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Seattle, April 24

We got back home to Seattle last night. 184 days, 16,742.2 miles, 8 countries, 13 border crossings later. It's going to take a while to absorb this whole trip!

We had good ride in the USA. Our first stop was Los Angeles for a visit with Dan and Will. We did some maintenance on the bikes and Dan made us some great Asian food meals, which were wonderful on their own but especially welcome as flavors we haven't had in a while. We also spent a morning as extras on the set of Will's new project. I've never seen that business before, so it was fascinating for me. It was also nice to be able to leave after only five hours instead of having to stay the 14 hours or so that Will was working. If you haven't yet, go see Will's feature film directing debut, Blades of Glory.

From there, we went all the way to Santa Barbara (90 miles) to visit a motorcycle friend, who took us on a great ride in the Santa Barbara mountains, just out his backdoor.

(Laura and Bob high above Santa Barbara)

We wandered up the California coast, mostly on highway 1 with some dirt road detours that took us up on ridges high above the Pacific. Great weather, although a bit cold for us now that our blood has thinned after all that heat down south. We knew we were going run right into some wet weather, so we opted to explore lots while the sun was shining. We made it all the way to Coos Bay, Oregon, before the rain really hit. By then, we were heading inland to visit in the foothills east of Eugene. We holed up with Rick and Lin for the worst of the rain, then took advantage of a one day respite to blast home yesterday.

Here's pictures from the California Coast:

(Classic California coast)

(Morro Bay)

(Surfer in Cayucos)

(If only more people lived here...)

(Beach along Highway 1)

(Side trip up into the hills)

(Ridgetop road)

(Pinecones as big as my head!)

(Heading back to the main road)

(Tom is not in a helicopter taking this photo, but it is a steep hill!)

(Highway 1 in all its glory.)

(A bit of mud on the Usal Road)

(Winding through the foggy woods to Shelter Cove.)

(Side trip high above the Pacific.)

(Along the Lost Coast)

So that's it for our Central America trip. Thanks for reading. Who knows what the next adventure will bring??

Back in Baja

(written in Los Angeles, April 13)

We’ve spent a lot of time on the Baja California peninsula, so it was really nice to be back on familiar territory. And camping, in some of our favorite secluded beaches. Sorry for the gap in blog posts, but I was busy relaxing out of range of the internet.

Semana Santa is the week before Easter, and it is an incredibly busy time in Baja. It seems than every family takes off and heads to the beach. We were a little concerned about working around this, but all it takes for seclusion is about five miles of rough dirt road. Or just head into the desert, away from the coast.

We visited some friends, ate lots of shrimp tacos, and just relaxed on some beaches, far from traffic, noise, exhaust fumes, and, unfortunately, cold beer.

Here are some pictures:

(Not a bad beach bungalow!)

(Working our way to camp.
The mudflats still held our tire tracks from November)

(Still life with tiny shells)

(This was our home for only one night,
despite the beautiful sandy beach)

(It's a harsh land for ranching...)

(... and for broken down vehicles)

(Riding on the beach was on nice firm sand,
but getting off the beach was a bit tricky.)

(The road across salt flats on the Pacific side)

(Rather than get soaked with the Pacific fog,
we camped inland a few miles)

(A shell beach on the Pacific)

(Sand road across the desert)

(Tiny jelly jewels)

(Relaxing on one of the "secret" beaches)

(Exploring the mud flat)

(More shell collection)

(Tom avoided running over the snake,
and it stayed around long enough to be photographed.)

(Big sky)

Mazatlan

(Written April 8, Bahia de los Angeles)

After the "Lost Week" in Patzcuaro, we headed for Mazatlan for the ferry back to Baja California.

On the way, we stopped for a night in Tequila, famous for, well, you know.... It is in fact a nice little town. It seems that groups come through during the day for distillery tours, but in the evening, things quiet down. Considerably. We did manage to find a place for supper and got chatting with two fellows travelling around the world by motorcycle, three months at a time.

(Entering Tequila)

(The Cuervo raven.)

(Tequila street scene)

(Tequila park bench)

(Tequila central square)

We were mostly taking toll roads at this point (which are expensive!) but between Tepic and Matzatlan, that road is under construction. We alternated between being the only traffic on blissfully smoothly paved divided highway with being in the line with trucks and buses on a ratty old narrow road.

We took a little detour and explored the coast south of Mazatlan, which is undeveloped except for a couple of beachside restaurants. The coast north of Mazatlan is hyper-developed.

We stayed in old Mazatlan, which charmed both of us. Hotel Belmar has seen better days, but the rooms were large, the views spectacular, the prices reasonable, and we could park our motorcycles in the lobby. Old Mazatlan is undergoing a revival now, it seems. But it is filled with old buildings from past days of glory, classic neo-tropical architecture, I was told. Some of these are being renovated, some are still showing signs of wear. It was fun to wander down side streets and see what treasures we could find. One day, we took a ride up to the Zona Dorado (the Golden Zone) filled with fancy hotels, nightclubs, restaurants, and anything the northern sunseeker could want. Not for us! Character, a little rough around the edges, is more to our liking.

(Old Mazatlan)

(Old Mazatlan)

(Lots of renovation opportunities in old Mazatlan)

(A corner awaiting some TLC)

(Another corner after renovation)

(Tom with a statue of Pedro Infante)

(The sunset view from our room)

(I was proud of myself for making it up and
DOWN these stairs.
The next guy dove off the top!)

We were planning on taking the ferry on Friday, but when we went to inquire, it seems that service would resume on Monday. But there is another company that runs ferries to La Paz, Baja California Sur, every day. But it is a cargo ferry, with minimal facilities for passengers. So much for our plans of a cabin for the 16 hour, overnight crossing. Instead, we were with the truck drivers and one other travelling couple. But they had a camper van, so we were the only ones stretched out on deck on our Thermarests. Not the best night's sleep, but sunrise was beautiful.

(Loading onto the ferry elevator)

(Securing the bike for the crossing)

The Lost Week

March 19, Patzcuaro, Mexico

We left Oaxaca and took two days to get to Taxco. On the way, we saw the world's largest church in the the smallest town. Well maybe not literally, but it is a hugh church and a very, very small town.

Taxco is an old silver town built on the side of a mountain. Once the mines were played out, Taxco became known for its silver artisanship. We were fasciniated by the roads -- narrow, steep, winding, cobblestoned, and sometimes two-way! The locals know how to manage them. Everyone else, keep clear!

From there, we headed the back way, through some fascinating canyons then up over some mountains. We arrived in Patzcuaro, intending to stay for just one night. But I felt lousy in the morning, running a fever with sore throat. After a few days of this, I finally went to a doctor. The antibiotic he prescribed knocked the fever and sore throat, but it made me so dizzy and lightheaded that I could barely cross the street by myself, let alone ride my motorcycle. So, we've stayed until this is all cleared up. I'm hoping to ride tomorrow. This is a delightful town, but it's the longest we've stayed anywhere, and I missed most of it!

(The biggest church in the smallest town,

Yanhuitlan)

(Our "street" in Taxco)


(Two way road in Taxco)

(Two-way road in Taxco in action)

(The main church in Taxco)

(Another view of the main church, Taxco)

(Market time, Taxco)

(Market time, Taxco)

(The zocalo (main square) at night, Taxco)

(More street scenes, Taxco)

(Canyon country leaving Taxco)

(Huge thistles in the mountains)

(Two toned walls omnipresent in Patzcuaro)

(The "Old Man Dance" in Patzcuaro)

("After I finish my orange juice, can I crawl back in bed?")

(Patzcuaro)