Notes on places I have been and how I got there. Routes on the map do not reflect the exact route I took.
September 2016 - Naples, ME
- Did a lot of kayaking on the mighty Sebago lake. A few years ago, eagles took over an island I camped on as a child, I am glad to report that they and their babies are still thriving. When I was there the babies were all black indicating that they were around a year old.
- Got work done on my bike by Tony off of 302 in Naples. He has no online presence. Super knowledgable guy who didn't mind chatting and sharing knowledge about motorcycle maintenence.
- Spliced my heated grips into my ignition thus removing the possibility of accidentally leaving them on and draining my battery. Was simple to do but I was real worried when I clipped the wire in my ignition to make the splice.
- Made a few trips to Portland which turned out to be a cool place.
- Saw the Bruce Marshall Group play a couple times.
Naples, ME → West Boylston, MA
- 180 Miles (~3 Hours) - Listened to Nap Eyes and Woods
- Did this this trip at night, it ended out getting pretty cold. Luckily I had my heated grips and many layers.
- Primarily traveled on 95 and 495.
October 2016 - West Boylston, MA
- Homebase
- Worked from Jake's sick new office in sunny Gardner, Mass.
West Boylston, MA → Bushwick, NY
- 185 Miles (~6 Hours) - Listened to M.I.A, Kool A.D. and Jeff Rosenstock
- I drove my bike thru a storm a few nights before this trip. It took me about an hour to get it started before I could leave. I think the battery was just feeling weak... not really sure. Didn't have any issues starting afterwards.
- Took I-95.
- Got into NYC around 8 PM still took over an hour to get into Brooklyn.
October/November 2016 - Bushwick, NY
- Stayed with my friends Tom & Cara and their wonderful dogs.
- Worked in a lot of different coffee shops, my favorite was the Bushwick Public House.
- Celebrated Halloween, dressed as a vero mango chilli pop.
- Got to go climb at the original Brooklyn Boulders.
- Went to Giphy's GIFoween party and saw some rad GIFs on the big screen.
- Finally got to hang out with Eric, the original writer of Attention Scum.
- Played dice with Pat from Bethlehem Steel and went record shopping with Eamon Fogarty. Videos coming soon.
- Did not go to any museums which, looking back, was a huge mistake.
Bushwick, NY → Richmond, VA
- 340 Miles (~12 Hours) - Listened to Fugazi, Hieroglypics, Brand New and the Halo Benders
- Made a huge mistake and left on Marathon Sunday. Thought leaving at 6 AM would be early enough to avoid traffic but I was so, so wrong! Was trapped in NYC for about 3 hours just slowly riding around. Was kind of cool to watch the marathon from my bike though.
- Stayed on I-95 for the most part.
- 12 Hours is way too long to be on a bike!
November 2016 - Richmond, VA
- The AirBnB host I had was a mother who was renting out her sons room. It was immaculatey decorated in Pistions purple and orange.
- Watched America elect a wannabe-facist from the safety of the Gwar Bar. The Gwar Bar had a great selection of v*gan food and the "beer of the week" was Narragansett which no one there liked but I love! Sadly, the waitstaff do not dress like Gwar.
- Went on a long ride to see Jamestown. Was a little dissapointed to discover that most of the structures on the site are recreations. Pretty cool either way.
- Worked at Cafe Zata a few times. Amazing!
Richmond, VA → Wilmington, NC
- 262 Miles (~5 Hours) - Listened to Big Black, Crywank, Jeffrey Lewis and Jonny Fritz
- Traveled on 95 and 40 for the most part.
- Stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere and the only one there was this chicken.
- First long ride where it wasn't too cold. Nature balanced things out by raining hard on me for the last hour of the ride.
November/December 2016 - Wilmington, NC
- Stayed with my aunt and uncle. Did you know One Tree Hill was filmed in Wilmington?
- My uncle suggested I read American Nations. Really good book would recommend it, especially with the recent election.
- Went to a Waffle House for the first time. It is now my favorite thing about the south.
- Noticed that my chain was really loose, went to tighten it and the the bolt stripped. Uh oh!
Wilmington, NC → Augusta, GA
- 277 Miles (~6 Hours) - Listened to Heems, Kool & Kass and Gang Starr
- Stayed on route 20 for the most part.
- One of my highway pegs fell off somewhere around the South of the Border. I looped back and couldn't find it. Stopped at South of the Border and there wasn't a single person around, didn't go inside.
- At a random gas station in the middle of nowhere, South Carolina. A "college footbal coach who makes 5 figures" tried to get me to pay for his gas because his wallet got stolen and I looked like a "humble, college educated guy who would help out someone in need". This dude used every social engineering trick in the book to try and get $100 from me. I said no, and as he left, he flipped me off eliminating any doubt that his story was fake. Spent rest of the ride hoping I wouldn't see him on the highway and get run off the road.
- Weather was overcast and kinda cold.
December 2016 / January 2017 - Augusta, GA
- Stayed with an old friend of mine.
- I was watching a lot of octopus documentaries at the time. Took a trip to Atlanta and went to the Georgia Aquarium. I got to see their octopus and some jellyfish, among others. The aquarium was absolutely amazing!
- Worked from Metro Coffee in downtown Augusta several times. Great place to get shit done!
- Had issues sleeping the first night I was in Augusta and watched the entire first season of the Man in the High Castle. I loved it! The second season premiered a couple weeks later... I did not love it!
- Replaced the chain tightening bolts on my bike. Had to remove the rear wheel to do this. I had all the tools needed in my travel tool kit, except for a jack. I was able to use a car jack borrowed from my friend.
Augusta, GA → Tallahassee, FL
- 281 Miles (~7 Hours) - Didn't really listen to anything because the sound of rain (and hail) was overwhelming
- Drove through an absolutely insane storm for part of this ride. Fortunately southern Georgia has churches everywhere and when the rain got too heavy I was able to hide underneath the awning at my choice of nearby church.
- Dropped my bike for the first time on a dirt road that Google Maps took me down. The dirt was wet and I was going slow, and just tipped. After I got the bike back up it didn't start! After a quick inspection I discovered that one of the wires connecting a spark plug to the battery fell out. I pushed it back in and was on my way. Lost my left turn signal cover in this mishap as well.
- After the storm I was at a gas station and an old man stopped to talk to me about motorcycles. After a few minutes he was like, "check this out" and showed me all the guns he had in his car. It's still unclear to me if we were "bro-ing out" or if he was threatening me.
- I have no idea what roads I took for this trip. It seemed like I was in the middle of nowhere most of the time.
January / February 2017 - Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL → Disney World
- 260 Miles (~5 Hours) - Listened to Crashing Your Planet and 99 Percent Invisible podcasts
- This was my first long ride that had consistently good weather the entire time!
- I got into the Disney area a little after nightfall and fireworks covered the sky as I rode.
- Traveled on routes 10 and 75. FYI, EZ-pass does not work in Florida.
- Started to notice a weird clicking noise coming from bike when I was in lower gears.
February 2017 - Disney World
Disney World → Dunedin, FL
February / March 2017 - Dunedin, FL
- Discovered the source of the weird noise coming from my bike. There was a kink in my chain! The chain was replaced last June so I was sad to get rid of it. Didn't have the right setting to replace the chain myself so I took it to West Coast Powersports. They had the chain and sprockets I needed in stock and replaced them the next day. Great service!
- Finally saw an alligator.
- Hung out at the Dunedin Brewery a lot, great beer and open mic night.
- Went kayaking on Crystal River. Saw some chill manatees.
- Went to the Bay Area Renaissance Festival. Pretty wild!
- Learned to SCUBA Dive with Sean from Rock Bottom Divers.
Dunedin, FL → New Orleans, LA
- 650 Miles (~14 Hours Split between 2 days) - Listened to Swet Shop Boys, John Prine, Non-Prophets, Milo, and Barenaked Ladies
- Took 75 to 10. Stopped in Marianna, Florida at the end of day 1.
- Covered 350 miles on day one. Weather was nice and hot until I hit Tallahassee, temperature dropped from 90 to 70 and it started raining hard. I had to hide under a lean-to at rest stop for about an hour. I had about 45 miles to get to the hotel I was staying at by the time this happenned. Looking at the weather map I could see that I was about 15 miles away from the edge of the storm. I waited for the rain to slow down and went for it. After I escaped the storm the weather got pretty nice. There was a horizontal lightning storm in the sky for the remainder of the ride which was pretty amazing. By the time I got to Marianna, I was in a new time zone.
- Went to New Orleans on day two. Was on route 10 the majority of the time. Weather was clear and the ride was pretty non-descript. Riding over Lake Pontchartrain for six miles was neat.
April / May 2017 - New Orleans, LA
- Slept on a couch in Bywater. A question: Can you sleep on a couch for a month and a half? The answer: yes!
- Saw more live music than I can possibly recount. New Orleans is unparralled in this regard.
- New Orleans is unlike any other city I have been in the U.S. If it didn't get so damn hot here I would seriously consider making it my permanent home.
- Jake and I finished redesigning the Spark & Fizz website. We used the roots.io Wordpress stack. I like it a lot. Trellis takes away a lot of the pain of deploying Wordpress sites. I look forward to using it in future Wordpress projects.
- Got to see Boston homies, Pile at Gasa Gasa. They once played Dungeons and Dragons in my basement for a Spark & Fizz interview.
- Went to Comedy Gumbeaux Open Mic Night at the Howlin' Wolf. This was the first time I have ever seen stand up live. Everyone there did a really great job, I lauged a lot. I also learned that the beer, "Flat Tire" is actually called "Fat Tire".
- Went to an improv show at the New Movement. I tend to be pretty skeptical of improve but I had a great time.
- Saw Creed Bratton perform. One of my biggest hopes for the Office was that they would eventually do an episode that focused entirely on Creed, but they never did. Creed the character is heavily inspired by Creed the actor/musician so I had high hopes for the show. While the music part was great, the comedy part was mostly him making references to the Office, like literally repeating lines from the show. The audience seemed pretty into it but I have already seen the Office and expected to hear more original stories about Creed's mysterious past. Four local stand up comedians opened for Creed and they were excellent.
- New Orleans has worse vegetarian options than most U.S. cities I have been to. There is also a noticable lack of Indian/Pakistani restaurants which tend to cater towards veg*ns. Usually there would be one or two veggie options on a given menu. I was staying close to the Sneaky Pickle, one of New Orleans few vegan restaurants. I ended out eating there a lot. Their vegan mac n cheese is the best mac n cheese I have ever had.
- I have several stick and poke tattoos and I finally decided to get a "real" tattoo while I was here. My 14 year old self took over about a week before I turned 26 and I got the Minor Threat black sheep from Jamie at Treasure Tattoo. Jamie was awesome and played the Minor Thread Pandora station while she worked :D
- I took a trip out to Macomb Fort. Used as the backdrop in the final battle of True Detective Season 1, I planned on checking it out before I even got to New Orleans. The Fort has been closed to visitors but there was a big hole in the fence with cinder blocks acting as steps on either side. I was basically invited in.
- On the way to Fort Macomb I passed the shutdown Six Flag New Orleans. I tried getting in there but it was crawling with security. According to Wikipedia the site is patrolled 24/7. The story of Six Flags New Orleans is interesting, the park was annihilated by Katrina and never reopened. While Six Flags had a 75 year lease with the city for the land that had just begun, the city ended out allowing them to terminate it. Another example of monied interests being treated better in the aftermath of Katrina.
- Drank a lot of coffee at Satsuma Cafe. Cool place with good food, but they turn off WiFi at peak hours making it difficult to work there. I also frequented Bywater Cafe.
- One of my roommates was an intern at a law firm fighting death penalty cases in Louisiana. I ended out rewatching some classic death row documentaries as a result of our discussions (The Thin Blue Line, Paradise Lost and Fourteen Days in May). I truly do not understand how people on either side of the political "aisle" can support the death penalty. For those against "Big Government" I ask, how small is a government that is allowed to execute it citizens? Especially with an error rate of one in twenty five?! If you think someone deserves to die because they commit a crime I suggest you grow a pair and do what Gary Plauche did. Then let a jury sort it out.
- I also learned that the Angola Rodeo is a thing. It happened while I was here but my Yankee sensibility couldn't justify going. Interestingly, the Rodeo was started by a man falsly imprisoned for murder.
- Renewed my ACLU membership, you should too.
New Orleans, LA → Sunset, LA
May 2017 - Sunset, LA
- My mission in Sunset was to recover from the being in New Orleans for too long. Mission accomplished.
- I had to get my ID checked a few times in Sunset, every person who checked it immediately said, "What are you doing all the way out here?" Loved the small town vibe.
- Took a couple trips down to Lafayette, I couldn't really find much to do there except drink.
Sunset, LA → Dallas, TX
- 380 Miles (~7 Hours) - Listened to the Mountain Goats and Modern Baseball
- The new Mountain Goats album is tiiiiiiight! Listened to a lot of All Hail to get ready for where I was going.
- There was a storm brewing in northern Lousiana so I took a route of small highways that is almost a perfect line between Sunset and Dallas in an attempt to avoid it. This added some time because I was avoiding major highways. I have made attempts to avoid inclement weather by altering my route in the past, this is the first time it has actually worked out. I got only a few raindrops on me during this trip.
- Weather was good. When I left Louisiana it was hot and sweaty, things cooled off about an hour into Texas. Had to put on an extra layer for the first time in months.
- My odometer went over 20K during this ride!
May 2017 - Dallas, TX
- I was originally hoping to hang out in Texas for while and go all over the place, but it started getting a little too hot out for me. I decided to stop in Dallas for a week and then head north.
- Stayed in an AirBnB in a residential area near Greenville Avenue.
- Went down to Deep Ellum a few times. Saw the Mountain Goats play a show at Trees and I went to couple different shows and open mics at the Dallas Comedy House.
- On my ride from Sunset to Dallas I noticed that my engine was misfiring occasionally. It occurred to me that it had been about 8,000 miles since I last changed my spark plugs so I went and bought some new ones. On my bike you need to lift the tank slightly to access all of the spark plugs. In the process of disconnecting the fuel line the top of it tore off! Fortunately, there was enough slack in the line that I was able to reconnect it after changing the spark plugs. The line was leaky a tiny bit after this. I took a trip to the Honda store in Dallas but they didn't have the tube in stock. I ordered a new one from PartsFish and mailed it to my next destination, Boulder, Colorado!
Dallas, TX → Boulder, CO
- 820 Miles (~15 Hours Split between 2 days) - Listened to the Mountain Goats, Modern Baseball, Big L, Gang Starr, Silkworm and Milo
- When you grow up and spend most of your life in New England it's hard to understand how vast Texas and other western states are. With the exception of a few places in Maine, I don't think there is anywhere in New England where you are more than 40 miles from a gas station. Between my leaky gas line and small fuel capacity I was a little nervous about this ride.
- On day one, I covered more than half of the total mileage. I went from Dallas to Dalhart. On the way I stopped at Cadillac Ranch. I brought a crude stencil with me and left a picture of Fritz the bat on one of the cars. I'm sure at the time of writing this it has already been covered up.
- It was incredibly hot during this ride. I don't normally hope for rain but on this day I was. It rains about 19 inches a year in Texas and I was lucky to experience a little bit of that rain just as I arrived. I would have preferred it earlier in the day though!
- Dalhart was a strange place, I couldn't quite figure out what was going on there. There was a strange metallic smell in the air that I couldn't quite place.
- I primarily road on US-287. The landscape was mostly flat grazing land, which was interesting at first but quickly grew old.
- Day two brought a different set of challenges. Riding up into Colorado I wasn't sure how the altitude change would effect my bike or my body. My bike performed quite well the entire time and I really didn't notice any change. I filled my tires in Dalhart and there was no change in pressure when I arrived in Boulder. My body was already fatigued from the previous day on the road so it's hard to say if the altitude change effected me. I had a light headache during the second half of the ride but that could have been caused by a number of things.
- I noticed that my speedometer jumped a few times during day two. I couldn't determine a cause on the ride, the conditions I saw it happen in were all different. I suspect there is a connection issue.
- I dodged a couple rain storms but also got hit by a pretty big one just north of Peublo.
- When I started this trip I planned on taking pictures of my bike in front of the signs for every state I entered, but most states don't facilitate that sort of activity very easily, Colorado does!
- Driving thru the mountains was very cool, especially after spending a day in Texas. I tried getting some GoPro video but when I got to Boulder I discovered my camera (and bike) was covered in mud!
- I was primarily on US-87 for day 2. There was several accidents outside of Denver so I took a series of smaller highways around it to get up to Boulder.
May / June 2017 - Boulder, CO
- Stayed with my cousin and her boyfriend
- We did a lot of hiking, it's hard to remember exactly where we went cuz there was so much of it. Some highlights were Brainard Lake and Bear Peak. Driving thru the Rocky Mountains was also really neat.
- Prior to my visit to Colorado I had seen one moose in real life. In Colorado I saw at least five. Here are two of them we saw in Brainard Lake.
- Boulder has been reintroducing prairie dogs in certain parks. Watching them play was a lot of fun.
- Went to a Rockies game, they got murderd by the Diamondbacks. I listened to a podcast where Steve Albini discussed baseball in depth a while back. I have been waiting to go to a baseball game since then and try to really watch. I can't say I had any greater appreciation for the sport. Coors Field is shockingly comfortable compared to Fenway Park, where most of my baseball watching has taken place.
- My bike continued having electrical issues that I couldn't quite figure out. I couldn't find anything visibly wrong on any of the wires. I ended out cleaning the contacts on my battery and applying some dielectic grease and I haven't had an issue since then.
Boulder, CO → Albuquerque, NM
- 430 Miles (~8 Hours) - Listened to 99 Percent Invisible, The Greatest Science Fiction Stories of the 20th Century and Screeching Weasel
- Took 285 down to Albuquerque instead of driving down the route I came up from Texas.
- The landscape in Colorado was beautiful the entire way, I passed by Great Sand Dunes National Park. I didn't have time to stop but it was quite visible from the road which surprised me.
- I knew that once I got into New Mexico I would hit the Carson National Forest so I planned ahead of time to stop for gas in Antonito, CO. Turns out the only gas station in that town was out of gas and I had to ride 14 miles back to La Jara, the next gas station was 80 miles into New Mexico. Fortunately I had enough gas to get back to La Jara, this was the first time I had to make a major backtrack for gas.
- After getting thru the Carson forest I stopped at the first gas station I could to take off some rain gear (it didn't end out raining but there were a lot of clouds). As I was removing my rain gear an angry man approached me and started screaming at me about wether or not I was Israeli and how he was going to "avenge Jesus" by kicking my ass. Fortunately he didn't actually attack me. This was definitely the most bizarre stranger encounter I have had this entire trip.
- Bike ran smoothly the entire ride, electrical issues seem to be resovled.
June 2017 - Albuquerque, NM
- A friend of mine who normally lives on the other side of the world is staying in Houston for the summer and I decided to back track a little and go see him. I decided to stop in Albuquerque for a few days so I could go see Jake and Tyler who are currently on tour.
- I took a ride up Sandia Crest which was really fun.
- I stopped at Red Door Brewing for their open mic night. I have gone to a lot of open mic nights in the past year and I found the comedians in Albuquerque made a disproportionate amount of pedophile jokes... The beer that Red Door made was real good though.
- Longer rides in the southwest have made ass pain a real problem for me. I took a trip to Cycle Gear and one of the clerks showed me the AirHawk seat cushion which I ended out buying. We'll see if it helps.
June / July 2017 - Albuquerque, NM → Houston, TX
- 835 Miles (~16 Hours split over 2 days) - Listened to Bear vs. Shark and Alice Donut
- On day one I took 40 to 20 and then a smaller highway down to Brownwood, Texas to visit a friend for a couple days
- On my journey to Brownwood I noticed that my speedometer was hopping around again.
- Early in the morning when I left Brownwood I stopped at a gas station and after filling up I was unable to get my bike to start. The battery seemed to be weak and I was trying to push start the bike with all my luggage on it which is a lot harder than pushing it without the luggage. An older gentleman in a pickup truck was watching me and he eventually he came over and offered to help me push. We got the bike started! I didn't really talk to this guy and he didn't seem like he wanted to talk but, thanks man!
- After leaving Brownwood it was smooth sailing, I got on 84 and was on my way to Houston. On my final gas stop, about 30 miles out from Texas I was unable to get my bike started again. I found a small hill and kicked it into to gear. As soon as I got on the highway I lost power and the engine wouldn't run. I spent about an hour starting the bike, getting on the highway, being unable to maintain power and then pulling over before I finally gave up. The temperature was around 100 and eventually I couldn't even push the bike anymore. For the first time ever, I had to a motorcycle towed, a true shock to my ego!
July 2017 - Houston, TX
- I spent about a week in Houston staying downtown with my friend. I attempted to fix the bike myself but eventually ran out of things to try with the tools that I had available. I got the bike towed to Honda of Houston and they were able to fix things in less than 24 hours. The culprit ended out being a spark plug cable that I broke and then macguver'd six months ago in southern Georgia! I guess those temporary solutions can only last so long.
- My buddy and I attended Freedom Over Texas on July 4th but it ended out being so hot that we didn't even stay until the fireworks.
- We went to Space Center Houston which was very cool.
- We also went to the National Museum of Funeral History which was very strange but not in the way I expected it to be.
- Got to see the bats at the Waugh Bridge!
July 2017 - Houston, TX → Tuscon, AZ
- 1060 Miles (18 Hours split over two days) - Listened to Guerilla Toss, Screeching Weasel, Nana Grizol and Allison Crutchfield
- I stopped in Fort Stockton, TX after the first day of riding. I took a trip to WalMart and picked up some 50 grit sand paper and weather resistant double sided tape. I applied some of it to different spots on my engine guard so I could put my feet up on the guard while riding. This ended out working quite well.
- When I rode into Texas from Colorado I didn't really find the heat to be that bad but crossing into Arizona it was quite intense. To stay cool I wore my Under Armour and periodically doused myself in water as I was riding along. Having ridden my bike at both temperature extremes, I find that I prefer 105 degrees over 35 degrees. It's much easier to cool off than warm up when you are riding on a highway for a long period of time.
- I was nervous that something else would go wrong with my bike after what happened in Houston but I experienced no issues on this ride.
- I rode thru El Paso and got to see the current iteration of THE WALL. I have to say I found it quite strange... two cities side by side seperated by a big fence. What I found even stranger were the check points I had to go thru in both New Mexico and Arizona. I just got waved thru which is interesting considering that no part of my face or body is visible when I am in full riding gear.
July 2017 - Tuscon, AZ
- I was only in Tuscon for 4 days and the heat was so oppresive that I ended out only working, eating and sleeping. I literally did nothing else there.
July 2017 - Tuscon, AZ → San Francisco, CA
- 860 Miles (16 Hours split over two days) - Listened to On the Road
- On day one I traveled to Joshua Tree, I ended out riding thru it from south to north. The landscape was very cool.
- I returned to Joshua Tree at night to attempt some star photography. Unfortunately, there was a ton people out there and cars kept driving by. My younger boy scout self insisted that I didn't hike out to a more secluded location alone and I gave up. Still it was fun to finally try out star photography, I look forward to doing more of it some day.
- On day two I stayed on route 5 for most of the day. The landscape was arguably less interesting than Texas/New Mexico/Arizona which surprised me.
- I couldn't help but notice the many politically charged water signs along I-5. I was surprised to find out that the signs have been up for quite a while.
- It was over 100 degrees for most of this ride. Right around the time I entered Alameda County things really cooled off. The weather in the bay is amazing and after spending so much time in the desert it is even better!
- California is the only state that allows lane splitting and I got to try it for the first in a traffic jam right outside of Oakland. It was lot freakier than I expected it to feel but I think I could get used to it :)
- After traveling over 2000 miles with the AirHawk seat cushion under my ass I have to say, I am completely sold on it. On day one of a 900 mile ride I experienced no ass discomfort and it only really started bothering me about 100 miles before I got to San Francisco. Total game changer!
July 2017 - San Francisco, CA
- Stayed with friends in a couple different places around the East Bay. Everytime I have come to the area previously I have stayed in SF proper or San Jose, it was cool seeing a different side of the area.
- Went to see Comedy Oakland 2: Reloaded.
- Finally got to Nana Grizol play live in Albany, CA.
- While I was staying Berkeley I worked at People's Cafe for a few days. Excellent coffee shop.
- Did a short hike on Mount Tamalpais, very cool looking over the bay from the top.
- Got Ramen at Ryowa in Mountain View. This place had some of the best vegetarian ramen broth I have ever head. Usually veg ramen uses a miso type broth but this stuff was actually creamy!
July 2017 - San Francisco, CA → Portland, OR
- 680 Miles (16 Hours, split over two days) - Listened to Milo and Spotify Daily Mixes
- I was hoping to ride down route 1 from SF to Monteray but I didn't end out having enough time while I was in SF. I decided to go up the route 1 one my way to Portland, this was nice because it also meant I would ride thru some redwood forest getting back to I-5.
- My ride up the coast ended out being pretty lame though, it was super cloudly and cold. There were a ton of people on the road too. Cutting across from route 1 to route 101 was very fun though. Some of the most technical riding I have done. I took several turns that caused my footpegs to scratch the ground. I get pretty freaked out doing those deep turns with my saddlebags on but things turned out okay.
- I thought I would only be riding thru redwood forests on day 2 of this trip but I got lost at some point on route 101 and rode thru a big forest that I have been unable to find on Google Maps again.
- I spent the night at motel in Klamath, CA. There was a lot of cool scenery in the area.
- On day two I rode thru a lot of redwood forest, it was unreal. I then got on I-5 and went straight to Portland. It got significantly hotter when I got on I-5, I thought it would be cooler when I arrived in Portland but it turns out we are experiencing a heat wave here :)
July / August 2017 - Portland, OR
- A lot of my friends moved to Portland over the last couple years. It was great getting to see them all. I even attended a surprise wedding :O
- Got to see GZA. My friend Tyler wrote an article about the show and his feelings basically reflect my own, GZA still got it. Some pictures I took of the man himself are featured in the article as well. My one dissapointment with this show is that GZA did very little Dark Matter, I am starting to wonder if this album will ever actually be released.
- I also got to go see Dear Nora at some sort of movie premier. My friend and I weren't really aware it was a movie premier though and didn't stick around to find out what movie it was :/
- AJJ was also in Portland in rare "duet" form. They played the entirety of "People Who Can Eat People Are the Luckiest People in the World" which turned 10 years old this year. I have seen them as full band many times over the past decade but nothing beats duo mode.
- Planet Scumm Volume 1 was released while I was in Portland, I helped make a bunch of pins for it, so if you order a copy of the book you might get a pin that hand made!
- My favorite coffee place in Portland was See See Motorcycles & Coffee. I think the reasons why are obvious.
- I was lucky to be in Oregon for the total solar eclipse. My friends and I got up at 4AM and traveled from Portland to Willamette Mission State Park so that we could be in the path of totality. Despite all the warnings about traffic we made it to the park before it opened and waited in a long line of cars to get in to the park. Shout out to the rangers at this park who did a great job facilitating the crowd. They also provided helpful narration during the eclipse. During totality we were able to take our glasses off and stare up at the moon and sun. The light bleeding from the edge during this period was one of the most psychedelic things I have ever seen in real life. One of my friends brought along a very powerful set of binoculars which was quite nice to have.
- Pretty much the entire time I was in Oregon there were massive forest fires raging not too far from the city. I only got to see the smoke up close once.
- I went on several hikes along the Columbia River Gorge, I can't really remember any of the specific locations but they were all wonderful.
- Portland was by far the most veg*n friendly city I visited. Fire on the Mountain had the very best vegan "wings" I have ever had, and I have tried a lot of vegan "wings". Some other veg*n restaurants I ate at and loved were Homegrown Smoker and Black Water. I also got to visit the wonderful Food Fight! Grocery. There a friend introduced me to Soy Curls. If you are veg*n they are versatile addition to your protein line up that I would encourage you to investigate.
- Portland, Oregon was my last stop on this trip. It's the place I have been slowly heading towards all year. The prospect of riding across the northern part of America was unnappealing to me after a year on the road. Someday I will get back to it. I ended out shipping my bike and all my luggage back to Massachusetts with a traveling husband wife duo I found on uShip. My uShip experience was positive and my bike/luggage were delivered in perfect condition. I took a plane back to Massachusetts and am heading north to Maine. I am still technically "nomadic" so I may or may not continue updating this log. We'll see. It has been a good year.