Quit our jobs, sold our home, gone riding...

Those pics of the wave are truly gobsmacking. Great job

So where in the world are ya know ???!

Gene,

I wanted to take a moment and tell you how much I have enjoyed reading your ride report.

I also wanted to profess my love for Neda.

That is all.

...just....awesome

Hey Gene

Fellow BMW rider, ex Torontonian, we ride in similar circles, however have never met. I just returned from a 20K plus ride around the area you are currently travelling.

I woke up in my tent one night and it was frigging cold! Decided I needed to find another option to keep warm without breaking the bank. Here is an app you will find very useful if you and Neda get tired of the tent but don't want to hotel it.

http://m.iphoneappstorm.com/iphone-...ing-find-available-campsites.php?id=490668237

I used this on my ride and rented fully furnished cabins complete with wood stoves and chopped fire wood for as little as 20 bucks. To use the app, select "Cabins" in the filter. You will be amazed at what is available to you off the beaten path. Most are web reservable and they email you the combination to the front door lock within minutes of payment. Many also provide interesting rides just getting to them! Most are Forestry Ranger Cabins, Guard Stations and lookout towers.

I would stop at a McDonalds to have a cup of joe and use their wifi to book a cabin for the night. Makes a nice economical, luxurious break from the tent.

Great site you have. I stop by often to read and in fact, have done so for several years now.

Best of luck! If you find yourself in the Quebec Townships anytime, PM me. You and Neda are welcome here anytime.

Cheers

Paul

Updated from http://www.RideDOT.com/rtw/50.html



We've been holed up in Vegas, fugitive-style, for the past few days, peering out at the world through our hotel window. With rooms only a few dollars more than campsites (subsidized by the casinos), we've Pricelined our way through a 4 different places all over the strip and old Vegas, moving each day as if we were evading the law.


Vegas sunrise against the mountains



Before leaving, we did venture out one evening to take in the colourful lights of Sin City.



Neon landscape


Canopy of lights over Fremont Street

We strolled through the 1/2 km stretch of Fremont St while 12 million LEDs flashed hypnotic commercials overhead. The street used to be a popular place for pickpockets targeting tourists distracted by the light show above them, before the city boosted the police presence. Cops on bikes blend in with the street performers and costumed human statues, and we're barraged by a constant cacophony of music from two stages, street musicians and aerial commercials.


We weren't tempted by the casinos at all, but the Deep-Fried Twinkies caught my attention. Wonder what they'll replace them with now that Hostess is out of business?


Every hour on the hour, the casino and store lights dim. A 10-15 minute video is played overhead, set to music. This is the Fremont St Experience!


Watching the lights of the strip from the top of the city

Right now warmer is better...!

Us too! :) We never knew about The Wave until a few days before when we met Jacques in Moab. We are just floating around getting ideas on where to ride and visit from people we meet on the road and we are loving the surprises along the way.

Cool app, Paul. Thanks a lot! We've snowboarded the Eastern Townships quite often, wonderful place and the food is amazing! Thanks for the invite! :)

Downtown Vegas really beats the strip for me. We used to get a room at the hotel at the top of Fremont street overlooking the street. That was just after the Experience was finished, so we could look down on it. I don't put any money into the machines, so they're not building new hotels with my cash....

Still enjoying your report.

go check out valley of fire sp while you're there
http://parks.nv.gov/parks/valley-of-fire-state-park/

red rock cyn is also cool
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/blm_special_areas/red_rock_nca.html

in that area toroweap/tuweap is the coolest of the coolest places to camp
http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/tuweep.htm

vegas is beyond weird and kinda dumb.

Haven't been in a few years but when last there I found I got a kick out of downtown. I think it was before the overhead screen was installed....but it seemed to me that downtown took me back in time a bit. I've also enjoyed a visit to one of the Vegas gun shops that have their own ranges and an assortment of automatic weapons for customers to try out on the range. Finally got my chance to find out what it felt like to fire a tommy gun! Big fun! You sound as though Vegas is in your mirrors now, but when you are back...if your trigger fingers get itchy...the place I went was "the gun store" but I think there's another similar venture called "machine gun Kelly's." Looking forward to your next installment!

By chance is this picture taken with the Nikon AW100? I'm suspecting so since it appears to have been taken while riding.

I've been looking for a new camera for the tank bag, and one that takes quality pictures in low light. The Nikon J1 is a possibility, but may not be handy enough.

Thanks.

That picture was taken using our D60, which was sitting on my lap in LV traffic. The AW100 is terrible in low-light! Also, that shot in particular was taken with the neon lights in the background so it's not indicative of what the D60 does in low-light. With the DSLRs, we've found cranking up the ISO setting manually greatly improves the night shots.

Hope that helps!

Not to jump ahead in the story, but it seems that after fighting those beastly Beemers around for many months Gene has decided to change mounts before heading south of the border. Maybe something a little easier for Neda to pick up for him when needed. After much searching it seems he has found his "perfect ride" for South America, complete with custom adventure luggage:









Stay tuned for more details...............

Big-time help since I was starting to like some of the features of the AW100. Need to zero-in on a camera in time for cyber-Monday!

Thanks!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving break read! Thank you for bringing us along... Very refreshing prose & great pics...very apparent that you are having a blast. Keep it coming!

Dave

Brilliant report and photography. I'm on the edge of my seat.

If (when) you come to Oz you have a bed&food&beer if you need.

Cheers guys.

"Dad, what are you doing?"
"Reading, honey.
"But you've been reading all sunday. Is that an e-book?"
"no, it's a travel blog."
"What is it about?"
"About a trip that I would love to make one day."
"Where to?
"That's the thing. The people that are making this trip don't know yet. But they are having a great time traveling."
"Can I come?"

Thank you so much for your trip report. It's wonderful to see people living the dream that so many of us have, and letting us be part of it. Be safe and please drop me a line when you include Amsterdam in your travel plans. Wait, there are no plans... ...when Amsterdam is in your near future.

Hey all, we've been invited to be a part of SideStandUp, an Internet radio talk show!

We're on tomorrow evening (Tuesday Nov 27th), the show starts at 8PM EST, runs about an hour and a half, and we're on towards the end.

The link for SideStandUp is http://www.SideStandUp.com

The direct link to the podcast is http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCastCustomAds.jsp?masterId=64458&cmd=tc

And yes, they spelled Neda's name wrong.

There's supposed to be an online chat component to it, so we'll try to be on that as well, but I can't seem to find it on the page. Will update here as soon as I locate it. Look forward to seeing some of you guys online!

Cool! I'll tune in if I can.....

Cool---------I'll be online to hear it.

I was on the show once---made me nervous as hell.

He told me the questions he was going to ask me before hand which made it much easier.

BigDog