After much soul searching our big retirement road trip has manifested itself into a 10-12 month trip around the U.S.A. beginning April 2007.


The trip has no real itinery, the primary purpose is to see real places and meet real people.

Travel will be on a Ural Patrol (1940's design)  sidecar outfit. Planning on camping out on average 5 days a week, paid accommodation 2 days a week. URAL WEB SITE HERE .

A ROUGH DAILY DIARY

20 March 2007:- All the airfares are paid, the bike is ordered, a black one because they ran out of green ones, and we leave Adelaide on the 24th of April. Feeling a little apprehensive about the trip, even a little frightened, but what worries us more is if we don't go then regret it later.
We have booked into a 3 day sidecar training workshop for the 3rd-4th-5th of May In Hood River, Oregon. The other plans we have made is to participate in a couple of rallies, one in Idaho in June and one in Ontario, Canada a month later.(The other side of the country)
We are in the process of ordering the bike luggage and camping gear required for the trip. It's all got to be in place well before we leave Australia ready to pick up in Bellingham, Washington State (where we start our travels). It would be great to spend a few weeks picking through the camping shops in the US but that's a luxury we cannot afford.

 

26 March 2007:- Less than a month to go. Have worked out a basic itinery for the first 3 months. From Bellingham down the west coast on Highway 101 with detours as required into the west coast ranges. Head east before we get to Los Angeles and across through Las Vegas to Northern Arizona. Head north then through Utah to Idaho for a sidecar rally in mid June. From there we have a month to get to Peterborough, Ontario for a Rally in mid July. These plans are totally flexible and could be changed at any time.

 

24th April 2007:- Arrived in Seattle after 20 hours on 3 different aircraft. Amazingly simple procedures all the way with immigration and customs. With all we had heard we expected long delays, baggage searches and more but I suppose a couple of pensioners with motorcycle luggage don't present a major security risk. Both of us set off the metal detectors with the metal hips and other metal plates but is only a small inconvenience.

25th, 26th, 27th working on getting the bike ready, buying extra bits & pieces and suffering from extreme jet lag. I have not experienced jet lag at this level before.

 

28th April 2007:- Picked up from Seattle by Stephen from Ural NW on the 25th . He and Mark gave us service the likes I have never experienced before, just brilliant. We have been through all the necessary service items and procedures, seems fairly simple. Today, the 28th, Ken and dave took us for a ride in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. A brilliant days ride, met lots of other bikers that wanted to know about all our Ural Outfits. The UDF (Ural Delay Factor) is just part of the cost of riding a normally unrecognisable Russian bike that looks like a machine from a 1940's time warp.

There are some pics of the first few days in this gallery (index.html)

 

29th April 2007:- BELLINGHAM TO SEATTLE. Left Bellingham yesterday morning and rode down highway 9 to Seattle to stay with Russ & Katherine Noe for a couple of days. The ride down was cold on a road with light traffic until we got to the outskirts of Seattle. Then got lost. My sense of direction, which is normally excellent, fell apart. I totally mixed up North & South and East & West then followed my gut feeling on which roads to follow. Must put a compass (that has since changed to a full map GPS) on the bike. Eventually went west onto 99 and encountered reasonably fast heavy traffic. The bike, rider and passenger handled it very well. I'm still nervous riding in traffic but confident we can do it without any problems. Generally traffic manners of most drivers seem far superior to Australia. I have been told this may not apply right across the country.

Russ & Katherine have made us feel so welcome in their home, and in a quiet street sleeping is almost back to normal.

30th April, 1st May:- Had 3  excellent days with Russ & Katherine, managed to catch up with some washing, the sleep pattern has returned to normal and had a look around Seattle. Russ & Katherines son Jack took us on a walking tour of their suburb, so completely different to home. Seems everything grows, most every garden has tulips and other brilliant coloured flower growing and it's all so green. Had a day in downtown Seattle and quite enjoyed the experience.The market was a mass of colour and an enjoyable experience.

A collection of meaningless pictures of the market  (CLICK HERE)


2nd - 3rd May 2007:- SEATTLE TO HOOD RIVER  Rode out of Seattle onto Interstate 90, an experience that I wasn't looking forward too. As with most fear it was unfounded and the Ural (which Julie is now calling 'Wombat') was able to keep up the 60mph that I was happy with on the open road. Climbing over the Cascade Mountains was through some ice and snow at over 4,00 feet altitude. Julie removed her gloves at one stage to take a photo the decided that wasn't a good idea. This, for us, was as cold as we want to be. Planned to get to Yakima for the overnight camp but only made it to Ellensburg. The pivot pin on the clutch actuating lever on the gearbox dropped out but only took a few minutes to fix. I reckon someone in the factory forgot to put a cotter pin in the hole. The KOA campground at Ellensburg is almost under an underpass, next to a freeway, alongside of a busy rail line and there was some sort of gun fight or whatever in the middle of the night. In the morning the tent and bike cover were all iced up. For Julie's view on this day please ask her, it's illegal to put such word into print.

 

4th-5th-6th May 2007:-  HOOD RIVER TRAINING The smartest thing we decided to do was to join Adventure Sidecar for the three days of sidecar riding training. We were made ultra welcome into Vernon's and Amy's home at Hood River, a beautiful, quiet location out in the country from Hood River. Vernon and Monica conducted the training and both Julie and I, along with all the other participants, enjoyed the experience immensely. Julie was the first to 'fly the chair' in the training at a point where it wasn't required but she did extremely well at every lesson. The Ural has a bit of a gearbox anomaly, I rang UralNW and got a call back saying a new gearbox was waiting for us to have fitted. The 4th gear is often not there, we have tried some small adjustments on the shift stops that Mark suggested but the problems seems to persist. Rather that ride back to Bellingham and chance more problems we will get a UHaul and carry it back. Final cost will be about the same, we will go straight up I5 in one day, if we rode it back it would be 3 days with accommodation costs.

There are some pics of us and the training on the adventure Sidecar web site

Pictures of the Adventure Sidecar training  CLICK HERE 

 

8th-9th-10th May 2007:-  What a great drive. Drove the Ural up into the UHAUL in Hood River and left 6.00am the following morning for Bellingham. Came down the waterfall drive in the Columbia River Valley, just brilliant. We stopped for breakfast and a couple of older blikers at another table asked what my T`shirt logo was. Told them it was a Ulysses Club Australia T Shirt and we we taking our bike back up to Bellingham. They told us they knew about our ride around the US. Amazing. I5 was blocked near Seattle so we wound our way through minor roads and saw so much.

Ural NW was ready to put the new gear box in when we arrived and give the bike a service. The gearbox was an inconvenience but it definitely was not a breakdown, just another adventure on the road with a chance to experience the great American tradition of moving with a UHAUL.

Went with Stephen (UralNW owner) and his wife Ellen to a variety show put on by the Snohomish Historical Society. Absolute 100% Americana, Julie & I absolutely loved it. Entertaining, funny, a bit corny but this is what we came to see, the real small town USA.

Tomorrow 11th of May we head to the Olympic Peninsula then south on 101.

Some pics of our UHAUL adventures CLICK HERE

 

May 11th-12th-13th, 2007:- Rode down to Keystone and caught the ferry across to the Olympic Peninsula. Half hour ferry ride and were entertained by a man playing a Celtic Harp on the boat, most unexpected and very good. Arrived at Fort townsend, great little place, allowed Julie her visit to an antique shop, then went to the Farmers Market. Rode from there to Port Angeles and camped in the KOA campground. Great park, especially when sitting in a steaming spa looking up at snow capped peaks. A bit cool when we got out. Rode up to Hurricane Ridge, really needed more than South Australian bike clothes for the ride. Julie was snug in the sidecar. Had another couple of days with the UDF (Ural Delay Factor) slowing our travels.

Some observations we have made. Most Americans are extremely friendly. (we already knew this) Service at all retail stores, restaurants and the like is of a very high standard in every respect. Living as we are is much cheaper than in Australia. Drivers in this part of the country have been extra courteous so far. It seems that everything is fast and big, often without an obvious reason or logic. This entire country as we see so far seems primarily made for shopping. Australian wine that sells for $20+ in Australia (Jacobs Creek, Rosemount, Hardy's and like sell for $5.95-$9.95 USD.

Some pics here of the the first 3 days on OLYMPIC PENINSULA

 

May 14th -17th, 2007:- Started seriously on Highway 101 down the west coast of the country. Keep meeting up with more people on bikes, always time to stop for a chat and have a meal or drink together. The road seems cluttered with giant motor homes, only ever seem to have one or two people on board. Most of them seem to lock themselves in of a night, a few are friendly but generally an anti social lot. Perhaps we need to see them when they get to their destination, perhaps they socialise then. The ride down the Olympic Peninsula was great but the ride over the Astoria Bridge was not enjoyed. The bridge is over 4 miles long and is around 200 feet high on the big arch. It crosses the mouth of the Columbia River. It was blowing a gale as we crossed (as it always does apparently) and riding was quite scary. The bike, loaded as it is, does not like side winds.

We rode down the Oregon Coast to Newport then turned east to go to Philomath on Highway 20 and met up with a couple from the sidecar course. We camped on their front lawn, we were offered to stay inside but both Julie and I sleep much better in the tent at the moment. The night we stayed as Astoria we decided to treat ourselves to a bit of luxury a booked into the Great Western motel. We were both up at 3.00am, couldn't sleep. The little tent is very comfy, our sleeping bags are warm and this has become our home for the moment. The nice thing about being in a room though is the ability to spread out a bit, be a bit more organised and catch up with some chores.
Got our first puncture yesterday, from stop to being on the road again was 20 minutes. Spare tyres are a great idea.

Pictures of our start on Highway 101 here

 

May 18th-19th, 2007:- Ural is running like a dream, hope this comment doesn't jinx it and had a great couple of days. Did a 30 mile run down the I5, no problems, then followed the secondary roads to Crater Lake, then back to Ashland on the I5. Head into California tomorrow.

Pics tell a better story here than words so click

 

May 19th - 24th, 2007:-  Left Crater Lake and travelled to Ashland on a road that turned and twisted for miles then found outselves on the longest downhill winding drive I have even done. With the sidecar rig these drives become very tiring.

The ride from Ashland via Cresent City to Arcata via Highway 199/101 plus some assorted secondary roads was just too long. Took some wrong turns and wound and wound and wound through some very nice country, taking over an hour to cover what should have been 15 minutes had we taken the shorter route. Countryside was pleasant but raining most of the time. Started following the coast and through the Giant Redwood forests, brilliantly spectacular but the rain kept up. I managed to break the visor on my helmet the previous day so with the rain and continuous wind in the face, the helmet wet inside and very cold - it was not our best day. Booked into a motel at Arcata, couldn't camp that night.
From Arcata down it was magnificent. Travelled along the Avenue of the Giants, the old Highway 101 through the worlds biggest trees. Turned onto Highway 1, the Pacific Coat Highway, and via a very winding road with little traffic found our way to the quite spectacular coast. This road winds its way along the coastal plains and cliffs, quite narrow in places, no guard rails and often massive cliffs dropping to the sea right on the edge of the road. Regular prods from Julie saying I was too close to the edge. Went as far south a Manchester and camped for the night.
Midday on the 22nd and we arived at Dennis and Becky McCalisters place. This was just brilliant, had our own little dwelling perched on a headland overlooking their private beach. Julie wanted to stay for the entire year but a couple of days later travelled with Dennis down to his parents place near Sacramento in a town called Galt through the Napa Valley. Seriously big wine, and we visited a Jelly Bean factory. Great day.

On these few days we took some magnificent photographs 

 

May 24th to June 4th, 2007:- Spent 3 days at a BMW rally, had a good time and met and looked at lots of bikes. From the rally we rode down to Yosemite National Park. We were absolutely amazed by the place, brilliant scenery, massive mountains and lots of people. The ride to Yosemite via a hill called Moccasin Switchback was an education. Seriously steep and winding, far greater than we had encountered before. The Ural was mainly in 2nd gear all the way up. Lots of smells of buring brakes from car/trucks/motorhome coming down the hill.
It was a long day through initially magnificent high mountain scenery till we suddenly came down a giant hill and finished up in the desert at a place called Lee Vining. From there we rode down to Lone Pine on Highway 395 and stayed in a Motel before our trip through death Valley and on to Las Vegas the following day.
Now we are talking about even bigger and longer hills. Coming down into Death Valley from around 7000 feet was almost a straight road for 9 miles with a 7% - 8% grade. Again, it's worth the trip if you ever get the chance.
In Las Vegas we rode down The Strip when we were escorted into town by fellow Ural Rider, Peter Taggart. Just how cool is that. Las Vegas simply is overwhelming. It's not possible to go there without being impressed. It's also possible to have many other reactions, but impressed you must be. A walk around the town at night is an enlightening experience, to say the least.
We stayed with Peter and his wife Svetlana and we really were given the most magnificent treatment. Peter worked with me to give the bike the 5,000km service, put a mirror on Julie's side of the bike and arranged complimentary airfares to Los Angeles. I just hope we can repay all the friendship we have been shown when the friends we have made visit us in Australia one day.
From Las Vegas we flew out to the Grand canyon for a day tour, then the following day flew down to Los Angeles and went to Disneyland for the day. Again, an overwhelming experience. From Las Vegas we rode up through Zion National Park. It is just stunning, had an even greater effect than Yosemite, scenery that is just mind blowing, scenes that it would be hard to even make up. The drive through the park just left me breathless, it really is that good. Problem is the whole visual of the place as you see it is very hard to capture with a camera.

Whilst they don't do justice here are the pictures ...

 

June 5th to 9th, 2007:- Left Zion, know we should have done the ride through Bryce Canyon but time was against us. Rode up to Provo, just below Salt Lake City. Brilliant scenery all the way on the secondary roads but coming into Provo finished up on I-15 in peak hour with the poor little Ural cruising along at 65mph. Don't think I'll do that again. People kept asking what we were going to do about the rain. Left Provo 2 days later. Serious rain/wind/snow and sat in the tent in sleeping bags all day. First seriously bad day in six weeks, how lucky can we be. As we travelled north Julie commented that some of the rain had 'lumps' in it. Some more cold riding that we are getting used too. Didn't see too many other bikes on the road.
Rode up through Grand Teton National Park to Yellowstone. Again, brilliant scenery and some of the volcanic activity was stunning.
Reflecting on our travels at the moment, we have totally settled into life on the road. We generally sleep better in the tent than in motels. We often call the tent 'home' which is really weird until we think about it. Home can be anywhere that you're comfortable and gives you the necessary basics. That's how we feel about the tent. It is nice sometimes to have a solid room but it's not essential. Each morning when we set out we usually have no idea where we will be that evening. I think we feel better about this than having a known destination. Adds to the overall adventure. We are both smiling a lot as we travel, perhaps insanity is setting in, or perhaps we feel as though we are really living.
Coming through Zion we realised we were totally in the scene, 360 degrees in all directions, feeling the air change, the smells of the trees and flowers and realised how lucky we were not to be enclosed in an airconditioned tin can seeing the whole scene as just more wide screen television. One tiny example is when you go through a tunnel in the mountains on a hot day and the cool underground air gives an immense pleasure that you only experience on a bike. There are myriad of these tiny experiences every day, it's why a dog sticks it's head out of the window of a car.

Anyhow, enough rabbiting on, here are some pics of the last few days.

 

CLICK HERE TO GO TO JUNE 1Oth

CONTACT US:-

gmjm@internode.on.net

For sidecar training and sidecar galleries in the USA click above.