Chilling in Florida

Well Monday came and I did the last minute meter readings and handed my house over to Wendy and Jeremy :-)
My friend Tony and Stella came to take me to the train station, it was a very emotional send off as I suddenly realised I was off once more !

I did struggle with my over laden bag, which contained most of my camping and riding equipment, I had already posted out a 10kg box to Doug's with my tent and some of my camping equipment.
I don't think I realised how hard it was to pack! normally most of my gear is on my bike.

The train ride was quite uneventful and finally arrived at my hotel. The food was really overpriced at the hotel so I did what I normally do... went to find a chippie!

Tuesday morning found me awake at dawn, don't know what it was but I just couldn't sleep!
On arrival at the airport I found there was a delay on my flight but they did not have a take off time.

I had stuffed my motorbike jacket pockets with any thing that would fit, I also had a huge bum bag stuffed with equipment as I was struggling to meet the 20kg luggage restriction. Then I found that my bag was too big for the check in and I had to take it up to oversized luggage, I was a bit sneaky here and took off the oversized bum bag and put it back into my bag.
I managed to get away with taking my helmet on the flight as well as my backpack as I said it was like a handbag! So I slung it over my shoulder just as you would a handbag!

I know now for the return leg I will post all the stuff back and travel with a small bag.

After a 4 hour delay the flight took off and I soon had my ear plugs in and slept for most of the flight.

We arrived at 7 Florida time (midnight UK time) and it took about a hour to get thru Immigration. I asked for another 6 months and was granted it with a nice big smile.

I then picked up my bag and headed out of the airport, I was then stopped at the final Customs check. He asked me where I was going and what I was carrying, thats where all the problems started. As soon as I said 6 months he started grilling me!
Then he took me to another desk and they opened ever single item I was carrying.
I have to laugh though, when he opened my first aid kit he asked if they were all prescription items, I said Yes, then he said "what will you do when you run out". I said "no problem I can get most of the stuff from Walmark, however the COCAINE may be a problem.... of course I meant to say CODINE!! I very quickly corrected myself!
I then went thru a further 2 interviews, they were concerned at how much time I had spent in the states and how much time I was wanting to stay this time.
So I will try and find a consulate and check whether I can do Mexico and South America and of course be allowed back into the states.... If not, I will have to do plan B...... your right I really dont have a plan B at this time lol

So finally at 10 o'clock they say I am free to leave the airport and I head off to find my rental car.
I had rented a small cheap car and they were pushing for me to upgrade, I said No happy with a little one.
Then they said they had no small cars and gave me a mid sized one, however that one wouldnt start and then it took another 2 cars till they found one that actually worked!
I got myself a little Ford Fiesta and headed off for a 200 mile drive to Dougs house. I think by this time I was running on overtime! funny thing is, I was wide awake while driving.
I finally arrived just before 2 in the morning (which I worked out at being 6 in the morning in the UK).
The first thing I did was throw my leg over my Suzuki DL650 Wee strom.... only then did I remember how tall these bikes are!

Oh I cant wait to ride

 Thankfully I have brought some Dog bones with me so I can lower the bike a little... looks like I will have to look for high heeled riding boots lol.

Its now Sunday and I have been pottering around doing little bits and pieces to the bike, Doug also let me use a little Honda v twin so I was able to get into town and do some shopping.

Yesterday was my 51st Birthday, it was great to read all the greeting on facebook. I spent it almost on my own.... I did have the cat for company.... and oh boy, did we party lol

Doug's back in the next few days, so its a case of loading the bike onto the trailer and go to DMV (think DVLA for the UK readers) and get the bike registered and get a plate for it.....
and then I will head out somewhere :-)

I wonder what Alaska looks like ?

Well I have been home for almost 6 months and I have to say, once the initial excitement of seeing my family and friends, I was feeling down in the dumps and missing riding my bike everyday.

So about a month or so I manage to find a Suzuki Vstrom DL650 out in America and with great help from my friend Doug I managed to buy it.
Though there was lots of hassle with the bank transfer it was eventually all sorted and Doug picked it up the bike and  brought it back to Florida.

It still needs registering which fingers crossed I should have that all sorted out in the next few weeks. Mind you if I wanted it easy, I would have booked to go with Ewan and Charley on their next adventure lol

My 2007 ABS wee strom with 15,000 miles on it.... wonder how many miles will be on it when I have finished

My original plan was to head out in July, then I found out that Doug was away and I didn't have a working bike to go to Finland, so I had to cancel a few things and ask my future Tenants if they were happy with an early move in and they were.

So I took the plunge and booked to fly out on Tuesday the 14th of May.

Then it hit me that the last time I left on a packed bike, this time I would be flying out with all my kit. The trouble is my riding and camping gear came to well over 30kg  so I sent a box out to Doug's with all my camping gear. 

Though I have been unpacking and repacking and re-weighing my bag quite a lot!!

My rough plan is to get to Florida, sort out the bike and make my way North to Alaska for June/July.

Then head South to Sturgis, then back along the West coast to the Californian HuBB meet, where I will give a presentation on my Gambia Scooter trip in 2012.

By then my 6 months visa will be up and I will head through Mexico towards South America for the Winter months.

Return to USA in 2014 and end up back at Doug's, where I will probably leave the bike for him to sell for me (unless I get a crazy idea and decide to ride back via Russia!).

So that's it so far, tomorrow morning I will hand my house over and take a train to Manchester, right now though I am still busy packing storage boxes.

oh and I also thought I would just keep adding to this blog rather than start a new one :-)

Final update for this trip

It seems an age since I last posted here!
Looking back its been a few months and I now find myself sat at home, freezing my butt off and dreaming of my next adventure :-)

So I left you in Jacksonville were I had a lovely few days with my Uncle and Aunt catching up on laundry and generally just chilling, soon my trip would be over,

So to recap where I had been for the last 7 months, I left the UK in May 2012, rode through Holland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Russia, Mongolia, Russia, South Korea (Whilst shipping the bike I flew to Thailand and Cambodia) Canada and finally the USA.

Learning how to fire an arrow !

My Uncle Chris showed my how to fire a bow and arrow, I wasnt that good and every time I launched an arrow the string would hit my nose !

So having chilled for a few days I headed over to the East coast to Daytona, Here I decided that the official trip would end here. Coast to Coast ! 7 and 1/2 months and 20,000 miles, this would be the end ( to be honest the vibrations in the bike handlebars had become that bad, I awoke everyday with the idea of "Just finish the mission", which was such a shame because I had a great time in completing it.

Daytona Beach, the official end of the trip

So I spent a few days chilling in Daytona before heading South West to my good friend Doug and Polly ( I had met Polly at their campsite in Bulgaria ... heres the link http://motosapiens.org )

I had also met up with Doug a couple of times during the trip, first being in Sturgis when he was taking part in the Cannonball run and then when he came to my rescue in Lake City with a spare rear tyre.

By now it was nearly the end of November and I was spending most of my time researching to see if it was possible to leave my bike in the USA and sell it for parts. However due to the regulations this was not possible and I had to ship the bike back home from Miami.

When December arrived I knew it was time to get moving again, after nearly a fortnight at Doug and Pollys I was beginning to enjoy myself too much, they treated me so well and I felt really spoilt :-)

Polly and Doug.... Land ahoy !!

Now this is what I call being spoilt !

 

So I was back on the road with one final stop, Miami. Here I would drop off my bike with the shippers and hire a car for a week before flying back to the UK. I was slightly worried because I did have a bit of play on my rear wheel, but luckily the bearing held out till I reached the shippers. Shipping was fairly simple, drop off the bike, check the paperwork and then pay the fee.

Swapping the bike for a hire car was quite a luxury after 8 months of riding. I decided that I would travel North to Orlando. Stopping off at the Kennedy Space Centre before having a few days on International drive as I wanted to see the new Harry Potter park in Universal.

Ive been to Orlando a few times but never on my own and to be honest dont think I would do it on my own again, the trouble was I found I was almost talking to myself most of the time..... first sign of madness I think !

Then it was a flight to Gatwick, which the check in desk gave me 3 seats to myself so I slept most of the flight. Then a train to Newcastle before finally arriving home.

The weather in the UK was freezing !!! and as a result of it I spent the first few weeks with a horrendous cold and spent most of it curled up on the sofa dying !

It was fantastic to be back with my family and friends, however once xmas passed I began staring at the maps on my wall or spinning my little globe in the kitchen.

I realised then I was missing something big in my life..... Travelling ! 

So I am now making plans. I will be at the HUBB meet in Donnington were I will be giving a talk on my round the world trip, also I have booked to go to Finland with the VSOC for the International rally (though I may look a bit odd, hundreds of cruiser bikes and me on my little Suzuki 250!)

In July 2013 I intend to set off over the water and hopefully make it down to South America :-) 

I would just like to thank all that supported me during this fantastic life changing trip :-)

Ride Safe

Will

Home alone !

Well I am now at home....... but I have no regular internet until Feb when my phone gets put back on line !!

I promise I will do a full write up of my last few weeks in the USA and how it felt when I got home...... also will do a breakdown of highs and lows and what equipment worked and what didnt !!!

The end is nigh !

Well time and time again I say " I must update my blog" then I do some washing, check the bike over, crack open a beer or two and end up watching telly !!!
Of course I dont watch telly when I am camping ! but I do tend to snuggle up in bed and watch a movie on my laptop and of course most campsites do not have WiFi !

Well in the next couple of days I will end this part of the Journey, 7 1/2 months and roughly 20,000 miles to circumnavigate the world !East to East :-)

Im not far off but at the moment I am staying with my Uncle and Aunt in Jacksonville for a few days rest before heading of to the East coast and completing the mission !

So I last wrote I was heading towards Las Vegas, well I had a couple of cracking days and found a motel just off the main drive at a very good rate. I spent the days wandering up and down looking at the massive casinos and all the florescent signs that are found every where in Vegas !

I also took the night bus tour, this was a $20 tour which took place aboard a London open topped double decker bus. I soon made friends with a couple and had a fantastic night, The trip also included a 90 minute stop in old downtown, where I saw a spectacular light show

What a fantastic place ! I would have loved to have stayed for a week or more.

From Vegas I headed over the Hoover dam and onwards to Arizona,

I did start to ride more on the Interstate roads ( think motorways), but every now and then I would drop off onto smaller back roads.

Thru Arizona and then thru New Mexico, Miles and miles of nothing ! I also took the time to do some of the old Route 66, I was quite disappointed ! nothing of note to see apart from a few touristy type shops and cafes.

Then I hit Texas, man that state is huge !! I think it took me about 4 days of riding to get thru it !

I did see cotton fields for the first time and lots of oil well pumps, but it soon became thousands of acres of cotton fields and a million oil pumps !

I was also invited to stay with Lee and Pat and family, I even did a couple of radio interviews of my trip !

I ended up staying for 4 days, once again I had been made to feel like part of the family and was fed well, over fed ! but you cannot go on a road trip and stay forever at peoples houses, so it was time to get moving again.

I had managed to stay just ahead of the cold weather that was quickly chasing me, some mornings I thought the bad weather had managed to catch up with me but I was always lucky and one step ahead !

It was then onto the Gulf of Mexico, following miles and miles of road that hugged the coastline, fantastic scenery but was still a bit nippy first thing in the mornings.

As I approached a town of Pensacola I noticed my rear tyre didnt feel right ... this is what I saw when I looked !

And this was on a Saturday afternoon and all the motorbike dealers were closed ! some of them appeared to  be closed till Tuesday morning !

Anyway, my friend Polly had seen my plight and her husband Doug was in the area and managed to get a hold off a spare tyre for my bike, delivering it to me on Sunday morning it was soon swapped out and I was on my way again. 

Here Doug gives me helpful instructions whilst I sweat to change the tyre out !!

From there on it was back on the road towards my Uncles house, which is where I am now, having a couple of days rest before pushing on again.

Ride Safe, till the next instalment :-)

Now heading East

Well I know its been a few weeks since my last update, I keep saying "I must update my blog" then I get to my motel or campsite and get a beer and settle down for the night and then the blog goes out of the window !!

One thing I have been thinking about was the lovely couple who hosted me some weeks ago when I stayed at Lake Tahoe. Christine was originally from Bury in the UK and invited me to stay in front of their RV. No sooner had I parked up, Alan her husband was out and offering me a whisky followed by a beer :-) I have to admit I was a bit light headed while I put my tent up. As I sorted out my stuff, Alan had made me a delicious home made chip buttie ! The next thing, he is lighting a lovely camp fire for me..... I felt like a king that day :-)

A warming camp fire that Alan sorted out for me

I thought that I had taken a photo of Alan and Christine but I can not find it ! Then again, I have now taken about 4000 pictures on this trip.

Well after I left Boonville, I headed down on route 1. This is a fantastic route that hugs the Californian coastline. I ended up staying in Vallejo with Scott, who had kindly offered a room on the ADV rider site.

I just felt I really needed a break from riding! so much so that I ended up staying for 9 days :-) It was so nice to just chill and walk to the local shops. I also did some work on my bike and carried out a mini service.

Scott getting ready for a ride out

Leaving Scott's I head south over the Golden Gate bridge, to be honest it didnt seem that grand ! and it cost me $6 to cross !

Mind you, the ride down route 1 made up for the disappointment! lots of sweeping curves and the views were spectacular :-)

Posing on Route 1 California

So after a few days of living it up on the road I had arrived at the HUBB meet in Cambria. I was due to give a presentation on my trip so far. To be honest, I was quite nervous ! However it went down a treat and everyone managed to understand my English jokes :-)

So much so that I ended up doing 3 presentations !

To me though, the best bit about the meet was meeting like minded people, people who understand the need to travel. I made many new friends that weekend :-)

I also met up with Iain and Debz, who I had left the UK with just over 6 months ago. It was great to listen to their stories.

So now I am now near Area 51, having survived the ride thru Death Valley!

The next few days will see me having a rest in Las Vegas before heading East

Welcome to Sunny California

Well today it has been 6 months since I left home in the UK.

What an incredible journey its been so far. I think my mileage is around 16,000 miles but I cannot be certain as my speedo cable broke when I went down just outside Ulan Ude Russia.

So I am now in Vallejo just outside San Fransisco California, so how did I get here ? I have no idea ! The other day I decided to reinstate my diary, it took a few hours to work out where I have been in the last couple of months.
Its so easy to just ride along and forget where you have been, some days I think of fantastic twisty roads I have rode and have to think hard where they were ! or maybe its just old age sinking in !

So I left Cheyenne and headed towards Salt lake city with the view of seeing Bonneville salts. I have to say, what a boring ride ! mile after mile of a very straight road with ...... wait for it ............salt on either side of the road !

Can you imagine riding 100's of miles on this road !

I ended up in Wendover, right on the state line of Utah and Nevada. One side of the town had cheap motels and the other was all the glitzy huge hotels with brightly lit casino's attached to them. Needless to say, I stayed in the cheap part of the town :-)

The town was having an airshow on the saturday, I was hoping to camp at the airshow but they wouldnt let me. They did however offer to watch my bike and look after my stuff while I spent a few hours walking around.

World War 2 Veterans, I really enjoyed chatting to these guys for over a hour 

Lots of planes to see

And other interesting people to talk to :-)

Posing in a World War 2 Jeep

The was lots to see and do at the airshow, as I walked round people kept stopping me and asking if I was that English guy riding around the world..... fame at last hahaha, I did really enjoy chatting to lots and lots of interesting people.

I headed south West hoping to catch up with my friend Geoff who had kindly offered to take some packages in for me. One of the parcels was a replacement Kindle, though it did take almost a week of negotiations with Amazon as I had bought my kindle from the UK. When they did finally agree to send a replacement they forgot to include any return mail labels (they had promised as I had 30 days to return the broken kindle or they would charge me for another).

So after another couple of hours negotiations they agreed I did not have to return the broken kindle ( mind you, I have that much confidence in Amazon that I am keeping my old kindle for the next few months in case they go back on their word !).

The other thing I was waiting for was an airmat from Exped, my old one kept going down on me. So I sent the mat to them and within a few days a replacement mat was sent to Geoff. Why cant all companies be this good ?

Well I arrived in Boonville, what a delightful small town :-) Geoff and his brother Alan really spoiled me. The highlight for me was a quiz night at the local pub, of course we had to sample the food too !

Posing outside the pub

My winnings :-) I won a spot prize in the pub

Burger was huge !! I was unable to eat it all

So after a few days of being pampered I set off to see the coast of California :-) but first I had to say goodbye to Geoff's family 

Last family picture before moving on

I think I could have happily stayed in Boonville for a good few months :-)

I headed down route 1, infact I often headed back and forth to ride on route 1. It is one of those fabulous twisty roads. Some of the cliff drops where slightly frightening lol 

I spent a few days camping along the coast, I did find a cracking campsite right on the beach. Priced at $5 a night it was a steal ! However, there was a fog horn that blasted every minute of the night ! So it was earplugs in and a peaceful nights sleep.

I then moved to Scott's house. Scott had kindly offered tent/room space on a thread on ADV forum. So I contacted him and he said I was welcome to stay as long as I wanted.

So I have now been here 5 days, just relaxing and pottering around :-) I have managed to sort out all the little bike problems and have done a service, bleeding brakes and oil and filter change.

The next few days will take me down the coast where I intend to camp and chill prior to attending the HUBB meet in Cambria, where I will be doing a small presentation on my trip so far... just hope no one falls asleep during it lol

till the next time... ride safe :-)