So I was not going to write a blog for today because after reflecting the 6 or 7 hours of riding through Oklahoma into Texas. The reason for this small few paragraphs is really for me to remember this leg of the trip. What can I say about Oklahoma? I mean that literally, what can I […]
Memphis, Tennessee is certainly the home of Rock ‘n Roll — No dispute. That is my next journey and gosh, it was a full day of music experiences. But before leaving Nashville, I had a fun interaction with Robert Johnson, my interesting bell man who took my bags downstairs. Robert was huge and fragile — in
Rock ‘n Rolls Birthplace Read More »
I was really looking forward to this day for a while, but first I was so hyper-focused on the days weather. From the time I got into the room last night I was watching the weather for today. I brought up Weather.com. Then I looked at WeatherUnderground.com. Then my Radar apps. All I saw was
Ask away… What does the title of this blog, “Fright Night”, have to do with Bush’s Best beans? Answer: Nothing. Good. More about that later. So I hustled out of my hotel room just after a satisfying Hampton Inn heavy barf breakfast — ready for a fun and tactical day, but first was a visit to the
Busy, busy day — and great day. Where to start? Well, I checked out of the Atlanta Airport Gateway Marriott hotel to head out for what was to be a great event, the Porsche Experience Center which happens to be next to the airport. So you may ask me, what is the Porsche Experience Center?
Porsche Excellence Read More »
Gosh, I had so many things to talk about today during my ride from Orlando to Atlanta. What was supposed to be a 7.5 hour ride turned into 11 hours. Why? Miserable Atlanta traffic, thats why. Every time I go through Atlanta, using I-75, I get whacked with traffic. Virtually 100 percent of the time
Eleven Hours in the Saddle Read More »
Let the new 2017 motorcycle adventure begin. Led Zeppelin wrote a great song called Dazed and Confused. If you’ve never heard of it — don’t fret, the world will never be the same without Zeppelin. Anyway… I have just started my five-week trip of which 28 days will be on a motorcycle — crossing America
Excited, Dazed and Confused Read More »
So today were on our way back home after a full day in Queenstown just killing time and enjoying some amazing weather and tons of visitors — or at least were flying to Los Angeles and then home the next day. We really have a great feeling about this trip to New Zealand. Now for
You know how it goes, sometimes you book a sightseeing side trip on a holiday and you get second thoughts just before you go. Well, that exactly happened with Paula and I. Not only second guessed but third and fourth and not to mention we can probably double that because Paula was yapping in my
Milford Sound Track Read More »
So this is a difficult one. Which cover image represents our last 2 days? Hmmm, hard, trust me. Of course I could have chosen the cute calf suckling its mother in the foreground with hundreds of dots of sheep in the background as you see in the image on the left. Too easy. Click on
Crossing the South Island east-west, west-east, their are 3 main roads known as Passes which carve the mountains to complete the journey. We left the west coast and traveled east through one of those passes, Arthur’s Pass. We had stopped to go for a 3 hour hike up and through forest, open areas and streams.
Mount Cook is the largest mountain in New Zealand at 12,217 ft which is not the biggest in the world — but its base is about 2,460 ft — so a good 10,000 ft elevation from base. The token picture of Paula and I in the foreground of Mt Cook [with the clouds carved out
A couple of days ago we went on the Abel Tasman National Park. In a nut shell its a 5 or 6 hour hike on a very large island which is owned by the New Zealand conservation authority. I’m just catching up now on my blogs but it’s actually good I delayed so I can compare
Yesterday was just one of those days that you don’t forget. So different, so exciting and so fun. Paula and I really like hiking in nature. If you looked at me or me looking at me for that matter, you would not expect that from my personality. But I just love it. We’ve climbed mountains
Graham [aka “Grum”] Frith. Don’t even know where to start. How ‘bout a 62 year old fella who has just returned 2 months ago from a 2 and one-half year bike ride around the world. No kidding, this guy Graham rode a bicycle and a small trailer around the world and has a million stories in
So today we hiked the 6.5 hours, 19.4 km Tongariro Alpine Crossing inside the national park, a UNESCO World Heritage site — that alone is awesome. Check anywhere, this is among the worlds great hikes and no doubt, it deserves its high ranking. Tongariro is an active volcano with most recent eruptions in 2012 but
Tongariro Alpine Crossing Read More »
Meet Kath, our guide for the Northern Island part of our trip. I thought that I would introduce her since she is somewhat permanently attached to Paula and myself for the first portion of this trip. Well, we’ve actually blown her off a bit in the last day but hooking up again today. Kath is —
No kidding, its mine. And yes, that’s Paula carrying it. We’re in the Lake Tarawera Forest. If you look on the other picture here on the left, I’m wearing a petite 15 liter pack. So how does this happen? Ok so I will work the day activities backwards. Our last ambitious activity was to
Not a huge amount to say about today. Its now November 17th. We landed in Auckland, New Zealand at 8:45am on November 17th. Don’t get me started, but two days ahead of when we left Los Angeles on November 15th. Suffice to say, Paula and I are real tired although we do have a
Aucklands in 24 Hours Read More »
Oh yah, heading down to New Zealand. The city of Auckland on the north island to be specific. 21 full days of hiking and abuse to my slightly jello-y body. I’m of course with my wife, the Marine Drill Sargent to keep me on the straight and narrow – no folding or complaining. Just do
Finally made it to Los Angeles. Ride is now officially over!!! Took a total of 16 days from Boca Raton, Florida, with hotel stops in: Orlando, Florida Pensacola, Florida LaFayette, Louisiana Houston, Texas Austin, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Amarillo, Texas Santa Fe, New Mexico Phoenix, Arizona San Diego, California Laguna Beach, California Redondo Beach, California
Lets start off with Lukas. I met him today at a KTM/Adventure dealer in San Diego and we talked for about a half hour while he was fixing his bike and I loved every second of it. Lukas is from Vienna, Austria, is barely 35 and has been traveling on his KTM motorcycle for over
Today was the day which would conclude my coast-to-coast journey that started on the eastern Atlantic and then ended up on the western Pacific. Said another way, I left Boca Raton, Florida and arrived San Diego, California today — 11 days later. Now that’s not the end of my trip of course, I still need to
Cover image is from the front door of my hotel room. Pretty sweet. Today was a down day here in Phoenix. What did I do? Of course went to a couple of BMW Motorrad dealers and hung out then back to hotel to catch up on some emails which needed attention. Thats all.
So traveling by motorcycle is pretty liberating — sure we all know that. It also has some drawbacks, although few. Where am I going with this? Well, the past few days have been pretty cold. The afternoons in the past few days are in the low 60’s, mornings in high-30’s to mid-40’s. Sad to say