West side

Las Vegas does sleep, or at least the majority of the tourists sleep between 0500 and 0600. That is how I was able to snag this great photo. 

I almost parked up on the sidewalk, but this worked out alright. Typically there is a crazy line to get a picture and I was able to roll in snap this and the next shot and leave within 5 minutes. 

It was a perfect temperature but windy morning when I left Vegas. The temps got much cooler and the winds got much stronger as I got into California. I am not sure what it is about the terrain and weather but that cold, windy ride netted the worst gas mileage at around 30 mpg.  

This is one of the beaches down in San Diego. The weather here today was what is called the June Gloom. Cool, overcast, and windy conditions in the early summer tend to put a gloom on vacationers looking for the weather Southern California is known for. But that is not why I am here. 

I am here to see my friend Brandy. I am so proud of Brandy for chasing her dreams to become an active duty chaplain. She has a heart of gold and a personality that ignites a room on fire. I met Brandy after getting back from a deployment, while in the midst of filing for my divorce, getting handed the reigns to manage the enlisted side of the chapel, while still deeply depressed over my son's death. Brandy will always be a special friend that can lean back on me anytime she needs it as she was there for my lowest of lows.  

Brandy has a household family consisting of Cappuccino and Gingey. I am evidently an animal whisperer. 

The next few days will be up the west coast with more friends from my past.  

I love catching up with old friends and making new ones. If you are reading this and didn't use the link from my Facebook post, please send me words of encouragement at toby@tobymoto.com. I am a big words of affirmation guy and I love reading the comments I have gotten so far, and will answer any questions.  

Vegas baby!!!

I have only been to Vegas one other time, and Vegas is its own beast. Because so many of its inhabitants are transient the activity feels very chaotic. There is a cross between the determined traveler or local, trying to get to a specific place at a specific time. Then there are the people kind of riding the life wave and not really paying attention to anything but what is directly impacting them. Vegas can be fun, and at the same time open a box in your life that maybe should have stayed closed. Don't worry I have a clear goal in mind in both my trip and in life, so I didn't get sucked into the madness. 

My day started at the Grand Canyon and while I was up early enough to catch the sunrise I decided to pack up first and missed the crest of the sun by about 15 minutes. I still saw the beautiful remnants of what was indeed a glorious earth spin and then road off towards Vegas watching the many elk in the park on the way out.  

I made excellent time and pulled off at the Hoover dam to see lots of people and very low levels of water. For first time visitors, if you can get there early, do so. It is always dam hot in the summer. Also start at the Pat Tillman bridge if you are up for a hike. That walkway has the best view of the dam but it is a dam hike. Then once you get through security, if you don't want to pay for parking follow the road over the bridge and into one of the free parking lots on the hill. It is a bit of a hike down but it is dam free.  

Family friendly comedic magician Mac King was on my list of eventual things to see in Vegas. As soon as I got done with lunch right around the corner, Mac's show was starting. He was hilarious and worth the visit. You can't go wrong seeing the guy Penn & Teller recommend you see.  

Vegas at night. This is the shot people want to see. Noah and I went to Delano's Skyfall Lounge and had coffee and chatted while the sun went down. So many people there partying like it is there last night in earth and I just wanted to take in the view and chat with an old friend.   

Speaking of friends, here is me and Noah on the elevator heading back down to the lobby. I had only seen Noah once since we joined the same career field 10 years ago. I could go on and on about linking up with friends from the past, but from my other entries, you get the point. Thanks Noah for good company in Vegas.  

An adventure indeed

So I woke up nice and early and got out on the road in Colorado early enough to see the deer running across the valleys between the mountains. I also took it slow enough to not be in danger of hitting one. I started my journey today heading west towards Four Corners Monument. I ended up stopping for gas and yet again got over 50mpg. Something about the mountain terrain and air is real good for Harleys.  

This is what the monument looks like today. It seems to have grown, or my memory from when I was younger has faded. Now there are Native American shops surrounding the monument on all four sides. Also unfortunately this was as close as I got into Utah. I will have to make a special visit back one day to visit Troy. If you come to the monument, they open at 0800. If you want cool pictures get here early.

What happened next was not captured in pictures because the adventure had indeed begun. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed my shifter was in a different position than normal. After pulling off on the side of the road and realizing I couldn't get it back into neutral, I realized I was in a pickle. Four Corners is in the middle of nowhere and I couldn't shift my bike out of first gear...with my foot. I studied the linkage and played with it with my hand. 

What I did next was the only thing I could. I knew going downhill I could start in 3rd. So I found 3rd and took off. Once I needed to shift, I grabbed the clutch with my left hand, transferred it to my right, and reached down with my left to shift into 4th through 6th. Down shifting didn't require a clutch so it was easier. I then figured out how to rev match and shift up without the clutch. I then drove the next 200 miles using a very short jockey shifter with no clutch except for complete stops. 

Grand Canyon Harley in Belmont got me operational within the time it took me to eat lunch. In total I was behind schedule 3 hours but still got a camp site in the park.  

The first thing I did was set up camp. I was certain that if I went over to the rim I would be setting up camp in the dark. I even set up my hammock for some evening relaxing before bed.  

You see that round brown thing on the ground? Zoom in to the right of my tent by the picnic table. 

Maybe that it a better angle. Less than 100 feet from my camp, a full grown female elk. They are all over the park. All kinds of wildlife are everywhere. I think someone's dog might have gotten into a pack of coyotes last night. The sounds were intense...

I will post the whole gallery when I get back, but this is the first view of the canyon I got. It is so big it looked fake. It was too much to take in with human eyes. You attempt to focus on the whole thing and that is impossible. It is impossible because it is 7 miles rim to rim, and there are so many interesting things within that 7 miles. To focus on one point your eyes are distracted immediately from the thing next to it looking just as spectacular. 

I was honestly emotional from just looking at it. Even now as I type this and remember the feeling, I get teary eyed. I don't know how we can capture the grandness of the canyon with the technology available to us. I don't know if there are movies or songs written about the Grand Canyon or if attempts were made and scrapped because it just couldn't be captured that way. 

I will definitely be making a return trip and giving myself a week to "feel" the canyon. If you can afford to visit it for a day, and you haven't yet, you must do it. I will end the entry with a sunset, and a sunrise. I didn't get the full sunrise because I was packing up camp so I could hit the road for Vegas.  

Over a river and through the mountains

Today my father, Tod, and I accomplished a very cool route. We did the San Juan Skyway. The scenic by-way is 236 miles of mountainous terrain. It was so cool that I do not feel a picture can ever do it justice, but let's try describing a few anyhow. 

Nope can't describe this other than it was taken at a lodge north of Durango. 

This was taken at the same spot 180 degrees from the last picture. This must be what lottery houses look like.  

We must have seen a couple hundred bikes today. This is a dangerous road, but the views all around can only be experienced best on a bike with no cage to obstruct your view. 

Sorry for the selfie and the orange and black branding. I have been to many northern most places while I was stationed in Alaska. This is the first "highest" location. The sun was super bright hence the caveman stare.  

This is Silverton. It looks like it was pulled straight out of a movie set.  

And the other direction down the main road in Silverton. We ate at the Grand Imperial Hotel Saloon. It is a reach back to Victorian era styling with the excellent love old time piano playing by Lacey Black. 

Lastly I bring you a picture from my point of view relaxing after a long day's ride. The ride was only 236 miles but it took over 9 hours with the stops and wrong turns. I also had an anomaly on the bike. I filled up with no ethanol 91 octane and the combination of my tune and riding in the mountains I was able to manage 52 mpg. 

I know there are far too few pictures but I found it difficult to take pictures of the mountains and capture it on a little 5" screen. Maybe I will get over it by the time I get to Mount Rainier. Tomorrow I head towards the Grand Canyon. 

Heck yeah!! Mountain roads!!

The day started early and cool again. We headed west to parts unknown by any of us. Very shortly we found ourselves in a valley with dirt and rocks in the hills and a vegetative oasis deep in the heart of the valley. We came across and passed yet another Billy the Kid memorial/historical  site. There wasn't much there, but it looks like at specific times they may do recreations. 

We forged north into the Valley of Fire. If you look closely at the image above you may see what appears to be black rocks. Those black rocks are lava rocks. I did not read the history but will check it out when I get back. It looked way cooler in person. Almost as cool as me.  

The photo above is Bob and I at an establishment called Cervantes. The food and the company were great. Like Mike, I hadn't seen or discussed much with Bob since I left Germany about 15 years ago. It is more important than I can express in words to take the time with the people you care about. You may only get one first impression, but you get many opportunities to become someone you can't depend on. If you go to Cervantes in Albuquerque, tell RickyPete TobyMoto sent you.

Have you seen a movie called Wild Hogs? I think I watched a few minutes of it. The diner above was built for the movie, and no longer houses a cafe. They do have a bunch of biker swag if you are into that sort of thing. Also highway 14 getting here was pretty great.  

My day wouldn't be complete without some rain. The radio said there were 60 mph wind gusts. We hit a few before pulling off under this gas station over hang. While we were there a French man and his wife also pulled up on a motorcycle to escape the storm. We donned our rain gear only to need to take it off and put it back on a couple of time over the next 30 miles.  

Finally we arrived to our cabin just outside of Durango. This place is spectacular. I could sit outside and do nothing but take it in for hours. All the way up here from Santa Fe was curvy mountain roads. We kept the speeds down just to be safe and it was wonderful.  

So according to my plan I should be at just over 2000 miles. I am almost 300 miles above that. Tomorrow we head around the mountains of southern Colorado. And then I go solo again towards the Grand Canyon.  

A real hot one...

The morning actually started off rather cool. My dad, Tod, and I crested over a plateau around Albany, TX, and it was almost cold. That was a very stark contrast to the temperatures we encountered in Roswell. When we got into town it was in the mid 90s and it peaked at 99 before it finally started cooling down. 

Not much to see on this stretch. I had planned on a picture at the border with one of those "Welcome to New Mexico" signs, but the only thing we saw was a change in the color of the road and a reduced speed limit. There was absolutely no signs of life for quite a while until about 5 minutes before Roswell. 

It seems like a quirky little town with a population supported by the military, farming/ranching, and the tourist industry in that order. I can now check it off of my places to visit and head north in the morning. 

I am a big fan of Welcome Centers as they tend to say a lot about a town. Roswell's welcome center was basically an empty building themed with aliens, and a friendly staff. That actually describes Roswell pretty good.   

However if you do come through town, stop by Pepper's. it is a great local establishment with good food and great service. Try the fire roasted green chili cheese burger if you like them spicy.  

The bikes are logging the miles pretty good. I am actually a few hundred miles over my estimated miles at this point. Even with all of the luggage, I am still getting around 40 mpg.  

Tomorrow we head north to Colorado. 

Short but meaningful

Today's ride was the shortest of the journey. It was planned this way to not only spend more time with family before the start out west into unknown terrain, but to also allow time for my dad to get his stuff ready for him and Tod to go with me to Colorado. I will get into that here in a bit but first, more memories. 

I graduated from Weatherford High School 20 years ago. Now it hosts 9th graders and what appears to be church on Sundays. Weatherford has grown exponentially since I lived here and it doesn't have that small town feel anymore. They left the city center alone but the edges are all new and dwarf the old town.  

My older brother Mike road with me from Ft Worth to Palo Pinto where my dad lives and we stopped for some photos in front of the Baker Hotel. This place has some interesting history and is said to be haunted. Even my high school reunion next month plans on doing a visit here for one of the activities.  

But for us it is another cool mark in our memory book. I chose my Road King based off my brother's experience with his and could not be happier. 

After we we got to Palo Pinto Tod showed up and the 4 of us road with some more family members down to the lake for some pizza and conversation. A great way to spend a relaxing day.  

Tomorrow we head towards Roswell and then to Colorado.  

Back to the beginning

Today I traveled back in time 20 years and more. The first stop after waving by to Hansel, was Lackland AFB.  

Above is an image of a building that had a name on it. No disrespect to the person it was named after but I knew it as the 323 House of Pain. This building is were I was frightened off a bus almost 20 years ago and hoped to blend in and not get called out for an obvious abnormality. Thinking back now the Military Training Instructors were using bully tactics to tear people down immediately after getting off the bus. I guess it is all good though because they build you back up and make you believe in yourself and your brothers and sisters in the 6 weeks it took us to get through basic.  

This next shot is obviously the Alamo. I went the wrong way down a street and parked in a bus lane at 0630 to get this shot. very few people around and I got in and out as quick as possible. I might have left a little bit of rubber. 

This is me and Mike. Mike and I were stationed together in Ramstein from 2001-2003. 2003 was the last time I had spoken to Mike up until a few days ago. We sat down for coffee and caught each other up in about an hour without skipping a beat. Life leads us down many paths. Each path is hard for the one who owns that path. Friends like Mike would have made my path easier to bear. I wish I never let Mike disappear from my life. 

Last thought of the night. This little ball of joy is my niece Mabel. Every time I hold a tiny baby I get the same feeling deep down inside that makes me want to create more life. I also immediately remember that those amazing creations can be taken away in one breath. Those that know me, know that I have a son named Logan who died from complications of epilepsy. Those that know me, know that losing my only bio child (I am a father figure to one amazing young woman I will describe at a later date), changed my life forever. My retirement ceremony was at the site we spread Logan's ashes. This trip is not only to celebrate my career, but life itself. We don't know how much time we have, and we need to make every moment as positive as possible to enjoy it. I sat here in my home town less than 30 miles from the hospital of my birth holding the newest member of my family. Love life like I do...completely. 

Quality friends and quality time

TL;DR - phone works again, rode from Jasper, TX to San Antonio, TX, ate/hung out with friends, scratched my new fairing,

I made it to San Antonio to find my non working phone, magically working again. I guess the relatively dry ride from Jasper aired it put enough to accept a charge, however I reset the phone completely so I lost a days worth of pictures and writings. I ate at a Dickey's BBQ and restored my phone because I know what a backup is. 

While waiting for Hansel to get off of work, I started communicating with the people I would see in the next few days, and specifically with my dad who would be going on his first long ride in years.  

We went and ate at Chachas Mexican restaurant, and were joined by his girlfriend Nicole, Mark, Kim, Abigail, Leise, Taylor, and a woman I hadn't seen in 10 years. Jessica came to dinner with her 2 daughters. It was amazing to catch up with such varied company. Mark and his family I had just seen last week, Hansel I hadn't seen in about 2 years, and the last I saw Jessica was over 10 years ago. 

I wonder sometimes if the person I am, varies depending on who I am with. Personalities can vary depending on company, and here I was with vastly different company in my lifetime. I think I was me, and my personality likely doesn't vary that much. I am who I am and nothing more. 

Hansel and myself noted the lightning going on in the background and decided it was best for my luggage that we pull the bike into the garage. That thing is very heavy and I maneuvered it into a tiny whole slightly scratching my newly painted fairing. I am certain it will buff out, but it sucks none the less. I think tomorrow might be more of a challenge though backing it back out that same narrow slot, and turning it around in a rather steep driveway. I will leave you with only one picture that I didn't even take. Now that my phone is working, pictures will be back tomorrow.  

Oh technology...you have failed me.

You will notice this blog entry is a day late and lacking photos. I had a nice picture of St Charles Ave in New Orleans before my phone decided it didn't want to be alive any more. Instead I will keep this entry short and go into tomorrow/today's post a bit more.  

What I accomplished yesterday was a ride from Slidell, LA to just outside Jasper, Tx. I rolled along roads that reminded me of my freshman through Junior years at Westwood High School in Palestine. East Texas looks the same from all the way down near Beaumont all the way up north of I20. Must be something in the water along the Sabine River that carries the same plant life all the way down it. 

I slept at an army corps of engineering site. It was the quietest campground I have experienced. Lots of space between the sites and lots of empty sites as well. Also likely the cheapest paid site along my journey. $10 to plop down a tent for about 16 hours is pretty good. 

I am doing great on the road, but camping is starting to hurt my body pretty badly. I am thankful that the next Week will be on couches or hotel beds.