Tiffany Ambling through America

[Tiffany]

Thanks and hello to all the ADV Riders I met this past weekend at the Overland Expo. It was a fantastic experience and I can't wait to go again, I had a very sociable time meeting lots of people who have followed my RRs and my website.
I'll be getting this RR caught up as soon as I can.

In the meantime, feel free to post up your pictures.

[Tiffany]

In Minneapolis, I was taken out for a boat trip on a lake, luckily I had all my bike gear as it was a bit chilly, I'm the one who looks like Ten Ton Tessie, but you know what?? I was the only one who was feeling warm.



Moving on swiftly, I made them the national dish of Cornwall



Pasties (except that I've noticed Americans pronounce it a bit different)




on the way back to Chicago to return the 1200, I stopped off in La Crosse, Wisconsin to meet my ADV Secret Santa- Aberdeen, the recipient of some random stuff I sent out in December.
He also rides a 1200GS, a red one, it looked like I'd deliberately turned up with a matching bike.



We had a great meal at a Cajun place called Buzzard Billy's, or something like that. I was fascinated by the fact that they were serving aligator meat. Don't worry folks, I stuck to the veggies.
Also meeting up with us was Ernie Bell - the guy who makes the great stainless steel tent pegs. I'd met Ernie the previous weekend at the BMW meet. He rides an airhead as well.

[IdeaWife]

Originally Posted by Tiffany

Thanks and hello to all the ADV Riders I met this past weekend at the Overland Expo. It was a fantastic experience and I can't wait to go again, I had a very sociable time meeting lots of people who have followed my RRs and my website.
I'll be getting this RR caught up as soon as I can.

In the meantime, feel free to post up your pictures.

Great to meet you Tiffany! Really enjoyed your presentation and had a great weekend. Looking forward to continuing following your travels! If you make it to the central coast of California we would love to host you!

Sandy

[johnny2k]

Awesome ride report! It's always neat to see this country from another perspective a I'm glad you got to see Des Moines, my favorite city in my home state. A fun ride is from the old capital bilding in Iowa City, to the new capital on highway 6. Northeast Iowa is the best riding in the state though but it doesn't even come close to being as cool as Oregon.

That black car you were lucky to have seen is a Chevrolet Camaro. Probably a '68. My favorite car and the inspiration for my band, The Camaro Twins.

There are some great rides in Oregon that you will love and plenty of good events so when you're closer to the area I'll try to let you know what events are going on. There's too much to see out here but Astoria is quite nice to visit if you want to see a nice town on the coast.

[marty hill]

Hi Tiff,
Keeping track of your travels. I'm in Croatia/heading west in a few days toward the UK. I'll be in san francisco for a bit in late june/one of these days. Hope to see Miriam on the way past.

[rdalland]

Originally Posted by johnny2k

That black car you were lucky to have seen is a Chevrolet Chevelle...

Fixed!

[Vixen]

Originally Posted by rdalland

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!

[TK-LA]

Originally Posted by rockydog

a less common signal these days is when you meet a motorcyclist approaching in the other lane and he points at his helmet or head, it doesn't mean he thinks you're crazy.... ..usually. Older police cars had a single red rotating light on top, resembling a bubble gum machine so he is telling you that in your very near future there will be a friendly law enforcement officer, probably with a radar gun. Since a helmet resembles a bubble, etc. Don't see it used much any more.

Have fun out there, stephen

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!!!"

[Mark Manley]

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!

[Tiffany]

Originally Posted by IdeaWife

Great to meet you Tiffany! Really enjoyed your presentation and had a great weekend. Looking forward to continuing following your travels! If you make it to the central coast of California we would love to host you!
Sandy

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

[Tiffany]

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 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) 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.

[GypsyWriter]

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!!

[lisa thomas]

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.

[Tiffany]

Originally Posted by lisa thomas

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

[rokklym]

Originally Posted by Tiffany

Also meeting up with us was Ernie Bell - the guy who makes the great stainless steel tent pegs. I'd met Ernie the previous weekend at the BMW meet. He rides an airhead as well.

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