So here's a story from last summer when I was traveling that I never posted on the blog. It probably belongs just after the Roll With It post, and is the "story for another time" that I mentioned at the bottom.
The day after the earthquake in D.C. was a lazy one for me. I'd stayed up pretty late drinking and smoking the pipe with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time and a few of her friends, so I slept in. I had been planning on traveling to Philadelphia that day, but that got tossed out the window based on what time I woke up. I called my friend there and asked if she'd mind me showing up a day later, and she said that was fine. With a day of no plans ahead of me, I decided to get some things done.
First, I headed over to an REI I'd seen nearby to pick up a few supplies. The main thing I needed was more of the Dr. Bronner's soap I'd been using as bodywash, shampoo (now that I had hair again), dishsoap, and laundry detergent all-in-one. While I was in there, I picked up a few other things as well, and then I went back out to the motorcycle. Without much storage space, pretty much every shopping trip is immediately followed by removing everything from the packaging in the parking lot and a trip to a garbage can.
As I refilled a brand new gotoob with soap (I'd left the old one in someone's shower somewhere in the country), I marveled at the design. With the lid popped shut, it was, as far as I could tell, impossible to pop it back open by squeezing the tube. Though the entire lid did move a bit weird on this particular one, which I hadn't noticed before...
SQUIRT!
Showing posts with label 48states. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 48states. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, September 19, 2011
Stats
Rockford, IL
So the trip is over. Saturday night I arrived back in Peoria around 9pm, after one hundred days of traveling and 21,198 miles. (Average distance traveled per day: 212 miles.)
Before Vegas: 48 days, 12,200 miles, 17 states.
After Vegas: 52 days, 9,000 miles, 31 states.
So the trip is over. Saturday night I arrived back in Peoria around 9pm, after one hundred days of traveling and 21,198 miles. (Average distance traveled per day: 212 miles.)
Before Vegas: 48 days, 12,200 miles, 17 states.
After Vegas: 52 days, 9,000 miles, 31 states.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Practice
Belvidere, IL
We were sitting around in Toronto, having slept in after a late (but fun) night. Suddenly, I realized everyone else seemed to have stopped getting ready and was just sitting around. I glanced around, and sure enough they all looked ready to go.
"Give me a second. I'm finishing up a blog post."
"You write a blog?" Alex said. "I thought about doing that, but I'm not any good at writing."
"Then start writing a blog. That's how you get better."
We were sitting around in Toronto, having slept in after a late (but fun) night. Suddenly, I realized everyone else seemed to have stopped getting ready and was just sitting around. I glanced around, and sure enough they all looked ready to go.
"Give me a second. I'm finishing up a blog post."
"You write a blog?" Alex said. "I thought about doing that, but I'm not any good at writing."
"Then start writing a blog. That's how you get better."
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Achievement Unlocked
Park Ridge, IL
I feel like I'm already done. I took a picture in front of the 48th state sign for the trip. I'm back in Chicago - a place that I've possibly spent more weekends than I have in Peoria. The next four days feel almost like a formality - I'm just visiting friends, waiting out the days until I get to 100.
I feel like I'm already done. I took a picture in front of the 48th state sign for the trip. I'm back in Chicago - a place that I've possibly spent more weekends than I have in Peoria. The next four days feel almost like a formality - I'm just visiting friends, waiting out the days until I get to 100.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Packing List - Backpack
Green Bay, WI
I have with one backpack, two saddlebags, and a luggage rack with a few things on it. That doesn't leave me much room for packing, but I've made do with what I have. Now that I'm almost done with the trip, I'm finally getting around to listing what I packed for this trip (I actually started this post in Portland, OR, and I've worked on it multiple times over the trip). Here's what I put in the backpack - I'll cover the other stuff later.
I have with one backpack, two saddlebags, and a luggage rack with a few things on it. That doesn't leave me much room for packing, but I've made do with what I have. Now that I'm almost done with the trip, I'm finally getting around to listing what I packed for this trip (I actually started this post in Portland, OR, and I've worked on it multiple times over the trip). Here's what I put in the backpack - I'll cover the other stuff later.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Roll With It (Again)
Mackinac Island, MI
I feel a little bit guilty sitting in a Starbucks while I'm on Mackinac Island... but the bike rental place was closed, I already got fudge, and this might be the only chance I have to write a blog post for the next few days. I'm doing it for you guys.
So while I was in Jackson, MI, I had yet another example of how my "go with it" philosophy has worked out pretty darn well.
I feel a little bit guilty sitting in a Starbucks while I'm on Mackinac Island... but the bike rental place was closed, I already got fudge, and this might be the only chance I have to write a blog post for the next few days. I'm doing it for you guys.
So while I was in Jackson, MI, I had yet another example of how my "go with it" philosophy has worked out pretty darn well.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Location Independent
Jackson, MI
One of the things about this trip is that in a lot of the cities, even big ones, I've often ended up doing things that I really could do just about anywhere. Whether it's going out to a bar, or a restaurant or brewery, or some store - the things I'm doing aren't specific to the city I'm in. I'm not going to restaurant chains or shopping malls or anything. But I'm also not seeing monuments or going to famous local restaurants a lot of the time. I've started thinking of these types of visits as "location-independent" experiences. And in Dayton, I had one of the best location-independent experiences of the trip.
One of the things about this trip is that in a lot of the cities, even big ones, I've often ended up doing things that I really could do just about anywhere. Whether it's going out to a bar, or a restaurant or brewery, or some store - the things I'm doing aren't specific to the city I'm in. I'm not going to restaurant chains or shopping malls or anything. But I'm also not seeing monuments or going to famous local restaurants a lot of the time. I've started thinking of these types of visits as "location-independent" experiences. And in Dayton, I had one of the best location-independent experiences of the trip.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Cleveland Rocks (As does Toronto)
Dayton, OH
The last few days have been miserable weather-wise, but I've had a blast when I'm not riding. On Labour Day (spelled that way because I was in Canada for it), I went with my couchsurfing host and his two other surfers on a walking tour of Toronto. You'd think, after my 12-mile tour of New York, I'd have learned my lesson about hiking around on concrete in my sandals, but no - I did it again.
The last few days have been miserable weather-wise, but I've had a blast when I'm not riding. On Labour Day (spelled that way because I was in Canada for it), I went with my couchsurfing host and his two other surfers on a walking tour of Toronto. You'd think, after my 12-mile tour of New York, I'd have learned my lesson about hiking around on concrete in my sandals, but no - I did it again.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Almost
Fredonia, NY
I finally got a few days of "normal" riding in again - after going around 500 miles in eleven days, I've done about 750 in the last few days, including a little over 400 the day before yesterday. Today and tomorrow combined will be around 500 miles, so right on track for my usual 250 miles a day.
After Toronto it's back to one city a day until I get to Chicago. The end of the trip has really snuck up on me. It doesn't seem like that long ago - in fact, it wasn't that long ago - that I wasn't even three quarters done with the trip.
I finally got a few days of "normal" riding in again - after going around 500 miles in eleven days, I've done about 750 in the last few days, including a little over 400 the day before yesterday. Today and tomorrow combined will be around 500 miles, so right on track for my usual 250 miles a day.
After Toronto it's back to one city a day until I get to Chicago. The end of the trip has really snuck up on me. It doesn't seem like that long ago - in fact, it wasn't that long ago - that I wasn't even three quarters done with the trip.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Catching Up
Toronto, Ontario
Since the 28th of August - the last time I posted regularly - I've done a ton, which is what has kept me from posting. Here's a brief synopsis of what I've done in the last week or so.
Since the 28th of August - the last time I posted regularly - I've done a ton, which is what has kept me from posting. Here's a brief synopsis of what I've done in the last week or so.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Ceci N'est Pas un Pipe
Boston, MA
Sitting at Starbucks last night, waiting (and hoping) to hear back from someone who could find a place for me to stay, it felt like I had failed. I hadn't been able to find a place to stay in Boston, and I was going to have to find a hostel, a hotel, or camp out. And I was so averse to doing any of those, that I sat at Starbucks until they closed, hoping someone would get back to me.
Two hours later, I was sitting in my tent at a state park outside Boston, wondering why it had seemed so bad.
Sitting at Starbucks last night, waiting (and hoping) to hear back from someone who could find a place for me to stay, it felt like I had failed. I hadn't been able to find a place to stay in Boston, and I was going to have to find a hostel, a hotel, or camp out. And I was so averse to doing any of those, that I sat at Starbucks until they closed, hoping someone would get back to me.
Two hours later, I was sitting in my tent at a state park outside Boston, wondering why it had seemed so bad.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Waiting
Boston, MA
Looks like I might be finding a hotel or camping, as none of my prospects for couchsurfing in Boston have worked out. One even changed their couch availability to "Not available" after I requested - but didn't send me back a response telling me they weren't able to host.
Nine days ago, I was only 440 miles away from where I am now - at most, two days of riding at my normal pace. It feels weird to have traveled so little, yet done so much. Two days in D.C. turned into three, two days in Philadelphia, two days in NYC turned into three, a day in Connecticut, and now two days in Boston before I get back to a semi-normal traveling pace.
Looks like I might be finding a hotel or camping, as none of my prospects for couchsurfing in Boston have worked out. One even changed their couch availability to "Not available" after I requested - but didn't send me back a response telling me they weren't able to host.
Nine days ago, I was only 440 miles away from where I am now - at most, two days of riding at my normal pace. It feels weird to have traveled so little, yet done so much. Two days in D.C. turned into three, two days in Philadelphia, two days in NYC turned into three, a day in Connecticut, and now two days in Boston before I get back to a semi-normal traveling pace.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Survived
New York, NY
Well, that was rather anticlimactic. I mean, there were some winds, and the rain hitting the window was pretty loud last night, but there's hardly any branches down in the neighborhood I'm in. It looks basically like a normal storm came through and just blew some leaves off the trees. The power didn't even go out - all the clocks were still on the right time when we woke up in the morning. But man were we prepared.
Well, that was rather anticlimactic. I mean, there were some winds, and the rain hitting the window was pretty loud last night, but there's hardly any branches down in the neighborhood I'm in. It looks basically like a normal storm came through and just blew some leaves off the trees. The power didn't even go out - all the clocks were still on the right time when we woke up in the morning. But man were we prepared.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Rock You Like a Hurricane
New York, NY
It seems weird to think that a hurricane is supposed to come through. It's cloudy outside, and it's been raining on and off, but it's otherwise relatively nice. A bit humid, but not too hot. And in fact, we're about to go out and do some barhopping before we have to close up shop and wait out the storm. In other words, everything seems pretty normal.
It seems weird to think that a hurricane is supposed to come through. It's cloudy outside, and it's been raining on and off, but it's otherwise relatively nice. A bit humid, but not too hot. And in fact, we're about to go out and do some barhopping before we have to close up shop and wait out the storm. In other words, everything seems pretty normal.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Driving in the South
Philadelphia, PA
I tend to shy away from making generalizations about the places I've visited on this trip. I know I'm only spending a few days in each place, and my experiences are not likely to be representative. When people ask me my favorite place I've visited, I usually say Seattle, but I'm quick to point out that my enjoyment was mainly based on a series of happy accidents, and really could have happened in almost any city. I only see a small slice of each place I go, and even that slice is highly dependent on who I'm staying with - whether it's a friend or a couchsurfer, or no one if I'm camping.
But having spent some time in the South, and having covered almost the entire rest of the country, I think I'm comfortable in making the generalization that drivers in the South suck at driving around motorcycles.
I tend to shy away from making generalizations about the places I've visited on this trip. I know I'm only spending a few days in each place, and my experiences are not likely to be representative. When people ask me my favorite place I've visited, I usually say Seattle, but I'm quick to point out that my enjoyment was mainly based on a series of happy accidents, and really could have happened in almost any city. I only see a small slice of each place I go, and even that slice is highly dependent on who I'm staying with - whether it's a friend or a couchsurfer, or no one if I'm camping.
But having spent some time in the South, and having covered almost the entire rest of the country, I think I'm comfortable in making the generalization that drivers in the South suck at driving around motorcycles.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Roll With It
Arlington, VA
When I couch surf, usually at some point in the night the person hosting me asks my opinion on what we should do - "Do you want to go out or stay in?" is the usual question. And my response, at least after the first week or so of the trip, has been the same every time.
"My philosophy on this trip is to just go with whatever happens, so you do what you want and I'll go along."
And let me tell you, that has paid off like I couldn't believe. It paid off in a big way in Seattle (twice), and it's worked out well in small ways in tons of other places, from the first night I ever couchsurfed to getting good food and seeing a random jam band in Minneapolis to having a chill day in Louisville. I can't say that every time I left my plans open, something awesome came up. But I can say that many of the really awesome times I've had wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't been as willing to adapt my schedule.
And that worked out to my advantage again yesterday.
When I couch surf, usually at some point in the night the person hosting me asks my opinion on what we should do - "Do you want to go out or stay in?" is the usual question. And my response, at least after the first week or so of the trip, has been the same every time.
"My philosophy on this trip is to just go with whatever happens, so you do what you want and I'll go along."
And let me tell you, that has paid off like I couldn't believe. It paid off in a big way in Seattle (twice), and it's worked out well in small ways in tons of other places, from the first night I ever couchsurfed to getting good food and seeing a random jam band in Minneapolis to having a chill day in Louisville. I can't say that every time I left my plans open, something awesome came up. But I can say that many of the really awesome times I've had wouldn't have been possible if I hadn't been as willing to adapt my schedule.
And that worked out to my advantage again yesterday.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Earthquake
So apparently I just experienced an earthquake.
I first noticed something while sitting at a stoplight at Thomas circle. At first I thought something was wrong with my bike, because it felt like the engine was causing the whole bike to shake. I revved the engine to see if that would fix it, but the shaking continued exactly the same.
Ticket
Washington D.C.
I stayed last night at a friend's place in Washington D.C. I spent a decent amount of time last night looking around at parking signs in the area to decide where I could/should park, and finally settled on this place:
Seems like it should be a good place to park, right? As long as I'm out there before 11:30am, 2 hours after the 2-hour parking starts, I'll be fine.
Wrong.
I stayed last night at a friend's place in Washington D.C. I spent a decent amount of time last night looking around at parking signs in the area to decide where I could/should park, and finally settled on this place:
 |
| (Picture taken in the morning) |
Wrong.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Louisville
Louisville, KY
I went a little out of my way to get to Louisville. Lexington would have been more on my way, but there didn't seem to be as many couchsurfers there, so I decided to make it up to Louisville instead. It was also partly influenced by the fact that I had been thinking about making a quick trip back to Rockford, and I would have stopped in Louisville on the way back from that trip - so Louisville had been on the schedule from that plan, and I just decided to go with it.
That turned out to be an awesome decision, as this weekend was one of the cooler couch-surfing experiences I've had.
I went a little out of my way to get to Louisville. Lexington would have been more on my way, but there didn't seem to be as many couchsurfers there, so I decided to make it up to Louisville instead. It was also partly influenced by the fact that I had been thinking about making a quick trip back to Rockford, and I would have stopped in Louisville on the way back from that trip - so Louisville had been on the schedule from that plan, and I just decided to go with it.
That turned out to be an awesome decision, as this weekend was one of the cooler couch-surfing experiences I've had.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Tourist Traps
Knoxville, TN
Yesterday I had a long day on the bike - started riding at 8:30am, got into Knoxville around 7pm. There were a couple reasons for the long ride, but the primary reason was that I was riding through the mountains, and it's slow going (though extremely fun). Add in some bad rain that I had to stop for, a lack of gas stations that mandated a detour to get to one, and some really slow, annoying cars in front of me, and the day turned pretty long.
In fact, the last few days have been pretty taxing as far as riding goes. Since leaving Tallahassee, I've had three days of at least six hours on the bike. Each one has been almost exclusively on back-roads, which means lots of little towns, lowered speed limits, stoplights, and curvy roads. It's definitely more fun on the back-roads, but it takes a toll, especially so many days in a row. And it doesn't help that the people I stayed with each night had to be out of the house early, so I woke up at 5:30 two of them, and 8 the other one.
Yesterday, after coming out of the Smoky Mountains, I went through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is right on the edge of the Smoky Mountain National Park, and Pigeon Forge is a little ways away, but they have one thing in common: they're both seemed to be giant tourist traps. And they were my least favorite parts of the entire ride yesterday.
Yesterday I had a long day on the bike - started riding at 8:30am, got into Knoxville around 7pm. There were a couple reasons for the long ride, but the primary reason was that I was riding through the mountains, and it's slow going (though extremely fun). Add in some bad rain that I had to stop for, a lack of gas stations that mandated a detour to get to one, and some really slow, annoying cars in front of me, and the day turned pretty long.
In fact, the last few days have been pretty taxing as far as riding goes. Since leaving Tallahassee, I've had three days of at least six hours on the bike. Each one has been almost exclusively on back-roads, which means lots of little towns, lowered speed limits, stoplights, and curvy roads. It's definitely more fun on the back-roads, but it takes a toll, especially so many days in a row. And it doesn't help that the people I stayed with each night had to be out of the house early, so I woke up at 5:30 two of them, and 8 the other one.
Yesterday, after coming out of the Smoky Mountains, I went through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Gatlinburg is right on the edge of the Smoky Mountain National Park, and Pigeon Forge is a little ways away, but they have one thing in common: they're both seemed to be giant tourist traps. And they were my least favorite parts of the entire ride yesterday.
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