Expedition Recovery

10/26/16 Aguascalientes, Mex to Guadalajara, Mex 250.8 kilometers ridden. I was able to sleep in for a bit before getting up to shower. The morning routine of packing is getting smoother but no less time consuming. Chofelia was still asleep when I got up and I felt bad for having to wake her to ask about the hot water heater. She was so sweet and gave me earrings for Cat and tried to give me a shirt as well as food. I felt so awkward saying no to all but the earrings for Cat and a bag of apples for the road. She unlocked the parking gate so that I could get my bike out and we talked while I loaded it for departure. We hugged many times and I could tell she very much wanted me to stay and teach for a few more practices. I headed back to the department store with the open WiFi and talked to Cat for a bit and planned my day with Vale from Guadalajara. I rode during the mid day and made good time. The sites along the road were pretty and I stopped to take pictures again,...

10/25/16 San Luis Potasí, Mex to Aguascalientes , Mex 196.2 kilometers ridden. Sleep was fairly fleeting as the cats wreaked havoc on my bag of beef jerky while I tried not to take note. The larger disturbance was the light from down the hallway. I had turned off all of them near me and the only one left was down by Leon's room so I didn't want to leave him blind if he needed to get up in the night. It just meant that I spent most of the night tossing and turning from one thing or another. I still couldn't be more grateful for the place to stay and all of the hospitality I had been shown. Leon and I walked to Pina's place but he was out for breakfast around the corner so we went and joined him for scrambled eggs with bacon in them, beans with cheese, and some sort of cheesy tortilla casserole like dish. It was all very tasty and well worth the stop. Pina had to leave for work but gave Leon the key to his place where my bike was stored. He also ...

10/24/16 Las Los Lunas hotel to San Luis Potasí, SL Mex 338.7 kilometers ridden. I had full blown dreams last night. Not the short spurting ones about things from my past I have been experiencing, but full on long dreams with recent relevant content. Lisa Deadwards was in it and have only known her for a few months and only a few days in person. I got up at close to 9 am and worked out for a bit just to start getting back in the swing of it. Really minor workout but it made me realize how much my back was one big knot I needed to workout and stretch. I went to shower and found that while the light and wall sockets in my room were working, the water was not. I went down to ask but was told it wouldn't be on anytime soon. I returned to my room to finish a last few tasks before packing and loading the bike. It appeared to have been untouched there in the lobby and so I loaded it up and prepared to leave. As I reached into my pocket for my keys I came up w...

10/18/16 Irving, TX to Houston, TX  249.9 miles ridden.  Slow start to the morning but as I gained momentum I just kept working and got the bike loaded and out on the road a bit before noon. That included time to eat breakfast and to install the atlas throttle lock that had come in on Saturday morning.  I rode to a sheet metal shop in Dallas that was recommended when I called around. No one answered the phone but I ran over anyway. Nice guys but no time for several days to get to building me a dash plate for the GPS so I left and headed for a smoothie shop to get a healthy liquid lunch. A final stop for gas and a drink before heading out and starting towards Houston.  I made mostly good time, though the throttle lock failed to work fully and will need some tuning. Stopped for some food and fuel at a road side place with an Arbies in it. Had a few sliders and a Rockstar spritzer before making the final run into Houston.  Once into town I ...

9/30/16 Tamecula, CA to Santa Monica, CA  125.1 miles ridden.  5:15 am is a remarkably early wake up when going to bed at past midnight. I was able to get up and out on the bike pretty early and rode to have breakfast at a little place called the Landing Zone Cafe in Lake Elsinore.  Had a good ride up over the mountains on California State Route 74 but was tired enough to nearly fall asleep riding a few times. The road itself was twisty and would have been a dream ride if there had been less traffic and I had not been so exhausted. Multiple stops for photographs and my book on tape just simply were not cutting it to stay awake, even through the great curves. I finally made the call to switch to some music in my head set and used some Five Finger Death Punch and Volbeat to fight off the heat and fatigue. With the music blaring I made a push on to Santa Monica without incident.  In Santa Monica I was greeted by Tessa and her wonderful do...