..across the States..

Wow.. it took me a long time to get to a computer and update this blog.. we were mostly emergency-organizing something or checking on weather ;)

so let me try to summarize the last two weeks.. :)

it was nasty to drive out of Seattle on a 5 lane Interstate, but made it finally to Highway 101, driving through some forests and camping out the first night on the shores of the Pacific :) we missed the sunset for driving a long time, but were glad to be on our own again and start an adventure like that. driving with our load and two people isn't that bad after all ;) just had to leave a lot of things behind, that I wouldn't want to miss on the long term.. as my guitar for example :)

we had a decent breakfast the next morning (drinking a lot of coffee here, but what can you do if they offer free refills ;) hehe :) so it was a beautiful drive down the 101, along the coast line, watching the endless sea on our side. Since I have a personal motorbike-greeter and photograph in the back, there will be more pictures online soon :) ..also pictures of my cute lady and my dready look, getting better day by day :)
there were some strange noises on the bike and I checked chain tension, finding accidently a leak of oil.. but just a very small one, so no need for quick changes. The guys from the garage were super, super nice and we talked a lot, got invited some burgers for dinner and they told us, where to camp out.. too bad, I forgot the name of the place, otherwise you could google-earth it :) we stayed on a sandy peninsula, having sea on both sides, beautiful dunes, watching the waves and playing jews-harp and overtone singing (we're getting better day by day ;)

the next day we continued down the 101 and it was another georgeous ride.. it's just fun to ride a bike through the world! :) I got a lot of hugs and massages from the back, what makes it even more enjoyable! :) ..we spent the night in a state park, on the beach, camping out illegal but for free :D it's good to have a bike.. so you can drive down small path and get off the scene for being unbothered :)

then the weather was about to change.. the tent was always soaked in the morning because of the moisture that you get by being just aside the ocean.
there was the end of this Taifun that swept over Japan and we got a lot of wind and rain.. the day was still okay, but we took a motel room for 60 bucks in Eureka, because it was about to rain and it was just too hard to camp another night outside with our stuff. So we enjoyed a hot shower and a cozy Motel room with a biiiig bed! :D

in the morning there was some blue sky, when we started, but we got hit by heavy rain just a few miles out of town and we just rode a 60 miles in total this day, before we stranded in Garberville. There are a lot of people looking for jobs to trim weed (now it's the season to do so), but because of high competition and because of it's still kinda illegal and things happen, the vibes are not that inviting. the town itself is supercool! ..small Hippie-town along the 101 ;)
we spent another 60 bucks to be dry and watched some TV (I enjoy doing that, despite all the propaganda they show in TV :-/

by getting more South and the Taifun passing, we made it the next day to San Francisco (SF), where we stayed with a friend of Liz. The vibe wasn't too bad, but we were urged to leave after 2 days, so I was happy to be out of the place again. It's too bad on the other side, because SF is a real cool place and I could have stayed for longer.. I mean, I drove over the Golden Gate Bridge (epic!! :) and we spent a day in the botanical garden and park in SF.. was also very nice!
then the next morning we figured out, that I have a flat tire in the back.. was kinda stressful to me, but what else could I do than try to get it fixed.
So I took my bike apart and it took me so long to break the beat (getting the tire of the wheel) and then the tube didn't show any holes?!?! so I hiked a long walk to get a entirely new tube (to be safe) and tried to put it in.. a guy came and helped me and when it was done and I was inflating it, there it was leaking because of unprober mounting (the wheel arms I used to put on the tire destroyed the new tube :( ..happened to me the last time..
..so I hiked again the same way to get another new tube.. this time had some other, more experienced people helping me.. mounted it, inflated it and it looked good.. so I built everything together, went to the other guys to say thank you and when I came back, it was flat again.. I could have cried!! :'(
so I got the direction of a garage and drove the bike with a flat tire back.. took me 6 hours and wasted some money on tubes, that I broke just right away.. was so unrewarding!! went to bed early and was destroyed myself by this day.

the next morning I inflated it temporarily and drove it to this BMW garage.. was about 220USD, but they checked everything and tightened the screws on my motor, so the leak might have been sealed now. I'm glad everything has been checked.. tires inflated to optimum and so on.. didn't have any more troubles so far :)

driving out of SF was also quite a way on the Interstate, but then finally hitting Highway 1. we camped on the cliffs in Santa Cruz (just North of SF) and listened to the sounds of the waves smashing against the rocks, 100 feet below :) that was cool!

then the ride down the Hwy 1 was probably the most beautiful ride EVER!! :D you have a curvy road, going up and down, just right beside the ocean with very nice mountains to the left! we've seen an Elephant-Sealion colony just hanging out on the beach and turned off the Hwy 46 east to take the 56 east, after being a short stretch on 101 (for those who want to follow us with Google Maps or Google Earth :)
we spent the night in green hills, just off the road, enjoying the sunset and having another night, laying in each others arm.. is sooooo nice!!! :)

then we drove through mountains and some flat lands.. along the way since we came to California we've seen wine, oil, cotton, lemons and weed production of this state :) it's really educative to check out this world!! haha :D
we ended up camping out in the desert, next to a car cemetary.. was cool to take some pictures there. will be online soon! :)

this almost brings us to the current day.. yesterday we drove from that place up the 395 to the 190, that goes across the Death Valley.. was still pretty hot, even if out of season. it's very stony, rocky, just some bushed, that can gather water from very deep below. there isn't that much life out there, but there haven't been died as many people either, as the name would claim :)
it would have been 50 bucks for this one day, if we would have registered and camped out in an official spot.. so we managed to save this money by just going our way. (spending it for expensive meal and groceries). yeah.. don't feel really guilty about it.. was just too stony and hot to pay a lot of money to be there ;) hehe :) you'll see some nice pictures of it.. wasn't the way I expected it and it's despite it's beauty hard to think, that this is a national park (I naturally expect some trees and rivers ;)

oh.. I didn't mention the redwoods, that we have driven through.. huge trees, that are houndreds of years old (some can be driven through, but didn't do that..). but these are the very big trees, that you see on the national park pictures :) they are truely awesome!

hmm.. what else.. that's all for now.. me and Liz are having a great time!! it's nice to ride with somebody (would be 1000 times more boring in the night, just camping out somewhere alone by yourself). But we also get stressed sometimes and feel a certain tension, but we can talk about it and that's the most important thing.. traveling together is way more intense than living together or being married.. so if we make it, we probably always make it ;)
I still enjoy being with Liz, sharing our thoughts and feelings! ..I got sometimes unpatient and harsher than I want to be, but I guess, this is the challenge of life and she has a lot of understanding and love for me :) I'm glad, we found each other!

Ok.. I might add stuff, if something comes to my mind later ;) we have to continue further South.. getting to Baker on Interstate 15 and finding a way to head down to Interstate 40 (and Route 66). The trip on the bike will end in Austin, Texas. There I'll have to find a place to store it for 2-14 month and we'll have flights to NY, to spend 4 days there to make preparations and then 3 weeks in the Ukraine and ?? days in December/January in New York.. and then we gonna see :) ..but so far, so good! haha :D isn't that f**cking amazing!! :) what a hell of a trip I'm having here!!! HAHA :D

my best wishes and blessings to you, dear friends and family!