Day eleven The Australians Arrive (of Hockeyfans trip)

Hockey says:
Dan, Chad and I got up and hit the road in search of much needed maintenance supplies for my bike. While Dan ran a few errands I changed the oil, lubed and tightened the chain, washed the bike and generally showed the girl some love after the abuse of the last ten days. After a bit Dan and his buddy Mark (RC51 owner) showed up so we could leave to go to the airport. One question, why does everyone in LA drive like they're pissed off? I mean, really pissed. Anyway we make it to the airport with about an hour to spare and after we get the flight info, we go upstairs to get a few cold ones. After we offended the waiter by not ordering food we paid and went back downstairs. Within a few minutes I hear from down the corridor "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi". The future men have arrived. I think it was Bucket yelling like that, something about not getting his cavity searched. After his first "Durry" on American soil, we left for a welcoming party at Biffs house. I would like to thank everyone who came out to welcome us to Cali. MrBiff, Night Train, Harley, FnSquirrel , GlennC, SonnyBoy, DirtyYamaha, MarkRc51, and Kaluka. The drinking started with a flask of Crown Royal Cast 16 I had brought with me from the east coast. After that I started helping Bucket with his bottle of Makers Mark. Evidently we weren't the only ones getting hammered as Dano tried to relive Buckets famous shorts pose.

Great food, great people, great dog made for a great evening that had to end far too early. I sometimes forget that most of these people have to go to work the next day. Sorry. After a little while on the interstate back to Dans house we introduced Bucket and Leggy to the bikes they've owned for the last six months. Leggy, the older and more mature world traveler of the two, promptly jumps on the Super Hawk and blasts to the end of the parking lot and back. The cops showed up not too long after that so we moved the party upstairs and tried to finish the Makers Mark. Almost did it too.

Dano says:
We roll out for supplies to service Hockey's and Chads bikes. While we were out, we stopped in at Qdoba's Mexican for a bite to eat. David says he isn't to hungry, well you sure made fast work of that lunch! Hockey was a blessing from above, he wrenched on the bikes like a mad man without any hesitation. I almost think he likes wrenching. If it wasn't for David, I would have had a melt down. I was burning the candle at both ends with a blow torch and he took so much heat off of me. Looking back I don't see or remember the stress so much, because (you) David helped me so much... not only then, the WHOLE trip when you were around. You my pal are a great person, my hat goes off to you.

We cleaned up and waited for Mark to pick us (David and I) up to go to LAX to meet the Aussies. We arrived at LAX, parked and directed ourselves to the nearest beer dispenser. All that we could find was a foo-foo restaurant upstairs, so we sat down and ordered a few rounds. We demolished a few baskets of the "free" appetizer bread. The waiter got a bit agitated that we ate the bread and drank just beers. Time to go meet and greet the foreigners, it wasn't long before I smelled a foul stench, and sure as hell, Leggy(John aka Chewie) rounded the corner. I saw Chewie easily as he towered above everyone, wondering where Bucket(Greg aka Grubbery) was I asked "what is that smell?" He pointed down, and THERE was Bucket, all 5 foot-2inches of him. He might be small, but he makes up for it in smell. Hey Bucket, are you French?

So handshakes and hugs all around before we get the luggage, we head out to the parking structure. As we are about to climb into the truck, Bucket asks to have his first smoke on 'Murrican soil. After his nicotine fix I tell Chewie to get in the front passenger seat of the truck. He goes over to the front drivers side and stands there next to Mark, I say again...."Chewie, sit in the front seat". So he stands there again looking at Mark. HaHa...we both had brain farts as he was trying to sit in the passenger seat in an Australian car,(whoops wrong side) and I didn't realize that he didn't make that connection.

We load up and tear ass to MrBiff's house to the SoCal welcome party. We arrive to the party and then make a run to the beer store for more beers. Bucket and Chewie are stunned at the prices of everything, Bucket loves America all ready because of the cheap whiskey prices. I must admit that we have some GREAT peeps here in SoCal, thanks everyone for showing up on a week night to invite these Aussies into 'Murrica. The party was excellent with awesome local BBque and plenty of tasty beers/whiskey. The cast of characters never cease to amaze me, they threw out the welcome mat to both the Aussies AND Hockey. I sure had a good night, thanks everyone...MrBiff, MrsBiff, Night Train, GlennC, Sonnyboy, Dirtyamaha, FnSquirrel, Nimec, Harley(and her girl), Kuhlka, MarkRC51, thanks so much to everyone that made that night awesome. Well the time was getting late and we had a hour drive back home, so we headed out. When we arrived to my place, the Oz fellas wanted to see their bikes. As soon as I opened the garage, Chewie had started the SuperHawk and tore ass down the parking lot and back. The cat was outta the bag Chewie can't fool me, from that stunt I knew I was dealing with an experienced rider haha. Bucket had "enjoyed" to much of the Makers Mark to test ride the Sprint, he just sat on it and started it to hear it run. I of course had to fire off the RC51 with its 2 into 1 Jardine pipes, well lets just say that they aren't exactly quite, and within a whole 30 seconds of bikes running at 10:30 at night we had disturbed the neighbors, yes the PoPo made did a drive by and warned us to stop making noise late at night. No worries, as we wanted to continue the drinking. So upstairs we go to finish off the bottle of bourbon and beers. With the dwindling supply of drinks, we made a liquor run with a Del Taco intervention, tacos and burritos for everyone. I took control of the situation about 2:30am and said its time to call it quits....Bucket said he wanted a drink or two more. Ok, but we are going to bed. With the lights off, this is what I heard. Bucket opening the balcony door, walks to the kitchen, the freezer door opening, ice falling into a glass, the cap on a bottle of bourbon being unscrewed, bourbon being poured, coke poured, the mixed drink being stirred, Bucket sipping the drink, Bucket saying, "that's the good shit", Bucket walking back outside for another durry. Ok, who was he talking to? With a beginning night of drinking like this, I knew that we were going to waste a lot of brain cells on this trip.


BUCKET says:
I remember as we were flying into LA, WTF look at the size of this place. After a 13-14 hour flight, with a baby crying a lot of the way(no not Leggy)it was great to get off the plane. After getting through customs (which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be) my beatches were there to meet us. Dano, Hockey and Dano's mate Mark. Instantly we were made to feel at home and started talking bulls#*t straight away. Then it was into Mark's truck and into the LA traffic. OMFG, talk about crazy fn Mericans. I think I had wet myself about 3 times by the time we got to Mr & Mrs Biff's house where the SoCal crew were waiting. Again, a great bunch of peeps who made us feel at home. Thanks everyone for coming to meet us. Biff had ordered in barbecue everything which we gorged ourselves on and we drank and talked a lot of s#*t. Much appreciation to all the SoCal crew and Mr Peabody. Then it was back to Dano's to check out the bikes, I was too tidly by then to take the Sprint for a lap but Chewie roared off down the parkin lot and got the cops called on us, fn trouble maker. Then we settled into some serious dranking and bulls#*ting, the rest is kinda blurry.
(wave smiley)

Day ten Moreno Valley 4316 (of Hockeyfans trip)

Hockey says:
Woke up to a heavy mist, either that or it rained during the night. I decided to abandon the coast for a while so I took Hwy 46 inland to Hwy 101. I followed that south for about a hundred miles south when i got my first indication I was getting close to southern Cali.
I called Dano and told him I was heading his way on the 101 and he suggested I stick it out on there till I saw signs for Ventura or Oxnard. That plan worked out well because that's where I saw the next indication I was in SoCal.

I will give credit where credit is due, it was a damn fine burger. The fries on the other hand were really just your run of the mill fast food fries. So I can now say my neighbor (Matt) is wrong when he says 5 Guys burgers are not the best in the states. I cruised on through Ventura, Oxnard, and Malibu on a Monday afternoon like the tourist I had become. Saw more Porsches than I could count and a few Ferraris too. I hit LA around 1:30 or so and I didn't realize I still had almost a hundred miles to go. I hadn't figured my gas for that and had to stop somewhere called Inglewood. After that traffic started to back up and I wasn't sure what the rules are for lane splitting so I just played it cool till a bike went by. I guess there are no rules concerning lane splitting, at least not so I could figure them out. Once I rolled into Dans house I kind of was torn about whether to be disappointed cause the trip is half over or pumped because it just keeps getting better.

(Dano says:)
Hockeyfans arrival to Casa de Dano

I get a call from Hockey(aka David) asking "Am I supposed to turn left or right?", and I'm thinking, where the hell are ya? Well come to find out that he is in the other side of the complex and couldn't find my building. You sly dog you.....with a bit of go this way, turn past that, he gets to my garage. It was good seeing ya David, you looked tired and ecstatic at the same time. We unpacked the bike and stashed it in the garage and went upstairs so David could clean up and have a drink to wash the road dust down. Speaking of dust, I think he had every bug there was on the front of the Triple, damn that was one dirty bike. It was definitely rode hard and put away wet/dirty.

David showered and then we cruised down to the store to buy some drinks, chips and salsa and a pair of shorts for David. We stuffed the 24 pack of Coronas in the Ventura pack and headed back to the house, time to officially start MY part of the party/trip now that Hockeyfan is here. Now the crunch time was on, I had to do a complete service on a RC51. Why? Because my mechanic buddy put me in a time-line crunch regarding my Triumph Speed Four. With some info that I found while checking the Speed Four, I decided to use my buddies RC51(thank you sooooo much Mark, I owe you big time) that he offered to me to use. Hockey and I started servicing the two bikes, changing oil, filters, cleaning the brakes/chains, changing the coolant on the RC51. It was a mad rush to get it all done. In the evening Becky came over to meet David and we all went out to dinner.

Later in the evening Nimec (Chad) showed up with his girlfriend Tiffany. They unloaded Tiffany's car that had Chads gear in it. We all talked Tiffany into staying the night with us because it was getting later and she had a long way to drive back to San Diego. The party keeps getting bigger and bigger. Hot tub time....except there isn't "hot" in the hot tub, for some reason the pump worked but the heater didn't. So some of the group (the ladies) sat in the "warm" tub and the guys went over to the fire pit and sat around the fire and finished off the remainder of the beers, listened and talked to Hockey about his adventure across the States. After the beers are gone, what do you do? Go to bed. I now had two inflatables in the front room, David on one, and Chad/Tiffany on the other. Let the snoring begin.

Day nine San Simeon CA 3989 (of Hockeyfans trip)

What they don't tell you in the tour guide is its always foggy along the coast in northern California. What can I say about the PCH that hasn't already been said. Even with the fog and mist this section of real estate is phenomenal. I couldn't resist stopping and taking pictures every few miles. I bounced between Hwy 1 and Hwy 101 for a while till I got to San Francisco.

The visitor parking area where I took that last pic was a mad house and it was here I remembered lane splitting in CA is legal. Sweet. I hadn't given it much thought but I had managed to avoid every major city all the way across the country. If I did have to go through one I made sure the tank was full enough to get completely past it before I got off the interstate. Not the case with San Fran. Hwy 101 takes you right through it. I managed to find my way south to the PCH again and started the stopping for pics every 10 minutes again all the way down to San Simeon State Park. I think I was the only English speaking person there, everyone else seemed to be European. I had saw signs for Hearst Castle but I didn't know what it was. Cell phone reception along the coast is spotty at best so my plan to google it for a possible morning visit was foiled. Big mistake. That place makes the short list for places to see before I'm done.

Day eight Jenner CA 3662 (of Hockeyfans trip)

I got up early feeling very well rested and I guess 11 hours of sleep will do that for you. I apologized to my neighbors for crashing so early and they apologized for being so loud during the night. No worries I don't think a marching band would have bothered me that night. I continued on Hwy 20 towards the coast but ended up heading south down to Auburn CA. I was trying to figure out where I was and pick a route to the coast when a guy asked what kind of bike I was riding. Long story short he rides and helped put me back on track. Since I had an extra day to kill and wasn't in a hurry he suggested I follow 20 through Willits to Fort Bragg. Good suggestion. Hwy 20 from Willits to Ft Bragg was 33 miles of heaven. Tight twisty fresh pavement lined by redwoods and every car you catch politely pulls to the side so you can pass. Got a good workout on that stretch of road. As soon as I hit the PCH I saw the pacific. It was foggy and 10 degrees cooler than it had been 10 miles ago but I was still pumped. I did it. I just rode my bike across the country.

Dina decided to reward me with a Hotel room and a nice dinner on her. Due to some confusion I ended up paying for the room but she still picked up the tab for dinner. She wasn't real happy it happened to be a $60 steak dinner but I promised to bring her back to this very same restaurant and I would buy next time.

Day seven Grass valley CA 3330 miles (of Hockeyfans trip)

I knew crossing NV would suck and it didn't disappoint. I got up early and rolled out at 6:30, I stayed after it and hit Cali by 1:30. Here is a pic from the road.
When I hit Cali on I-80 The road was in terrible shape and just felt like it was beating the crap out of me. Luckily I wasn't on it for very long. I hit Hwy 20 and headed into Grass Valley CA. The campground I planned to stay at advertised campsites with no water electric or sewer hookups for $20 a night. When I pulled up to the office and went to check in they asked where my camper was. I tell them I'm riding my bike across the country I didn't bring a camper, she tells me I can't sleep in a tent there. Only in Cali do you find a campground that doesn't allow camping. On the positive side they did have a cool statue near the entrance.

I called Dina and like the angel she is she found me a campground not too far away that allowed "tent" camping and I pulled in and set up camp while it was still pretty early. I got to talking to the people camping next to me and they were blown away that I rode all the way from Bonneville that day. I guess the fact that I left the east coast just a week ago was not that impressive. I wish I could remember their names because they were some really nice people and I felt bad for drinking one beer they offered and promptly falling asleep at about 7:30. I can be such a lightweight sometimes.

Day six 2804 miles Wendover NV (of Hockeyfans trip)

I continued down Hwy 89 with the intention of hitting Hwy 39 into Ogden UT and meeting up with Jpip. Hwy 89 has some very nice sections down through the canyons but the trees and close canyon walls make it hard to get a good pic so I didn't. I saw a real live cattle drive in progress crossing the road here. Somehow I missed the turn and ended up in Logan UT which is not too far from the interstate and a long way from Hwy 39. Oh well I'll wait and meet Jpip in Vegas. I hit the interstate and rolled through Salt Lake City and got a pretty good look at the lake the city was named after. No idea if it was deep but it sure was wide.

After that I hit one of the most boring stretches of pavement imaginable. A hundred miles of NOTHING. Seemed like it took forever but it couldn't have been that long because I rolled into Wendover UT early enough to hit the Salt flats.

This, to a gear head like me, is hallowed ground. I rode out onto the salt flats and started to toy with the idea of seeing what speedy had in her without the bags. It didn't take long to figure out salt does not equal traction and I didn't have my jacket on. So I got back on the pavement and rode off into the sunset at a reasonable speed. Ok I was really going away from the sunset and I hit 137mph.

Day five 2433 miles Alpine WY (of Hockeyfans trip)

This was the first day I didn't cross a state line. I followed Hwy 16 out of Worland and into a light rain. Nothing too severe so I didn't even put my rain suit on, only lasted about an hour anyway. Along the way I spotted a few planes on the side of the road, some were being stripped down and others looked like they could be flown.

By the time I made it to Cody WY it had stopped raining and the sun was starting to come out. Just in time for me to roll through one of my favorite spots on the whole trip. Buffalo Bill's State Park. I could fill this page with pictures from there but I'll just hit you with a few. If you want to see more or want the full res versions email me.

After that little slice of awesome I continued on Hwy 16 to Yellowstone National Park. Some of the roads were closed so I didn't do the full loop through but the shorter one instead. I pretty much knew what to expect in yellow stone so I can't say I was blown away like I was in a few other places that day. Well I didn't expect this.

Leaving the park I had to ride about 10 miles of dirt road that was mostly a construction zone. A normal dirt road would have been fine but this one ranged from loose sand and gravel to fist size stone sections to areas that were hard packed and full of potholes. As you can imagine I didn't ride this far to get stuck in traffic on a dusty road behind a row of single lane cars so I was still a bit annoyed after I passed them and got back to the paved stuff when I came upon the most impressive sight of the entire trip. The Grand Tetons. Holy cow what a sight. Like I said before for more or better pics send me an email.

I called the wife and asked her to help me find a campsite south of Jackson and she came up with one in Alpine. The office where you registered was a bar and you couldn't check in till you ordered a drink (That's my story and I'm sticking to it). After I got the tent set up and the bike unloaded I treated myself to a few Black Tooth Grins (thanks Leggy) and slept like a baby.