overall we enjoy travelling together, but it would be way better if we only had to see the roads of Arkansas once and not three times :)

101 degrees...

It occured to me that when I met up with Danny, that people would perhaps stop being so bewildered or perhaps friendly. After all, girls don't learn how to ride motorcycles without the encouragement of their boyfriends, or plan cross country trips by themselves... obviously I'm just along for the ride. Then it occured to me as we were loading up my bike into the truck that people were going to think I was towing it home because I crashed it. I told this to Danny and he said "If it makes you feel any better, they'll probably think I crashed it." But after riding bitch - which is not only uncomfortable and slightly nerve racking but also a loss of status in the moto community - that really didn't make me feel any better at all.

Ah well - the bike is here in Wagoner, I've got a few days before any bike shops open up, so I've got time to try to open up the bike and see what parts I need to order.

Day 13 - Danville, IL to St. Louis, MO

Yesterday, we went to the one cafe and saw the strange brick mural of all the famous people from Danville, IL. The downtown area reminds me a little bit of Salinas. Then as we left the post office, we got stopped by traffic lights before a small storm broke over the town. Last night we watched Fear of Clowns - a fine indie film from Baltimore (probably MICA) about a painter who is tormented by clowns... and by fine indie film - I mean really crappy - how did it get distribution??

Danny's mom's house is really run down, the kind that you think would be great to live in when you're a young naive person who romanticizes the character of the house. Unfortunately the mess inside disproved any optimism I had about such a lifestyle. (I asked Danny if it was alright to divulge this in my public blog). The folks inside are nice enough, they seemed interested that I was comfortable, but nobody really took any initiative to keep up the house. They had a crate for trash, because the trashcan was placed outside when it needed taking out, two puppies were kept in the kitchen, which smelled like a health hazard, and when they got out sometimes they liked to pee on the beds we were sleeping on. This morning I stepped on some poo - and had to wipe it off with kleenex that we were using instead of toilet paper - because no one thought to buy anymore after they had run out. It was a new mark of adventure for the trip. It was nice to meet Danny's family. Danny's nephew is 17 months old and such a cutie! He would always smile at me when I came into the room. After we went to a pizza buffet (my first time to one) yesterday, Bill, Danny's stepdad, took us to some good motorcycle roads.

Illinois to Missouri... and hopefully to great roads.

But today we left - early morning - a little eager to get out of the dirty house... and we headed out for country roads of Illinois. This meant a few fun turns... but really like 3 in thirty miles. Mostly, I kicked in the throttle every once in a while... and had fun passing on the two-lane highways we were going on. We saw signs proclaiming things like "Gays: 300" and "Witt: 1200" for populations of small towns. So many mills. Now we just passed through St. Louis, I saw the arch from a distance for just a moment... but I'm eager to get on to the good roads.

Day 12 - Danville, IL

Yesterday I decided to jump the gun, and skidaddle to Danville, IL. I got here just as a thunderstorm and a bugstorm was hitting the area. I found myself in the same kind of neighborhood as Hampden... white trash, yelling at the kids, kids yelling at the dogs, crap jobs, front porches and soda. Sooo right at home right? :)

Not so many twisties as wavy roads in Indiana... great for cruisers.

Today I finally got hold of the paypal funds for some kevlar i sold on ebay before taking off, so yay more money. I will probably have more to right later. But so far its been a fun moto friendly stay - complete opposite of where I just was.

Day 11 - T.C. Steele Park

The group here has been a nebulous one - with many folks coming and going. After I came back from town yesterday, I found a new bunch of folks had come into the camp. They were quite impressed with my entrance on such a cool yamaha (haha I laugh when I hear how badass my bike is... duct tape and all). Most of them were from Fishers, IN, and had grown up with Rachel, who was hosting us. After the lady running the ropes course left, everyone sat down for a bowl. When a dark cloud approached, I covered up my bike, and watched the fireflies light up the early evening sky in the few moments before buckets of rain and soft thunder enveloped the area.

My bike on the formidible opponent: the gravel road.

At one point it started to hail - that was neat, I was glad my bike was covered. When it got dark, folks started drinking. There's a nice open fireplace, that people were hanging out, and one girl was passed out by. I started flirting with Stephan, a really cute half Greek half Columbian. Liz didn't think it was so nice though that we decided to retreat to the cabin I was sharing with her... ah well new boyfriends - how would this ride be complete without at least one new lover? Stephan had to leave today with his friend Jeff, but we promised eachother to maybe visit someday. I was able to take him on a ride around the road that goes between bloomington and nashville, I think he was pretty nervous, especially on the gravel road (I'm getting pretty good at going on it), but like most people I've taken, I think he liked it a lot.

Stephan - so much cuter in real life than in $14 camera pixels.

Then after he left and some others left, we've whittled the group down to about ten folks who are staying until tomorrow. Most were taking a nap, when Amanda put on the white album by the beatles, which reminded me of summers our apartment driveway in Carmel Valley, where you could usually see the neighbors working on their cars. I had just been thinking about doing all those things that I wanted to do in Chicago to my bike... and I took it as a sign. I started with the idle, which I had found just before it started raining yesterday (thank you guy on YZF600R message board for the service manual) and adjusted it so i could start the bike easily, and it didn't die. Ah so easy, good thing to start with to boost confidence. Then I decided to see if I couldn't fill up the oil to the correct level because it's not leaking oil, and I know that I put in just about enough oil between when I changed the oil, and added some earlier on this trip. Ah well... still couldn't see it in the oil sight... but I'm sure it's fine... for now. And then! I got liz to help me bleed my brakes, which involved scraping a knuckle and smashing a thumb - man I miss my wrenches in CA. But the brakes are better now.

Southern Indiana is beautiful. The motorcyclists in Indiana don't wave nearly as much as other states. On the way I've seen a lot of fat people. I heard that Indiana is one of the most obese states in the US, but I don't remember that from my Public Health studies. I'm looking forward to meeting up with Danny tomorrow. I love this crowd, but am tired of the drumming. Right now all the folks are doing some psychedelics, and I'm going to go back and watch them tripping. At the moment, I feel disconnected enough, and I'd like to preserve my brain cells at least until I start motorcycle racing (haha - I mean I'm not thinking about racing - until I get faster... thank you Dafan)

Ah there seems to be drama here at Panera, poor food preparing people. Tomorrow morning for Illinois - and Central time zone - for the third time this trip.

Chicago to T.C. Steele Park, Indiana

Yesterday, after pushing aside packing until the last minute, and managing to squeeze my clothes through the two machines that serve Sarah's entire apartment building (one dryer is rumored to not work sometimes), I hastily settled down for another world cup game instead of leaving. Man! If you lit a match in the stadium at the Portugal vs. Netherlands (Die Niederlande!) the entire thing would explode - the players started fighting - the ref was pulling cards out left and right - ah fussball - but after they avoided the overtime scenario - hey there's that phrase again - (portugal won), I left Chicago around 3pm. My backpacks fell off the bike just after the skyway, and again down near rennselaer. Ahhh but third time packing, and they would not fall off again. Good! I've retained my ultimate moto packing skills!

Then I set for Danville, Indiana, thinking that I would have dinner with Danny and his mom, that he was visiting, before heading down to Bloomington for the commune. Little did I know that all the times that Danny said that his mom lived in Danville, not terribly far from the commune... north...near Indiana.... that he meant Danville, IL and not Danville, IN. Ah well it is too laugh. heh...heh... But all was not lost since Danville, IN actually has some excellent roads. The sun set, and I found myself in some creepy fog. I ate at Arby's - and regretted it as per usual. Felt safer once I got to Bloomington, but not for long, as I had to go up the T.C. Steele dark, secluded road, that lead to the mile long gravel steep driveway (remembers mom saying "We can't go to the MIRA observatory on bikes, the last 2 miles is gravel!) Ah well, luckily the 10 miles at Shenandoah that was gravel vamped up my confidence for such roads. And I made it, white knuckles and all :)

Gravel roads and fallen trees on telephone lines - the great Indiana Wild

It's really good to see Liz and all the folks. Btw, hippy commune in this case = friends who are getting together at a really neat cabin area at a State Park for 4 days of frolicking... which can include - cough - many illicit activities. Although after being dehydrated (I've been on a caffeine binge unintentionally for the last week) and drinking 4 beers last night (I learnt at Hopkins that that is technically binge drinking for a girl, 5 for a guy) and doing some toking... I woke up this morning with a majorly upset stomach, and it occured to me, maybe I don't want to be a hippy anymore ;)

Should be exploring the roads a little this morning - the trees are beautiful - the weather is mild. All is well on the trip :)

Day 8 - Chicago - leaving tomorrow

I made a few things while here in Chicago - yay OCD!
The first is a fun flash map of my route so far (detailed and animated yay!): https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/ecohan1/public_html/crosscountry.swf?uniq=-67bbls
or if that doesn't work:
https://jshare.johnshopkins.edu/ecohan1/public_html/crosscountry.html
Then there is the timelapsing so far of my trip - but google video is being lazy.

Yesterday I gave Sarah a ride on the bike, and we went down the bad parts of town. University of Chicago students are exactly like Hopkins students - in their own bubble - only going to trendy downtown parts of the city - never straying far from home. It was neat to take Sarah around here because none of her friends would go exploring around southside with her. We got to see some really neat architecture. Passed by a smashed car lot, and some interesting mills. The road we took goes underneath the Chicago Skyway, which is an impressive bridge leading into the city. Then once we reallized we hit Indiana, we bought some fireworks - ooh bottle rockets :D

The Comcast guy from Southside says he won't tell anyone about the fireworks.

Today the comcast guy came and installed internet - he has nine kids ranging from 27 years old to 7 months. He didn't tell us how many mommies. He asked me if I date black guys... I really like how if I answer that question yes, then that means I want to go out with him... and answering no means that I'm racist. Ah silly boys - well really - silly 50 year old men.

Then we watched Argentina go into an overtime scenario - thanks sports announcer - beating Mexico, putting them against Germany in the next round - because Germany beat Sweden - thanks again sports announcer. (They got a little redundant after while - like sports robots). 1/8th of me was voting for my 1/8th mother country - Mexico. The other 7/8ths were putting together the animated map in Flash - ah that's about as much enthusiam as I can muster for the world cup. If only the world cared so much about the moto gp.

Tomorrow I'm leaving - can't believe it! Hopefully I'll do my laundry tonight...

Day 7 - Chicago

Ahhh laziness... sleeping in to the ripe hour of 9:30... munching on snack foods that would not fit well into my backpacks but are readily available in my sisters semi-stocked kitchen. This is the stuff that prevents anything really interesting from happening that I can write about - a good rest from the trek.

But the other two videos are posted on google video!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=745374138030406691
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5454609999792100833

Although yesterday, I did ride on Lakeshore Dr, during a gorgeous sunset... which i took pictures of, but they somehow got deleted. And was met up with a guy on a GSXR 750. He said "Gettin kind of crazy huh?" I was riding a little obnoxiously... but safely - and I said "Yeh." And he said "Be careful out there." (He wasn't even wearing a helmet) Ok... dumbass.

: )
But today I will rebleed my brakes, and try to see if I can't adjust my idle. Oh and check out to see what kind of turn signals i can stick on my fairingless bike :D ah creativity at its most badass.

Day 6 - Chicago!

Day 6
Ahhh I made it to Chicago last night. Not before losing the other fairing though :D
When I left Bloomington, I had just passed a trailer, and ready to hit the gas to make use of the 1.5 hours of daylight left on the hwy 231 - which would go due north to meet up with I-65. And an on coming police SUV decided to give me a warning flash of its lights -- ahhhh paranoia sets in. So when I see signs for I-70 (freeways have better lights and faster speed limits), I decide to take it east to Indianapolis. Indiana smells like cows and cat food. Around the city, I thought I saw lightning to my left... north... where I'm supposed to be going. This and not knowing exactly where the highway meets up with this one makes me a little nervous. I hit a really rough spot in the road... and I think that's where my other fairing kind of came off. But the top screws were still on... so the fairing was dangling right in the shifter sort of area. I pulled over to a really good spot on the freeway - wide area, well lit - then I unpacked all of my stuff to get at my toolkit, for a simple screwdriver - at least i had it :D (remembers ed's warning back in baltimore). Now each state definitely has something left behind so far - what will I leave in illinois?

Somewhere on this road, is where the pigs gave me a light show.

The ride last night was long, hard on my buns, and boring. I was pretty relieved to get to chicago. I slept in this morning, took a long anticipated bath, and have been playing on the computer all morning. I called sony which has taken over the servicing of minolta cameras... which might be why batteries are back ordered for two months and cost 80 dollars... and then decided to check out ebay - 8 bucks got one hopefully it will get here before I leave.

I want to ride around the city - or at least lake shore dr. It'll be nice to ride without any crap on my back. The last two videos have finished uploading to google, and they should be live shortly. Badass badass. Now I'm listening to drum n bass on bassdrive.com internet radio - fun times! The goal I think though in Chicago, is to not spend all of my money :D

Day 5 - Beattyville, KY to Bloomington, IN

First of all! The first video of three badass ones from Shenandoah is now live on google video: click here.

Last night, I got all the way to Beattyville, KY before making camp, underneath the picnic area of a senior center. I didn't get that much sleep since I was worried a little about snakes : ) And all night a muscle car was racing back and forth on the highway - by itself - like a dork - haha i mean badass - yeeeeah. And actually at 1 am, I had a hypnogogic hallucination of a man's shadow on my tent... I shrieked (actually it was a lot like how I shrieked when I crashed at Summit Point - like just a little shriek) jumped out and saw of course nothing. But when I got out, I did see a real firefly show... now that was spectacular. Before that, I thought anything was a firefly show. Haha - not anymore... of course, after this trip, I'm not going to see fireflies again for a very long time :(

Then at 7, I woke up just as a the van for the senior center pulled in, I think the driver wasn't quite sure what to make of my tent. Later another lady came, they were friendly and let me use the bathroom and offered me scrambled eggs and coffee. I was eager to go, the fog was pretty, and there were more excellent roads to be had. And what a great morning run! Ahhh - the middle of Kentucky is a lot like the Santa Cruz mountains, or Yosemite. Then the western part of Kentucky is more like the west part of Carmel Valley Rd. (before the village) or like the areas outside of Baltimore County. There were a few moments of traffic... but nothing horrible.

No more bees - and look at her badass rectangular sunglasses.

I stopped at a Walmart and decided to buy the dreaded $14 Phillips digital camera... and see if it is as horrible as the reviews... I got it to work fine though - so already it is better than the reviews (I don't think its target market includes folks with digi. photography skillz - hence the moronic reviews) At Chevron, I almost forgot to pay for my gas. And also I got a massive sunburn on my arms today. Ahh the lowpoints of the day hehe.

If you see speed advisory signs in Kentucky, do not follow them. I mean, not like you're going to anyways. But usually people put up 25 mph signs for similar turns... whereas in KY they put the signs up almost randomly... so ignore them completely.

Then I wasn't sure if Indiana was going to offer me anything excellent in the way of roads. But the roads around the Hoosier National Forest are just as good as the roads that I've gone on so far, well worth the lost moments and interesting routing to get there. I hope that I get to explore them a little more when I meet up with Danny and we come back down to Oklahoma.

The last bit of road of Kentucky

Now I'm in Bloomington, IN - very near the hippy commune that I'll be at starting on Sunday. My ass is soooooore. I hear there's a storm up in Chicago. I got rained on a bit earlier, but nothing horrible. I think I should be able to make it to Chicago tonight. If not... I'm sure there's some church that I can stay at ;)

Hurricane, WV to Jackson, KY

Day 3 part 2
After getting stuck in Charleston... the pool was closed, got lost finding a walmart, and being paranoid about my packing skills... i finally headed out on rte. 60. I stopped at a chevron to start with, and got a little forgetful (first I parked in the full service lane, then I forgot to pay, then I forgot my helmet and sunglasses) - I blame it on the helmet mostly, but the attendant was distracting me with all sorts of questions, and all i wanted to do was get back on the road. After reallizing my gloves were not on my hands anymore, I backtracked... to find the station closed... then it occurs to me that the guy honking at me while getting back to the station might have been the attendant,.. and not a nervous driver. So I figure either I'll call or backtrack the next day. Just a few miles further the clouds ahead sharply turned into black - so I flipped a U and hightailed it back to Hurricane, WV where I left the gloves. I knew of just the perfect school with a large accessible hallway... less than a mile from where I lost my gloves. The storm (for those in CA - it was large and severe like most summer storms on the east coast - the kind that you don't want to get stuck in on your motorcycle... or just in your tent really either) has passed, and no sherriffs yet, so I'm probably ok - and there goes a firecracker... hmm...
No wifi though - unlike back in Virginia... hopefully tomorrow I can go to the swimming pool (and get cleen)... haha at least I brushed my teeth at walmart.

Day 4
Here's a fun game for you: the object of the game is to get across Kentucky without getting wet. You get a sport bike, a semi-decent map, and some money. Sound like fun? Watch out for turtles!

I played that game all day. No sherriffs stopped by my tent at the middle school, so when I woke up at 6:30 and heard thunder in outside, I decided that I didn't really have to get up yet. Stopped at Chevron to see if they had my gloves, nope, so I went to the Dollar General (they are all over the place) to get some snazzy sunglasses... usually I like to get girly ones - but all their girly ones were dumb... and actually they didn't look that girly they just looked like eurotrash - so I got some badass rectangle ones.

After getting into Huntington, which smells like a trash can, I tried out 23 - which was more like a freeway - and explored some roads that weren't on my map - and ended up on rte. 32 which was a fantastic road.

If you see a rock in the middle of the road in kentucky then its actually a turtle - I saw 5 so far today. After I saw the first three, I saw a caravan escorting a humongous tractor that took up both lanes... with tires to match - I hope the turtles survived! Then I got stung by a bee next to my left eye - it hurt real bad. Oh yeah and earlier in the day one headphone died and also the battery in my camera flew off... hmm i guess i need some duct tape on the latch... whenever I get a new battery - I couldn't find one.

Somewhere on this road, I lost my camera battery...

What with the rain, some lostness, and getting stung, I've been stopping pretty frequently, usually at markets. I've noticed some things about the markets around here. Usually they are markets with some other kind of store, like hardware or gardening supplies. Then they also serve up breakfast sandwiches and other stuff on a grill. The people (its a main hangout for some of the locals) there are really nice, but they say to watch out for everyone else. Two ladies gave me a markets address near West Liberty so that I can send them a postcard when I get home to let them know that I'm safe.

By the way racing back and forth to avoid the rain is most fun on a sport bike - because you feel like there this small sense of urgency - some cause for your speeding. Sorry officer, don't stop me cause I can't get my stuff wet!

And now after stopping in Jackson, KY at a chinese buffet - with some interesting midwest selections - and wifi nearby, I can get my bearings on this storm and stuff. I'm still having a lot of fun riding. Wondering yet again where I'll stay tonight :D Hoping tomorrow night I'll make it to chicago - i think so.

Day 3 - Charleston, WV

Last night I stopped in Warm Springs, VA to make camp. After scoping out the area for churches... I stopped at place the was posing as a steakhouse, really it was like a german fancy dinner place that also had steak. I was undaunted by the fanciness... but the owner (I think she was the owner, she had a german accent) seemed unconvinced that I know which forks to use. Nevertheless they had the best burger that I've had... I think they put some really good spices in the meat... or maybe garlic. Then next door I saw that there was a school with a big field! and a service lane running behind it. Little did I know that the service lane was actually a thru-road to get to the rest of the houses that I couldn't really see on the mountain, and before long I got a visit from the sherriff, who was very nice and told me that people wake up at around 6, and I should be getting going around then. After 8 hours sleep, I woke up at 6:30, and headed out.

Morning through Virginia mountains.

I met some local riders down at the market, where I picked up a breakfast sandwich. One of them had a CX500! and had ridden it to CA in 82. I told him I like that bike a lot (I learned how to ride on my dad's CX500) because it sits like a chair giving a comfy ride while still allowing for easy turning... ahhhh motorcycles.

The roads here are most excellent. It's too bad my legs are so sore from riding yesterday (notice I said legs not butt - yesterday felt like a trackday) They continued being excellent until I passed by a mill (which you could feel the heat from its furnace all the way from the road). A lot of trucks were going to the mill with gravel or something - not sure - and I squinted for a moment because of windshear and dust, and then bam! some kind of animal hit my leg. I was fine and pressed on... but now that I've stopped here, I've noticed that my right fairing is gone - but if you've seen the shape that fairing is in... you'd know that I'm not terribly worried about it, although I do feel like my bike is losing badly at a game of strip poker :D

Some light rain. A stop for some tree trimming which was neat to watch. A trip to the laundromat. A tire pressure check. And then after packing up from doing laundry, buckets of rain! I stopped for a bit, but decided to press for Charleston, WV (for cell coverage and wifi). The people here are really nice, and all have drawls in their accents - its a little hard for me to understand them sometimes.

Anyhows, time to skidaddle, and maybe find a pool at a gym. I hope to get to kentucky by the time I leave... but we'll see.

GeoTag - Taylor Books and Coffee - Charleston, VA
+38° 21' 1.12", -81° 38' 2.95"

Days 1 and 2 - Charlestown, WV and Shenandoah Nat. Park

Day 1 - Baltimore, MD to Charlestown, WV
The day started with a mild hangover, still in Baltimore at a cute girls house, rounding up my period of vagrancy (thank you David, Lisa, Vi, Deborah, Vi, DMC, and Lauren). After trying very hard to sleep in (I was pretty anxious about the trip) I headed out on 83, passing campus to get gas and a coke... I was taking it easy cause I was tired... and bam! I got a ticket for doing 70 in a 55 zone (thank you Officer Thomas) - luckily I had my registration on me - and they told me that MD tickets don't reciprocate to CA... good maybe I won't pay it? I thought that was some odd information for police to share with me... they were pretty cute too actually
Then after some general trying not to panick... or fall asleep... and wondering when I would finally be ready for the road, I got out around 4 pm, after finding out that I wouldn't be getting any turn signals from Dafan (thanks Dafan and Nate anyways)

Sneaky Emily - speeding and squatting at churches.

Man I was so tired though - so I wasn't really sure where I'd end up... I headed for Shenandoah National Park via Charlestown, WV - which is a town that I know pretty well since its right next to summit point.
I even tried to stay at Summit Point - but it would cost 25 bucks cause its a race weekend. I've actually set up camp at a lutheran church... service tomorrow at 7 - so this will be a quick sleep for me. But there's a firefly show going on outside my tent, which is smelling interesting already - I hope I shower sometime before I get to Chicago.

Here is my setup behind the church.

Actually, I thought about returning to town for a bite to eat after setting up behind the church... because I've only had a powerbar all day - and I'm pretty thirsty too - but no, nervousness has kept me.

Mmm I hear a motorcycle! : D
and I've found a non-country station on the radio -- ooh barraccuda!
Anyhows time to turn off the laptop...
Tomorrow through shenandoah!

Day 2 - Charlestown, WV to Charlottesville, VA to ?
I woke up at 5:30 - having no idea when service would start, and thinking that it might be at 7. It's not by the way, I could have probably slept in a few more hours. After baking in my tent all night, I was so relieved to put on my cold, damp jeans - something that I've never been glad for ever before. There was a small array of bugs on my tent, including what I think was either a humongous tick or a ladybug - I somehow repacked all my stuff, and headed to mcdonalds - mmm breakfast (should a yogurt parfait be sweeter than the powerade?)
i left there at around 8... and headed down to shenandoah on 340. At one point I passed by Dinosaur land - that looked like a remnant of... rte. 66 - it was so early it was closed
then I had to run through a red light cause it wasn't turning green

My bike is scarrier than the dino...

When i got to the park, the very nice park ranger lady told me that there was gravel on miles 22-31 and maybe at mile 43 - it was like going to a ski or theme park - with a ticketperson telling you which lifts are down for the morning - ahhhh - my kind of theme park has gravel warnings.

Shenandoah (Skyline Dr.) is 100 miles of lovely turns, intermingled with crazy wildlife and no stop signs, lots of opportunities to pass, and cruiser/touring bikes everywhere. Its the sexiest bit of road that I've been on since leaving California last summer. Actually - its the sexiest bit of road ever - If I feel like I need to be near my new East Coast family... then I will probably move in between Summit Point and Shenandoah - oh man! oh man!

It's like the Los Laureles Grade only 100 mi. instead of 7 mi.

After a few miles getting used to the road, and the view - oh my god! - I started to pick up the pace. First I saw a bear right in the other lane... a huge bear!! It scrambled back into the mountain. I saw a bajillion deer - the d in deer is for dumb - I didn't slow down enough for one and nicked its foot as it changed direction right into my path - hopefully it didn't hurt the deer at all... then I saw some mice and a beaver - I think

My favorite songs for the park were a french song vi gave me, an ennio morricone song that they use in Kill Bill 2 when pounding the bride into her grave (that was excellent for the gravel portion of the road), and a spanish song that they play at the end of Kill Bill 2 when she and BB are driving away. Hmmm... I've never before been so limited in my mp3 selection - stupid fried harddrive - all you readers should email me one mp3 each of a song you think I should have while on the road (teknokruncher@gmail.com)

I was going 60 through most of the park... probably much to the chagrin of all the harleys and goldwings out there. Actually one goldwing was holding up the garbage truck... the G in goldwing is for Go learn how to RIDE your bike. I met some nice fellows from Pittsburgh and some other ones from Quebec - their accents were excellent - so far everyone has been pretty wide eyed to see me and my bike and then hear my plans... ah confounding the world again - most excellent. I wasn't passed by anyone else - so that would make me the fastest bike in the park - yeehaw!
By the way, I predict that I will get one more ticket before I'm done -- just with how today has gone so far... I'm sure my mom doesn't want to read that...

Plans for today - to head west through VA back in WV - not sure where. I plan on staying at churches for most of the way, simply because they're everywhere and they have nice backyards that are generally hidden from plain view, and I won't have to worry about too many people except Wed. and Sun. mornings... plus who in a church is going to say - hey you - we're going to call the sherriff... ah but then I will get arrested/ticketed for vagrancy - just like pancho barnes! haha maybe not... cough... sorry mom : )

Check back some truly badass film footage that I took while in the park.

Geotag - Panera at Charlottesville, VA
38.051739
-78.500535

Baltimore, MD - T minus 7days

Well gang, here it is - the blog for the big trip.


Figure 1.1 - Map of Emily's Proposed Route

Proposed Itinerary... so far:
Here through WV and KY... then probably up to sister sarah's in Chicago, IL for a few days. - hippy commune near Bloomington, IN - ex boyfriend in Wagoner, OK - the Crater! near Flagstaff, AZ - then maybe to Phoenix, AZ - then some random route crossing into CA - home at Monterey, CA in time for the MOTO GP! woot! woot!

In the mean time, I've moved all my stuff to CA, via airplane, and having finished up at my house, I'm now a vagrant! Or sort of - luckily I have some amazing friends who've set me up while I finish projects on campus - making a few extra dollars before the trip.

With limited monies, I've come up with a few nifty things that I'm going to take with me on my trip:
Personal tent - which i've had practice using at the racetrack already - $15
Flexible tripod (for mounting a camera that will time lapse the journey) - $5
Clear document pouch - with magnets glued on - for holding my maps (no I don't have enough money for a tank bag) - $5

The experience should be most exciting - and I've decided the motto for the trip will most definitely be that "It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission."

About the bike: Since crashing last month on the track, it's suffered umm cosmetic damage - so it's not going to turn so many heads at the moment... but nothings going to fall off it... and it has a new brake reservoir - which means that i have brakes again - yay! And so... the trip is a go!