Total KM = 477

As the weatherman had predicted (correctly for a change) we woke to heavy rains and wind so decided to have a leisurely morning.

Got on the road around 1100 as the rain stopped. Was still pretty grey and cool so the warm and rain gear was on for most of the day.

As soon as we left Natchez we immediately crossed the Mississippi River which had a sign right in the middle of the bridge letting us know we had now gone into Louisiana. The mighty Mississippi River is very full and fast flowing with lots of debris due to all the rain. When it rains in this country it really rains!!! We actually were out of Louisiana about two hours later. No pictures worth passing on from today's ride so the ones you see were taken previously.

Our conversation during the ride was how quickly this trip has gone by. We have enjoyed it though it was not what we had originally planned. In retrospect we perhaps should have went ahead with our original plans and "damn the torpedos". Not very long (less than a week?) after the governments CDN/US and the CDC issued the travel restriction recommendation for Mexico the World Health Organization made a statement to the effect of "what is all this fuss? - no need to restrict travel". . . But we had no way of knowing and the change in plans were irrevocable by then.

Hard to believe we have been on the road for nearly four weeks and our trip together will be ending in two days when Doug flies to Parksville and Norma flies to Bermuda. Doug will fly back to do the return trip from Houston alone - the first long solo trip for him in many years.

Thus, dear readers, thank you for taking part in our motorcycle tour. You have made us diligent in our evening reporting duties with your words of encouragement.

Total KM = 479

We again managed to stick to the back roads and saw lots of great countryside. Doug has decided he will retire in Mississippi and sell riding lawn mowers! Everyone seems to have at least three acres of lawn around their houses. We have now been on the road for over 10,000 KMs.

We didn't have a map for Mississippi from the AAA so bought one at a gas station which proved to not be too accurate. That was OK though as we did our usual passing through many little towns like Causeyville, Energy, Enterprise, Bay Springs, Magee (recent tornado) and Braxton!

Our first stop was at the Causeyville Country Store. This is an old, still operating country store/museum. The owner gave us a great tour and explained how it used to have a movie theatre in the back and a physicians office in one of the side rooms. The front of the store had been badly damaged from Hurricaine Katrina along with many homes in the area. We were surprised the affects of the hurricane had been felt that far inland. There is a corn grist mill attached to the store but it unfortunatly was not functioning ("cause two cats had kittens in there and I haven't cleaned it out yet"). She had an old fashioned peanut roaster so we bought some - still warm - for our snack this evening.

Thanks to the funny map we had we spotted a small town named Braxton (Norma's grandson's name) . We just had to go see if we could pick up something with the name on it. Norma went into the only little general store to ask and the two ladies in there laughed at her explaining "we are just a itty bitty town that most people don't even know is here" and wanted to know how we even found them.

The morning ride was nice and dry but after lunch we had the usual treat of how the rain comes down in this country (quickly and violently- but today without menacing winds). Rain gear on and off twice . At one point there was lightning around us with one strike where we saw and heard it simultaneously - thought we were both going to jump out of our skin!!!

Our afternoon ended with a great ride through the Natchez Trace Parkway which extends from Natchez, Tennessee to Natchez, Mississippi. It is a wonderful piece of road more suitable for relaxed cruising than the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is advertised as a great spring and fall road for cyclists though they are cautioned re: the limited service on the road. There are many trees down along the parkway due to a tornado in January of 2008 and another storm about two weeks ago. We wonder if this is another sign of global warming. . .

We have ended our day in Natchez, MS and will head through Louisiana to Houston, TX tomorrow.

Total KM = 427

Boy, what a storm last evening. We went for a walk and it was starting to sprinkle - distant lightening too. When we got back to our motel Doug put Raindancer under the cover of the stairs as we could see the storm coming. The skies opened and it was torrential with lightning all around. We figured it must have rained several inches in just half an hour. We had seen the weather man on TV talking about the "shelf clouds" which is where there is light sky below and above the black clouds. These clouds are loaded with moisture. This is what we had been seeing earlier in the evening.

No more rain this morning and in fact it had pretty well dried up and was very warm and sunny with the humidity at 90%!

Managed again to stay on the minor roads. You see some pretty interesting things and meet some great people this way. Our first stop was to see the big chicken made out of Volkswagon bumpers at the "Art Wurks".

Next we stopped for a break at the Rutledge, Alabama town hall under shade of a big old oak tree. We soon had company, as one of the Public Works fellows came over to talk to the "furreners" (his words, not ours). He told us to stop by with some "pickters" next time we was down this way!

As we were riding along we saw a sign advertising Souse, Hoop Cheese, etc. so stopped at the little country store and were told by one of the truck drivers that they make the best sandwiches (and he was definitely right) so we decided to have one for lunch. Souse (headcheese) comes in mild or hot and hoop cheese is like cheddar but comes in a large round that used to come in a wooden band but now comes in "a cawrbourd boux". The man makes the sandwiches on the scales and then charges for them in accordance to how heavy they are once he has the meat and cheese on them. Lunch, which was the closest to home made we have had so far and very delicious, cost us a total of $4.81 for both of us!

With our sandwiches in our cooler bag we headed to a lakeside park/boat ramp and had our lunch. While we were eating this very nice African American fellow pulled up in his boat and talked a while with us about the area, etc. He showed us some of the largemouth bass he had caught. Norma keeps saying she needs to email Obama and let him know how friendly and hospitable the American people have been this entire trip. She also wants to suggest they put sidewalks in all their towns as a way to help encourage people to get out and move their booty!!! Might just help the obesity problem. This is one of the things we have noticed as we try to walk each evening.

It was getting very warm and felt even more humid as we got back on our way. We made our planned stop at Eutaw, Alabama with the intention of staying at an antebellum plantation home we had found on the net. When we got there we were told they only do tours (which we did) and had not offered accomodation for almost ten years. We did tell them their web site was a little outdated and was why we had travelled that way but only got some excuse that they couldn't find a way to change it! Anyway, it was a beautiful old home with lots of wonderful antiques.

We continued on our way just a bit down the road and are now spending the night at Livingston Alabama. Again tonight there are severe storm warnings but mainly for areas south of here.

Total KM = 474

We have been seeing a variety of humourous and different signs , some of which we have included here. For the motorheads in the audience - how about that gasoline available at the local corner service station in Georgia?

We have ridden through peanut and pecan growing country today of Southern Georgia so have had to purchase a sample of each. The blanched peanuts (the roadside peanut vendors said to roast them in a slow oven for 45 minutes) and fresh shelled pecans are wonderful. You can't get them as good as this at home. We also gave the boiled peanuts another try as we just couldn't believe they could be as popular as they are, yet as awful as we remembered them from our Florida trip two years ago. We even tried them from the roadside vendor where he was boiling them on site. They are just soggy, soft, warm peanuts. . .yuccch.

There are continued signs of flooding along the side of the road. Also a wonderful display of white water lilies that we saw in the ditches for miles as well as in any pond near the road. The magnolias are in bloom along the roads. In Georgia they have scattered wildflower seeds along the roadsides. Where they have had success they form a colourful roadside border. We also saw a variety of water birds as well as egrets and ibises.

Once again we have tried to stay off the interstate freeways and continue to find quiet backcountry highways with little traffic. To our surprise we have gained an hour back today. Tonight we find ourselves in Enterprise, Alabama. For the first time on this trip we wimpy westerners felt the heat and the humidity (87F/60%) this afternoon.

Total KM = 0

For those of you following at COTR many will remember Stevi, our former ANTH/SOC/WMST instructor. She and her sister Louise have played hostess to Norma and I today. We are in St. Simons Island, Georgia and started out with a guided auto tour around the area by Stevi, who then dropped us off at "the Village" where we did a little bit of tourist shopping and had lunch. We watched a dolphin playing and the fishermen (including the feathered variety) lining the pier.

Of special note today was Stevi's new motorcycle. She purchased it from a dealer about 50 mi. south of here so Doug volunteered to ride it to St. Simons such that Stevi will be able to practice riding in a more familiar environs. This took us the bulk of the afternoon but the bike is at home!

We had a great seafood dinner in Brunswick, GA (across the causeway) and then took a walk through some beautiful church grounds (an old plantation) which feature some tabby slave cabins ("tabby" refers to the mixture of seashells and mud used to construct the cabins).

Tomorrow we begin the first leg of our trip to Houston, TX.

Total KM = 447

Another nice riding day, not too hot and NO rain. Again we managed to stay off the interstate and kept to the back roads. A good way to really get a feel of southern hospitality and see how people live. We took many business routes and few town bypasses. Great contrasts from one small town to another with the obvious levels of wealth and poverty.

Saw several large vultures breakfasting on road kill. They weren't even too scared until we got right beside them.

More of the beautiful old south mansions - large fenced yards, most houses with the front porches and white rocking chairs - magnolia trees in bloom, very pretty. Also many, many churches of all denominations, obviously an important part of southerner's lives.

Made our first stop at the Strom Thurman dam. Nice walk way right under the base of the dam with holders along the way for the good old fishing rod and a comfy bench right handy to sit and watch your line.

Eventually made our way to St Simons Island, Georgia to spend a few nights with Doug's friend Stevi and her sister Lou, their four dogs and two cats. Pretty busy household.

Total KMN = 353

The three time changes must have caught up with us as we both slept until after 8 am - very unusual for us. Was probably a good thing as it was raining pretty heavily when we got up and by the time we were ready to go it had pretty well stopped. We did start out in rain gear just in case. The road was wet too so we needed to keep our pants dry.

We left Maggie Valley and rode through the Soco Gap. Rode along the Cullasaja river in the Nantahala National Forest - a very windy lovely motorcycle road. We have enjoyed the curvy roads around/in the Smoky Mountains.

We had planned to stop at the Whitewater Falls, acclaimed to be the tallest falls in USA east of the Rockies but the fog was so thick we could only see about 10 feet in front of our faces -four way flashers on and going pretty slowly.

We stopped to check out the Stumphouse Tunnel in South Carolina. It is a railway tunnel they had begun to build in 1850 but after getting 1600 feet of the ~5,000 feet completed the contractors ran out of money so they stopped working on it. Years later the Clemson University used it for curing their world famous blue cheese as it provides a consistent temperature and humidity. They no longer use it for that as they now have a modern "lab" for that purpose. Pretty interesting to walk into the tunnel and see how it was dug out by pick and shovel all those years ago. There is a steady drip of water as well.

All along the roads for miles going up and then back down the passes again the roadside is covered with rhododendrons. They were flowering in the lower areas and were pretty spectacular so we could only imagine how it must look once they start to flower up higher where the bulk of them are.

Interesting side note: we have noticed that speed limits are much lower in SC and, even more surprising, the locals seem to stick pretty close to them. Maybe in some SC counties it is jail time for speeding? Not going to test that theory.

We are now at Greenwood, South Carolina for the night.

Total KM = 387

Finally woke to beautiful sunny clear-sky day. Left Williamsburg after a little Mother's day sleep-in starting our ride along the Cumberland river. A little foggy at the river banks but the sun was nice and warm so the steam was coming off the house roofs.

At the start of the ride had to dodge lots of squirrels, little birds and even a turkey flying/running or whatever it is they do. We just missed him too! We weren't sure why so many squirrels were on the road but wondered if they were drinking warm water from the pavement cracks.

Stopped at the visitors center at the Cumberland Gap. Rode up to the "Pinnacle" lookout, a long winding road, but worth it for the view. The footpath to the lookout crossed from Kentucky into Virginia so we can say we visited that state too! After descending back to the main highway we road through the gap and into Tennessee.

We had to change our riding plans for the rest of the ride into the Smoky Mountains as the traffic was horrendous on the road to Gatlinburg. We think it must have been a combination of a nice sunny Sunday and being Mother's day so everyone was out for a drive. We changed course and rode through the northern Smoky Mountains, still a nice ride but not our original plan. Eventually we made it to the Blue Ridge Parkway and rode part of this world famous motorcycle road to the visitor center at the first summit on the parkway (~6400 ft) one motorcycle accident per day on the Parkway. I could see how "sportbike excess" could be tempting on this road.

Have stopped here in Maggie Valley, North Carolina for the night.

Total KM = 521

Howdy, y'all. Welcome to the Kentucky hill country. Y'all are 'specially welcome if yer on a motorsickle 'cuz there are some of the best dangnabbit curvy roads to be found anywhar!

Just make shure y'all don't attract any of them revenuers 'cuz the still is in the old house on that thar hill. Y'all hear?

Now to get serious about our great day. Forgot to mention that yesterday we had to cross the mighty Mississippi River and then immediately the Ohio river to enter Kentucky - over two very long bridges. The shores of both rivers were well up into the trees. We were trying to decide if that is the normal or is it due to flooding.

There were some pretty dark clouds this morning but only a small cloud burst while we were stopped at a gas station this afternoon so we considered ourselves very lucky. We again were able to stay off the main roads and travelled the back roads which were wonderful motorcycle roads, lots of curves, great scenery and mostly good pavement.

We started by riding into the Land Between the Lakes Park. There was evidence of extensive tree damage - especially the conifers - which was caused by a January ice storm. The visitor center attendant was telling us they had to close the park for over three weeks until they could clear up the main roads and get power back to the tourist center.

We made our way through the southern Kentucky countryside enjoying the great weather and green rolling hills. Lots of beautiful horses with their young. Also saw a great contrast in accomodations. We saw some beautiful mansions as well as some pretty ramshakle places right down the road. Also lots of evidence of flooding. We made a point of riding through numerous little towns, pretty quaint, even saw the Amish in their horse drawn buggies. Stopped at South Union to visit the Shakers museum, gift shop and grounds. You may remember the Shakers for their furniture style. A splinter sect from the Quakers, the group reached maximum size of about 6,000 full members in 1840, but as of July 2008 had only four members left. Very interesting.

Need to comment on how friendly we have found people this entire trip. It seems like every time we stop for a break someone comes to ask if we need anything. During the storm riding yesterday I think any one of them would have taken us home if we asked. Everyone has their own opinion on the weather and what we should plan to see and do. They all just want to chat for a minute. The accents are getting a little harder to understand too but then that just makes it even more interesting.

Tonight we find ourselves in Williamsburg, KY, looking forward to Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains tomorrow.

Total KM = 554

It's been quite a day but lets start with last night.

We attended the "Hits of the 60's" live theater presentation last evening in Branson, Missouri and had a very nice evening. Lots of the great old songs - the audience was all around our age- singing and dancing in our seats. Yes, even Doug got up and danced!!!

Got an early start as it was looking very grey out - humid and warm but no sign of rain to begin with. The weather forecast had been ominous thus the prompt start.

As we were loading Raindancer a truck driver came over to ask which direction we were going as he had been talking to another driver west of us who was having difficulties with baseball size hail stones that were acting like ball bearings under his semi wheels. We felt OK with the start as we were going in the other direction so we headed out across Southern Missouri. Soon it became so dark you would have thought it was night. Then out of nowhere the lightening started around us followed VERY quickly by torrential rain and dangerous winds. We immediately turned around and went back to the last small town to find cover. In the very few minutes it took we were both soaked to the skin! We went inside the Taneyville General Store and were told of a tornado watch so stayed put watching the bad weather - tree pieces flying, signs and anything else not tied down flying down the road. Raindancer was rocking in all directions. The store owners had their police scanner on too so were hearing of all the homes with trees on them and the power lines down.

After an hour it started to clear so we set out again. No rain or wind by then but did we ever see lots of distruction - trees over the road, roof pieces in fields and trees on or near houses. The animals in the fields were all pretty calm, eating away so we were pretty sure it was over. Needless to say we had our rain gear on this time. From the net:

"Severe weather that included strong winds and heavy rain has claimed the lives of three people in southern Missouri. And the National Weather Service is looking into reports of tornadoes touching down in various regions of the state.
Two of the victims were a man and a woman in Butler County who were killed when a tree hit their car. A third person lost his life as a result of a heart attack brought on when he was blown out of his home by a possible twister that rumbled through Dallas County.
In addition to the deaths there are numerous injuries from the storms, including an injury to a Southwest Baptist University student in Bolivar who was hurt by flying debris.
There is also plenty of property damage. Among the buildings destroyed is Fair Grove High School. "


We stayed on the back roads and in spite of the weather had a lovely ride, rolling hills, curves, some parts like roller coasters. The only down side was needing to watch for all the tree debris on the corners as well as downed trees and transmission lines (rode over a few of those today!). Lunch lasted longer than usual (was punctuated by a power outage) as we waited for the black sky to dissipate somewhat.

Due to the two longish stops we ended up with a longer day. We had hoped to make it into Kentucky and here we are in Paducah.

Total KM = 363

Woke up to driving rain in KC this morning so we took our time getting going and by the time we were on the road the sun was shining. Although we have only been in the humid midwest for a few days now we have realized that weather forecasts are somewhat unreliable (and that is being generous with praise). I think it may have something to do with the humidity, latitude and topography resulting in mixtures of cold and warm air. These mixing patterns appear to be totally unpredictable resulting in poor meteorological prognostications. Today we had beautiful sunny weather (it was 31.5 C when we reached Branson whereas the forecast said overcast with showers and t-storms (which are now predicted to come overnight).

Branson, Missouri bills itself as the "live music capital of the world" and has a rich history dating back to its first days in the 1800's. Starting with a small store at a riverboat stop, the city now boasts over 40 theaters with 60,000 theater seats with over 70 live theater shows. We will attend "Number 1 Hits of the Sixties" tonight. It is just a short walk from our motel.

We managed to stay off the main roads and had a very nice ride through the Missouri countryside - rolling green farm lands, white picket fences, red barns and really nice fresh (not cattle) country smells. We didn't see many live critters but did see two dead armadillos on the side of the road. Lots of bird activity as well including an osprey with a fish. There is some evidence of flooding in fields and the banks of Truman Lake were pretty well into the woods.

We now have a destination after the past week of being nomads. We have decided to make Georgia our turn around point before heading to Houston for our flights. A former colleague of Doug's from COTR lives in Georgia so we will go to see her in the south eastern part of the state. We had planned a visit two years ago when we did our Florida trip but ran out of time.

Total KM = 81

Had a freeway tour of the Kansas Cities today. If you check your map there are actually two of them, partially separated by the Missouri River, one in Kansas and one in Missouri. Like many big cities in the states this one has a beltway which makes it relatively easy to get from one side to the other then you can exit off toward the center or the periphery when your "angle" is correct.

We actually ended up on side roads and in farm lands around the periphery of the city - lush rolling fields, birds singing and you could smell the fresh mown grass. No cattle yards today.

We visited the Harley Davidson Powertrain Operations Division (Doug - the avid lifetime BMW rider always wants to visit the Harley Shops, I think it is to show off Raindancer's power centerstand) and stopped at Harrah's Casino overlooking the Missouri river for lunch. We ate in the buffet and both had the same observation - all that food and all those overweight people. We know we could both stand to loose a little but we felt pretty svelt! Neither of us went back for seconds I can assure you and we walked the stairs after that too!

It was a wonderful warm and dry evening for our trip across to the Kauffman Stadium for the ball game. It was pretty much a blow out with Kansas City winning 9 to 1 over the Seattle Mariners. It was still a great stadium to visit and entertaining watching the crowd. Of course, Norma went prepared for the cold with her motorcycle gloves, muff and hot packs just in case. We were both wishing we had short sleeve shirts on by the time the game ended!

Total Km = 565

We had planned to start our morning with a visit to the old Dodge City site but with the heavy rain and road redevelopment - mud - on the main drag we decided to "get out of Dodge" when the rain slowed to a temporary drizzle. We did manage to see some of the old western buildings at the center of town as we rode by.

Kansas was just as flat today as it was yesterday. And the wholesome aroma of the cattle stockyards was still pretty evident. Things are very green and lush with the recent weather they have been having. Evidence of flooding in some of the fields and the ditches on the sides of the road. Didn't see too much else with the rain as it is all you can do to keep your eye on the road through the rain drops on the faceshields.

We rode the 565 km from Dodge City to Kansas City in the rain, which surprizingly the US National Weather Service did not predict (we checked on the internet yesterday, this morning and upon arrival in KC when they still would not admit is was raining). The forecast had been for late afternoon thundershowers. At least it wasn't too cold but there were the usual prairie wind gusts to contend with.

Easy to find our way to our hotel here in Independence, Missouri. We are directly across from Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals. There is a game going on tonight so we can see the lit up stadium from the hotel. Tomorrow night we will see the Royals play the Seattle Mariners. We will spend the evening planning some daytime activities for tomorrow and looking for internet specials for our next destination. As this was to be next year's vacation we had not done any planning thus the netbook (laptop) is proving invaluable for researching what we might like to do/see. Also good for making online reservations, buying tickets, etc. Compact, it fits nicely in the luggage. Don't know how we traveled without one in the past.

Total KM = 613

Last evening we went for a walk around the Taos plaza. As some of you know we usually have a mascot attached to Raindancer's handlebars. We were going to get a panda at the San Diego zoo but decided to wait until we got further south. As you know the "further south" didn't happen so last evening we purchased "Jake" the New Mexico diamondback rattlesnake - he really does have a rattle in his tail.

Started the day out with a wonderful motorcycle ride out of Taos - curves and hills up Highway 64 over Palo Flechado Pass (~9100 ft) then followed by a ride through Cimarron Canyon. Great views of neat homes, park land, etc. Very nice start to the morning.

Managed to find a post office in Eagle Nest, New Mexico and put the pottery into the mail home. It might just beat us there.

Left New Mexico and got into the Oklahoma panhandle. Prairie fields for as far as you could see. Stopped to take a picture of a really neat old rock homestead that was falling down. May even work as an inspiration for Norma to start painting again. You never know.

"Home home on the range, where the deer and the antelope roam" certainly saw enough - probably over 100 pronghorn antelope but they were not roaming - they were running single file across farmers fields or grazing amongst the cattle. Very regal pretty animals. Amongst other songs Norma tried to sing "Oklahoma" but the words got lost in the wind - yes, strong crosswinds this afternoon.

Crossed over into Kansas. Still could see flat fields forever but now some subtle differences. The fields seemed lusher and greener, there were power generating wind mills, lots of pheasants in the fields but no antelope and many, many cattle stock yards so the smell was very different too!!! We managed to stay off the interstate today so went through numberous small towns - Sublette, Hugoton, Montezuma, Ensign and they are all the same, grain elevators on the left - beside the railway tracks and water tower on the right with the town's name on it.

We tried to test each other on the series "Gunsmoke" as we were riding - discussing Marshall Dillon, Miss Kitty, Chester and the Long Branch Saloon. Any clue as to where we are now? You got it - Dodge City, Kansas. Pretty cold and windy here today. Oh well, the morning will see us getting "out of Dodge" anyway!

Total KM = 140

It rained very heavily all last evening and during the night but we were greeted with a beautiful sunny day - a bit cool but at least the sun was shining. The hotel clerk had allowed us to leave Raindancer under the covered walkway by the pool so he stayed nice and dry.

We started our morning with another walk up to the Plaza downtown Santa Fe. Surprising the number of people who were out and about that early. We knew our next destination wasn't that far away so had a later start. Did a bit of shopping - pretty limited with the lack of space for carrying things. That can be a good thing.

Nice ride through the New Mexico countryside. Rode for some time along the Rio Grande river (yes, the northern portion - the river still in its infancy). There were large groups of people river rafting/kayaking and having a great time on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

We arrived in Taos, New Mexico, in the early afternoon after a comparatively short but very pleasant ride. After checking into the hotel and unloading the bike we rode to Taos Pueblo village. It is the oldest still inhabited Native Indian village. They live with no power or running water. They do have wood stoves and fireplaces for cooking. There are huge clay ovens (horno) outside most of the adobes. They burn a cedar fire then remove the ashes and use the heat to bake bread and pastries. It was their Santa Cruz festival today so we were not allowed to take any photographs (indeed, cameras and even cell phones were not allowed in the village) and many of the inhabitants were taking part in a traditional dance to bless the upcoming corn crops. All in all it was very interesting.

One thing that has impressed us is the New Mexico adobe architecture. Many of the hotels and homes are of this style built with dirt and straw - the walls being very thick to keep in the heat in the winter and keep it out in the summer. The schools, gas stations and even MacDonalds are of this same style.

Tomorrow we reluctantly leave beautiful New Mexico for Oklahoma and Kansas.

Total KM = 191

Last evening we enjoyed a wonderful seafood buffet at the casino- crab legs, giant prawns prepared in all sorts of ways, prime rib, etc. We were both very impressed with everything - even went back for more of the wonderful vegetables. Now when have you ever done that at a buffet? We then proceeded to lose a bit of cash in the Casino. Norma started to recoup but then it was getting late so we quit for the night.

We started the morning in the casino and both managed to win enough to almost cover last night's losses, being the experienced, professional gamblers that we are. Had a great brunch before leaving - Doug had the special - a six egg scramble - yes, you read that right - six eggs with all the fixings for $2.97! Needless to say we are still not hungry for dinner even though it is now 5:30. Will be a light snack of salad, cheese and fresh bread.

Someone made the mistake of commenting on the lack of rain riding this trip so you know what we woke to! Initially it was only dark clouds, a bit of wind and light drizzle but before we got too far we had to stop to don the rain gear. At least it was a relatively short ride, wasn't too cold and indeed was our first rain since leaving home (we won't count the California snow).

We are now in Santa Fe, capital of the state of New Mexico. It is a lovely old town with the typical adobe style buildings, old churches, including the oldest church in the US (c 1610). We had a great walk around the downtown plaza which is just a few blocks from our hotel. Norma patronized the street vendors. At a shop we bought a beautiful piece of pottery made by the Acoma tribe (from the Sky City area where we stayed last night). We will put it in the mail home on Monday. The store would not ship to Canada. The weather has been unsettled all day but at least we managed to have a bit brighter time and little rain while walking.

Total KM = 439

Got an early start and had a much shorter, more interesting riding day today.

The morning saw us riding Highway 60 between Globe and Show Low on a very impressive motorcycling road through Salt River Canyon, twisting and turning down to the canyon floor then twisting and turning up again to the mesa above. Speed limit for this section was 35 miles per hour :) For the bikers in the crowd put it on your must ride list. Saw lots of motorcycles heading in the other direction - most likely heading to the Harley Davidson rally in Tuscon. Also saw several pronghorn antelope, very regal animals.

Stopped for lunch at Quemado, New Mexico for "New Mexico's best green chili burgers" - or so they claim on their sign outside the restaurant. Must admit they were very good - pretty close to home made. Got back on the road heading into El Malpais park (means bad lands) with again beautiful high desert scenery. The road cuts through an old volcanic flow (estimated to have occured 10,000 years ago) and you could see the lava "fingers" stretching down the hill in all directions. Of course, they are now growing vegatation. Stopped at La Ventana to view and photograph the natural arch.

Have stopped for the night at the Red Sky Casino hotel and will try our hand at a little gambling after dinner, if we have dinner after "New Mexico's best green chili burgers" .

All in all it has been a very good riding day. The green dots on the map that indicate scenic routes have proven right yet again. One very nice part of the ride was the lack of traffic. In fact at one point Norma started waving to the cows! She claims she was only waving at the ones that were looking at us! Gonna have to stop more often. . .

Total KM = 712

Left San Diego at just before 8 am. Thought we might have issues with rush hour traffic but only noticed it slowing down close to downtown and again at the entrance to San Diego University. We both feel this is an area we could very comfortably live.

Nice warm morning that continued to get warmer until we saw a high of 34 C - a far cry from the minus 2 C last week. By noon we had our mesh jackets on and had gotten the gel vests out and activated. They are a saving grace - you get a bit wet but sure helps to keep cool.

We rode along the Mexican border for part of the way. You could see the fences/barricades to prevent vehicles from entering the desert from the interstate. Scenic ride through the desert. Stopped at Yuma for lunch - thought about our relatives who have winter places there. All sorts of cactus flowering - cholla, saguaro, ocotillo, prickly pear, etc. Very pretty to see. The phrase "lush desert" may sound like an oxymoron, but I think it applies to the southern Arizona desert.

Except for the copper strip mine just south of here it was a very scenic trip.

A longer day today but no place to stay in two of the small towns we went through so we are here in Globe, Arizona. Went out for a very good and cheap Mexican dinner - lots of Mexican people going into the restaurant so we knew it had to be good and it was. Some pretty cute little Mexican kids there too.

If you want to get a better view of the pictures we have been including in the blog just double click on them and they will enlarge, then press the back arrow to go back to the blog. If you do that you will have a better view of what we were seeing. For example, the one with the gull on the fence has a large family of sea lions (over a dozen) on the rocks below.

Tomorrow into New Mexico.

Total KM = 27 km plus Shank's mare

The disappointing change of plans had us feeling a little lost this morning as we waited for Raindancer to be ready. Walked over to the dealer just before lunch but still not ready so back to the hotel until it was. Is certainly nice to have our wheels back. There was a great surprise for us as when they pulled the front apart they found the key we had lost the first few days we owned the bike (back in 2005) while we were in Nova Scotia. We thought we had lost it in the long grass as it had flipped out of the ignition when Doug took the tank bag off. It has riden all these KM safely in its hiding place in the engine!

Made our way out Clairemont Mesa road to the AAA where they gave us every map we could possibly need - used the BCAA card so got it all at no cost.

Rode out to La Jolla. Lovely town (or should I say suburb of San Diego) right on the ocean. Went for a nice walk along the ocean watching sea lions, pelicans, and a variety of sea birds as well as people in sea kayaks and those scuba diving in the dive park.

Had a great seafood dinner at the "Crab Catcher" (halibut, prawns) sitting overlooking the ocean. Very enjoyable.

We both really like San Diego. The road system is very organized, not even appearing busy at rush hour. No Port Mann Bridge/Deerfoot Trail gridlocks. The vegetation is so like Hawaii with the palm trees, birds of paradise flowering and other tropical-type plants. The weather and temperatures have been moderate - no extremes. For the size of this city we have both found it very relaxing and have felt very safe.

Tomorrow sees us heading east. No firm plans yet, just heading east. We will keep our Houston flight plans as the cancellation insurance will not help us out there. That means we have three weeks to play our way across - stop when we like and make plans as we go. Now we have the maps that will make it a bit easier. We are both such planners I can't see we will just be nomads as we go but then you never know. We are looking forward to being on the road again.

Total KM = 0 - public transit and on foot only

After 35 years of dreaming about this trip (for Doug) and a winter of planning. . . today we learned of the following Government of Canada edict:
As of April 27 2009, travellers from Canada are recommended to postpone elective or non-essential travel to Mexico until further notice. This is, of course, due to the influenza epidemic in Central and Southern Mexico. If you check your map you will see that travel to Central America by motorcycle is not possible without entering Mexico. Initially our reaction was - we've come this far let's go anyway! However after further internet research (e.g. Air Transat, our Canadian Mexico holidayer "shuttle service" has cancelled all flights until June 1st), message from the infection control nurse at Norma's work, etc. and the possibility of being in Mexico under a full World Health Organization lockdown, we have cancelled the Mexican motorcycle insurance and reluctantly made the decision to not go. It is taking us a while to get our heads around it as we are both such planners (see plan "B" below). In a bit of an attempt to make up for this we had a Mexican dinner take out tonight - we had been holding off on having any Mexican food, saving it for our upcoming trip!

As for today, we had a leisurely morning complete with buffet breakfast, walked up to the BMW dealer to check on the progress of the motorcyle then got on the bus to Balboa Park Natural History Museum and saw the "Body Worlds" exhibit. It is a wonderful exhibit of real human bodies that people have donated for this exhibit. The bodies are plastisized and positioned to show all. Fascinating. After our time there we wandered around the rest of the museum saw the fabulous Moreton Bay fig tree (see attached image) then crossed over to the huge, beautiful rose and cactus gardens.

When we got back to pick up the motorcycle we discovered it was not ready and will not be ready until around 11 tomorrow so we have decided to stay here another night. Not a huge inconvenience, especially given the above events, and we are both really enjoying San Diego. We are going to to the waterfront for a seafood dinner tomorrow night as a treat after our vacation disappointment.

Plan "B" - well, we don't really have one.

Being GPSless we will go to the AAA office tomorrow and pick up some new maps. At this time we are thinking of heading east into the desert and will see where we go from there. May try to take in a ML baseball game or two. Our flight plans from Houston may also change but we will see.