Train North of Reno, NV, USA

This wasn’t however, the way to experience the USA anyway – if anything I had learned on the trip that the fast highways were the least interesting.  My only recountable experience was being stopped by a Montana state trooper for, it transpired, not having a working headlight. Being sure my headlight hadn’t failed I was genuinely surprised, this he took as confirmation of my complicity in contravening said traffic law, giving himself a small smug smirk.  Having dealt with my share of Latin-American policemen it all felt a bit rote and I was quite smugly satisfied myself when I turned the ignition and the faintest glimmer came off the headlight in that bright western-Montana sun.  Seeing that he found this to be a difficult turn of events I immediately launched into a mindless blabber about how the Kawasaki KLR650 stator didn’t produce enough electricity to power a brighter headlight and yes it worried me to to no end, however the upgrade was very expensive…  It was time to change topic and tact, so I introduced the notion of my 40,000 km voyage and with indignation recounted the nine corrupt! police officers I had met.  This was enough to throw him off completely and so after he had asked me enough about this he fumbled something about being careful out there and disconcertedly wandered back to his car.

Lake towards Oregon from Nevada, USA

I awoke on my final day of driving in Battle Creek, Michigan to find my bike had no power. After a return trip to Walmart with a procured battery my bike was ready to go.

the barn after the trip, Ancaster, On, Canada

The trip - excluding the Los Angeles to Vancouver to Toronto portion

	North of Reno, NV, USA	Train North of Reno, NV, USA	Lake towards Oregon from Nevada, USA
Lake towards Oregon from Nevada, USA	Farm equipment en route to Eugene, Oregon, USA	English Bay, Vancouver, BC, Canada	English Bay, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Windy Bridge, Western Washington, USA	Mountains, Montana, USA	Barn, Ancaster, On, Canada	Barn, Ancaster, On, Canada

Distance and Elevation Profile Vancouver, BC to Ancaster, On Across the Northern US

Vancouver to Ancaster, ON

Waterfalls,Yosemite Valley, CA, USA

Yosemite Valley, CA, USA

Waterfalls, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA

As it was getting on in the day we started looking for a campsite (everything was full in Yosemite) on Evergreen Road just north of the park in a national forest, but along the way came across a couple of black bears crossing the road.

Ambling Bear, North of Yosemite, CA, USA

We drove a bit farther and found a ‘lodge’ and gratefully drank some Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and had some fancy burgers.  After asking the waiter about places to sleep he told us that the fire road right around the corner would be fine for free camping. So in the dark and with the bears present in our minds we setup camp.  Camp for Mike wasn’t more than a sleeping bag because of an earlier misunderstanding between us meant that we only had my single-man tent.

The next morning, after breakfast we drove along the 108 through the forest toward the Sonora Pass that a biker yesterday had said was not to be missed.  Mike had to return to Hollister so at Strawberry, CA we went our separate ways.

Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA

The drive from Strawberry, CA to the pass was excellent tight twisty road over little hills along a river and then a steep climb up to about 9000 ft through the snow line.  There was some frozen snow-melt on the road and lots of gravel from the winter clearing which made for a few unpleasant surprises.

Snow bank, Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA-2

The snow is still quite deep up in the mountains but dissipated as the road wound sharply down out of the Sierra’s near the Nevada border.  The highway 395 towards Carson City, NV was a bit desolate and boring so I decided to head back into the mountains on the 89 towards Lake Tahoe, CA.

Nevada, USA Climbing towards Lake Tahoe, CA

The road then became more interesting again and curved along a river through scrub and pine with copper coloured hills and snowy mountain-tops along the sides.  I drove through sprawling South Lake Tahoe and then over another pass and along the flat 395 again to Reno, Nevada.  Reno seems pretty desolate and the difference in money/education is quite distinct from the plush California towns.

Lake Tahoe, CA, USA

Mike, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Waterfalls,Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Waterfalls,Yosemite Valley, CA, USA
Waterfalls,Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Mike, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Waterfalls,Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Yosemite Valley, CA, USA
Half Dome, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Wateralls, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Leaving, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Leaving, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA
Leaving , Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA
, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Waterfalls, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Waterfalls, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Waterfalls, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA
Waterfalls, Yosemite Valley, CA, USA	Bear, North of Yosemite, CA, USA	Bear, North of Yosemite, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA
Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA
Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA
Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Sonora Pass, Hwy 108, CA, USA	Nevada, USA
Toward Lake Tahoe, CA, USA	Toward Lake Tahoe, CA, USA	Lake Tahoe, CA, USA	Lake Tahoe, CA, USA

Distance and Elevation Profile - Yosemite, CA to Reno, NV USA

Gilroy, CA to Reno, NV GPX

Situated beside Beverly Hills, between Sunset Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd, his apartment in ‘WEHO’ offers a fine vantage point to view the well manicured and in bloom gardens while pretty people in expensive cars zoom to and fro.  Seemingly carefree (and underemployed or not in need of employment) casually and fashionably dressed people, mostly younger men, stroll up and down Santa Monica Blvd. fiddling with their mobile phones or eating salads in the cafe’s that line the street gossiping about the passarela.

The weekends’ (at least in the summer) social activity centers around pool parties. On Jay’s suggestion we went to one in the Hollywood Hills above Sunset Blvd on Saturday afternoon. Ostensibly a fundraiser, it was held at a money manager’s house with a fine view of the sprawling county of Los Angeles.  The white house perched on a hill, flanked by a canyon, opened on a pool deck crowded with the shirtless, buff and tanned bodies, vaguely swaying to the loud music.  While actual swimming wasn’t particularly popular, there was a swimsuit ‘fashion show’, and a bad singing performance that mixed a female singer making club music-like vocal wails counterbalanced by  faux-machismo rapping from her male counterpart.  Jay’s friend Brian entertained me with biting commentary about everyone that walked by – just about within earshot…

Pool Party

We finished the evening in Angelino fashion by driving across the vast urban expanse to Venice for tapas.  Jay noted the star of the Mad Men series at the bar next to us.  He like everyone else in the bar was glued to the televisions watching the basketball game.

Venice Beach

Regarding my bike, it arrived as promised at the Continental Airlines cargo terminal at LAX airport. I was given a stack of papers and we drove about 5 minutes to the US customs office. Despite an organized system of take-a-ticket and wait to be called (a relief after Central American border behaviour), and two ‘officers’, it still took 30 minutes to get from #32 to #35.  The bored, professional, Mexican customs agents waiting alongside seemed to be quite familiar with this game.  The border agents would disappear from the windows to their desks and not come back while every two minutes or so another one would walk by the windows and re-stack all the papers that were sitting on the desk.

This should only take 5 but takes 1 hour Paperless US Customs Document

When my number came up the agent was flummoxed by this novelty of a Canadian registered motorbike arriving in the US from Argentina.  It needed an Environmental Protection Agency waiver. I pointed out that I drive it into the US from Canada without such a waiver anytime I want. This did not compute.  So I was given forms that neither she nor I understood how to fill out correctly. I made up half of the information including the waiver number (which I did not have) and  this was all accepted. I happily picked up my bike and drove back to Hollywood.

Near Big Sur, Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA

I left Sunday morning for the drive to meet Mario, Mike, and Rick (the three KLR riders I had met in Guanajuato, MEX months ago) in Hollister, CA.  Driving up the Pacific Coast Highway is pleasant with good views of the ocean, beaches, and mountains – although crowded with slow drivers…

Lighthouse, Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA

Sun Setting, Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA

Jay at the Oompa Loompa Gate, Contienental Cargo, LAX, CA. USA	Bike at LAX,CA. USA	Jay Pool Party, Hollywood, CA, USA	Brian, Pool Party, Hollywood, CA, USA
Pool Party, Hollywood, CA, USA	Pool Party, Hollywood, CA, USA	This should only take 5 but takes 1 hour Paperless US Customs Document	Abott Kinney, Venice, LA, CA, USA
North of LA, California, USA	North of LA, California, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA
Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA
Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA	Pacific Coast Highway 1, CA, USA

Los Angeles to Gilroy, CA, USA GPX

1. Contact the following person at the agents (Navicon) in order to be given a time/date to show up at the  Buenos Aires International Airport (EZE) Cargo Terminal.  I would suggest showing up in Buenos Aires one week before you want the bike to fly.DOLORES  WOODYATT
   LAVALLE 482 Buenos Aires – Argentina (First Floor of Building)
   NAVICON  S.A.
   Dpto. Exportación Aerea.
   TEL: 5288-1664
   FAX: 5288-1675
2. Drive the bike to the cargo terminal (explaining you are going to ‘Franco’ in Exportaciones). Get there by 10am, otherwise the Aduana will go off for lunch from noon-2pm and you’ll have to wait to get customs clearance for the export.
3. Find Franco and someone will give you an entry to the cargo area paper
4. Drive the bike into the warehouse
5. Remove most of the gasoline from the tank
6. Disconnect the battery terminals
7. Lower the bike height as much as possible (removing mirrors, windshield, and any top-case if it makes a difference).  The width wasn’t important as the pallet the bike will be put on was wider than my KLR650 with two 1550 Pelican side cases on a luggage rack.In my case I left the 1560 Pelican top case on the bike (it was too much work to get in on their in the first place) and it didn’t seem to affect the price of shipping as the front faring is quite high relatively.
   

   KLR650 on pallet, aduana inspection, Buenos Aires Airport

8. You’ll be asked to put the bike on the wooden pallet they build for you. Customs (Aduana) will then show up and inspect the bike.   Franco will tell you the airline/customs want you to only have articles directly related to the motorcycle on the bike (e.g. no clothing other than motorcycle gear, no camping or other things you typically have on this sort of trip).  However I assured him that I didn’t (even though I did have two cases mostly full of clothes and camping gear).  I tried to hide them a bit behind the ‘legitimate’ articles.  The customs lady glanced at my top case and didn’t even look in my side cases and approved the bike for shipping.
   

   KLR650 wrapped for shipping, Buenos Aires Airport

9. They’ll strap down the bike to the pallet and wrap it in thick cling-film plastic sheets.
10. When you finish with the procedures at the airport, the following day you have to go to the Navicon office (at the address in #1 above) in microcentro to pay and get the air way bill. LAVALLE 482 1er Piso – Buenos Aires – ArgentinaThey will tell you how much you have to pay and you will go to the bank beside the office to deposit in the bank account of the company the money (cash only – Pesos or USD).With the ticket of the deposit come back to the office (7th floor office this time) and you’ll be given the Air Way Bill and documents to pick up the bike at your destination.  Apparently you can track progress of the bike on Continental’s web site with the master way bill number at the top of the documents you receive.
11. If you are shipping to the USA then your bike will arrive in Houston by air and then put on a truck for delivery to the final destination – if Continental does have air cargo service to the final location. I was told that it will arrive two days after the flight in Los Angeles – so it takes two flights but no trucking.   I brought the bike on Thursday to the airport and it won’t fly until Tuesday.
12. Costs to fly the KLR650 motorcycle from Buenos Aires (EZE) to Los  Angeles (LAX): $1187 dollars to Navicon and Continental in total. $100 to Sandra at Dakar Motors – I don’t think using Sandra for this was necessary.  The breakdown of the costs (USD) is approximately:$634 to Continental for the flight
    $180 in charges Continental pays and are charged back to you
    $340 to Navicon for the pallet and brokerage.

I had been told “You couldn’t pay  me to go to Mexico right now.”, “They will take your stuff and kill you if you give them any problems.”, “They have helicopters, Hummers, and automatic weapons – they are stronger than the Army”, “The US Army should just go down there and blow all their ship up.”, etc.  I was told that Monterrey was particularly bad and since this was were I was intending passing through, I thought about it for a while and decided on a more direct route to the border area in Mexico that I was interested in – Chihuahua state’s Copper Canyon (Barranca De Cobre).  So I spent the night in Del Rio and continued on around Big Bend park in Southern Texas  heading towards the Presidio, TX/Ojinaga, MX crossing.  I was stopped by border control outside of Del Rio and passed several other border checkpoints as I approached Presidio.

Desert Road HWY 67 To Presidio	Bike Being Repaired	Lake Outside Del Rio	Desert
Desert Cactus	Canyon	Canyon	Canyon
Bike	Bridge over Riverbed	Riverbed	Riverbed
Riverbed	Riverbed	Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90
Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90	Bike	Desert Road 90
Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90
Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90	Desert Road 90
Desert Road 67	Desert Road HWY 67 To Presidio

After speaking with a border patrolman and the chamber of commerce people in Presidio I feel reasonably confident about traveling to Chihuahua city (and then on to Creel, MX) even on the non-toll route.  I’m nervous but all the things I’ve read seem to indicate the problems  affect Mexican Americans and Mexicans mostly and violence directed at foreigners not involved in the drug trade seems much less common.

Here are some graphics from the reports:

Mexican Drug Deaths By Numbers

Mexican Drug Gangs Spheres of Influence

US Citizen Murders/Kidnappings Related to Mexico

Sealy, Houston, Del Rio, Presidio

Texas has been true to form with large SUV trucks everywhere and not very appealing scenery.

Bad Food



I left this morning with the intention of stopping in Houston to get a new front tire and then continuing on all the way to the border town of McAllen  in the very south-east corner of Texas.  The rain started as I arrived at the CycleGear shop in Houston. Speaking with the Mexican-American clerk about the border crossing and violence along the border I confirmed my approach of driving a few hours south of the border then going across Northern Mexico should be safe enough.

2nd Attempt - Bike Being Repaired

Houston Repair Shop

Where my bike will hopefully be in the morning

A Shell station was on the corner with 4 Mexicans standing around – one of whom helpfully pointed out I had a flat tire.  I then tried to manually inflate it, then used the tire Slime stuff but it wouldn’t even go into the tire – not sure if it can be done when it’s totally flat. So I’ve checked into a hotel and am lucky that there seems to be a Kawasaki dealer in the town so hopefully in the morning I can get them to pickup the bike and repair it – if the bike isn’t stripped or stolen overnight.



Orange TX, to Sealy TX

Me and The Alabama Locals

Despite the promise of heavy thunderstorms en route I had to escape the Forest Hostel Hippies and so made my way towards New Orleans.  I did get soaked and then stopped at a closed restaurant with about 20 rocking chairs facing suburban parking lots and box shops.

Cold In The Rain Waiting

I happily came across a camp site on a lake near De Funiak Springs, FL as it was approaching 4pm. The rest of the camp was RV’s who parked up near the bathroom so I had the whole lake front to myself, with free wood, internet, and clean bathrooms.  The owners even brought me a sleeping bag because they thought it too cold to spend the night in a tent.

Forest Hostel, GA To Bass Haven Lake, FL

Lower 9th Ward - Brad Pitt Replacement Houses

The following day I drove mostly on Interstate 10 until about 1/2 from New Orleans and then took the ‘scenic route’ state highway 90.   Passed through swamps (Bayou’s?) and saw houses on stilts and what looks like hurricane damage.  Arrived at the India House hostel – which is a noisy zoo and shared some  wine with an American and an Australian.  We went out to the French Quarter around Bourbon street and drank

beer and listened to some music sung by an inordinately fat fellow.  Seems like the bars don’t

Italianate House Garden District NOLA

necessarily close in New Orleans, so it was a late night. I managed to break my camera somehow so today’s first order of business was to go to Best Buy to get a cheap replacement – pictures of ‘Brad Pitt’ houses in the lower 9th ward are taken with it for comparison.  Toured around the hurricane damage, and the Garden District, and the city park.

Diner en Route To NOLA	Lunar Lander Mississipi Border	Diner en Route to NOLA 2	Causeway Outside NOLA
Waiting for the rain to subside	Causeway NOLA	Bass Haven Campground	Gulf Stilts Houses
Bass Haven tent	Gulf Stilts Houses	Bass Haven me	Blurry Pizzaria Near Hostel
Bass Haven Dusk	Garden District House	Garden District House	Garden District Italianate House
Lower 9th Brad Pitt House	Lower 9th Brad Pitt House	Lower 9th Brad Pitt House	The new levee
The new levee	The new levee	Lower 9th Brad Pitt House	Abandoned Hurricane House
Burnt and Abandoned	Spanish Moss Tree in City Park	Me and Moss

Bass Haven Lake, FL to New Orleans, LA

A Better TreeHouse (reserved for the indoctrinated)

After waiting around the hostel all day for UPS to deliver a new GPS (which was no longer necessary because my old one recovered itself somehow) I planned my next stop after leaving Charleston, SC.  I had heard of the hostel in the forest from a guy in a bar who said he always stopped there when in the area.  The web site  described a very hippy/new-agey sounding place where one sleeps in tree-houses, the toilets compost with sawdust, and communal vegan dinner is served in a common house. A sample quote:

Almost out of a canoe

These sentiments filled me with dread but my interest was piqued by the notion of sleeping in a tree-house and getting the inside dope on all the talk of intentional community that I’d been hearing since staying in hostels on this trip.  So with only incorrectly input latitude/longitude coordinates (ignorance on my part) and no small measure of fear of the phrase intentional community,

Path Not To Be Driven On

I arrived a collection of vehicles parked near a bamboo gate with a wide sandy path leading into the forest.   On my Rambo-influenced motorbike I was eyed suspiciously by two twenty-somethings unloading a pickup truck. I confirmed that the path indeed lead to the hostel and proceeded to head down the path only to be  yelled at by one of the disgruntled community members.  My second failure came upon registration – the messy dreadlocked fellow’s first act of greeting was to spread his arms – my inability to be sufficiently huggy with strangers must have registered on my face as he hesitated and then we engaged in a sort of chest-bumping hug and my hand rubbed a greasy dreadlock against his back.

My 'Treehouse'

I was then engaged in a tour explaining the glass house -ideal for mediation in the morning apparently, or yoga if the fancy took me as it apparently does others.  Next stop included an overly detailed description and inspection of the workings of the composting-sawdust toilet and how the resulting material was then used to fertilize the forest floor – but no longer the food that was being grown and served for dinner as the state had forbade it despite their own research which had attested to it’s safety.

After being lead past the outdoor showers (clothing optional – what a relief), and zen rock maze. I was shown my treehouse known as the screen house – as it had screens for walls.  It isn’t particularly treehouse-like and doesn’t have a light unlike many of the others.  I took a canoe around the lake and almost fell in taking a picture of myself with the camera on the platform in the middle of the lake.

Hostel Main House

The dinner bell gonged once, and then again signifying it was time to eat. When we were gathered in the dining hall everyone formed a circle and held hands.   It was then announced by the ringleader (the one who had shouted to me when I tried to drive down the garden path) that we would be going around the circle announcing who we were, where we were from, and what we were thankful for.  It turns out I was thankful for finding a place to stay that wasn’t a Motel 6.  Many of the others were effusive and imaginative in their thanks – thanks for toes and elbows, thanks for the wood I was able to chop today, the sky etc.   My favourite was the meta-thanks – “thanks for all the beautiful

Creepy Hostel Photo Wall

thankful people here today”.   After a brown rice, vegetable curry, and salad dinner which was good in that hippy/vegan way, we were instructed by that most taciturn ringleader that we were to take turns cleaning up.

All the long-term inmates appear to be either blissed-out, smiling Stepford Wive’s smiles,or mean like the ringleader. There was however one motorcyclist hippy who seemed to be good humoured about it – but even with him I didn’t try out any sarcasm or humour in the face of this onslaught of dogmatic thankful happiness.

Better Treehouse	Savannah, GA	Savannah, Ga	View from my Treehouse
My Treehouse
			Better Treehouse
Intentional Gifts	Ducks	Duck	Main house
Glass House Meditation Pond	Better Treehouse	Me Meditating	Park Art
Hostel Photos	Hostel Photos	Community Buildings	Community Kitchen
Community Pond	Community Pond	Community Path Not to be driven on

Savannah To The Forest Hostel

Rusted Trucks Outside Augusta Georgia

After being disappointed with Athens, GA I stopped halfway to Charleston in Augusta Georgia.  It was the worst of the towns stayed in – geographically dispersed, bombed-out empty lots between big roads, along with Walmarts and supermarkets and motels. The downtown wasn’t much better – no one about except some black fellows walking around.   There was a coffee shop, which in like many of these towns contains all the hipness and awareness of the world that the rest of the town has none of.   It’s as if they exist in completely different worlds.

The drive was half through small towns on state roads, and the last leg on an interstate right into Charleston. I was woken at 5am and again at 6:30  by another guy in the dorm of the hostel who was determined to pack and zip zips in the room for 45

Central Charleston House

minutes.  He then proceeded to apply lotion to his entire body while naked in the middle of the room.  The blasting heat combined with the sounds of lotion being rubbed fastidiously onto skin and nauseating odor forced me out on a walking tour of the town at 7:30am.  Otherwise, the hostel is pleasant with lots of friendly foreigners and Americans – I went out with some last night to bar/restaurant and heard gossip about famous people who come to Charleston – e.g. Ted Turner keeps a young mistress in a central Charleston house that he’s been having renovated for her.  Central Charleston is quite charming with tons of well preserved and decaying old southern lowlands houses.

Comics in Coffeehouse bathroom	Sign In Augusta	Sign in Augusta	Rusted trucks
Old Garage	Old Garage	Part of the NotSo Hostel	Charleston House
Charleston House	Charleston House	Charleston House	Charleston House
Charleston House	King St Downtown Charleston

Augusta, GA to Charleston, SC

Athens, GA to Augusta, GA