Episode IV

hopscotching · Jul 5, 2013

As with all good things
We have to start in the middle of a story.
Not to confuse but to begin with a ride rather than the
Personal Items that seem to proceed such a trip (at least it did for us).

The Plan

Leave work (Check)
Sell / Give Away almost everything we own (Check)
Store the rest (Check)
Clean Apartment (Check)
Leave Apartment (Check)
Make sure the hack is ready (Check)
Find unexpected items that need to be fixed (check)
Find more things (ahh screw it; Check)
Pack hack (Check)
Realize we packed to much (Check)
Store more items (Check)
Still have too much stuff (Check)
Throw out extra items (Check) didn’t need jeans anyway!
Stuff it, we are off (Check)

Travel for a year or so, till the money runs out or we get sick of it! USA, Alaska, Canada, Mexico and Central America.

hopscotching · Jul 5, 2013

07-04-13

Chico to Lassen Volcanic National Park. After packing and finishing up the final items we are final out, and only a month late ;-)

The Ride.

Going to be a short day, as the plans have been revised and we have had to re-schedule our itinerary. The first portion of the trip will be Lassen then hanging out on the Lost and Oregon Coasts and making our way to the BMW MOA National Rally in Salem, Oregon. From there to the Top O' The Rockies Rally in Paonia, Colorado (I owe people a beer or two). After that the real trip starts and we head to Alaska. It is a little late in the season, but at this point we have to go

Lassen

After an early departure (early for us) as the temps in Chico were to be well over 100, again.. We took the long way!
The ride dropped the temp by well over 20 by the time we got into Lassen, just missing the rain left over from yesterdays storm. We have tried to see Lassen 3 times, both together and separately. Each time something has prevented a ride around the park, not looking to hike this visit; just ride.

What can we say about Lassen, well it was a great ride. Not much in the way of volcanic activity (if you want that go to Yellowstone) even the volcanic flows somewhat disappointing. I am sure if I were not editing video, writing (drinking) and went down to the lake near the camp site I would be much more impressed.
We are just happy to be on the road FINALLY!!!!

Camping is rough for us, the hack has been set up with a secondary battery and an inverter, the only thing missing at this point is internet and cell reception!! An extension cord runs from the sidecar to the camp, providing us with power for all the toys one needs (or does not need) on a motorcycle camping trip.
The idea is to keep the ride report as up to date as possible, video and photos aplenty. We seem to have forgotten the photo part of this portion, but will be trying harder. Check the video below;

<iframe src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/3znFEVhMIZM?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" width="560" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe>

 If you dont like the music: Please send me some music that I can use. It must be copyright free or I must have permission from the artist to use said music. We are still trying to find more songs, presently I only have 4 and if you dont like punk well shit you are out of luck..

Camping, as I mentioned earlier it tough. XM radio provides the tunes thru a Bluetooth speaker, the cooler provides the food and cold beverages (HA) and of course the battery / inverter provides the power for the toys (get your mind out of the gutter)

We are these people.

Amie

Matt

$18 for camping
$4 chips and cold water
Watching a yellow jacket hump a bear proof container; priceless.

Until the next time.

P.S

This guy kept us entertained for hours, what is it?????

<iframe src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/TnjpDy80aiU?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" width="560" frameborder="0" height="315"></iframe>

Calikatoom · Jul 6, 2013

can't wait for more....

WU7X · Jul 6, 2013

Oh, yeah! I'm in!

Blader54 · Jul 6, 2013

too cool for school! I'm in! Wishing you the best and looking forward to reading more!

hopscotching · Jul 7, 2013

Lassen to the Lost Coast.

Good morning baby.

The ride was just one of em rides until, that is, hwy 36.... OMG. what a road, what a workout. My sidecar has the original bar still on, I found muscles in my arms i never knew existed. The ups downs ins and outs, i will say it again, just amazing.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/dyIdb9vzn8s?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Until

We pull up for a break and then the bike won't start, ahh crap.

after a misdiagnosis, it was the bike battery. Well, there goes an hour on pointless work ;-) Anyhoo, hook up the 2nd battery and off we go. Pull into the first / only (?) motorcycle shop in Eureka and they have batteries that would fit but only in lead acid, it's a long story why i no longer run these batteries but i am sure you can guess. So we are currently on our way to Oregon to pick up a new battery, not exactly how i saw this trip starting. Is this not why it is called a break down run???? Alas, this is why there is no video from the best part of hwy 36. Using a deep cycle battery to start the bike is not the best idea to begin with and then running extras off it too? I thought better to play it safe and go without.

I now sit in an overpriced hotel for Internet and a bed. Typing after a second rate dinner. Really, Can travel get any better?

Dinner.
Just across the street from our wonderfully overpriced 50's era hotel sat what was supposed to be a good restaurant(?). I stupidly ordered the fresh pasta with chicken, which in writing sounded great. Not in reality! How does one overcook fresh pasta? I will never know... The chicken tasted like fish, but had a great plastic quality to it. Just amazing. The fish and chips on the other hand were just great, really wish i had ordered them, live and learn...

The hotel. WOW, never rock into a town on the 5th of july and expect a hotel room. We really should have headed for a campground, but after the small battery safuoo this was needed ;-) 50's era building, with the ONLY rooms left in town, as i said; should have gone to a campground. The king room was complete with a Jacuzzi and an era specific hairdryer, the hose had been electrical taped on at some point. When we got in the room the hose was just hanging over the unit. Sleep was good though.

One More

The closed gas stations along 36 are amazing, sad but amazing. Pumps still in place etc.

Prices seem a little high thou ;-)

Till net time.

hopscotching · Jul 7, 2013

Up early, well early for us ;-) i know, i know....

The race to Oregon is on, Hansen's is closing at 2pm today and we need the battery. A quick coffee and we are off, better get gas though. The ride up hwy 101 is less than stellar, Grants pass does make it interesting and I5 is just crap. But we make it to Hansen's in record time ;-)

With a battery purchased it is just a matter of fitting the little bugger. If you have ever changed a battery on an airhead you will know what i mean. The big batteries are a royal pain, the new batteries have more cranking power with less width. To make it all fit safely a spacer is needed, with luck Hansen's had numerous BMW pallets. Measure twice, cut once, with a hatchet!!! Not the prettiest spacer ever, but will keep the battery in place without issue. Now for all the custom battery cables i had made; My old battery had screw in terminals, the new standup terminals, damn. The battery comes with some bolts etc, but all too short to fit the 2 lead end I run. To the bolt bag, batman!!!! I find 2 different length bolts that fit, phew, and some new locks to keep everything in place. Then it is just a simple matter of pushing and pulling the cables that were not made for the style of terminal to fit and work. A little swearing later and we have a new battery installed and are off the the supermarket for supplies.

Lunch;
This meal was worth writing about, simple tacos done so damn well. The original restaurant was next door with a for rent sign sitting on the front and an arrow pointing next door. The new building had no name just really good food. Mmmmmm smoked meat!!!!

Where to now;
After heading north much earlier than we had wanted we needed to go south, without backtracking. Back to the interstate and onto hwy 96 than then connects to hwy 3. And here i thought hwy 36 was good, hwy 3 KICKS IT'S ASS!!!!!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/II80JtyeGQc?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Scenery was awesome, don't look too much as there is a 10 mile an hour switchback coming!

We get to Trinity Lake and call it a day. Once again rates even for camping have been hiked for the holiday ;-( at least it is shady and pleasant... Ohhh and i have 2 batteries again, power for the camp and all the toys ;-)

Have to work on the bike tomorrow morning, it is overdue for the heads to be torqued and valves checked and of course do what i didn't do when we took the bike apart on the side of the road yesterday.

Till next time

BMW-K · Jul 7, 2013

Ok, this has promise.

hopscotching · Jul 7, 2013

We are currently lunching, Downtown Brown and a chicken sandwich it just what was needed, the internet does not go astray either.....

All will be reported on tomorrow

hopscotching · Jul 8, 2013

Before we get to yesterday, some pics that didn't make the day before report. Confused? me too!

Hard at work getting video ready

Airing our dirty laundry

The Standard dinner

The Lake

Ahh Sunset

And now for yesterday

Up and at em! Heads need to be torque, valves set, oil checked... Check check and check. We are off.

We leave Trinity lake on a route to get us to Eureka, we will be needing lunch, beer and wifi. The things we go thru to keep a report running.

Free wifi can be a funny beast, I must have tried 20 times to get access to the restaurant's router; one the last time it finally went thru. YEA.. So, the ride to Eureka was nothing great, hwy 3 after Trinity lake settles down and we took the easy way out and took hwy 299 into Eureka.

Lunch was good.

The beer was better and after getting wifi all was good.

Beware of the spider

We had no intentions of doubling back and did all we could not to do so, but there are only so many roads one can take to get to and from the same area. After lunch we had some shopping to do, in our haste to pack and downsize we left many things behind.

One of the most missed items have been jeans, these have been replaced with some hiking pants and for me an extra bonus; a new long sleeve shirt. The old one must have been 5 years old and was / is about to fall apart. After satisfying our retail needs we headed to the cheapest supermarket we could find to replenish our beer supplies... And then hit the road.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/cLfzwhtuCOk?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

101 sucks. It may as well be an interstate for the most part, but as many times as we do it the Ave of the Giants never disappoints. We still have more of it to do tomorrow. The cunning plan; head to Garberville and onto the Lost Coast and basically get lost for a day or 3...

Till next time.

hopscotching · Jul 11, 2013

Starting from Trinity lake we headed to the lost coast. Our destination was Shelter Cove, neither of us know what to expect. But i can describe the ride like this; For me on the sidecar every day has been a workout, by he end of this trip i expect to have the oddest muscle formations in my arms ;-)

But seriously, we took Ave of the Giants to hwy 101 taking the Garberville exit to grab some supplies. Heading to Redway for lunch and some wifi. Leaving Garberville a unleashed dog darts in front of us forcing me into an emergency turn to avoid the animal; NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED DURING THIS PRODUCTION!!!! Phew.

Lunch in Redway was uneventful, Sweet potato and garlic fries, washed down was a Sierra Pale Ale (@Deb's All American Burgers). Life really is not that bad...

We fill with gas and FINALLY head to the lost Coast. The dog incident basically forgotten we got our groove back then this:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Y87Ryl9vjm8?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So a very exciting day all in all.

We reach Shelter Cover without further incident, the coastal fog welcomes us. We tour the lighthouse speaking with the volunteer tour guide. The birds and seals were having a ball, and quite literally, so was Scout, a 7 year old black lab who chased her ball the entire time we were there, getting impatient every time her owner tried to take a break.

Our camp is just 3.5 miles as the crow flies from the cove. Beautiful campsite BLM managed and only $8!! A very welcome change from the overpriced state and private places we had been. For dinner Amie had requested Brats, so we had brats, the supposedly fresh bread was at least a day old. These things happen.

After dinner the mosquitoes descended, Deet seems to be crack to them. At last count i have approx 25 bites, Amie, it seems is not as sweet as I ;-)

camp site

Checking the LEDs

One last camp pic....

Till next time...

hopscotching · Jul 11, 2013

A little light-headed after being feasted upon, we leave our campsite. Our destination is Petrolia and to the next campsite; just a short one today. The road is great and keep up with my upper body sidecar workout schedule ;-) The twists and turns keep us on our toes most of the way, just a few straights offer relief. Little to my knowledge I was carrying a hitch hiker.

We lost him thou.

Cool bridge near Honeydew, I had to do it twice ;-)

Petrolia is a very small town, but the market offered supplies and ice. We head down Lighthouse Rd to the coast and for a camp, once again the coastal fog gets us.

Video below is timelapse of the fog

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For most of the day we have sat, eaten jerky and drunk beer (not good beer i am sorry to say)

it is a very nice way to spend the day. After a few hours the fog started to clear, we had already walked the beach in search of firewood

Amie's attempt

It was decided that i should pull the load. We did end up carrying the wood thou.

we sit back and enjoy the sun. It's anyone's guess as to how long it will last. Tomorrow will likely see us explore one of the side roads up into the mountains (hills?).

Kennon · Jul 11, 2013

this looks epic, in regards to the mysterious bug it looks like a parasitic wasp to me.

Mcgee · Jul 11, 2013

I like your style. Great set up you have. Hopefully there's more to come! Thanks for the ride so far.

on2wheels52 · Jul 11, 2013

Tuned in, enjoy the ride.
Jim

Ravenslair · Jul 12, 2013

Great report so far. Looking forward to more.

hopscotching · Jul 13, 2013

Kennon said: ↑

this looks epic, in regards to the mysterious bug it looks like a parasitic wasp to me.
Click to expand...

We had been very curious, we watched it drag caterpillars etc into the hole to store for later....

hopscotching · Jul 13, 2013

Today we decided to stay in camp / place. Except for a hill climb and slight tour of the road less traveled.

<iframe src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/q16WWSg69Pk?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

This is the hill i decided NOT to go down, it took both of us to get the rig turned around....

Was just amazing once out of the fog

Oh, and a quick run into town for supplies ;-)

The campsite was very pleasant, we decided to stay an extra day, we are in no rush.

A few excursions on the beach for firewood and photo op's, let's see what we can see...

Dinner, was created using the leftovers from the night before and for some instant hash browns we had been given, i had my doubts about them. But to our surprise there were quite good.

Really did taste better than this looks

Today was somewhat special, the day was mostly clear. Very different form the day before. The sun, the sunset and then the stars were just spectacular, below are some pics of the views and our Pi sign.

Till next time

Kennon · Jul 13, 2013

ahh yeah its a sick creature really it lays eggs in its victims to feeds it young, as you can tell spent much of my childhood outside instead of the garage, but back to your journey this is really inspiring once I'm done with university I need to get more miles under my belt currently putting my bike back together .

IanSF · Jul 13, 2013

Good to see you guys are finally on the road! I love the scenery up that way. It just gets better and better.

(Pulls up a chair and starts munching a bag of popcorn)

I've got the thread bookmarked and I can't wait to see what comes next. Bring on the adventure!

Call or text me if there's anything I can ever do to help out.

Good luck!

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