To the west coast and beyond....I hope!

Thank you to everyone that has been a loyal suporter of my RR. I figure I'll just keep posting up stuff as I make my way back east. I haven't planned out the route yet, but I'm going to try and route it by going on mostly secondary paved roads (so as to make OK time), and occasionally hit some dirt here and there when the opportunity presents itself.

If you live somewhere between CA and VA, and along a southern route back east, and you feel like inviting me to swing by, I would be more than happy to do so! Also, if you know any good roads to take, pass them along. I'll be planning out my route back east in the next several days.

Alright, here are the last couple days of updates.

OK...if you're not or weren't, lost, your Spot tracker indicates a very "scenic" route to your destination. That Virgin Creek Campground sounds like a real friendly place, I oughta get over there!

Tioga pass is open again, with no storms due for a while.

Looking forward to the update.

So Roy and Martha invited me to spend an extra day at their place, and being in no hurry, I accepted. This allowed me to do several things: update the RR, clean up the bike and do some minor maintenance, and enjoy the beauty of their property.

Early in the day, I went with Roy to check up on some piles of wood that he was burning. Then, after lunch I took the opportunity to clean the bike. I also cleaned and replaced the air filter, and cleaned and relubed the chain. Afterwards, Roy and Martha were going for a walk around the property and I went with them. Here are some pictures I took of their beautiful place.







Lake Dexter.



Lookout point lake.









One of several great pyrenees watch dogs that they have, watching over their herd of goats.



An awesome, gnarly tree.



Some of the goats.



Walking back up along the powerlines.



More of their goats, being worked on.





And another one of the watch dogs.



The hill side, just behind their house.



Their beautiful home. It is simply amazing inside!!! :eek1





The guest house, where I stayed.




Ike, their loveable Border Terrier. Yes, I said Border Terrier, look them up.



A neat little tree, growing out of a piece of petrified wood.



The bike is all clean again! This would not last.



That evening, we had another wonderful dinner together. Roy and Martha are simply wonderful hosts. Roy is "retired" technically speaking, but still works a lot, not only because of the goats they keep, but particularly due to the housing development that he and family members have put together and are still working on. You can check out their website here. It's beautiful land, with great views of Lake Dexter.

Well like all good things, the evening came to an end eventually. I bade Martha good bye as I would not see her in the morning because she had to leave for work early. Here is a group shot we took before everyone went to bed that night.



Then the next morning, I loaded up the bike, thanked Roy for their hospitality, and headed out towards Ashland, OR.

So before leaving Lowell, I had via MapSource, layed out a route that would take me to Ashland while avoiding interstate and take me on some nice forest service roads. I left Lowell with a little rain, which eventually stopped about 45 minutes later, but would come back (along with some miserably cold temperatures) as I went around Crater lake. Eventually though it cleared back up a little bit before pulling into Ashland. Here are the pictures from this ride.

The view of Dexter Lake from Roy and Martha's driveway as I set out in the morning.















Near Crater lake, I stopped to see the Rogue gorge, and saw this curiosity.





The gorge.





Pulled into Ashland in the late afternoon and met up with Ezra. Had a great evening of catching up and things that were new. Since it was Monday night, we went to play poker with some buddies of his. While I'm not a poker player by any means, I did come out $1 ahead at the end of the night! Then it was off to bed around midnight 'ish as I had a LONG day ahead of me tomorrow to get down to Windsor, CA; about 422 miles according to the route that I'd layed out via MapSource.

Here are the STATS for the ride from Lowell to Ashland.

So today was going to be a LONG day! The route I had layed out on MapSource, came out to 422 miles! I could have done a shorter route, but I am avoiding interstate like the plague! So up and at them early, and on the road by 7:00am! Brrrrrrrrrr, it's FREEZING! It did not warm up until about 1:00pm that afternoon! I had to stop about every 15 minutes to warm my hands back up on the heat shield above the muffler!

Here are the pictures from the ride.

Just outside Ashland.











Riddin' thru the mist!









I rode over several passes. By this time, I think I was into CA.















Now it's finally starting to warm up!







There's my road, down below!



Some cool, leaning trees! And no, it was not super windy today; they're just growing that way.



At this point, I was about 40 miles northwest of Red Bluff, CA. I love this part of CA, without a doubt, my favorite area in CA. I hope you enjoy the following pictures as much as I enjoyed riding through this area!



A shoe tree!























Going by this ranch, this caught my eye! A little grim, but who am I to judge!











More scenery shots.









The damn at one end of the Indian Valley resevoir.

























In the Napa valley now.





Finally pulled in at Rick and Pam's place around 6:30pm! They had a wonderful dinner of corned beef and cabage waitting on me. Once again, great to see these wonderful people, and to catch up on what had happened since last we'd seen each other.

STATS for the day.



Not bad for one day on a DRZ! All in all, I've got to say that if it weren't for the sweet cheeks and the PVC highway pegs, I don't think I would have been able to make it! I would at a minimum be in serious pain. Here I am now the following morning, and I feel ok. This is good news since I've got atleast 3,000 miles to go to get back to Virginia!

great pics !!! love the Cali pictures reminds me of my summer trip

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=510809 see my Post #8 also stop by Mono cone for some ice cream or shakes at the north end of Lee Vining. also http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=511795 some great suggestions in both for your ride back, have a great time!!!

Excellent!! RR XC

The DRZ still surprises me at the stuff it just soaks up.

Regarding the wolves on the fence posts. A similar thing occured in Texas a number of years back. The ranchers were complaining that wolves/coyotes were attacking their animals and demanded that something be done about it. The authorities claimed "there are no wolves/coyotes in this part of Texas" and that the ranchers were mistaken. So, on the four courners of one crossroad the ranchers 'mounted' the remains of each and every wolf/coyote killed on the tops of their fence posts. They called it Wolf Corner, and it soon reeked of decaying flesh. Well, it worked, it was soon obviuos who was right. It only took a couple of months before something was done to control the wolf/coyote population.

I'm presuming that the California authorities are telling the ranchers there that what they are seeing are actually reindeer. Thus the antlers and sign stating "I'm really a reindeer" with the wolf's body on the fence post.

Interesting photos. I've never seen that anywhere else, since.

Todd

Hey Denis,

It might be a bit too far out of the way for you but if you make it all the way down to San Diego we'd love to have you as a guest at our place. We're located in Ramona just east of San Diego. We'll keep some homebrews on ice just in case.

Pam and Rick invited me to stay with them again the next night, and I decided to take them up on their offer. This would allow me to take my time fixing the flat that I'd gotten last night as I pulled in to Windsor. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that in the last update, but yesterday, when pulling into to Windsor, as I'm taking a left turn, I feel the rear tire try to slip out from under me! Turns out I'd picked up a large staple/u-shaped nail kind of thing. Since I was only .9 miles from Rick and Pam's place, I just continued on the flat tire. With this extra day now, I would also update the RR a bit, and go out for a spin with Pam to see a little bit of the area.

So first things first, fixin' the flat. The culprit.





The tube was shot; good thing I had a spare.



In the late afternoon, I went out for a ride with Pam to see some of the area. Here are the pictures I took from our little excursion through Sonoma county.

















Our first of two stops was the Twomey winery. Here are the pictures I took there.







Back on the road.







Our second stop was Preston winery. There they had this neat earthen brick oven outside.





And more pictures from the ride back to the house.





Got back to the house just in time; there was still enough light to go and take a few pictures of Rick and Pam's vineyards. Tending to their vineyard is Rick's current job. They have about 2.5 acres planted, and they grow grapes to make Pinot Noir. Here are some shots from their vineyard.





























Their dog, Sparky.





All in all, another great day. Tomorrow, back to Carmel Valley. Time to do some maintenance work on the DRZ to get it ready for the ride back to VA.

Thank you for sharing your journey with us I'm really enjoying it. Looks like you've meet quite a few great folks along the way! Your Grand kids will love your stories. PM sent! Have a great trip back!!!!!!

Denis lots of great stuff to do and see in San Diego area. Lotta great riding too I dont know these people at all but hey they got the homebrew. an RR and a BR could be in the works

New batch of XC cards in the mail

So I got up around 8:30/9:00am; wasn't in too much of a hurry as I figured I was not all that far from my brother's house. While munching on a muffin and drinking a cup of coffee, I looked over a map with Pam to plan out an enjoyable route down to Carmel Valley. Lucky for me, Pam knew all the great roads to take and which to avoid; the highlight of the trip would be Skyline Blvd going south from San Francisco. This road would take me by Alice's Restaurant, a known biker stop, where I was planning on stopping to atleast have a beer if not a bite to eat as well. So after getting the route planned out, I loaded the bike back up, said my goodbyes and was on the road again. Here are the pictures from the ride down.



In Graton, CA, I had to stop at the Graton Gallery. Pam is currently re-inventing herself again, and this time has taken up painting. Her work is featured in this gallery, and since I was going right by it, I figured I'd stop in and take a look. Here are the pictures from the gallery.







Here is some of Pam's work.









While I was looking around, I was also amazed by the amazing bowl turnings of Dick Johnston. Being a novice turner myself, I was mesmerized! Here are some pictures.













Eventually, I was back on the road again.



Getting closer to the coast and US 1.









Soon the above stretch of road started following this river, so I stopped to take another picture. As I did, something in the water, near the bank caught my eye. Here is what I saw!





















Apparently, I'd caught those guys at brunch! Reluctantly, I got back on the road again, and soon was following along the coast line. US 1, headed down to San Francisco was a lot of fun!











As I got closer to San Fran, some mist started to develop.









What a great road to ride on!







I stopped at the Muir beach overlook and got some cool pictures.





There were these pill boxes types of things here. I later found out what they were.















Onwards and Upwards! Finally pulled into San Fran and rode across the Golden Gate bridge. In retrospect, I aught to have pulled off the road before crossing to get a couple pictures, but oh well. I did stop on the other side though a little ways down the road as I picked up the coastal road again.







I interacted with a native.





Then back on the road, and heading out of San Fran.



Soon I was on Skyline Blvd and out of San Fran. This road was a lot of fun, and very little traffic!






I arrived in Woodside around 2:30pm or so and stopped at Alice's to get a beer and a burger.



Red Devil's ryle ale; and IPA type of beer......uuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmm good! :slurp



A BMW burger. Also, quite tasty.



Then it was back on the road again; afterall, I still had about 100 miles to go! The road was splendid fun, and got very narrow at times. Once in a while you'd get a nice view too, but mostly you were ridding through the woods.







Another Christmas tree farm.







At one point, I came across a nice buck and a doe not 50 yards from the road! I shot him with the only thing I had.







More road pictures.











I eventually ended back up on US 1, near the town of Freedom, CA.









Pulled in to my brother's place around 6:30pm.

STATS for the day.

Well not much to recount for today. Got up and was lazy for a bit of the morning. Then I got productive and replaced both the front and rear tire on the bike as I had them here. Here are some pictures of the old and new rubber.

Front:



Rear:



Those are Shinko's 244. The front is actually the tire that I put on the KLR to start the trip and then replaced in Moab with a Dunlop 606. I held onto the tire thinking I'd put it back on the KLR to ride back home seeing as how there was still a good amount of tread left on it. I'd heard good things about them from a buddy back home (VATrader) and so we'll see how they do. They look a lot like the Kenda 270 which I like on the rear.

After tire changing 101, I went into town to pick up a new, spare, rear tube since I'd used my spare the other day when changing out my flat. I also picked up two quarts of oil. I'd ordered an oil filter but it hadn't arrived yet, but I wanted to be prepared when it did. Guess what was waitting at the door when I got back to the house!? You guessed it, the new oil filter and o-rings! I guess I'll be doing an oil change tomorrow!

Well that's it. Tomorrow, I'll post up oil change pictures!!! That aught to keep you on the edge of your seat all night long!

I've been using them too. Great tires...rear anyway.

Let us know how they work for you.

I’m currently still hanging out at my brother’s place in CA, and trying to sell the KLR. The plain truth of the situation is that while I’d like to hang on to the bike (especially for a future trip to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska), it simply is not pheasible. First the bike needs some work that while I’d be interested in attempting to do myself, I simply do not have the tools, and place to do it out here in CA. Also, shipping the KLR back to VA, or driving back out here with my truck is simply not an economically viable option either. And finally, my funds are running low, and selling this bike will put a little emergency cushion back into my bank account. So while I sit here trying to get a decent price for this bike, I’ve been giving some thoughts to what I’ve learned so far on this trip, and share it here with anyone and everyone interested in reading it. Reallize that the following is purely my opinion, so take it or leave it; as Baz Luhrmann said in his song Everybody’s free (to wear sunscreen) “Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.”
With that in mind, here are my thoughts and reflections from having done the Trans-America trail (these are in no particular order):

PACK AS LIGHT AS POSSIBLE!!! I know that so many have said this before, and lord knows I read it multiple times before taking off myself, but it can not be said enough. Here is a glimpse into how I pared down my gear before getting back on the road to finish the TAT with the DRZ.
-clothes- I had what I wore, and 1 spare set, plus thermal underwear shirt and pants.
-food- I carried snacking stuff, and no more than 2 days worth of food. I found that unless major a disaster struck, the possibility of needing more than 2 day’s worth of food was virtually impossible.
-toilleteries- After carrying way too much, I pared it down to this: toothbrush and toothpaster, body soap, shampoo and conditioner (I have long hair), deoderant ( I hardly used it, I just didn’t care), nail clippers, and toothpicks with floss.
-first aid kit- Minimal: a couple bandaids, two large bandages, a few gauze pads, some surgical tape, and an ace bandage.
-tool kit- I really looked into what I absolutely needed, and here is what I ended up taking: 3 tire iron (2 small spoon type, and 1 large Motion Pro), needle nose pliers, crescent wrench, vice grips, a multi-tool that had the rest of what I needed (flat and phillips screw drivers, a couple hex keys,luckily it included the 1 size I needed, and a nut driver with 8, 10, and 12mm sockets), a tube patch kit, Locktite thread locker, JB weld, and the stock tool kit minus the tools already listed above. ALL these tools (minus the xtra long tire iron, Locktite, and JB weld) fit into the front fender bag, along with my spare front tube.
-Hard case- These are nice, but they add weight, even if they are plastic. The ONLY reason why I had one to begin with was to protect my Netbook PC. I found that by packing it in my clothes, it was perfectly safe enough. Also, doing without the top box on the back of the bike, allowed me to keep my center of gravity lower.

Next, to camp or to stay in hotels. Hotels are great becase then you can carry less gear and keep your load lighter. Also it’s easier because you don’t have to set up and tear down camp every day. It’s also a lot more comfortable to sleep in a nice bed at night, be able to take a hot shower, wash some clothes in the sink, and not have to worry about what the weather is like. However, camping has it’s own advantages. It’s cheaper, and you can set up your shelter practically anywhere; i.e. you don’t have to get off the trail and go find a motel/hotel somewhere. I know that Sam has layed out the trail such that you can find outs for hotels on a daily basis, but first of all, I don’t like to be tied to someone else’s schedule, and secondly, an emergency could come up and it’s good piece of mind to know that you have shelter with you no matter where you may be.

Onto the food issue; I will not take the issue of taste into the following considerations! Now, once again, I can only speak for myself; as for me, I’ll eat just about anything,I am not a picky eater. Of course, by eating out, you can save on weight of gear, and it will often be easier and possibly tastier, however this can get quite expensive. Therefor, I prefer to cook for myself. The big downside being that you’ll need to carry a stove with you, atleast one cooking pot, and a spork! As far as the good is concerned, freeze dried stuff is good because it is easy to make, and light. However, depending on the brand, and where you buy it, it can be expensize. This is why I choose to go with regular store bought stuff. For a little added weight, you can eat just as good, and for much less! My typical dinner consists of rice and bean packages to which you only need add water and boil, or those flavored pasta packages to which you also only need to add water and then boil. Here is what I mean:





I then complement this with some kind of canned meat, be it chicken, ham, sardines, or spam! Also, chili is great, and easy thanks to the following (or any other brand for that matter):



For breakfast, I’ll stick to those breakfast bars; I’m not a big breakfast person. And for lunch, either I’ll get a sandwich somewhere at a gas stop or when going through a town, or I’ll just snack all day long; I always carry peanut butter crackers, some kind of trail mix, and beef jerky. I also try to eat atleast 1 piece of fruit per day; apples, oranges, anything that will not get destroyed in my back pack.

Next, the subject of prep work (I will not open the can of worms that is “Which bike should one take to do the TAT”). Now, I think that one’s personality will play a BIG role in this part. However, I will echo the words of others and say that doing prep work, does not rule out the possibility for spontineity! I looked at my prep work as preparing myself for as many possible problems that I could encounter while along the way, and having a plan B if I encountered that problem. I did NOT map out a daily itenerary. In fact I had no itinerary; I, unlike others, had the luxury of no time constraints. I had a departure point, a destination point, and points to hit along the way. I pretty much would only look at my maps and such one or two days ahead. The prep work that I did included the following:
I made sure that I was in good enough physical shape. Doing this type of riding for as long as the trail requires is a physically demanding situation. Next, I did the best I could to get my bike ready for the trip. Could my mechanical mishap have been prevented by some kind of prep work? I think not. Next, get to know your bike, ride it in all kinds of conditions, with and without gear. This may be a no brainer, but you never know. Now for the big one, KNOW YOUR ROUTE! I ordered Sam’s maps, and then plugged the route into my GPS using Mapsource, as best as I could. I have a Garmin 60CSX, and the City Nav. 2009, and TOPO maps. Using City Nav. Maps was easier for me because of the auto-routing function, and I had NO PROBLEM finding the route all the way up to Colorado. Once in Colorado, some of the TAT did not appear on the City Nav. Maps. This is why got the topo maps loaded onto a separate SD card. On the trail, I then carried the following: Sam’s paper maps, Sam’s roll charts, my GPS, and a US atlas (as a final backup). Once into Colorado, I followed my GPS when I knew it was correct, and double checked using the roll chart, otherwise I would follow the roll charts, and used the GPS to make sure that I was more or less headed in the right direction. Finally, here are some other miscelaneous prep work things that I did. I got a SPOT Tracker. I knew that I would be travelling by myself mostly, and that I could possibly seriously injure myself. Therefore, I wanted to be able to have help come to me if I could not walk out myself. It’s wonderful peace of mind for not only yourself, but for your loved ones back home. The last bit of prep work that I did was to set up a place midway thru where I could do some needed maintenance on the bike such as oil change and tire change.

Now for some random thoughts on gear that came in handy. GPS, is it needed? No, but it sure makes life easier. If you take the time to plug your route into the GPS, it is much easier to follow this than to have to use the roll charts and paper maps. It’s also very handy when it comes to reroutes, and finding any kind of point of interest be it gas, lodging, food, etc…. Of course, all of the above depends on which GPS you have, and what maps are loaded on it. I will not get into which GPS you should get, but I will say that my Garmin 60CSX performed flawlessly. Next, my MP3 music player was a life saver for me! Now, I know that I’ve been spoiled for the last 7 years by riding a Harley Davidson Electra Glide that has a full front fairing with a radio in it. Therefor, for me to be on the road this long without tunes is just NOT an option! Seat padding! On the KLR I started out with the Alaska leathers sheepskin; it helped a lot, but with the addition of the Stearns ATV seat pad as well, it became much nicer. On the DRZ, I had to rethink what to do, as I did not want to spend $300 some dollars on a Renazco seat, and the Stearns pad plus Alaska leathers sheepskin simply did not do the trick. I think it was in Dr. Rock’s RR that I had first seen or heard of Sweet Cheeks, and he seemed quite pleased with them; so I ordered a set. All I can say about the sweet cheeks is WOW! HUGE difference in comfort! And, a great way to carry xtra water; I no longer carried Nalgene bottles of water in my saddle bags. Camera, take a good one, you’ll want to have good pictures to remember your trip in years to come; that and an RR without pictures simply doesn’t cut it!! Hint, hint….wink, wink…..nudge, nudge!

Well, I believe that I’ve rambled on enough; my brain is overheating at the moment. I’m sure that some things have escaped me, and when they come back to me, I’ll post them up. I’ll also post up my thoughts on the difference between the KLR and DRZ at some point in time.

Good Stuff...Thank you for sharing.

If you had it to do over again and knowing what you know now, would you have started off on the KLR650 or the DRZ400S?

good luck on the sale!