http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/ricknelson/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from ricknelson en-us Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:13:27 +0000 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 13:13:27 +0000 August 1 SaturdayOn to Maine and hurrah I've ridden on two wheels in 48 states. When we pulled into the visitor center to get maps and another hotel discount book we found that the Cat the ferry from Portland to Halifax Nova Scotia cost about 330 for the two of us and Bear. From Bar Harbor it would still cost over 237. Ouch. We decided to make a run from St. Johns New Brunswick to Dig http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/New-Brunswick/St-John/blog-427510.html July 29 WednesdayI was up and on the way to my sisterrsquos place in Derry NH just a short ride north. I arrived around 830 and couldnrsquot figure out how to get past the front door of her apartment building. She didnrsquot answer the phone and I didnrsquot know the ldquocoderdquo to buzz her apartment. Up to the office which opened at 9 then armed with a code I tried Shirley http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Hampshire/blog-427505.html July 26 SundayNew Jersey has really surprised me with the farming ambiance I guess the nickname of The Garden State does indeed have something more to it than irony. Many horse farms lots of vegetable farming and mostly pretty trees and well kept yards in this area. Of course I'm sure the NYC metro area is different but we'll see soon enough. On past Trenton we headed for our reservation dat http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-York/New-York/blog-427503.html July 23 ThursdayI headed over alone to visit with Dad and my sister Shirley and had a nice visit with lunch. Dad's koi fish pond is amazing he has lots of huge koi's and many many smaller gold fish. The water in the 33000 gallon inground pool fish pond is crystal clear due to the great filter system Dad has designed. My Wayfarer sailboat and I got acquainted too. I found out that the tires http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Maryland/Annapolis/blog-422171.html July 19 SundayHappy Birthday Debby Today consisted of an easy wake up a slow pack up then getting the pickups and trailers back to the respective donors. Once all this was accomplished Deb and I headed for Johnson City and a motel to take it easy and to get some laundry done. We now are heading for New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada.July 20 MondayWe left Tennessee via the http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Virginia/Reston/blog-422169.html July 12 SundayTennessee is a long state west to east and we continued on back roads to the Knoxville area then after a short stint on Interstates we turned northeastwardly on to US 11 E as opposed to US 11 W which does not mean direction of travel but rather a relationship to each other and aimed Bear for Panther Creek State Park just northeast of Jefferson City as opposed to Johnson http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Tennessee/blog-422166.html July 10 FridayEasy wake up and pack up from the worst tent site we've had so far. The tenting area which is the cheap seats was sloped rutted and full of sticks of all sizes. All it needed was a couple of 40 year old single wides and a school bus with no wheels. Recommendation If you camp in Old Davidsonville State Park AR pay the extra bucks for the high falutin' site. We rode into Jon http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Tennessee/Nashville/blog-422141.html July 7 TuesdayHappy Birthday sister Betsy We departed Dalhart TX and continued eastbound towards a little Texas town Deb spotted on the map called Canadian. Since it was on the way we crossed the Canadian River and stopped for a few pics of the welcome sign just outside of town. Then we pulled over next to a coffee shop which turned out to originally have been a 1915 drug store including http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arkansas/Eureka-Springs/blog-422136.html July 6 MondayWe slept a little later than usual since we were going to visit the little chapel just down the block. This was built by the Sisters of Lorado and when designed the architect forgot to figure in a set of stairs for getting up to the choir loft at the rear of the church. Oops. all the local carpenters told the nuns that any stairs they could build would take up much of the space on http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Texas/Panhandle/blog-417020.html July 3 FridayWe were up a bit early again this morning although the temps had been very nice the past two days I didn't know quite what to expect the coming day to be. I wasn't sure if we'd hold the elevation or drop down low into the desert temps again. I40 to Flagstaff then off the dreaded Interstate and on to what was marked as BIA 15. I think this stand for Bureau of Indian Affairs sin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe/blog-415984.html July 1 WednesdayAnother very early wake up this time at 5 am and we were on our way eastbound along Route 66. Coffee stop in Seligman and then on to our planned stop in Williams AZ. This was another little piece of advice gotten from the visitor center guy in Kingman. He told me about a great little National Forest campground just off the highway on the west end of Williams called Catarac http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Arizona/Williams/blog-415980.html June 28 SundayThis was our get through San Francisco day and the closer we got to the city the worse the traffic was. Fortunately most of the bumper to bumper stuff was going the other way. We stopped for a yummy lunch in Bodega Bay at the Sand Dollar then continued our cruising speed in line through the outer suburbs and on to the Golden Gate Bridge. Wow. That was a fun little crossing. No http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/San-Francisco/blog-415972.html June 26 FridayOn southbound along Route 101 the Oregon coast is full of huge rocks water just cascading in over and around the sea stacks huge rocks sticking up out of the water just offshore it's beautiful. The road meanders from right along the edge of the ocean cliffs to a bit inland making hairpin turns deep inside the ravines that lead the streams to the ocean. The only trouble is occas http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/California/Humboldt-Redwoods-State-Park/blog-415629.html June 24 WednesdayPacked up and on the road a bit late with more chilly showery weather. Geez you'd think we were in the Pacific Northwest or something. We headed around the south end of Pudget Sound and over to US 101 just abeam Aberdeen WA. Beautiful riding though average speed was around 45 mph due to traffic and numerous speed traps in each little town. We crossed the Columbia river int http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Astoria/blog-415246.html June 21 SundayLast minute clean up of the house and on to Bear and off we go. It feels really good to be on the road again. We headed south to Penticton along Lake Okanagan and through some beautiful country unfortunately through many light rain showers and chilly temps. Crossing the border into Washington State USA was very easy this time. We didn't even have to get off the bike. I wish t http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Seattle/blog-415243.html June 17 WednesdayI took off for some camping and to give Deb some room to pack up her belongings for the storage unit. She'll be moving to Kelowna after returning from this leg of the adventure. Not sure of where to go and knowing I didn't want to go overly far since I wanted to be back at 800 am on Friday to help with getting the truck and the whole pack up and move thing. Looking north sho http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vernon/blog-415239.html June 11 ThursdayWe rode twoup into Kelowna today to the Southwest Motorad BMW Dealer to see if he had the mud guard parts I needed. They tapped out the sheared off bolt and just like Gina's BMW in Iowa City did they robbed another bike for the parts and replaced the mud guard. I was called to the garage and the mech's showed me how with just a bit of bouncing the rear cross bar from the Mic http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vernon/blog-408855.html June 8 MondayI woke up refreshed the sun just up but had no idea of the time. Both my watches were packed away some time ago and my cell phone was out of juice. I dug out a watch and it said 800 so I hurried some coffee and fruit for breakfast as Bob was due sometime between 8 and 9. I sat down on the Kermit Chair to read for a while then started wondering when Bob would show as it see http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Whistler/blog-408849.html June 5 FridayThis morning we headed southwest to the greater Vancouver area to visit Deb's siblings. I rode in a car for the first time since riding in the minivan taxi in Corozal Town Belize back in April. Prior to that the last time in a cage was on January 31 in my Toyota truck getting out of town. It's a slightly weird feeling that's for sure. To get anywhere in BC involves going around http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vancouver-Island/blog-408836.html June 4 ThursdayToday I had a mission to get all the way to Vernon BC. Sheila indicated about 8 12 hours of riding though she doesn't figure in gas and coffee stops with that so I was packed up and on the road with jacket plugged in at 41 degrees by 800 am. Riding through absolutely gorgeous country I crossed into Idaho and with a few coffee stops rolled up the Canadian Border. The agent http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/British-Columbia/Vernon/blog-407872.html