Tiffany Ambling through America

Fixed!

I was about to correct that too. Easy catch...Chevelle SS - this is the same kind of car I learned to drive a stick (and scratch the tires) in Only the one I learned in was sitting up in the back on some fat tires and had a cam through a hood cut out....had a very cool muscle car sound


Threadjack over...carry on please Tiffany. I find you and your RR fascinating!

That's still common here in Southern California, especially on the mountain and canyon roads...but it's more of a tapping of the head. Well, to summarize:

Tapping top of helmet: Police near
Thumbs up: Road clear of police (mostly a sport bike thing)
Peace sign / V sign held out and low: simply "Hello". (some alledge it came from V-twin)

and last, but not least

Ass and both feet pointed straight up: "Aaaaaaaaah - - I'm crashing, save my GoPro!!!"

Hi Tiffany, it sounds like things are going well on your trip.

I took my bike, the Triumph believe it or not, to Southampton for shipping yesterday and hope to catch up with you in Oregon in a month if you are still headed that way.
The sun has actually started shining here at last!

Hi Sandy,
It was great to meet you and Ideahusband as well, and also it's interesting how many ADV guys tell me that their wives/girlfriends/partners follow my RR when they don't even ride themselves. Nice to know that I'm entertaining people out there.
More to follow

Moving swiftly on, I had a date to keep in Boulder, Colorado, meeting uo with fellow travellers.
Another overnight stop on the way with Ryan and Robin in Des Moines and an ecstatic reception from Jed the dog. What can I say Robin...your food was divine from the parmigiana for dinner to the french toast with homemade berry butter in the morning. It was difficult to drag myself away..
I'd better point out that we didn't just eat while I was there, we also did some cultural stuff:huh It's true, Tiff did culture AND enjoyed it, take a look at these pictures
the city by night


a night tour of an unusual sculpture garden in the middle of the city, including this sinister-looking overcoat and the spiders lurking in the background



my favourite sculpture


and then I went inside and found my initials amongst the hundreds of combinations of letters that make up the structure (yep, it's THAT big)



I headed west across more states that are new to me including Nebraska, which in places was a bit dry looking



Then I reached Kansas, a lot of straight roads there as well, and are those storm clouds ahead of me?



Ignoring the clouds, I found a suitable spot to camp, it's a bit tricky in such a flat landscape trying to stealth camp



Having fun riding the farm tracks of Kansas



After all the flat stuff I reached the stateline into Colorado and the Rockies started looming in the distance, or at least they should have been apparently, but it started to drizzle with rain and grey clouds closed in, there was no sign of the mountains until I reached the foothills themselves. I made my way up to Boulder.
Chris Ratay, looking every bit the adventure motorcyclist!!!

He and his wife Erin were my hosts in Boulder- I'd had a long-standing invitation to visit them ever since our near-miss meeting in Brazil 10 years ago when we were all on the road at the same time.


Whilst in Boulder, I also had the opportunity to meet up with and thank Shelly, the star who collected Thelma from Mexico and smuggled (ahem:eek1) transported her over the border back to America for me. Shelly rides a KLR and is an expert on Copper Canyon she's promised to take me for a ride round down there next time I travel through.
We had a fantastic lunch at the Dushanbe Tea House in downtown Boulder, it's an authentic teahouse transported from Tajikistan...and looking every inch the part. I kept looking around me with wide eyes, recognising different features as I sat there, enjoying the surroundings and discussing travel through Tajikistan with Shelly.

Here she is, heading off on her KLR.



My stay was all too brief, it was time to hit the road again.

This may sound silly but it's SO COOL to see all these women on bikes!!! I'm maneuvering my life in the constant-travel direction and hope to soon be joining the likes of you and others out on the road.

Still eager to more about your journeys!!

great to see that you managed to meet Chris and Erin!
great guys and good fun.

pass on our regards to our USA friends for us.....we shall see them in a few years.....and you too!

take care.

Hey Lisa
You and Simon must have had burning ears for the past few weeks, I've met up with many people who know you and we've been talking about you (in the nicest sense of the word of course!). Chris and Erin send their best wishes.

Talking of Colorado...roundabouts, yes, they actually have real roundabouts in Colorado, what a relief for European riders like myself who are still occasionally tearing their hair out at STOP sign junctions

I ride with Ernie all the time, wish I could have met you when you passed through the area!

I had a tight deadline to get to LA, not much time to linger but there were some impressive views to see, first of all crossing the Rockies themselves, some great twisting roads



and even the occasional snow patch





detours and road closures got me a bit off track, when I wasn't expecting to be on dirt



sorry, got to go give a talk now, the audience are awaiting me, more later

I've met up with a few ADV Riders yesterday and today, some of them have been asking about pasties and I've shown them the pasty bumper sticker I have. Us Brits were a bit slow to catch on to the bumper sticker thing, but they've even managed to filter down to us in Cornwall.

Here is a popular one, which if you know Cornwall is quite funny

Damn just lost the whole page because I accidentally hit the backspace button...don't you hate when that happens?

You can get the photos, but I'm too tired to do all the words again so brief notes...
ski resorts closed, when I had hoped to get a snowboarding session in.
motionless chair lifts beside the highway.




lots of downhill and out into the arid landscape of Utah


Tennessee riders who were horrified by the fact I was going to be camping rough that night- and even more concerned that I didn't have a gun




loving the landscapes and taking selfy pics as I ride - that's my Tiff patent sunshade made from a piece of card and sellotape


following the gravel tracks to find somewhere for my tent




finally finding a good place and having a humming bird dive bomb me as I put up the tent, time for a sunset prtrait of me and Thelma

I'd be more concerned if you did

I go to the best places for lunch, here I am in the shade around the side of the petrol station, eating junk food and fruit. Happy to be out of the sun and enteratining the garage cashiers with tales of my travels, although they were relating more to the minimum wage deals in the UK vs US and the cost of renting in Cornwall compared to Nevada- much cheaper in US they reckon.

I may be looking like I've got a Bobby Charlton combover but actually it's just a bit of a windswept look.

Hmm, decision time, Vegas or LA



the world's biggest caravan, actually I was trying to get a picture where it looked as if Thelma was towing it, but the State Troopers came over for a glare at me so I made a hasty exit.

When? Where? Details pls.
btw; not a caravan...

It's my RR so I can call it a caravan if I want

just found out that the Yanks call them trailers- that's something we use to transport horses and livestock in England.
Sorry, no talks in the LA area, the shops there didn't seem that interested, so I just had a relaxing time with friends and sorting out Thelma, you could have come round to Erdem's for the overland chats we were having..
Or you could have ridden over to the Overland Expo (in Flagstaff) to hear me and many others talk and present about a myriad of fascinating destinations around the world. maybe next time, or maybe in SF if they get a date sorted there.

meanwhile a picture to be going on with

The Nevada Highway Hounds



they were so cute, I wanted to take them home.

From quiet empty highways


to the chaos of Vegas, where I barely managed to grab some shots as I rode through- on my own I didn't really fancy stopping, maybe next time




don't worry I'll get it tilted the right way up.
off into the desert next...


Trying to be discreet with Thelma in the Mojave



I must have got far enough off the beaten track because our only company was Eddie, who I think must be a wild mule (do you have those in the Mojave?)- he was pretty frightened and wouldn't come any closer than this...yep look closely enough and you will see him peering out. I'm not sure how to to get the shot zoomed in any closer.

What has Tiffany been up to?

Echoing somewhat LiveWire's post, where are you now, Tiffany?

And I have another itinerary-related question - do you plan on making it to Nakusp for the HU Meeting in late August?

Thanks for the pictures and commentary on what we here in N. America usually take for granted. Just as when we Canadians and Americans travel around the world and marvel at the cultures we see elsewhere, people traveling here from somewhere else in the world see NA contrasted to their own experience and culture.

It's fun to some of our part of the world through your eyes! So please keep the pics and commentary coming!

Thanks

Ian