Tuesday 22nd October 2008: From Alabam to Chattanooga Choo Choo, Blue Ridge Parkway ,Canadabikes + why I did not shoot the Sheriff

What a reunion this morning has to offer - I am meeting MISS CHATTANOOGA Debbie again - we met up in Alaska on the ferry from Whittier to Valdez - when she invited me to meet her in Chattanoooga it sounded a bit unreal to be true- now she takes me round town and to the Chattanooga ChooChoo historic train station. We have lots to talk and thus time flies - yet I have to leaver her to soon again to head on northeast to the Blueridge Parkway taking me further towards New York. Thank you for EVERYTHING Debbie !!!

Chattanooga Choo Choo

Getting out of Chatanooga via the Interstate 75 is fairly easy and quick - unlike the 71 East through Sevierville into the Great Smoky Mountains Nationalpark. Sevierville is pure tourism- stuffed and jammed with cars, driven with people talking on their cellphones, sending textmessages or eaven reading books while they"drive". Though it takes you into a lovely landscape - avoid entering through that road into the park. It seems everybody with a minimumage of 75 and older is on their way to see the Indian Summer at falltime in the Smoky Mountains and along Blue Ridge Parkway. (please do not missunderstand - I do appreciate older people VERY much, especially when they are travelling- it is only a remarkable numrber at the same time)
I start figuring out how many weeks it will take me to do the more than 500 miles up Blue Ridge Parkway and further through Shennandoah Nationalpark in this "speed" - and therefor decide to do something for my averagespeed by passing some of my roadfellows on a doublelaned part of the road. This was no problem so far in the states - and while I keep wondering about that black Dodge in my rearviewmirrror that follows me straight away , a policehorn and blue flashlighs turn up - my first policestop in 49000 kms on that bike and 46.000 on the tour.
The Sheriff getting out rather tense asks me for my driving license and explains all I've done wrong - BECAUSE I AM IN NORTH CAROLINA NOW !!!!
Sorry , but how the hell shall I know that something that was ok anywhere else suddenly is illegal in North Carolina - and how again do I know I am there without a streetsign telling me . Once we come across all that the Sheriff turns out to be a wonderful and helpful character - as it is supposed to be. I get a lot of useful information from him, and whilst everybody passing along thinks I get a big ticket now, we have the most entertaining chat about the trip, bikes and the roads ahead. This maybe the time and place to put a general "Thank you Guys " to all the helpful and friendly policestaff all along the Ride of Change.
Most importatnt the officer stopped me right where the Blue Ridge Parkway takes 0ff at an almost invisible and not even signposted crossing west of Cherokee - I would most likely have missed it without him ....
Getting on the Blue Ridge Parkway there is 360 miles of turns and curves through some of the most spectacular Indian Summer fallscenery ahead of me.......
Enjoy some impressions of the first miles with me----

The long and winding....road

Northeastern FallMoods on the roadside

As if all this was not already good enough - it got even better - and again that is what makes the difference in riding a bike around the world.
While I get off the Parkroad into Asheville to look for a campsite for the nite (not a real pleasure with the temperatures having dropped dramatically in the last 2 days for a coldfront running in from Northwest) I am on my way into a supermarket to buy some food for the nite. Tha's when 3 bikers come on towards me to ask me where I am bound to and where I come from. It is Heidi,Hector and Mark from Toronto, on their way back home from a 2 weeks trip into the US. Heidi on her first longer biketrip with a 1977 Honda CB550, Hector on an 1972 R65/5 BMW and Mark on a Triumph Bonneville - new but vintage looking.
They are the real sort of bikers that make the difference to people sitting on bikes with a Dennis Hopper/Peter Fonda/Easyrider-Outfit .
it is mutual sympathy from bikers meeting bikers -and it takes just a short chat for them to invite me into their sparebed in their motel in town.
What a lucky man am I to run into such great people so many times in my life.
We spend a lovely night with pizza and some really awsome chats on b ikes and life itself.

Thank you guys for being so kind - and for you too there is another open door to visit in Germany !


Baba (693 miles to NewYork and enjoyig a warm bed to sleep in)

Monday 20th October 2008: Natchez Trail Parkway. Barber Motorsport Museum, Eastern time and Chattanooga Choo Choo !

Waking up in Alabama, croossing through Georgia and sleeping in Tennessee - friendly and helpful people all along the way - and a sunny day. What else does it take to add 645 kiloneter full of more more highlights to the trip...

Out of Jackson in the morning it is ice again on the bike - but getting warmer quickly along the Nachez Trail Parkway - a 466 miledrive along the old trailroute from Alabama to the New Orleans harbour. It is quiet in the morning, just some birds out singing and some ryebirds catching fish in the lakes . The one and only problem is not to run out of gas and to be patient enough to wait for a pump coming by - but today 3 pumps on my route are closed for having no gas - right in the middle of the states. Expect the unexpected.
Thr road crosiing pretty straight through the swamps and meadows is a nice ride - but not a spectacular one, especially not , when you sit on a bike.

Natchez Trail Parkway impressions

Natchez Trail Parkway impressions
Natchez Trail Parkway impressions
Natchez Trail Parkway impressions

Having been on for abot a hundred miles I decide to turn east towards Birmingham Alabama, not to miss the famous Barber Vintage Motorsports museum, a collection of almost 750 vintage and modern motorcycles and as well as a substantial collection of Lotus and other racecars. It's a mustgo for eanybody interested in the history as well as into the variety of motorcycles - as well as in their restauration.The Staff is extremely nice and helpful and you will be surprised about the ideas and technical approaches of the earlier days -as well as yu will beby the enourmous skills and enthuthiasm these guys have, to find, purchase, transport and restore all these treasures . And i do not want to forget this wonderful American guy on the road , that took some extra 20 miles on his car to take me to the place - just because I had asked him for the way - there is as wonderful people here than in all other parts we ha travelled before.
With some nasty weather to get into the area in the next 2-3 days I decide to pushit aabit furtther north up to Chattanooga along Intestate 59 North ( having sen so muchdeer on the road at daytime and ridden over all-sorts-of-animals I prefer to ride the Interstate for the night - as you simply se better and I meanwhile met 4 biker personally, who were hit by deer on he road- not worth taking the risk of a small forestroad for anyway seeing nothing in the dark)
And maybe you will leven find your first bike in there again - pretty likely if you are not older than 105 years by now ;-)
The one and only things I personallly do nort understand - why is there scooters displayed - who wants to see ponies when you go on a horserodeo :-) ?

So tomorrow I will tell you more of the Chattanooga Choo Choo....

1939 BMW with the first hydraulic fronfork




This one is for you, offroad Dan from Canada

There are 500 bikes more in the warehouse
waiting to be restord and displayed
You know who build this ?
What movie you know THIS BIKE from ?


A real INDIAN

Baba (still dreaming of these old bikesounds - 1300 km to New York )

Sunday 19th October 2008: Mississippi calling - don't ride with a hangover

It's the day after- after New Orleans let the good times roll over you.....
The sun's shining rather blinding than anything else - but no excuses, man !
If you can party, then you can also get back and ride your bike the next day.
I somehow mange to get out of New Orleans by midday - and yep this placeis as packed as yesterday - just the crowd has mover out of Bourbonstreet next to the Mississippi Banks .
It is not easy at all to get the right impression of this city in too short a time being in .
Looking at i t somehow makes you feel like being absorbed in a major touristrap - and I personallylike the tourists to come back to a city that was severely damaged - first by the wellknown Katrina Hurricane effects, and if this had nt been enough just now like all American sites by the thunderous effects of the wallstreetgenerated real estate crisis.
Leaing thebeaten track, walking into quarters where you do noy want to take a camera anymore - that tellls you ways more aboutthe real live behind the fassades of the French Quarter. Academics working off as carwashers for a living, Katrinadamages still affecting many poorer peoles lifes. And poverty overall does not at al llook black only . Travellling Louisiana offers many looks at people living VERY basic lifes - it is not for everybody that the American dream has come true or everwill be.
So back onthe road it's Interstate 10 west towards 55 North- rather a boaring ride if youdid not look at the freeway being build right into the swamps of the mississippi-Delta ll on stilts (Stelzen) what a work this must have been. See a great satelliteview of the Delta by clicking here.
Another short moment of tension was asking my way to a petrol station along Route 51 North - tricky as the roadside canbe i ran into some f the Mississippi swamp area ad almost got stuck in that mud there - once againthatConti pulled me out of he trouble. The hird set of tyres is pretty rundown already - and I guess there will be hardly anything left in New York - but it is still llasting as ever .
So you see nothing much todaybut being to the Mississippi State.
Tomorrow the plans up t he Natchez Trace Parkway, a scenic 440 mile drivef ollowing an old trailroad from Alabama to New Orleans- part of which shall lead me to theBirmingham motorcycle museum ( Lisa and Guy told me not to miss it) tell you more once I am there:-)

Good nite from the Mississippi

Baba

Mississippi swamps

BLOG UPDATE ! JUST A NOTE FOLKS

To keep the Blog rather more up todate than it was in the recent past - I will publish the latest news now as soon as they are written, and parallel to this keep writing some of the older blogs too- sometimes you just dont make it to write, fix flats, ride and meet people all at the same time - so if this gets a bit confusing sorry for that and thank you for your understanding - so to get the full chronicle at some stages you will have to go backwards sometimes.

An alle unseren treuen Blogleser- manchmal ist es leider nicht alles gleichzeitig zu schaffen - schreiben, fotografieren, Pannen reparieren, fahren, Menschen treffen und erleben....
Um den Blog wieder aktueller zu bekommen, werde ich einige Blogs veroeffentlichen, die aktuell schon geschrieben sind und alle anderen nach und nach parallel dazu einfuegen.
Die Chronologie wird dadurch etwas schwieriger zu verfolgen, aber ich hoffe doch sehr auf Euer Verstaendnis - der Blog ist jeden Tag erst auch einmal eine Internetverbindung suchen, schreiben nach einem langen Fahrtag, und bei 5 Grad minus im Zelt manchmal einfach auch ar...kalt :-)
Mehr bald aus New Orleans - gotta hit the road now !!

Baba

Saturday 18th October 2008: Let the good times roll ! There's a moon over Bourbon Street

It's a longrides end into a vibrating place of its own - New Orleans !
It is amazing how the people coped with all the damages from hurricaine Katrina since 2005.
An enormous effort and peoples will to come back have moved a lot - yet a lot is left.
But the tourists come back into town- and with the tourists in the French Quarter the good times roll back into town.
Like it or not- it all depends on your point of view, maybe even on your mood how you feel about the place. You can look at is as a fully comercialized Big Jukebox kind of setup - toss a coin and some jesters will start playing any sort of music for you, sell some whatever voodoo stuff to you, read the future out of the palm of your hand, or some prostitutes will even sell their bodies next to the pizzastand. You can bewonder those Harley"riders" parking their fully illuminated chromepolished "bikes" right into Bourbon Streetto pose for some senseless fotos with all the same looking kind of drunken girls.(Actually I would have loved topark my dirty bike nextto themand just ask them where THEY have ridden) Or you can ignore them while you get swept away by the crowd. You may not like those gay pseudocowboys displaying their miniponys to the crowd. You may hen wonder about horsemounted policemen posing with the tourists and making them sit on their horses while drunken guys next door beat each other up..
Yes you can look at it as those guys up in Texas , telling me that i am going to hit he messy ass.....of the United States down in New Orleans.
Or you may simply dive into all that, leave all cameras and stuff, soak up the vibrating live music rocking out of countless bars, have some wine listening to some of the most gifted Jazz musicians, or simply get the blues while you watch the moon over Bourbon Street dancing the night away....Guess what I did :-)
And by the way up there in Texas - if that is the As.... of the States down here - Its pretty much a nice bump that country has !

Just relax- and maybe you come to see the place yourself

Baba ( still got that blues.....man )

Friday 17th September: Breakfast in Paris Texas and a flat one in the flatlands

Eastbound 82 takes me into Paris - yeah it's Paris Texas - nice idea to have some breakfast here and see the Texasstyle Eiffeltower - topped with a cowboy hat :-) I just like these Americans...
Maybe I should not have called Texas the flatlands the day before -
so you know what is even flatter than flatlands ? A flatone in the flatlands !
Into a petrolstation to fuel up I feel a sudden loss of control at the frontwheel.
What has never happened on even the worst roads all over Kasachsatan, Mongolia, Siberia and the Far East - there it is. My front tyre is fully flat.
Lucky enough there is some pressured air available at the station ( do not expect this at any of the Amerivan petrol stations, and if there is be prepared to pay up to 1$ for it )
and the air takes me further and far enough 1/4 mile to a smallish car and tyre repair shop- before the tyre runs flat again.
So I feel preety happy to run into a tyreshop and quickly take the frontwheel out, so am I freezing when the guys start working to take the tyre off.
They have never done a Motorcycle tyre before ! And start to work it down with screwdrivers and things alike- just bad enough to fully punch the tube inside.
So I have to stop this quickly and bring out my tyrelevers, taking the tyre off myself.
It's just some punched hole in the tube, quick and easy to fix, so it is to put the tyre back on and the wheel back to the bike.
Those Texas guys where great and nice people nevertheless, just used to fix truck and tractortyres more than bikestuff . Yet they kept warning me with pretty harsh words about Louisiana and especially New Orleans with some rather drastic expressions.
Maybe I will put them on at some later stage....By all means you can feel a pretty strong racism from their words still going on in the South - at least by some of the people- maybe some will never understand that it is ONE world we are living in and have to share - if we like it or not.
Though everything went pretty quick finally I still lost some time this day - so it was "only 450 kms down to Sharavenport City - where I have to find a place to sleep, as night rolls in pretty early now and campsites or RV- Parks get less and less to put up your tent..
Tomorrows heading is New Orleans- so I will have to hit the road early to be in time for the good times...

My final goodnite from Texas flatlands

Thursday 16th October - Do it the Texasway - welcome to the flatlands and Central time !

Gotta do some mileage , folks. And getting into Texas from New Mexico is the perfect way to do it. Flatlands all over, getting on and off historic Route 66 again ( no its not a miss not to ride it) Interstae 40 takes me further east through Amarillo to freeway 287 southeast. paraleling Red River most of the time.
Fair enough with all the riing the fuelprices almost drop by one dollar per gallon ( not talking about the more ethan 2 dollars differenc for some ripoff gasstations in some of the nationalparks).

Its 650 kms today - time to think about a lot what has happened ever since leaving home- and guess how much that all is.

It looks like a smart decision to let the coldfront pass me on my way tto Santa Fe. I never got really wet and there is sunny skies so far , me riding just at the backside of the front, that moves eastwards towards the coastline.
Auuge and sudden major potthole on the road reminds me of some of the Kasachan roads, so does the senery with endless flat landscapes, just being interrupted every once in a while by some cattlefarming, some potato or cornfields or some oildwells. And to be honest the roads are wayyyyys better than in Kasachstan :-).
So nothing much happens. The speedometer tells me 43.000 kms ( about 27000 miles) since leaving Germany - and tomorrows outlook for another 600 miles to New Orleans send me to bed early - but one hour later than yesterday - as crossing into another timezone on my way east it's only 7 hours timeshift to Germany now. Below just dome impressions of the day.

Good nite from Gainesville (Texas)

Early morning blogwork in the
"New Mexico Middle of nowhere San Jon"
Do the timewarp again :-)
Back to the roaring sixtiesSunset in Cowboy Country

Wednesday 15th October : Bike on the rocks in Santa Fe at 2400 m !

It's there again -- the white stuff all over the bike at 6.30 in the morning - ICE !
As cold as the day starts out at 2400 m in Santa Fe New Mexico, the wonderful staff at BMW Santa Fe makes it feel much warmer by their friendly welcome to service the bike - a really good place to go when you pass by - that's how a dealership should feel like - meeting bikers who have travelled themseves a lot on bikes . Thank you all again Andee, Gordon, Alejo and all you other people for squeezing my bike in just out of the row.
Once I put my bike back all together and having chatted to so many wonderful people in and around the shop again ( Hey Blythe and Fritz - yes you are two of these great people) I put on some 300 kms Southeast towardas Texas, before I find myself a really basic motelplace to sleep another cold night. Lucky enough fixing my Bike in Santa Fe let the rainy coldfront move forward to the East - right were I wanna go- but good enough its a day ahead of me . quite a ood reason not to travel too fast , to stay right west of the rain.
Santa Fe is a nice change in the scenery to come in from Colorado. Most of the buildings set up in the Mexican pueblo Adobestyle and based at 2400 m altitude it is quite a different setup to all American cities so far - and I can pretty much use my Spanish again, as this is just as widely used as English, the city being so close to the Mexican Border,
Having had a rather short night yesterfay its time to say Good Night to all of you now and hit the bed, as tomorrows gonna be a long rididng day east into Texas and Oklahoma all thru Highway 40 East, as I have to make some mileage t get to NY in time without rushing it all.

Good Nite from Baba

Monday 13th to Tuesday 14th October: From Cold as Ice to Life is good ...

I have just got to Santa Fe this afternoon after having travelled Mesa Verde Nationalpark South together with Rick yesterday in the morning.
The Road up Mesa Verde Nationalpark convinced Rick and me definitely, that those Ancestral Puebloan Indians 1400 years ago must have been bikers - or at least those guys who built the 20 miles road into the Park - geeeee, this was pure fun and my sidestand hit the ground so many times, that it finally lost its safetyclip to fix the switch.
The result of which was, that the bike would not start anymore once we got back out of the Visitor Center . But just some brainwork and a piece of wire took me back on the road again.

Rick...
...rocking......Mesa Verde!!!After the fun... me fixing my sidestand,
but still grinning from these curves !Joe the BIKE-RangerAncestral Indian pueblo at Mesa VerdeMesa Verde PArk Ranger
explaining the sites

That same day it was a rather sad Goodbye to Rick after having shared some great days and definitely some of the nicest and coldest roads ever. :-)

Ride safe Rick !
It was great to share the roads with you !

After we left each other I hit the 160 east in still pretty chilly, but sunny weather, getting as far as Pagosa Springs to spend another pretty old night.
The forecast for today predicted some snow on my planned route via Highway 84 south into Santa Fe. I keep searching for alternative routes - yet there are not really any . So I just get all my gear on me , ready for the worst case - snowy roads . But as aways - never trust a weatherforecast before you look up the skies yourself - and despite the road at about 2500 m being pretty cold I hardly hit any rain - neither snow . Its pretty much a scenic ride , reminding me with lots of little canyons and rocky rugged mountains next to the Rio Grande of my childhoods Western movies , expecting John Wayne to show up anytime around he next corner.
Dreaming along the curvy road I just manage to miss some deer running right into my way - soI understand the sticker much better , that is on the back of a jeep passing me by :

Life is good !

Yes, that's what it is , even riding in this cold and rainy day - and I am glad my Guardian angels still not are at rest :-)
Today I changed my oils in front of Motel 6 as the Bmw dealers would not allow me in their premises for the always present LIABILITY reasons - a big issue allover the States as for making some money anybody feels like sewing somebody. Yet the suff at BMW Snta Fe isverynice and helpful - so tomorrow morning valves will be checked for warranty and then I strongly hit the road to the east to make i tto New York in time:-)

Good nite from Baba (tomorrows forecast is sunny and a bit cold )

Sunday 12th October: River deep- mountain high ! Up the Colorado-River towards the-3400m-minus-5-Celsius-Snow+Ice-Million Dollar Highway

Last two days coldfront left back a dramatic temperature drop, that we get well aware crawling out of the tents in the morning. Rick and me planning to get on the Million Dollar Highway, which in fact means the twelve miles south of Ouray through theUncompahgre River Gorge up to the summit of Red Mountain Pass .

Allegedly the stretch through the gorge is said to be characterized by steep cliffs and the lack of guardrails with some of the reports sounding rather dramatic and dangerous, as we expect some hairraising steep droppoffs on the way. Expecting at least some snow and ice from the rainy thunderstorm of the last night we really think whether to take the road up there or not.

Despite the cold we have a warm and wonderful goodbye with Barbara and Dan Mclaren from Victoria in Canada - what wonderful people we are allowesd to meet on our trips - once more giving us the feeling of unique hospitality and meeting some big and special bikers hearts ! If I could only once join all these wonderful people at home for a magic ride :-) !!

Rick and me take off Northeast along the simply wild and wonderful Colorado Rivervalley.
The valley taking us upstream through a stunning canyon landscape again the ride is magic.
It´s these kind of roads that make you think they werebuilt by bikers for bikers.
Not raping the landscape but following and adapting to it- with endless little and sometimes hilly bends alongside the river rather than straightening the whole road to make it look smooth.
As cold as it may be - we keep surfing throug this Treasure Island, passing rafts on the Colorado as well as painters alongside the road, who are simply fascinated of all the reddish and brown colours before the big blue skies.
Getting through ghosttownlike little Cisco Highway 70 takes us southeast via Grand Junction into Highway 50 up to Montrose.
Thats where two things start : Highway 550 south and a skyclimb up to almost 3400 meters. sunny as it may be temperature keeps dropping down to minus 5 degrees celsius while we pass Coal Bank Pass 3243 m, Molas Pass 3343 m and Red Mountain Pass 3358 m into the historical mining town Silverton - where we really get off the bikes with freezing cold fingers.

Despite all hazardous stories abut the risks on the passes we both cannot detect anything especialy dangerous - besides some loose gravel and a few icy patches on the road.
We end a stunning ride after 400 kms in Durango - tomorrow will take us into the Mesa Verde Nationalpark - from where Rick will carry on south bound into Mexico and me southeast into Santa Fe (New Mexico), Texas and Oklahoma.

One-Million-Dollar-Highway 55One-Million-Dollar-Highway 55
Downtown Silverton
Downtown Silverton

Colorado River Valley

Colorado River Valley

Good nite from Baba
( who is slowly melting after the coldest day in the Ride-of-change -so far)

Friday 10th -Saturday 11th October : Ride the wild wind - the MOAB experience !

When I got into Moab Thursday nite on my way south out of Arches, I started looking out for a place to spend a nite in my tent. Weather forecast announcing a pretty powerful coldfront with snow and thunderstorms for the next couple of days- the outlook was anything but good to spend life outdoor. So I checked some of the campsites in Moab - not could I know what a wonderful experience should rise from this decision.
While I was hitting back on the mainstreet 2 dirtbikes and some 100GS BMW turned off the mainroad and into one of the local campsites. Looking after them I noticed a German licenseplate on the BMW - good enough a reason to see where the guys were from and who they were.

So when I followed them to their site it did not take us longer than just a few minutes to feel and know : Bikers just met bikers !

So I put up my tent next to some really special and wonderful people again :

It was Dan and Barb from Canada( just coming back from a 110 mile dirtroadride around Island-in-the-Sky-Nationalpark ( gotta know that MOAB is one of THE American offroad paradises) and Rick - and guess what !

Rick had left Germany 3 days before me and travelled through Russia, Siberia and Far East without ever knowing of each other or having met. From Vladvostok he travelled through Japan to Vancouver and Canada - and we meet in Moab !!!!

We spend wonderful days in Moab while we expect the coldfront - Dan and iBarb are two wonderful and warmhearted people - and with Rick being as openminded we talk as much about the bikes, the world and the philosophies behind all that . I feel back into "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance " in its deeper sense .

Despite I had planned to travel on rather fast, the great atmosphere of our little team makes me stuck in Moab - just not wanting to leave this great people too early.
We can actually feel the coldfront with the temperatures dropping drastically and the winds blowing off thick branches from big trees and the corregated sheet roofs of he camping shelters next to us. Despite all that it stay sunny while next to us in the nearby mountains it pretty much looks like the world´s coming to an end. It would be mad to ride into these mountains with snow, hail and thunderstorms at more than 3000 m altitude now.

But there is a lot of good things to do in the meantime.
While Rick and me find ourselves a wireless lan Cafe in town to do some blogwork we meet Dieter and Renate from Germany - travelling round the world in their Unimog-Truck for 8 years now. Quickly I get my first Skype-Instruction - that is where Ride-of-change meets Skype !
Next Dan cannot stand the temptation of his mechanics heart - noticing my chain and sprockets are pretty done and due to be changed rather yesterday than tomorrow - we start undoing the old chain, and while I organize a new 520-O-Ringchain in one of the bike shops in town Dan gets round getting the proper socket to undo the frontsprocket. So I end up with a brandnew chainset done by a 35 yearlong Canadian BMW-mechanic and simply a great and helpful character : Dan McLaren - thank you from the bottom of my heart, Dan, Barb and Rick.

The testride took me up an into the "Islands in the Sky"-Nationalpark. Not only another stunning Canyon-landscape but riding really wild and stormy winds on some even wilder roads....no rangers wide and far.....;-)

We spend so much more good and enriching time - that finally I am very greatful that coldfront stopped me from going on - again : Follow the signs of life ! MAKTUB...

Offroaders Barb, Dan and Rick

Always some surprise ahead

RIDE THE WILD WIND !

Island in the Sky impressions
Island in the Sky impressions

Island in the Sky impressions

Barb, Dan and Rick planning
their next offroadtrip
Rick, the Motornomad
When happyness got a face -
Barb and Dan McLaren

Leaving Moab with Rick

Thursday 9th October 2008: Capitol Reef to Arches - ride for endless beauty

On a long and lonesome highway, east of omaha.
You can listen to the engine moaning out it's one lone song
You can think about woman, or the girl you knew the night before,
But your thoughts will soon be wandering, the way they always do.
When your riding sixteen hours and there's nothing much to do
And you don't feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through.
Say, here i am, on the road again. there i am, up on the stage.
Here i go, playing star again.
There i go, turn the page.
Well you walk into a restaurant, strung out from the road,
You can feel the eyes upon you as your shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn't bother you, but you just want to explode.
Most times you can't hear em talk, other times you can.
Oh the same old cliche, as that woman on her a man
You always see my number, you don't dare make a stand.
Here i am, on the road again. there i am, up on the stage.
Here i go, playing star again.
There i go, turn the page.
Out there in the spotlight your a million miles away,
Every ounce of energy, you try and give away,
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play.
Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed,
With the echo from the amplifiers ringing in your head,
You smoke the days last cigarette, remembering what she said.
Now here i am, on the road again. there i am, up on the stage.
Here i go, playing star again.
There i go, turn the page.
Here i am, on the road again. there i am, up on the stage.
Ah here i go, playing star again.
There i go, there i go.

It is these Bob Seeger lyrics I keep singing so many times while being on some of the endless straight highways - if there is straight roads it is only the ones you choose - and they quite often get you in a pretty thoughtful, almost medtational mood riding along .....

Impressions from Capitol Reef National Park

Life is like a theatre play - it does not matter how long it is. But how well it is performed.
Seneca

Well - if that is how life and nature performe the play - nothing much to add from my side.



Impressions from Arches National Park

Baba (west of Omaha...)