EDR or Bust 2015!! Currently Under Construction (writing it now)

Loaded up with my guitar, fresh oil, and brimming with all the goodies I could pack into my old Marine Corps seabag, I left home, headed south down the switch bakery of the gorgeous old 49er highway.  I was working with the 2 last hours of a setting Sierra Nevada foothill evening trying to make the little town of BootJack.  Now, it's only a stones throw as the crow flies, but as the bike rides, it's a good slow ride, especially in a setting sun.   My Aunt Linda and Uncle Chuck, live in BootJack, so I usually try stop there on my way in and out of town.  I made it to their place just moments after the last inch of light was anywhere to be seen, and as soon as I walked in, Aunt Linda was giving me a big hug, and Uncle Chuck was handing me a beer.  Cheers!
       Now, I spend the evening catching up, and planning my route and hours for the next day, cause I had only two days between me and Thursday morning when I would be rolling out with the group to Mexico.  I got a good start Tuesday morning headed for LA.  Now that leg of the trip's pretty basic, the ride out of the foothills is gorgeous, but then it's all 99 freeway and Highway 5 all the way down.  I made excellent time to LA, and stopped for a quick visit in Simi Valley to see a friend I'd not seen in years.  And then I headed to Burbank Moto where I always stop and hang out for a bit when i get to town.  This time I saw Steve and Jerry and Tracy and a few others, with whom I had a good time catching up with.  Getting lost in the conversations over a few beers, it's one of my favorite ways to relax once I reach LA.  Now, like always I'd started out with some lofty goals of visitation and seeing everyone in LA, but then this time I wanted to to see Mad Maxx, and so my evening quickly turned into me leaving Burbank Moto, and meeting up with an old friend, and running to an old theater to see it.  So there I was for the next few hours yeehawwing over a huge popcorn, soda, and hotdog at all that big screen sensation.  It was midnight 30 when I got out of the theater, and being a school night, I respectfully declined to harass anyone who might still have their eyes barely open, so I headed down to my sisters place in Redondo Beach, and crashed there for the night.  Once again leaving LA feeling like my time was too short, and most of my objectives were incomplete, and well?, that's the stuff that keeps me coming back, the fact that I miss everyone so gosh darn much.
       There I was waking up Wednesday morning in Redondo Beach, with the goal to set out to reach San Diego, and finish my camping gear list, as well as buy some more GoPro batteries, since I'd bought one the week before and still hadn't purchased an SD card, or backup batteries for it.  I figured I'd need all that for the ride to Mexico the next morning.
       So, on my way down, I ended up getting wind that one of my old Portland friends had just moved to Carlsbad.  And off I rode,  right on down toward her place.  I spent the next few hours in Carlsbad visiting and catching up on life changes, moves, the present, and future dreams and aspirations.  We had an awesome lunch at a little burger dive overlooking a serene little estuary.
Before I left for San Diego, I fixed her radiator issues in her car, took some photos next to banana plants, and had some very deep zenful conversations.
       By this point it was about 4pm, and San Diego was still an hour or two away-ish, especially by after-work So-Cal traffic, and some more errands I was planning to run.  half way there I made a gas stop, and spotted an REI where I bought some fuel bottles and some 550 cord.  Then it was Destination Adria and Randy's.  Now I know we were heading to Mexico, and part of the plan was to stock up on Pesos at the bank before they closed, but guess what? that never happened, and so Operation Wing It went into effect, aka "I'll get them tomorrow wherever I can."  That afternoon was rad.  I got a chimichanga from a damn fine mexican eatery and got to hang out with two of my favorite people, Adria and Randy.  I think we had cocktails and then I repacked and rid my bag of some of the stuff I wasn't gonna need in Mexico and made sure my pack was tidier and more purposeful for the trip.  So there I was, less stuff, still too much crap, and ready for bed.  But right before bed, I made sure I purchased some emergency "what if" 5 days of Mexican Insurance.
That evening was awash with texts between friends who we were all trying to meet up with in the morning from our spot.  Who was gonna ride where, and meet up with who, and what times.  Nothing like a little pre-party planning, whozits and whatzits.
The next morning with everything bungeed, and bungled, and boggled and banged, we were gathered up and rolling down the San Diego 8: Randy, Matt, Matteo, and Me, destination San Felipe, Mexico.
     The morning weather was perfect, my sunblock was within zipper reach, and my camel bag was full of fresh water.  The mountains out of San Diego are fun, up and down, canyons and crests, and then the decline through those last windy channels down to the dry California desert.  Now it had gotten good and hot as soon as we hit that desert terrain, and we didn't make our first stop until we reached Mexicali/Calexico.  When we reached the town border, we made use of some roadside shade to lather up the sunblock, and where I hustled off behind a tree, and peed unknowingly on an anthill, which then meant I was doing the "ants get hell off me" dance.  (Me and ant hills, it's a never ending story).

(going to bed, continuing the saga in morning.)

The end.

EDR 2015

Day 8

We were hot on the heels and almost completely in a dumping storm, rolling through central Pennsylvania.  We were thirsty for early afternoon beers and aiming for a historic country bar, but we were sidelined for an hour or two, and that crispy blonde beer turned into Roy Rogers French fries and a tall coffee, while we charged our dying phones.  But the road and our end all game plan for the day was losing hours of daylight, and I really wanted for Matteo  to get to see the countryside and little quaint towns through whatever light we could squeeze out of the sun.  We were charged up and we charged out, as soon as that storm was a good bit away from us.  Jim Thorpe was as cute and adorable and magical looking as ever.  And Matteo's eyes were wild and in love with its first sight.  A similar reaction that everyone has with their first encounter of this beautiful little town.  We made friends with a fella who followed up with a phone call relinquishing his parking spot to us.  Mick  ran out and welcomed me with a glorious hug in the middle of the street.  We promptly were shown inside, and the festivus of new OITNB episodes, pizzas, beers, and saging of the souls, we spent the evening warm with friends and explorative conversation.

Day 7/8

We spent the night in a rusty old place, complete with ash trays and the smell of piss if we dared to turn the air conditioner off.  It was a real period piece.  The morning sun proved more promising to our location, a beautiful full view of the Ohio River, running the length of our leftward view to the north and south, and to our right, we looked on an historic brick factory, littered with old single pane windows, crumbling bricks, and failing paint.  Proudly displayed overhead the building was a large sign that you could tell used to be traced with working bulbs, like a circus freak show sign.  It read "MARSH Wheeling STOGIES."   On a little 15 mile sliver of West Virginia, splitting Ohio and Pennsylvania, surrounded by what feels extremely wild, and looks extremely beautiful, we wheeled in and we wheeled out. Thanks for the hospitality, Wheeling, West Virginia.

Buddy Trip 2015 (part 2) Day 3:

Just woke up in a small town, with a history.   Well, doesn't every small town have some history?  People coming and going, mostly.  Well here we are. Stuffed with pizza, playing my own lyrical version of Ziggy Stardust for the motel attendant while he replaces our bedroom coffee pot.  And I killed the mosquito that's been chewing on me all night.  My hair is in the air, and I just don't care.  I love the the road. And the adventures to behold.  Like missing shifter levers, and dropping knives on highways.  As the futures unfold, unique to the explorer, the wearer of stories, enjoy each and every moment, cause each bend, holds a treasure to be found.