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2on1: Road Trip USA

L

Luckies

Guest
Victor joined us and we rode thru "The Valley of Fire" together. In St.George we had our first real meal and the best ribs ever in my life!!
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Zion NP was more beautyful as I imagined and it was an outstanding ride. I love those orange colored rocks and tiny curves! We reached Bryce Canyon in the early evening. Because it was getting dark and cold (at 7700 ft) we decided to visit the canyon in the next morning. Which was a good one because the light was much better.
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It was a very special day for me because I wanted to ride the Burr Trail from Boulder to Halls Crossing. The only things I knew was: maybe water crossing, 3-4 miles on sand, only the first part is paved. It was the kind of adventure I was looking for and it was absolute FANTASTIC!!
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Camping was part of the plan but as we arrived in Halls Crossing (there was nothing else than a marina and a gas station on a campgroud) we couldn't resist to sleep in a trailer. Never seen something like this! Three bedrooms, a big kitchen and a living room .. wow!
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On the next day we rode thru the Monument Valley and had lunch at the Trading Post. Of course we made a picture of the long road, maybe the most known in the world. What a great scenery!! But here I wont show you it to you because I'm sure you've seen it several times. Hope you like this one:
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After some advices we didn't rode the classic tourist route to Flagstaff. Instead we rode to Farmington, which was really boring (80 miles and just one gas station) and from there to Taos (a very nice town) and Santa Fe. The first part to Taos was a little bit windy, but from Taos to Santy Fe we had some curves .. fine to ride.
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Here in Santa Fe we met up a german guy who lives there for about 14 years ago and has now own a motorcycle workshop.
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After our arrival in Alamogordo we spent the rest of the daylight in White Sands NP. It's a small area of white sand (dunes and couple of plants) and the first rockets was tested there for spaceflights (if my memories don't lie). Next to White Sands there's the Holloman Air Force Base where a german soldier was there for a week or so. Normally he's stationed for 3 years in Washington D.C. We met him at the Motel, talked for about 2 hours and he invited us to stay in his house in Washington. He also told us about the "Rolling Thunder", I didn't know until then, and were now trying to get there.
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The next two days we rode thru Texas with a short stop in Roswell, where we visited the UFO museum (and bought a sticker of course :) ). Quite a funny place but not really that interesting as I thought it would be. Ah .. yes, I just forgot that I met a retired police officer from Florida there. He's a member of the IPA, as me. So we had a talk.. of course.
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However, we took the hwy (70?) directly to Roswell thru the "hills". Holy .. this was the coldest ride we had in the US by now. The temperature was at 7 degrees (c) and we put all on we had (incl. rain gear.). Didn't know that it could be that cold - and yes, I didn't mentioned the details because I didn't wanted to plan too much. It's more fun that way. :D

Somewhere on the road after Roswell I saw a guy next to his bike on the hwy. So I stopped and asked if he needs help but he just wanted to make a picture of this huge open land. Glad that I'm not the only one who's amazed about that "boring" wide land. I met him several times again and in the evening we was neighbours in the same motel. He's from New Orleans and gave us some great tipps about what to do there. Sadly that we didn't changed our contacts.
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The ride from Brownsville to Fort Worth wasn't really exciting, just a lot of farms, straight roads and open land. Only the arrival in Fort Worth was great. Before we me up with James, we rode to the BMW dealer in hurst. The bike was ready for the 7000 mi service and in fact that we would stay for two nights I wanted to know if they could put me in for the next day. There I met Justin, a guy from the service team and the most craziest man I've ever met. Ithink it was something they called "bike night" going on in the evening. So we stayed a little bit longer than we expected. We had a lot of fun and talks about the trip.
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James was great!! This was the first time we saw an american house from inside and it was like to meet an old friend. He gave us a room to sleep, a lot of information what we could do (while he's at work) and took us to the Stockyards for dinner. If I would write songs, one would be about him. In fact that his parents live right next on our route to Florida, we'll stop there to bring them a letter from their son. :)
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After a lot of advices to ride thru the Ozarks, I put them on the list. But before we leave Texas I tried to get a real Texas cowboy hat. Ok, thats not so difficult, but to find one which I could transport on the bike it was. We stopped in Justin, as James said, to visit the stores there. But.. none who would survive our trip, and they don't ship to Europe. So we left after breakfast and rode into rain, the half day long and until we quitted in Mena.
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In the next morning, I was online to tell the people at home whats going on, a guy from BMWMOA invited us for a stay in his guest house right next to the Ozarks. So we changed our plans and rode the Pig Trail on hwy 23. Ken was amazing! Because he and his wife was invited for dinner, but didn't wanted us to wait, he left his and the guest house UNLOCKED for us. Ok, the people in austria outside of the cities are not really scarred and of course they know and trust eachother in the neighbourhood, but I'm quite sure they won't leave their houses unlocked for foreigner they never met. I felt very, very honered about that and I'll never forget this. Ken, this was AWESOME!!

We talked a lot, in the evening and at breakfast. On our way to Memphis, Ken and his father (90 years old!!!) Joined us the half way to West Plains, where we split up after lunch. It was a beautyfull ride and we had a great time with Ken, his wife and his father. Thank you very much again!
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Just for dinner and a short view about whats going on in Memphis.
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On the map the roads look not that straight as they are in real. Down the Mississippi we rode thru small towns and saw a lot of farming. But the river, we saw him just once. Only the Natchez Parkway was good to ride but way too short.
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Today was a short day. The plan was to ride on smaller roads and see some plantages. But the bridge I'd planned was gone - thats about the details. *grrr So we just saw some old houses, which was great, but had to use the Interstate to ride around in the same time. As you can imagine, staying in the French Quarter isn't cheap and because of that we wanted to arrive as soon as possible to have time for walking around - what we already did.


Tomorrow we'll continue our trip on the coastline to Florida, where we'll visit another guy from advrider.cm in Tampa. On the way to Daytona Beach, maybe we'll stay there for a day to relax on the beach, we'll - hopefully - visit another most wanted point of interest.
 
Wonderful Dave. You've been on some of my favourite roads (Utah, NM) and a lot I've never been near. What great memories you two are going to have!
 
Great to see your enjoying the ride. Keep the pics up. Are you going to hit Chicago, or did you decide to skip it?
 
Nice:)

The white sands of the panhandle of Florida are really NICE beaches to visit. Pensacola and other cities of that area have beautiful white sand too:). You're probably close already. Think what you're riding through too, as its Hurricane Coast Line! Not this time of year:). Randy:thumb
 
The French Quarter in New Orleans was a very interesting and fascinating place. When daylight you'll see all the old and beautyful buildings and so much flowers. But after sundown, specially the Bourbon Street, transforms into a partyzone. And the "handgrenade" .. wahoo
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After we left New Orleans I saw a lot of swamp, thats what I thought it will look like around New Orleans. There I saw the first time houses which are build a few meters above ground - I hope you know what I mean - in case the area gets flooded. Some of those looked really nice, other .. different.
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The ride along the coastline was just beautyful! White sand quite everywhere. This was the first time we saw a beach since we left the westcoast. Great and hot!
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As you wrote, Pensacola is great and of course we rode thru and visited the beach. Some houses looked .. quite expensive! Ah .. and riding over the bridges was funny. They can get pretty high sometimes.
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Panamy City looks like fun and a good place to stay for vacation
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On the way to east coast we met very lovely people and stopped for a good and long talk. In the same afternoon we reached one of my most wanted personal highlights.This was the one of the best days of the trip!!
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After more than 5000 miles on the bike, we reached the east coast and arrived in Daytona Beach yesterday. And what could be the best way to celebrate the arrival than doing that:
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Tomorrow we'll continue our trip and head to Smoky Mountains.
 
Detour!

From the Smokies is W.Va and the NEW RIVER Gorge:). Go there, go bungee jumping from bridge. Its a sight and you too can participate if you have good health:). Its in Southern W.VA, not so far off your path. Happy Trails to ya. Randy:thumb
 
Uh .. were not big fans of bungee jumping, but I'll keep it in mind. ;)
Meanwhile I've this for you:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SWU6JLB46tI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Today we'll head to Telico Plains & Smoky Mountains. Tomorrow we'll stop in Waynesville or Ashville to get new tires because the Heidenau K60 is gettin very loud after 5000 miles, but it doesn't look bad.
 
Right now we're in Washington D.C. and we'll stay over the weekend. I'll continue the report shortly. But for now .. is there any online service for sport events in the US? We would love to see a baseball, football or racing event. Thanks!

The Blue Ridge Parkway was the best ride in the last 4 weeks! :brad
 
Grant from Spruce Creek told us to ride on A1A right up to St. Augustine, the oldest City in the US. As the direction was the same it was easy to change that on the route. The A1A was a great scenic ride and we was happy to left the hotels and t-shirt shops behind us.
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In St. Augustine we stopped for a break and some cold drinks. We rode thru the streets looking at the old building. For walking it was to hot. :)
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The Museum was closed in Warner Robins so we had to continu to Macon where we finished the day.
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From Macon, in Georgia, the roads began to get more curvy. After 3 weeks of straight roads you can imagine how fun it was to ride on curvy roads.
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In Tellico Plains it startet to rain the first time. After this little shower the clouds and the rain followed us all the way to Robbinsville, where we spent the evening with a couple of motorcyclists who all wanted to ride the dragon on the next day. Right in front of me sit a guy from the Adventure Rider forum and we both read the forum .. crazy but funny accident.
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The morning started wet but without rain. I was impressed how good the Heidenau K60 works under pressure. The dragon was great fun and the amount of curves in that short distance is indeed very special. With other tires and a dry road .. hmmm
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I'll continue as soon as possible. We had no breakfast and my wife is hungry. Believe me, when my wife is hungry .. it's like somebody gets green. :D
 
BIn the Smoky Mountains NP we had a "follow me car" thru a road work section. We've never seen before!
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The Smoky's were great except the cars, harleys and the double yellow. :)
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From there we rode on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This was the best ride (because it was long and in the mountains) in the US in the last 4 weeks.
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We stopped in Virginia to get some gas but the gas station was different to others. So I asked a cardriver how it works and instead of telling me, he filled my bike up (somehow he looks happy to fill a european bike up).
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We had planned to stay outside of Flint at "Ambrosia Farm". There we got this room and local food: WOW!
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After we left Tellico Plains the weather conditions changed often. On the Blue Ridge mostly every hour (rain, fog, wet but no rain, wet but fog and sometimes it was good). I could spend a week on the Blue Ridge, just riding from one end to another and back again.
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We reached the Shanondoah NP in rain and we were afraid we won't have the chance to watch wildlife. Which was the only reason to ride thru. But in the middle of the NP we saw a bear family right next to the road. We were excited after we saw another one couple of miles later and just a few feet away from the road. In austria you have to visit a zoo if you want to see one, now we were right next to one... you can imagine how excited we were, it was AWESOME!!
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We stayed in Front Royal and from there it was just a hour to Washington D.C., where we wanted to spent the weekend there. But before we went to Washington D.C. we visit the german soldier (we met in Alamogordo) and his family. Together with him, his family and his friend (who came over for a motorcycle trip to Las Vegas) we had a great time. Btw., the owner of the bike was another friend who came over for a talk.
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The next two days we stayed right next to the Pentagon and to the metro. So it was easy to reach the Mall and all the famous places. In fact that we had only two days we saw just the most famous places, including the White House of course. Everything around the Mall was very clean and it was a really great day for walking around. Once we were stopped by the Homeland Security, but only for a talk about the GoPro helmetcamera. :)
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"Rolling Thunder" .. I'm sure you know all or more about it than me. In the last days we saw them riding to and in Washington D.C., they were almost everywhere and always. I think there joined more bikes the demonstration than we have in Austria. So it was very impressive for us to watch it. In the evening we met a group in the hotel lobby, talked a lot and drunk a beer together and got some advices for parts of the route.
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In fact that we was in hurry to reach Washington D.C. to Memorial Day Weekend we was good in time and so we wanted to ride to New York City too. It was still a great wish but we didn't know if we had the time to do this. At the beginning we planned to ride around NYC. So we took the interstate to get in as fast as possible. On the way there we met some guys of the Buffalo's from Boston. I thought the traffic will be horrible - as some told me - and so we were really surprised we arrived at lunch. The weather was still hot and it was everything else than easy to find a place to park the bike for a drink or something small to eat. But we met another austrian couple there, had a lot fun with the guys from the Empire State Building and of course to ride on the Broadway with the own bike ... I dont know what to say .. for me a wish came true and it was one of the best days in my life!
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From NYC we rode up to Newburgh to visit Orange County Choppers and see the bikes they've build. I just saw them couple of times in TV and I was fascinated in their bikes because we've very difficult technical regulations and you'll never see one of those bikes on austrian roads. There we got a bottle of water from another couple - it was still hot and we melted. :)
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What great fun to see the US thru the eyes of another.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your trip with us. :thumb
 
I continue asap. Meanwhile I've this for you:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nzfyXweCRDU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Right now we're in Lander, WY.
Tomorrow we'll visit Cody (some guys told me it should be a nice town) and finish in Red Lodge.
In fact that Yellowstone is sold out we'll "just" ride thru on monday and continue to Boise on the next day.
 
Please check in

Dave are you two all right? It has been a long time since you posted and I'm starting to worry.

Here is the pick of you and Chip:
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We sure enjoyed your visit!

I've been riding across the US in the current heat wave. I'll be in Reno tomorrow, then I fly home for a couple of days before going to the FIM rally in Poland.

Holly
 
Thanks guys and don't worry, we're fine! We were just a little bit too busy.
The trip is over and we're back in Austria again. It was an awesome trip and I'm sure it wasn't the last time. There's a lot more to see in the US. ;)

I'll try to finish my report in the next days - everyone wants to meet us right know and wants to see the pictures. :)

I wish you a great time at the rally in Sedalia! ;)
 
Thanks for letting us know that you are OK, Dave. We do worry if we don't hear from someone for too long.

I'm flying to Poland tomorrow.

Holly
 
The landscape remembered me at home. A lot of trees, windy and small roads. Coming from the west, I was a little bit afraid of the east because there are a lot more cities and towns. But they were quite small and comprehensible. We really enjoyed the scenery! My favorite of the day:
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There we stopped for lunch. A typical diner as we know from many movies. A place where we WANTED to stop for eat instead of the new - all looking the same - restaurants. It reminded me of the good old times, beautiful (now classic) cars without all this high-tech and impersonal **** we have now.
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The day ended with a meet up with guys from ADV-Rider. They offered us a tent space for a night. But the weather was not on our side and so we decided to sleep in the garage. I love the smell of rubber and oil in the morning, YES! Unfortunately we didn't had a lot time to talk, but in the short time we had a good conversation with John and Nancy.
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What a peaceful place to stay (with a garage only for motorcycles :D )! Thank you very much guys, it was a pleasure to meet you both!
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The next day started wet but it didn't stopped us to ride on even smaller roads. My wife was a little bit nervous because of the water level. But after the sand roads in the west, this was less challenging! :)
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Actually we wanted to stay at the top of Cape Cod (somewhere in or next to Provincetown). But we didn't came that far. It was an old guy who stopped us for a talk after he heard us coming on the motorcycle. He has also a BMW and was very interested in what we're doing. After we told him that we're on the way to Provincetown for a place to stay, he offered us his beach house for a night. Ok, it was far away from the top but ... it was on the beach and Provincetown can wait until tomorrow. :)
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As I wrote above, we continued to Provincetown on the next day. But the tower was closed and so we just stopped for a coffee and rode thru the town. It was a nice, colorful and living place. And as you can see, the weather couldn't be better.
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Next stop: Boston. With our visit of Provincetown, which was planed a day before, we had more miles to ride. So we reached Bosten in the late afternoon. We already knew (as in every bigger city) that we didn't had the time for a closer look on Bostons attractions and places. Very sad because it looked great but to stay for one night was too expensive. So we just stopped for a coffee in Downtown.
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Surprise! It was 7.30 pm and we didn't found a room below $100. In Acton I saw a lot of motorcycles on a parking lot and so I stopped there to ask for advices. We figured out that there was a british/european bike night going on. With the help of Ken and Paul (the owner of "Moto Market") we found a campground in Littleton. We leaved after sundown and arrived after 9 pm. It was great meeting and talking to you!
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Only one day before we'll cross the border to Canada. Vermont was beautiful and it was a great riding day. We met a guy (Nete) who had the largest truck I've seen in the US. Against his car my fully loaded BMW looks like a bicycle. The roads were still small, curvy and some of them without pavement.
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A victim of Hurricane Irene
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After a night in Burlington we continued on the next day (cold and cloudy) to Canada. North of Montreal we wanted to visit a friend from Austria who lives there for about 30 years. At the border had a long conversation with a canadian border guard. I think it was a hour or so. With crossing the border we left the good weather behind us and rode all the way north of montreal in rain. And of course it was cold too. I hate big cities and heavy traffic on a fully loaded motorcycle in rain.
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We were surprised that there was no big difference between US and Canada. Ok, the lights were different and the have kilometers and liters instead of miles and galons. But everything else looks like the same. I don't know why, but I thought to feel the difference on the first miles. Anyway. On the next day we were invited by some Canadians to a BBQ at a lake. They introduced me in playing golf ("Try to hit the ball and throw it in the lake" something like that *g). It was still cold. The girls wore short pants and flip-flops. A 5 year old boy was swimming while we had frozen. Absolut crazy people! :D
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They also told us about the weather in Canada and the difference between british and french canadian people. Or "Quebecian" as the were called. I've never heard about a language police before. Which was really crazy for us. After two nights we had to leave and we continued to Niagara Falls. There I wanted to visit a very nice lady and I was looking forward to meet her again. The ride was more natural than before. Which means that the pavement was worse, if there was pavement. They also told us about a problem with street building and corruption in Quebec.
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On the way to Niagara Falls we rode thru Toronto and stopped there for lunch. It was still unbelievable for me to ride my own bike in Canada. To ship it to Los Angeles is no big deal, but riding it thru the US, cross the border to Canada by land and park Downtown Toronto ... it was like all birthdays and christmas days together on one day. Between all those peoples, signs and cars .. was very exciting!
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In the afternoon we arrived at Holly's place and in the evening we visited a car show a few miles away of her house. Of course we've some US car shows in Austria too, but not with this big amount of old cars. Holly managed everything for our trip to Niagara Falls (THANK YOU AGAIN!!!). We were surprised that there was much more to see than "just" the falls. There's no chance to see all attractions on one day without getting in hurry. But what we saw was fantastic!!
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Because of the crazy prices for the ferry to Milwaukee we changend our plans, canceld Milwaukee and rode headed directly to St. Louis to meet up with Craig from ADV-Rider. But he was at the BMW Rally in Iowa. Good for us, because to visit a Rally in the US was on our to-do list. The Rally itself was "boring" - compared to one in Austria. I was very disappointed that they don't had dinner left for us - for what we paid for. But ok, let's say it was bad luck. Than we had to pay for breakfast ... WTF? I still don't know for what we paid 40 bucks (each).
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But it wasn't really that bad. We met a lot of people and a dealer right next offered 15% off on gear. On saturday we rode around the area and visited Amana, a town build by german settlers. There we met a german Canadian who was also at the rally (we met him again in the evening). At the rally we met Lee, a nice guy who lives close to the rally. And, of course, Craig. With all of them we had a great time and good conversations. It was a pleasure to meet you guys!!
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Craig invited us to stay at his house in St. Louis with his family. They showed us around Downtown, visited the Arch and had dinner together. Thank you so much!! If you ever come to Vienna .. ;)
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The next day started with showers. And so we waited and used the time for talking about the political system in the US. On our way to Kansas City we stopped in Hermann, another town of german settlers. They may have "Bratwurst" and german signs, but thats all they have. But it was funny to see the signs in the center of the US. And yes, of course we stopped in Jefferson City to see the capitol before we continued on hwy 50.
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In Kansas City we took a day off because my bike needed a service. After I delivered my bike to the dealer and asked for a cab, a customer offered us to bring us back. He's working for a car company and on the way back we talked about the car market. Because we always saw a lot of car dealers (2-5 in each town/city) and I was wondering who buy all those cars. He also told us about a Baseball game in the evening. Another point on our to-do list (watch a baseball game): CHECK!
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The ride on hwy 50 was scenic and we saw a lot of historic landmarks and places. Even if the road was almost straight it was still a good riding day with excellent weather conditions.
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Before we arrived in Dodge City we saw thousands of cattle, waiting to get slaughtered and standing in their own waste. I'll never forget that awfull smell!! I'm not sure if I want to know which kind and how much medicine they need to not get sick. On this evening I sweared to my self to never eat cattle again if it's not organic.
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On the next day we left Kansas behind and crossed the border to Colorado. After a couple of miles we stopped at Fort Bent for a lesson in history:
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Colorado was special to me because I already knew (since I was planning the trip) that there are a lot of mountains and windy roads. Riding there was very exciting for me and I really loved the scenery! We ended the day in Salida and visited Duke from ADVrider to buy some shirts. :)
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Actually it was planned to meet a guy in Sawpit and ride some backroads with him. In fact that he wasn't at home, we decided to give another rally a try - next to Denver. But after I figured out that we had to pay $70 (each) and there was no room below $100, we canceled this idea very quickly. Maybe I'm the only BMW rider in the world who is not rich. Anyway .. we decided to have some fun in the mountains (Black Canyon, Independence Pass, ..) instead.
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Those days were full of changes. Milan - the guy from Sawpit - wasn't available, the rally too expensive and because of the forest fire north of Denver we had to cancel "Devils Tower" also. But that wasn't too bad because it was never planned to get there - the first time we heard about was in Washington D.c.
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And so we continued our trip to Red Lodge and the Bear Tooth Pass - which was also not planned at the beginning. The highlights of the day: Cody, Chief Joseph Hwy and the first part of the Bear Tooth Pass. After thousands of straight miles the windy roads to Red Lodge were more than welcome!
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The next day was special, very special. YELLOWSTONE!! But to get there, we had to ride the Bear Tooth Pass again. The idea was to spend as much time as possible in the National Park and to arrive as early as possible. So we started in the morning...
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We knew that we can't see the hole National Park on one day, but what we saw on this day was awesome. The Yellowstone National Park is more than a good reason to come again. Next time we'll stay at the park and will arrive early June or after holidays. Riding thru the park on a motorcycle was very exciting with all those animals on or right next to the road. And yes, I was a little bit nervous passing those huge buffalos. It was an amazing day for us!!
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From Rexburg it was planned to take 93, 75 and 21 to Boise because it looked quite pretty on the map. But we met a woman at a post office who told us about the Craters of the Moon National Park and so we decided to change our plans and visit the National Park.
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Because of the time we spent at the National Park we continued on US20 to Boise. There I had to change the tires at "Big Twin Cicles". Those were the most expensive tires in the US - more than 400 bucks for Heidenau K60 and they didn't check the air pressure!! Anyway .. the city was nice and we took a day off to relax and walk around.
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From Boise we followed Hwy 26 to Bend. It was a great and fun ride with long curves, small towns and easy to do some miles. That's how I would love to travel thru a country. :D
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One of those small towns with a small gas station.
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It was cloudy and rainy in Bend. Not the perfect weather to stop at Crater Lake. But we didn't had the time to wait and so we continued as planned. One of the bad things if there's a plan to follow. It didn't cleared up and after we reached the top, it looked like that: :(
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And there was snow, a lot of snow:
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It rained the hole way to the west coast, where we stayed in Crescent City. Fortunately it cleared up over night and we had blue sky again. Back on the west coast. The first time I had a sad feeling because I knew the end of the trip was in reach.
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Riding thru the Redwood National Park was very impressive! We've never seen such big trees before. I thought the huge trees - I knew they're in the US - are in one of the National Parks. But I didn't know exectly where. Shame on me I didn't figured out while I was planning the trip. Anyway .. the guys we met in Washington D.C. (the same who told us about the Bear Tooth Pass) told us about Redwood.
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I thought thats it and we continued on 101 heading south to San Francisco. A few miles later I saw there's an alternate to the 101, the "Ave of the Giants". I had absolute no idea whats there, I just took it because there might be less traffic. Holy ... it blew my mind away!!!
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Highway One .. that's a chapter for its own. :)
First of all I thought its wide (min 2 lanes each) with long curves. So I was surprised and happy the road is small and windy - aaaall the way down south. The view was awesome and the pavement in an excelent condition. Now I know why it's famous and many peoply love it. For me it was horrible. All those cars, campers .. in slow motion and most of the road "do not pass". If I would ever ride it again than only in a car or on a harley. :D
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At 5 pm we reached our destination for this day: Fort Bragg. We decided to ride another hour before we start searching for a room. We had no idea how bad this decision was. A hour later we stopped in a small town but there was a wedding and everything booked up. So we continued to Jenner, without success. There we met another couple, coming from San Francisco for a weekend trip, and I told them there are no rooms available up north. Campgrounds were also closed at this time. We start talking and he told us about a City called Windsor, which is away from the coast and has some Hotels and Motels. The sun was already gone and we had to decide if we join them or if we head to San Francisco. But there we wouldn't arrive before 10 and we had to ride the coast in darkness. And so we joined. In Windsor they told us about a NASCAR race this weekend and that there are no rooms available in the area. In San Francisco was a gay and lesbian parade, also no rooms left. I saw us hanging out in a bar waiting for sun rise. It was a lucky accident that we got a room at 1 am because a guest had a car problem and cancelled his reservation. And so we shared a room with 2 others we didn't know. But we had a "funny" time!
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We arrived early in San Francisco and used the time for riding around. It was as same special as New York was. Riding there on my own motorcycle, on those streets we knew from TV and of course over the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard Street was very exciting! At a viewpoint we met a guy and his wife who had guests from Thailand. After we talked about our trip he invited us to show us the lighthouse. We took a day off and walked around like all other tourists. We're sure to come again, with more time in the luggage.
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On our way down to Los Angeles, the last part of the trip, we stopped in Downtown Santa Barbara for a break. From there we rode to Oxnard, the point where our trip started. In Venture we stopped at the same place where we had our first frozen yoghurt and where we walked around on our first day. In the afternoon we arrived in the same Hotel where we started. Even that we'll spend one week with our friends from Vienna in Los Angeles, this day was very emotional for us. We still couldn't believe that the trip is now over. We spent more than 2 months on the motorcycle and it was also hard to believe that we've to stop riding. All the places we saw and visited, all the people we met .. it was awesome and I'm very grateful to had the chance doing that.
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