NomadGal's Year on the Road

[TwilightZone]

>"LOL, if I didn't know that I'd have no right to mess with my own bike."

Wasn't sure about your background on bikes. I think some of us here are tying to 'look out for you' (i.e. prevent common mistakes). There are lots of people that would just dump a new chain on worn sprockets.

Hope you don't mind.

[NomadGal]

Originally Posted by TwilightZone

>"LOL, if I didn't know that I'd have no right to mess with my own bike."

Wasn't sure about your background on bikes. I think some of us here are tying to 'look out for you' (i.e. prevent common mistakes). There are lots of people that would just dump a new chain on worn sprockets.

Hope you don't mind.

I am guessing you missed the part in my RR where I took the engine out, split the cases to replace bearings, and put it Spirit back together again

[ReadySetGo]

May the Spirit be with you!!! . Very nice to meet you and glad we got to be in a little part of your adventure. Best wishes to you on your journey and may your chain stay safe with the little mileage that will be put on it until you can get the sprockets. I must say it is nice having Richard around to do the maintenance on my bikes. I am in awe of you and don't think that I could ever work on a bike like you did. Ride Safe and enjoy

[NomadGal]

Originally Posted by ReadySetGo

May the Spirit be with you!!! . Very nice to meet you and glad we got to be in a little part of your adventure. Best wishes to you on your journey and may your chain stay safe with the little mileage that will be put on it until you can get the sprockets. I must say it is nice having Richard around to do the maintenance on my bikes. I am in awe of you and don't think that I could ever work on a bike like you did. Ride Safe and enjoy

Thanks Wendy, safe riding to you as well!
I'm pretty sure that you are more capable than you think you are!

[NomadGal]

Unbelievable! Here I am in the middle of nowhere in Louisiana, and I have almost full bars! Hence internet while sitting in my tent, stir-frying tofu with garlic and onions, and posting my RR.
Well.... posting? kNope not really, just saying hi. Conserving my battery power on my laptop so I can watch a movie in a bit.

To anyone who might be heading to Mexico or Big Bend national forest, and who is interested in either acquiring a way to charge their laptops or cellphones etc., or just wanting to come by and say hi to me, swing by Pharr, south of Corpus Christi, between Feb 14th till 24th at Costco. I will be there for 10 days selling goalZero solar products that are awesome for the traveling inclined.

[just jeff]

Originally Posted by NomadGal

I am guessing you missed the part in my RR where I took the engine out, split the cases to replace bearings, and put it Spirit back together again

That's why I was surprised when you mentioned you were installing the chain but didn't mention you what you were doing with the sprokets. I was then happy to realize I had misunderstood and you had it all under controll. Please don't be offended, even experianced, knowledgeable people have surprising holes in that knowledge.
Congratulations on the job!
Regards....justjeff

[TwilightZone]

>"I am guessing you missed the part in my RR where I took the engine out, split the cases to replace bearings, and put it Spirit back together again "

Yup, saw that, figured you were either mechanically talented, or had prior experience fixing engines! However it seems like tires were a new thing!

At any rate... carry on!

[NomadGal]

Originally Posted by TwilightZone

>"I am guessing you missed the part in my RR where I took the engine out, split the cases to replace bearings, and put it Spirit back together again "

Yup, saw that, figured you were either mechanically talented, or had prior experience fixing engines! However it seems like tires were a new thing!

At any rate... carry on!

Originally Posted by just jeff

That's why I was surprised when you mentioned you were installing the chain but didn't mention you what you were doing with the sprokets. I was then happy to realize I had misunderstood and you had it all under controll. Please don't be offended, even experianced, knowledgeable people have surprising holes in that knowledge.
Congratulations on the job!
Regards....justjeff

No hard feelings you guys! I was a bit surprised is all! But yeah! If I had know chain was bad beforehand, I would have ordered the set and waited. As it is, I don't think it will bother the chain too much. The sprockets are still passable, but definitely need replacing!

[NomadGal]

Well! Ferries do break down occasionally, setting me back 2 hours.
So instead of riding to the campground in the dark, I decided to see if someone was in Lake Charles.
Think I caught Hoggjaww by surprise! Heading there right now. More later, and boy did I ever take a bunch of pics!

[Motomedic]

Say hello to Hoggjaww for me!

[NomadGal]

Originally Posted by Motomedic

Say hello to Hoggjaww for me!

Haha, I will, BTW I got your pots and pans!

[Cal]

Nomadgal
I've been lurking for awhile and enjoying the report! I had to drop in and say that the goalzero solar products really look great and good luck with them. I use 2' 5 watt, panels on my sailboat with a 18amp/hr battery and it runs my cabin and anchor lights ( LED) gps and vhs radio perfectly. The goalzero products look perfect for moto travel

[Jettn Jim]

Hey NG

I always pop in on the RR over on KLRWorld... but don't visit ya here
Duh.... I'll swing by more often. We both double up our RR's on two sites... sooo I don't know what I was thinking
Hello from Moab

WoooHoooo

[Motomedic]

Originally Posted by NomadGal

Haha, I will, BTW I got your pots and pans!

Well, the two pots were (are?) still good, I just couldn't handle the Teflon coming off the frying pan (I like my eggs in the morning! )

[NomadGal]

I am in Pasadena Texas!
But let me backtrack a little. I have so many photos it was hard to figure out which ones to post!
Left Long Beach Mississippi around 10, it was overcast and chilly but I didn't mind, I was excited to be heading toward Southern Texas and figured I should enjoy the cold a while.


Caught a speck of blue in the sky


I just love those bridges!





I was in Louisiana before I knew it!


More Spanish Moss




Took a free little ferry south of New Orleans, I did not want to go through New Orleans because of the Mardi grass and the end of the super bowl


So much water everywhere! Had to wait for the drawbridge to go back down



I rode till Franklin and found the dirt road that led to the free campground. turns out I really did not need to have gone on it after all, if I had ridden through town, I could have stayed on pavement, but the dirt road was really cool.



Found the site, and pitched my tent right as it started raining! Unfortunately the campsite was located next to a noisy area that contained machinery to pump gasoline to all over Louisiana.

I did sleep well, and found something really weird in the morning


Teensy snails! loads of them stuck all over the inside and outside of my tent! It took me forever to shake them off


I LOVE! this camera!




I talked to the camp maintainer, a man called Guy if I remember right, he lived across the river and came over in the morning to mow the yard.

I broke camp after the tent dried, and headed out toward highway 82




Haha, a town named after me

I rode along the coast for hours, it was beautiful, and I was pretty much the only one on it!
One thing was really depressing though, and that was seeing the devastation that Hurricane Ike brought.
I'd see turned over school busses, campers, shacks etc.
I also passed a lot of driveways with big trees and lawns and the only tell that there had been a house there, was the foundation, which a lot of times still had the kitchen floor tiles on it.
I did not take any pics, felt I didn't have the right to invade
















As you might have noticed! I just loved the area!


Yep, another bridge

Got to the end of the road ready to board the ferry, when it turned out that it had broken down!
It was either waiting 3 to 4 hours or detour over Lake Charles.
I ended up choosing to go north rather than wait.
I got to Lake Charles around 5 and decide to stop a McD to see if there was a campground nearby. I also checked the ADV tent list and saw that Hoggjaww offered tent space.
I called him and thankfully he answered!

I spent the night camped in his front yard, and talking with him and Debbie, another bike riding gal. She just recently started riding out of the blue, after secretly having taken her husband's bike for a spin
Harry is a great guy, a big bear of a fellow who with his long grey hair and a bit of a beard reminded me of Santa. I told him he should do that during the Christmas season, but beards are to itchy he said.

I had another surprise when I was looking around Harry's place, he had an old KLR, which he was working on, and planned to sell.
He mentioned having bought an IMS tank for it, but that he wasn't going to put it on.
Soooooo after getting paid from my GoalZero show, I'm heading back there to buy the IMS tank from him. He gave me a good deal! It's green, but that's okay, blue and green goes well together!
I'm so stoked, it will be great to have the tank, and probably even greater when heading to Alaska!


Old building downtown Lake Charles


Harry's yard

I left late the next morning after having slept wonderful! It was raining and I was hoping it would let off before I left, so I could pack my tent dry. But oh well, that didn't happen.
I said bye to Harry, he left to go do his taxes, and I headed toward Pasadena Texas.

It rained pretty much the whole time!




Stopped by the visitor center to get a bunch of free maps and campsite info

I decided to got down toward Port Arthur, and then along the coast toward Galveston and cross by ferry.


Haha, my 2nd Nederland, the first was in Colorado


A soaking wet Spirit. I stopped at a gas station to put on another sweater underneath my jacket. I had gotten cold.


I took the ferry to Galveston, and held on for dear life while straddling Spirit. The wind was buffeting hard, and I was getting wet by now.

Slowly but surely the rain had started seeping though my gear. My gloves which I had just waterproofed that morning were drenched, My paints had also given up the fight, and I was now sitting in a cold puddle of water. Not pleasant!
I decided to just hit interstate 45 and to just haul ass to Pasadena, but after nearly being blown into another lane, which had traffic in it, I decided to get off, and too Hwy 149 instead. Half an hour out of Pasadena I had to stop. I was bone cold, and soaking wet, and decided to put some dry clothes on underneath my wet gear.
I spotted a McD, and I must confess made a bloody mess out of their bathroom by the time I had my sopping clothes off and put some dry ones on. I must have had at least a gallon's worth of water stuck on me. I did dry the floor as best I could.

After having had a few nice warm french fries which did a great job of warming me up, I hopped back on Spirit and made it to Pasadena.
3 minutes after getting there a UPS truck pulled up with my sprockets! LOL!
Yay! After a hot shower and some food I felt human again.
I'm staying here with my ex-inlaws, really nice folks, and will put my new sprockets on after I fix my mother in law's computer and toilet. Keeping busy!