Sometimes, The Writing Comes to You

I never understood at the time. I was enveloped in the hype, surrounded by tens of thousands of my Saffa family with my lighter in the air soaking in the emotions. My skin flashed in goose bumps, my spine felt like a conductor for this music straight into my emotional cortex. I started to weep. I never understood why. Until today.

Day 33 - Hong Kong and the Leg Home

Up and away, heading east into the clouds above New York City. The shimmering lights that outline the Atlantic coastline fade behind us and with that our trip to the US is over. Barbara and I are feeling a little bummed, a little drained and just a little….wait…what was I thinking again? 

Day 32 - Central Park and Checking Out of the U.S

Our last cosy morning. The next two nights will be spent cramped up on an airport chair like or cuddling up to my fist on an airplane. Don’t think about that now – Daylight hours are burning away.

Day 31 - Independence Day in NYC

Today is July the 4^th: Independence Day. The plan is to do walking, a lot of walking. Times Square, Wall Street, Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Madison Square Garden, High Line Garden and to find a spot to watch the fireworks later tonight.

Day 30 - Little Old, Little New

The sun filters through the open curtain and streaks warmly across the double thick, full cream white bed sheets. The room seems to come slowly to life as the thick lush carpet tingles through your toes, the water tap delivers the perfect blend of heat and pressure as if the room itself just knows what you want. The West House Hotel in New York City.

Day 29 - Four Thousand Miles Later, New York City

Crack of dawn again, no time to waste. This is the US of frikken A and we are hitting the Big Apple today!

Day 28 - Waffles that Baffle your Buds

Using the train is way better than bus. If today’s blog says one thing: Use the gift that is the train. They are comfy, relatively inexpensive, well set up and the amenities are more than sufficient. The train operators are great as well. Friendly, helpful and full of beans.

Day 27 - Niagara Falls are Epic

Its 2am. Barbara and I are in a bus station in the middle of freaking nowhere with a dead cell phone and our thinnest summer outfits on. Out next bus leaves in 5 hours, which sounds really simple but let me tell you: After 48 hours of being homeless sleeping on benches and laundromat floors, those cold 5 hours really suck.

Day 26 - Bus Rhymes with Bollocks

Okay so an overnight stay on a bus is not the way to do it. We hardly slept. We arrived in Cleveland at 3am and the initial plan was to pop into town for the day. Our connecting bus to Niagara Falls was only due to depart much later that same day. We locked up our luggage, (which cots more than buying new luggage) and opened up our Uber app.

Day 25 - Home of Muscle and Being Molested by Bourbon

We arrived in Detroit late last night and scored a place to stay nearby. A quick power four hours of sleep and we were out to town. I am quite a petrol head and Detroit is the birthplace of so many historic motor vehicle trends, shops, muscle culture and (most importantly) the Henry Ford manufacturing yard.

Day 24 - Art Is There to Intrigue

Chicago really is an impressive tourist city. The parks and civic areas are huge with inter leading walkways and centrums. There, in the middle of all of this is a huge shiny steel bean.

Day 23 - Chicago and We Lost Our Girl

The first little bit of bad weather. The clouds where low and grey, the wind was wet and the world seemed a little less enjoyable on this particular part of the ride. I was miff. We are heading from Lisle to Chicago and straight to the Eagle Rider to drop off our Harley. 4000 miles and over 100 hours in the saddle meant she was my third most successful relationship ever. It goes: Wife, High school girlfriend, Harley.

Day 23 - The Harley Davidson Road Glide

For the sun on my back and two fists in the wind.

Day 22 - Pres.Lincoln ,Beer, Sun and a Hedge Maze

Mooooooortem Haaaaboreeeetum. For the past 12 months Barbara has been saying this little phrase. The day has finally come that we get to go to the actual place and she can stop saying that odd little jingle.

Day 21 - America Muscle Car Heaven

Pontiac GTO’s, Firebirds, Chevrolet Chevelles, Camaros, Cadillac Coupe De Ville’s, Dodge Chargers, Challengers and my all-time jizz-in-pants classic: The 1971 Plymouth Hemi Cuda. We are at the Du Quoin Muscle Car show and I am in 7^th heaven.

Day 20 - Mississippi, Budweiser and the Gateway Arch

Hopi spirit dolls, Pueblo Story Tellers, Cotton candy, Taffy, Cowboy boots, 10 gallon hats, Cactus plants in mini pots and thousands upon thousands of other items. Imagine if Roald Dahl and Taneleer Tivan got together for a business venture: that is what Ozarkland is.

Day 19 - Tesla and Shakespeare

“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” I have known that quote most of my life. Where on earth it came from I had no idea. No idea until now.

Day 18 - I Now Know Why Dorothy Wanted To Go Back

The news tells us about fires on our west, flood storm waters to the north and a tornado warning to the east. Crap. Oh well, let’s just get back in the saddle and head out. Another big one today. 500 miles plus. Straight through the middle of Kansas State. 

Day 17 - American Pie and Casino Chaos

Our last day in Denver. I woke up a little earlier to prep the bike, had a healthy breakfast and was feeling fresh. Okay, that’s a lie. After yesterday’s Pride Festival I woke up late, smashed in some fried bacon with a pot of coffee and was feeling the opposite of fresh. Last night was a biggie. 

Day 16 - Denver LGBT and Turkey Legs

Damn but she has an amazing pair of legs. That perfect balance between athletic muscle tone and feminine curvaceousness. They glisten in the sunlight like pearls. All of us, including Barbara, are staring at this beauty in the hope she will turn around so we may see her pretty little face and WHOA! Dude looks like a lady… Denver Pride Fest is going to be interesting.

Day 15 - Highest Peak to Hot Shots

Packing for a biking holiday is tough. Packing light for a biking holiday to traverse 1/5 of the globe is really tough. Packing even lighter, for a biking holiday to traverse 1/5 of the globe AND to change altitude from zero feet to 15000 feet several times – well – that’s just impossible. Here we stand, in our breathable, light weight pants and a t-shirt, surrounded by snow whilst being slammed by sub-zero wind chill…such tourists.