Monday 12th October -last day in the USA

Posted on October 13, 2015 by helenkelly

So tomorrow we cross into Mexico. It has been a little stressful recently as there has been a degree of uncertainty about whether we will be able to leave the USA before our visas expire. The shock absorber we had been waiting for arrived at the suppliers only today (two days before visa expiry). It has taken Dave all day to get it on but it is now done and the bike is ready for the next leg of the trip.

We were also surprised by a public holiday today-Columbus Day. This could have been a problem as we need to post our camping equipment to a friend in California who will look after it, as we are not taking it to Mexico. We will now go to the post office in the morning before we set off to the border. So we are nearly ready to go.

This is the map of our full route around the USA over the last 89 days.

It has been a spectacular success. We have ridden over 9,000 miles. 22 states. Many campsites, quite a few motels and a few Airbnbs. Through lots of mountains, plains, spectacular coasts and a few cities. The places that stand out for me are still Graceland (!), camping at 10,000 feet in Colorado, crossing the empty plains of Wyoming, riding along the central Californian coast around Big Sur and our two fun days in Hollywood. I guess the things I have chosen as my highlights are those that surpassed my expectations.

Worthy of honourable mentions are also Tulsa for its great Art Deco buildings which was totally unexpected and the magnificent setting of Seattle.

If I could only come back to one state it would definitely be California with Colorado in second place but then I expected that before I left.

By far the best thing about the trip as a whole has been the camping. The sites here in the US surpass anything we have experienced before in their number, locations, quality and cost.

The wildlife has also been a highlight for me. We have seen many different kinds of deer including pronghorn, big horned sheep, humpback whales, elephant seals, foxes, buffalo, many different kinds of squirrel, chipmunks, groundhogs (as well as dead armadillos, skunk and racoon. I have heard coyote howling at night and we have had three almost bear encounters, although we have not seen bears.

The birds have also been amazing-hummingbird, pelicans too many kinds of hawk and falcons to list, turkey vulture, woodpeckers of different kinds, kingfishers, Stellars Jay, cardinals and more.

Things have gone amazingly well. It has been incredibly easy to travel here. We are within budget. We have met some very friendly people. We are very happy, healthy (we have both lost weight and sleep for hours and hours) and relaxed. Mission accomplished.

We are very excited to move onto the next stage of the trip but also sad to be leaving the USA behind. Although the autumn rain is just about to start here in California so our timing is good. We are looking forward to some real adventure, speaking Spanish (badly), eating hot chillies and staying in one place for more than a couple of days. Oh and hopefully doing less work on the bike now that we have replaced virtually everything that can wear out.

Saturday 3rd-Tuesday 6th October-Central California and Los Angeles

Posted on October 7, 2015 by helenkelly

Over-tall bikes are not a problem when you have limbs like a gibbon

We spent Friday night at a wonderful town in Central California called San Luis Obispo which was declared by Oprah to be the happiest city in the USA. We stayed with a wonderful host in a beautiful house looking out over the mountains and town. We bought a back tyre for the bike and ate some authentic Thai food. Everyone we met was exceptionally friendly. I guess that is what being happy does for you.

STOP PRESS!
I speak to you from the future. Turns out the fuel level sender unit had failed so I’m not such a twat, after all. Well, not for this reason, anyway.

We left quite late on Saturday for the Santa Barbara mountains and…ran out of petrol. This has not happened to us since about 1996. We drained what was left in the camp stove but the bike still wouldn’t start so we waved our arms at passing bikers, all of whom waved back but didn’t stop. We then proceed to push the bike (well I pushed and Dave sat on the bike and paddled) up a hill. Still noone stopped to help. Fortunately, at the top of the hill was a grocery store with a cafe from where we called a taxi (at great expense) and Dave went to fetch petrol.

Dave dances like a twat after running out of petrol like a twat

The whole thing left us $60 lighter. We should have used the roadside assistance that we have but we thought it would take ages for them to come out. It would have been a lot cheaper.

The Santa Barbara mountains surpassed expectations.

Pumpkin fields are everywhere at the moment.

The mountains are really beautiful and only 15 miles from the centre of Santa Barbara. This would be a good place to live. There is a lot of space, good weather, good roads and stunning scenery. The campsites were also empty on a Saturday night which is quite unique in our experience.

It rained a lot in the night. So much that a fellow biker with a tiny tent, camped near us, left and went home before daylight. We took refuge in a Starbucks before returning to the campsite to pack up.

We got wet, for only the second time in 3 months, on the way to LA . Not what you expect in Southern California. By the time we arrived at our Airbnb in the Hollywood Hills, it had dried up.

We spent the next day along Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards. We watched The Martian at the Arc Lights Dome, a dome shaped cinema built in 1963, which opened with the premier of It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (is that too many mads?). It was a brilliant film and a great location. Something really memorable.

We also visited Graumann’s Chinese Theatre and found the hand and foot prints of some of our old Hollywood heroes, including the cast of The Apartment.

And Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

The cast of Giant is interesting, as James Dean had died before the film was premiered and so his prints do not appear alongside the rest of the cast.

As you will know if you have been reading the blog regularly, we love Art Deco architecture so we spent an hour or so wandering around Hollywood Boulevard, spotting original buildings from the 1920s, when the area was at its most glamorous (it is pretty seedy today).

We also saw a few fantastic wig and costume shops.

The next morning, our wonderful host Sabine, who rides a BMW 650 took us up to the Hollywood sign, about 10 minutes from the house. This street is open to only locals so we were really lucky.

There were great views over the city. For those who have lived in Bangkok, the pollution really did not seem bad at all.

Dave really loves this sign, partly because of the System of a Down album sleeve (you will need to look that up if you haven’t seen it). The house on the right used to be lived in by Keanu Reeves.

It was great fun going up there and one of the biggest highlights of the trip so far.

We loved Hollywood. We decided to stay in one area of LA as our time was short. The decision to stay in the hills was one of the best decisions we have made on the trip. Although the area around the Boulevards is really very ordinary these days, if you read up about the buildings and the history from the early 20th century it goes beyond a tacky tourist experience. It is one we will remember really fondly. Yes I am growing my hair a bit.

Sunday 27th September-Saturday 3rd October-Central California, Pacific Coast Highway, Big Sur

Posted on October 5, 2015 by helenkelly

We spent last Sunday and Monday on the campsite at Santa Cruz that we had visited the weekend before as we needed to do work on the bike to replace the rear wheel bearings. It was a pretty dull couple of days. The main highlight being the racoon raid in the night. Our fault entirely as we forgot to lock the bear box. Luckily there were no bears there.

They also attempted to steal the bike.

Having sourced the bearings at two different shops, Dave replaced them easily and did some work on the front brake.

We had some friendly neighbours who brought us a beer and chips in the afternoon. The lady was Korean/American and made comment that we were a skinny couple! I am sure this is normal for Dave but I have never been called skinny in my whole life. We proceeded to pig out for a couple of days, safe in the knowledge that a tiny Asian woman thought we were skinny. On the last night we were treated to a spectacular sunset on the second night (no Photoshop).

We then headed down the coast, through Carmel (where Clint Eastwood was mayor and where, according to Dave, Play Misty for Me was set) and onto Big Sur. The coast was stunning but busy with tourists driving very slowly and the weather was overcast. At the end of the journey we found a wonderful campsite at Big Sur, where we ended up staying 3 nights. They had the cutest campsite shop (with WiFi on the deck and a power socket) where we seemed to spend most of the two days, working on job applications and doing other business.

It appears the shock absorber on the bike needs work presenting Dave with another maintenance conundrum. This one was complicated by the fact that we have to leave the USA by 15th October so have limited time to resolve the situation. Fortunately, Hagon, who made our current shock, have a shop in San Diego. There was no mobile phone service so Dave had to hot foot it to the local phone box (remember those?) to call them. When they heard of our situation they offered to ship a new shock from the UK to meet our deadline, fit it and charge us only the cost of rebuilding the present shock. That is true customer service. So we await the arrival of the shock in San Diego in about a week-we hope.

Leaving Big Sur to ride down the famous Highway 1, along the Pacific was one of the best days I have ever had. It was simply spectacular the whole way. We even had sections where there was no other traffic. The road wound round and up and down with ocean views for a solid two hours.

This coast is famous for the humpback and grey whales that cruise near to land. When I saw my first whale tail breach from the water, as I whizzed past on the bike, I was totally shocked. Another ambition realised.

No point staring hard at the photos trying to see whales as they were too far out to photograph with an 18-55mm lens. Good for landscapes but not for wildlife. All of these shots are taken from the bike at about 45mph (as are most of my blog pics).

About half an hour later we saw another whale breaching the water and pulled over and watched it for 15 minutes. It was only the massive fin this time but pretty special nevertheless.

The next treat was a beach full of pelicans. And then a field full of elk.

And then a few beaches full of elephant seals. We were able to get really close to them at one point. They were so funny to watch, as they flick sand over themselves and roll around in the sunshine. Perfect couch potatoes.

We stopped at San Simeon where William Randolph Hearst (famous publisher who was the inspiration for the film Citizen Kane) built his castle. There was a stunning local beach and pier.

Tomorrow Los Angeles!

Monday 7th-Thursday 10th September -Washington State and Seattle-coast to coast complete

Posted on September 11, 2015 by helenkelly

We left our good friend’s house in Big Sky, Montana 6 days ago in freezing cold weather to head for Seattle. A 4 day ride that had few highlights due to the cold weather. We stuck to the Interstate 90 in order to move as fast as possible as it was too cold for motorcycling in the gear we have (even though we have full thermal underwear and light down jackets). We stayed at a couple of cool, old style motels, ate some reasonable Mexican food and hunkered down.

Motels – pure Americana

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We left Montana and briefly entered Idaho before arriving in Washington State. I was starting to think that this was the dullest landscape we had encountered so far when we came into an area of incredible cloudscape, The most amazing I had ever seen. This kept us entertained for about an hour. I have not photoshopped these photos. This is how it looked. The clouds were so close you could almost touch them.

Clouds

More clouds

Yet more clouds

We are huge grunge fans and big fans of Frasier too (which was not actually filmed in Seattle apparently) so Seattle was a must for us. This also marked the crossing of the USA from the Atlantic to Pacific coast which is a huge milestone. We have ridden 7,000 miles since leaving Germany. We have crossed 20 states in the USA in 7 weeks. Anyway back to Seattle…

Seattle with clouds

I was not prepared for the stunning setting of this city built on the water and totally surrounded by rugged mountains. Hard to capture in photographs to be honest. It must be a great place to live being so close to so many outdoor opportunities. We were lucky with the weather. It is famous for rain here but we had blue skies and endless sunshine for two days (despite how it looks on the picture below).

Space Needle, Seattle and clouds

The main focus of the trip was a grunge tour where we got to see the places where grunge music began. We saw the blacksmith shop, underneath which is the practice room where the other Pearl Jam members first took Eddie Vedder when he arrived from California to join the band.

The blacksmith’s was open, the rehearsal room is still there, it was not being used at the time, but we weren’t taken in

We saw the famous Crocodile club.

We weren’t taken inside here, either

The apartments where the film Singles was filmed.

From the outside

The house where Kurt Cobain sadly took his own life and the bench where people congregate to pay their respects.

Okay, can’t really expect to be taken inside here; I was reminded of our visit to the Dakota Building, all very sad (Dave)

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And the Black Hole Sun sculpture after which the Soundgarden track is named (note the Space Needle in the middle.

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I guess you have to be a real fan like us to appreciate the significance of these places. We also saw the Jimmy Hendrix statue. He came from Seattle too. What a great musical heritage this city has.

Get out the van, stand by the statue a bit, get back in the van

Seattle is also famous for the Space Needle, landmark from the 1962 World’s Fair and setting of the Elvis film It Happened at the World’s Fair, which we love. Most of the site is still intact and wonderfully kitsch.

Actually, I’m fairly sure that It Happened at the World’s Fair is pretty unwatchable; it will take a Sunday afternoon and a hangover to check

Some clouds to lower portion of picture

We loved Seattle. The city does seem to have a lot of homeless people in the downtown areas (more than I have seen in any other western city) and feels a bit gritty in parts but there are great neighbourhoods and there is a good vibe. It is a place we could live.

Friday 29th-Sunday 31st August-Wyoming (including Yellowstone)

Posted on September 1, 2015 by helenkelly

Wyoming surprised me. I liked it more than I thought I would. The Rocky Mountains are not a continuous mountain chain and to get from the Colorado Rockies to the Montana Rockies we needed to cross the Wyoming plain. This is a very empty place. The first day was pretty featureless but I allowed myself to be charmed by the space and emptiness. The mind becomes clear when there is nothing much to look at. It also helped that the weather was fairly cool. Unlike crossing the plain in Texas two weeks ago.

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We passed a ghost town called Jeffrey City. Until the 1990s this was a boom town due to uranium mining. Within 3 years of the mine closing, 75% of the population just left. There are only 58 people there now. It still calls itself a city.

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We stayed that night in Lander. This is one of many cool looking wild west towns we have passed. It is a popular stopover on the road to Yellowstone and has good amenities. We camped in the garden of this kitsch motel, called the Holiday Lodge,straight from the 50s.

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When I got out of the tent in the morning there was a Mule deer just standing there looking at me about 15 metres away. It had huge ears and stood perfectly still for ages. No that’s Dave in the picture. His ears are smallish.

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The second day on the plain was bit more interesting and the landscape varied more. There was a gorge and a lake. In places it was incredibly barren and rocky. It reminded me of the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

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We passed through an Indian reservation. It was a pretty depressing place of run down bungalows with boarded up windows and kids playing outside. Further on there was a huge casino, in the middle of nowhere.

We also passed through another tiny wild west town.

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We had lunch at Cody, named after Buffalo Bill, who lived there and owned a hotel. They really play up the cowboy thing there. There is a big museum complex dedicated to all things wild west and shops full of stetsons and cowboy boots as well as stuffed Elk heads. A bit too much to the tacky side of acceptable for my taste.

We stayed at a really awesome lodge only 9 miles from the East gate of Yellowstone National Park.

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It cost us quite a lot more than we normally pay, to stay in a cabin, as all camping was booked up in the area, but it was Saturday night and we did not have many options. It was well worth the money. The cabin was so cute and comfy with lamps made out of recycled cowboy boots and curtain poles crafted from horseshoes.

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When we arrived the owner told us that for three of the last four mornings they have been visited by a grizzly bear. A huge silver back weighing about 400Ib! He was gorging on berries about 30 metres from our cabin. We still had a beer on the deck though.

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We did not get to see the grizzly but we were visited by the tamest young fox who clearly thought he was a pet cat. It was quite extraordinary.

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The only way Fox Hunting would count as vermin control is if the posh twats fell off their horses and broke their necks – Ricky Gervais

The next day we left for Yellowstone. We only got 2 miles up the road and two bison (buffalo) were strolling down the road. I then saw an osprey!

Helen, up bright and early

In Yellowstone itself, there is lots of evidence of Spruce Beetle damage but it was good to see forests repopulated further on in the park. The Spruce graveyard had its own haunting beauty.

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We saw quite a lot more bison plus a whole raft of terrible drivers. It was Sunday so we had to expect a lot of traffic. We were surprised to find that Yellowstone has a petrol station and an auto repair shop. The two hour trip through the park was very satisfying. The landscape is quite varied although the scenery in this part of the park is not spectacular. It was cool to see herds of wild bison grazing.

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We saw quite a flew geysers and some bubbling mud. It smells of sulphur everywhere. Half of the world’s geysers are in this park.

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I actually found the 50 miles on the other side of the park more interesting. The scenery was greener and there was almost no traffic. You could just imagine grizzly bears and elk living among the trees. We also crossed into Montana but more about that next time. One last picture of the cute fox to finish.

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Sunday 16th-Tuesday 18th August- Arriving in Colorado via New Mexico

Posted on August 18, 2015 by helenkelly

The Rocky Mountains really has been our destination since we began 4 weeks ago. The mountains are where we feel most at home (and a major reason for leaving Berlin where it is very flat). Hence the excitement at the prospect of arriving in Colorado.

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After leaving the motel, we crossed into New Mexico almost immediately. All industrialisation vanished and we were left with wonderfully huge, empty plains. We left early and it was cool. It made me realise how suffocating the previous day’s ride had been in Texas. For a short while we turned onto a tiny road that wound through rocky outcrops, very reminiscent of the cowboy films we used to watch when we were kids. It was the most enjoyable riding we have done in the US so far. We saw no other vehicles but we did see a big, shiny, red snake slither across the road.

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Crossing the border into Colorado, the plains became even more empty and beautiful with distant mountain views. This is the first time I have been able to imagine Native Americans living in the landscape. You can see why this land was so important to them. It is now one of the most sparsely populate areas of the USA. It struck me how sad it was that the tribes were driven off when the land snow standing empty and unused. I saw a Pronghorn, an unusual antelope type critter that once was almost extinct and several deer.

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We spent the first night at a state park campground on Lake Trinidad. The nearby town had a hint the old west (as do most of the towns around here). The campsite was baking hot with little shade when we arrived but the cloud soon came over and the rest of the day and night was punctuated with rain and thunder storms.

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I keep emphasising how friendly the people are but really, here in Colorado, they are, almost overwhelmingly friendly. On the campsite, one guy brought us a fresh tomato he had picked that morning and two couples invited us into their RVs when it was raining. The park ranger had a long chat about the benefit of alloy wheels on the Tiger. We met two separate British ladies who are now living out here and chatted with them. We also met a guy on a coffee stop who wanted to chew over the problems of the US education system and recommend an Indian pueblo for us to visit. Even the state trooper who nicked us for speeding was friendly as he doled out the $170 fine (which should have been more but for his discretion).

I have to say that I am desperate to get to the mountains. We were forced to stop shot, in the town of Monte Vista, yesterday due to a forecast storm. We enjoyed an unplanned hotel night, a meal out at a Chinese restaurant and a comfy bed.

As you ride west here, into the mountains, they seem to keep getting further away. It is quite frustrating. We should get there today. We are already at 7600 feet though and have been over 8,000 (about 2400m). The altitude creeps up on you here. We have not slept as high since we trekked in Nepal in 1997. I have noticed some symptoms of mild mountain sickness, like fatigue, headache (made much worse by drinking only one bottle of Budweiser) and irritability. They should ease off.The bike is also suffering a little, with both a water and oil leak and it is labouring more with the thinner air. Today we will be riding up to about 9,000 feet (about 2700m) which we have done in Europe, crossing high passes but not for extended periods of time.

Thursday August 13th -Tulsa Art Deco City by Dave and Helen

Gallery

Posted on August 13, 2015 by Dave

This gallery contains 24 photos.

We came to Tulsa primarily because we had read about the great Art Deco heritage here, although we also needed to put a new tyre on the bike. During the 1920s and 1930s, Tulsa was an incredibly wealthy, oil city. … Continue reading →

Tuesday 11th-Wednesday 12th August- The Prairies Begin-Memphis to Tulsa OK

Posted on August 13, 2015 by helenkelly

We woke up in Memphis to a traditional southern breakfast, vegan style, courtesy of our wonderful host. This included biscuits, which are like very light, spongy scones that are eaten as a staple here in the south. We have eaten very well indeed over the past three or four days, too well in fact but I think that it is normal in the south to feel overfed when you leave. The conversation at breakfast, with our host and another guest, was at an incredibly high level for 7am (at least by our standards) and I am sure was fueled, almost entirely (on our part at least), by the strong coffee. Both the breakfast and the coffee kept me going all day.

The first part of our USA journey has now been completed and we are entering phase two, which involves crossing the flat prairie to arrive in the Rockies in Colorado. This should take up to a week. It is not a relished prospect as the plains are hot and flat but we are planning to make the most of it. As we left Memphis, we crossed the mighty Mississippi for the first time. We will not see it again until we return to the US in the spring. It is just as you imagine, wide, languid and brown. You cross the border into Arkansas almost immediately and the flatlands begin. We rode miles of featureless dual carriageway for nearly 100 miles. There was nothing but potato, peanut and soya bean fields. No houses, nothing. As you approach the north-western corner of the state, bends and small hills appear. There are a few settlements. It all looks quite rundown. Lots of abandoned diners and overgrown junk shops. Rusty cars in the middle of empty fields. Apart from the town of Hardy, which is the closest to a Wild West town we have seen so far, there is nothing remarkable. Sorry there are no pictures but we were keen to make ground.

I was forced to make my own entertainment as when crossing Pennsylvania. The church signs came up trumps again. My favourite were

Be a fountain, not a drain.
When you can stand no more, kneel.
Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil. There is no point.
The forecast for today-God reigns and the Son shines- Amen

I also saw a shop called Custum Fitt (I hope that is a joke) and a hitchhiker with a sign that read Eureka (is that a place or had he been struck with an idea?)

We saw some cool place names. We passed near Pocahontas and drove straight through Bono. We also passed Egypt and we stayed at Flippin.

The campsite was right beside a huge road bridge, over a river. It is testament to how chilled I am that I will now consider staying next to a noisy road. To be honest, the crickets almost drowned it out. By way of compensation, the site had lots of grass and a huge covered area with comfy seats and electric sockets right on the river, with its resident heron and hawks circling overhead. We tried to get a close look at the herons before they flew off and noticed two deer grazing about 50 metres away from us. When the owner went home, we had the whole site to ourselves. It was perfect.

I guess the highlight of the day was that I got to post on Facebook that we were only 24 hours from Tulsa. My next Bacharach reference will be in California when I can ask someone if they know the way to San Jose. I have to wait about 6 weeks for that one.

We woke up to a thick mist across the river. It was really stunning. The journey into Oklahoma was as dull as the day before but we seemed to make better ground. As we left Arkansas, I saw a huge billboard that said “It is not racist to be proud of your people-start here with White Pride Radio.” Just as we were thinking Arkansas was the least friendly and welcoming state we had passed through so far, we had two separate guys come up to us on a car park and strike a conversation about the trip and bikes and their own plans for the summer.

Sunday August 2nd- Thursday August 6th- the Blue Ridge Mountains

Posted on August 6, 2015 by helenkelly

Since we left Maryland, we have passed through West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina and we are now in Tennessee, where we will remain for a few days. We are heading to Nashville on Saturday and then Memphis.

As a child of the late 60s and early 70s I have had a long-held love of The Waltons. I was, therefore, very excited to be coming to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, home to John Boy, Mary Ellen and the rest (and oh yes I can name them all). The first thing I discovered is that the series was filmed in California, but that did not deter me from seeking the perfect Waltons locations. More on that later.

We really are in the south now and my impressions are as follows

People are super friendly.
They really do say “you’all”.
Every house has a porch with rocking chairs.
The countryside is unspoiled and plentiful and not that different in appearance to England or parts of Wales.
The corn on the cob is not as good here as the East coast, even though it grows everywhere.
There are a lot of churches.

Our first encounter with a local on entering the mountain area was a friendly black guy on the supermarket car park who bounded up and shouted “where d’you bring that thing from?” pointing at the bike and then engaged us in conversation about where we are from and how we got the bike here. We have since met many friendly people who call us honey, and sweetheart and want to know about us and our trip. They all think it is as exciting as we do. The lovely young guy who checked me in to the motel today, asked if he could look through my passport as he had never seen one before and asked how it worked and if I got it stamped in every country I visited.

On the first night in the mountains, we stayed at the Shenandoah National Park campground on the top of Loft Mountain. For once we had grass to camp on which was very welcome. Here in the US, it is quite standard to expect campers to pitch their tent on gravel.

They take bears very seriously on this campground. We were told not to rinse tiny grains of food down the pug hole as it attracts them. In the ladies toilet there was a sign that said “ do not leave food trash in this garbage-bears will enter and become trapped in restroom.” The next morning, after a fitful sleep, I tentatively pushed open the bathroom door and peered inside before going in-no bears thankfully.

One lasting impression of the past few days is the rural churches we have passed and the messages they display outside. They keep me entertained as I sit with my own thoughts for hours. A few that stick in my mind are

The Lord is like tennis-serve well and you will seldom fail.
The best cure for sin burn is son screen.
Bikers welcome-ride through the Lord.

We came here to ride the Blueridge Parkway and while that was enjoyable, the 45 mph speed limit means that you have to learn the pleasure of cruising rather than blasting, which is pretty alien to us Brit bikers. The views in places were beautiful. However, I think we have enjoyed the riding that we have done off the Parkway more as there are more homes and other things to look at. One morning, riding back from the campsite to pick up the Parkway, I finally found Waltons mountain. There were so many houses just like the Walton family’s and other smaller homes with white peeling paint and ancient rocking chairs out front. We passed a lumbar yard and then, at last, a general store that could easily have been Ike’s.

We had been searching for the perfect campsite to take a day off from riding. It needed to have grass and either Wifi or a mobile phone service. Yesterday, we rode towards the Great Smoky Mountains, through North Carolina and into Tennessee and we found the ideal place. Stunningly located on a river with views to the mountains. It reminded me of Tatopani in Nepal, where there are hot springs. The weather was hot but we had a big shady tree and picnic bench, right on the riverbank for $20. We could even overlook the fact that the toilets had no doors, only curtains (!), so idyllic was it.

We settled back to read and chill. The clouds came over and wind picked up and an hour later we were in the middle of a heavy, tropical-like storm. We were able to take shelter on a porch and watch the show.

It was unnerving at times but the tent held up and the only stuff that got wet was that left in the tent porches. As the forecast was the same for tonight, we have treated ourselves to a motel for the night. After 18 nights of camping, a private shower, free Wifi and electric sockets is a real treat that we intend to make the most of.

Wednesday 29th-Thursday 30th July Woodstock by Helen

Posted on July 31, 2015 by helenkelly

Having been a hippy at heart since I was 17, a visit to Woodstock was a must. I had read that it was now a gentile and funky town full of veggie cafes, wholefood stores and yoga studios, like the Chiang Mai of New York state. The surrounding area is very pretty. Very much like parts of Snowdonia, without the dramatic peaks. The first indication that you are near the town is a sign for the Tibetan Centre (always a giveaway) and then the appearance of a pilates studio. Not many of those in the rural parts of New England where we had come from.

We had experienced the wholefood store on the outskirts of town, on arriving, the day before. It was very well stocked and full of customers in their 70s who were probably too stoned to find their way home after the festival. It was shockingly expensive though and our normal daily shop cost about 30% more than usual, although we did find some marinated tofu and a great loaf of 8 seed bread. On our second visit we, headed for the centre of town and found a WiFi café for the first hour so we could upload the blog and plan the next part of the trip.

It was about 33 degrees when we came out about 1pm but the heat was very dry and the left side of the road was in shade. I really enjoyed pottering about and looking at the cute little shops and cafes, some painted in bright colours and some with Tibetan flags or statues of Shiva. The menu of the vegan café looked great and the place was heaving but it was a bit too expensive for us and we don`t generally eat lunch so we did not investigate. The whole place had a chilled vibe and was definitely more upmarket than the town of Glastonbury, which we found quite down at heel a few years ago. If I lived in New York City or Boston then I would no doubt come to the area for long weekends but bliss here comes at a price. It’s more West Village in the hills than Dharamsala.

Back at camp, I was a bit jumpy after the near bear encounter. Rather than go down to the sunny but lonely meadow to practice yoga, I used a patch of grass nearer to the tent. Afterwards, on my way to the shower, the path suddenly seemed dark and slightly menacing and I could hear a low growling sound. As I walked on, a little perturbed but reminding myself that close up encounters are rare with black bears, I saw a guy flat on his back on a camp bed outside his tent, snoring his head off.

We bear proofed the bike that night before bed, by wedging it between a fire ring/BBQ and a large picnic table so that it could not be pushed over. Dave also set the alarm this time. We stored the metal panniers, containing the food separately. The night passed without incident. However, the next morning a guy informed Dave that he had just seen a bear near his tent area. He said it was a pretty big one and that they had chased it off. As we were leaving, the park ranger came by in his golf cart and informed us that a small bear had been seen that morning on pitch 25. Mmm how big was the fish (bear)? After availing us with stories of friends of his who had done road trips to Mexico on their Harleys and others who had flown their bikes to Europe, he told us more about bears. Apparently, as there had been sightings of this (small) bear, they would ask the biologist if we he wants to trap him. They will then take blood samples to make sure he is healthy and then tag him. On release, they set dogs on the bear to run him off the area and frighten him, to ensure he does not come back. If this doesn`t work then they might shoot him with a plastic bullet. This is all for the bear’s own sake as, if he becomes to familiar with humans and their food, he might end up having to be shot. He told us how they trapped two massive bears about 5 years ago. One was about 260 pounds and the other about 180. They were magnificent but also stank to high heaven, probably due to having to wear and thick black coat in the middle of a baking hot summer.

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Tag Archives: road trip usa

Monday 12th October -last day in the USA

Saturday 3rd-Tuesday 6th October-Central California and Los Angeles

Sunday 27th September-Saturday 3rd October-Central California, Pacific Coast Highway, Big Sur

Monday 7th-Thursday 10th September -Washington State and Seattle-coast to coast complete

Friday 29th-Sunday 31st August-Wyoming (including Yellowstone)

Sunday 16th-Tuesday 18th August- Arriving in Colorado via New Mexico

Thursday August 13th -Tulsa Art Deco City by Dave and Helen

Gallery

Tuesday 11th-Wednesday 12th August- The Prairies Begin-Memphis to Tulsa OK

Sunday August 2nd- Thursday August 6th- the Blue Ridge Mountains

Wednesday 29th-Thursday 30th July Woodstock by Helen