We are over the mountains in Asheville, NC!! Rode out of Knoxville feelin goooood. It is a mecca for nice people who love life. Our last morning was spent with Edye and friends eating breakfast where the table chatter was more than interesting. My favorite quote from the morning was "everything is good in moderation.......except for moderation". This eclectic group of interesting folks gathers every saturday morning for breakfast downtown and I felt especially honored to be able to share it with them....thanks guys. After that we rode over to TVB bike shop to meet up with Eric and his crew and they took excellent care of us. We ended up hangin with them all day and didnt start riding till nearly 3pm. Hollie and Dalton were cycling addicts like ourselves so we loved chillen with them. Daltons Mom stopped by and bought us all sandwhiches, schwinggg they were soo good; thanks Daltons Mom!
That night we passed a music festival called Dexfest but they wanted 45 bucks for the night. Whattt, nooo way jose....we went down the road and camped outside the Elswick Motel for free. The next morning we rode for the mountains!! In the sweltering 90 degree heat, with only 12 gears and no toe straps, Mike the Madm...an Moran kicked some appalachian ass!! He kept up with us the whole way and I was sooo impressed and proud of him; those mountains were steeep!
After a 50 mile day through the steep slopes we rode into Longnecks bar for a cold brew. This turned into a day off and a milestone on the trip. First, we met Susan, a local welding teacher who drove us around town and showed us her welding shop and all of the great art they were producing there....veryy cool stuff. ... Afterwards we came back to the bar where we were planning on camping out for the night. Well, the owners Hank and Terry decided that we needed to see more of the mountains and they were gonna be the ones to show us. So off we went back to their property which is bordered by three different national forests (I am not giving away names because the places we saw were so REMOTE and breathtaking and I just dont feel like sharing). That night, we sat out on the porch sharing stories and laughing till the sun came up....soo much fun. Hank and Terry have had a lifetime of adventure and travel and we really learned a lot from what they had to tell us.
The next day we woke up at 2 and started up the mountain on the ARGO! An amphibious 8 wheeled vehicle that can go just about anywhere I could imagine. Hank was a wildman on that thing!! Later in the day, we hopped in the car to go check out (secret spot name)....possibly the most pristine and beautiful wilderness I ...have ever seen....and my camera was dead, efffff. Ill be back. Terry made yet another amazing meal for us that night and we all hit the sack relativley early. Now we are in Asheville enjoying the beer capitol of the US! We met Karen (awesome human being) in a hotel parking lot and she was all like "you guys can crash on my hotel room floor!" and we was all like "wooohooo". So we all went out last night and met some more awesome humans and had an awesome Asheville night....simply ahhhsome!
Today, we lounged around the pool and decided to stay one more night here thanks to Katie Moran. We have been saving her "meal or sleep" voucher since calinfornia and we figured Asheville was the perfect spot to cash in. Thanks Katie!! Tomorrow we ride and in a few days we will be in Greensboro to see my Uncle Steve..., Aunt Karen and little cousin Kim......CANT WAIT!!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Meeting up with old friends ....
Just got booted off interstate 40 by one of Tennessee's finest. What to do what to doo?!
Annd thank you officer for kicking us off the highway. We just had a sweeet downhill. At the bottom we stopped for directions at a gas station where I won 50 dollars on a scratch-off. Beeeyaaahahaha
It is hott! Great riding though. Today we rode into Knoxville, tn...greatt city. We immediately bumped into this nice guy named Eric who happened to own a bike shop close by. He offered to buy us a round and share some tour stories where we met up with Chef John again! We met John about 6 weeks ago in nowhere, NM wh...ere he was motor cycling to Ut. We loaded our gear into his truck and came back to his house and had some serious laughs with his wife Jennifer. Thanks guys, you are fabulous (and your couch is nice too) goodnight!!
Annd thank you officer for kicking us off the highway. We just had a sweeet downhill. At the bottom we stopped for directions at a gas station where I won 50 dollars on a scratch-off. Beeeyaaahahaha
It is hott! Great riding though. Today we rode into Knoxville, tn...greatt city. We immediately bumped into this nice guy named Eric who happened to own a bike shop close by. He offered to buy us a round and share some tour stories where we met up with Chef John again! We met John about 6 weeks ago in nowhere, NM wh...ere he was motor cycling to Ut. We loaded our gear into his truck and came back to his house and had some serious laughs with his wife Jennifer. Thanks guys, you are fabulous (and your couch is nice too) goodnight!!
BONNAROOOOOOO!
YEAAAA we got the hook-up- we're working at BONNAROOOOOOO!
On the roooad again! We rode into Bonnaroo without tickets and no money to buy them at 250 bucks a pop. After talking to dozens of vendors, workers and patrons we finally got to Sharif, the man who could make it happen. He signed us up for volunteer work and we officially became the three luckiest people at one of the ...largest music festivals in the country. Kudos to Chris, he really made it happen. Where there is a will, there is a way!!
The bands we saw! Fig Turner, Lotus, Wale, Bassnector, Tenacious D, John Fogerty,John Butler Trio, Weezer, JAY-Z, Dr Dog, Blues Traveler, Regina SPECKTOR, Stevie Wonder, Crystal Method, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, LCD Soundsytem, Dave Mathews Band, The Entrance Band, Dropkick Murphys, Umphrey's Mcgee, Les Cla...ypool, The Flaming Lips, The Deadweather, The Black Keys, Goose Pimp Orchestra, Kid Cuddi. And they were all excellent...I can't wait for next year!
On the roooad again! We rode into Bonnaroo without tickets and no money to buy them at 250 bucks a pop. After talking to dozens of vendors, workers and patrons we finally got to Sharif, the man who could make it happen. He signed us up for volunteer work and we officially became the three luckiest people at one of the ...largest music festivals in the country. Kudos to Chris, he really made it happen. Where there is a will, there is a way!!
The bands we saw! Fig Turner, Lotus, Wale, Bassnector, Tenacious D, John Fogerty,John Butler Trio, Weezer, JAY-Z, Dr Dog, Blues Traveler, Regina SPECKTOR, Stevie Wonder, Crystal Method, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, LCD Soundsytem, Dave Mathews Band, The Entrance Band, Dropkick Murphys, Umphrey's Mcgee, Les Cla...ypool, The Flaming Lips, The Deadweather, The Black Keys, Goose Pimp Orchestra, Kid Cuddi. And they were all excellent...I can't wait for next year!
Americore! and MUUUUSIIIIIC
And IN WALKS IN THE MORAN CLANN!! Chris' parents and younger brother flew in last week; it was so nice seeing them. They helped out the team for a day of HARD volunteering and they impressed everyone with their determination. And one of them stuck behind to finish the trip with us!!! Mikey the Mule Moran has decided ...to join us on the last 1000 miles of our trip!
The week spent with Americore helping out flood victims was tough! Hats off to these guys for all their hard work. A normal day started around 6:30 with around the house chores and loading up the trucks with tools. Everyone ate breakfast and packed lunch just to run out the door to get to work. We spent most of our ...time gutting out rotted houses and clearing debris. The day lasted till around 6pm usually where everyone met back at the house for a team meeting that usually lasted between 30 minutes and an hour. By the time we showered and ate dinner it was time to get to sleep and start it all over the next day!
Amazingly our week was filled with fun! Chris and got to spend two great days off with the team. The first day we went to a park and enjoyed frisbee, BAGGO!, and floating down the river. On the second day off most of the team went into Nashville to enjoy the music and see the sights. Myself, Slim Sadie and Renee st...uck behind at Harmony Landing Retreat for a day of relaxtion. We layed in the grass and enjoyed the sun. Then we went for a hike to the river and kayaked upstream about two miles, just to fall asleep and float back down - one of the most relaxing and peaceful days of my life.
MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC! Tennesee is filled with it! The most amazing jam session I have ever seen was at "The Red Tree Coffee House" in Kingston Springs, TN. The team travelled over there for a fundraiser party and it turned into an all out dance party! We danced to Victor Wooden on the bass, Eric Strutter on the guitar..., Patrick (from the band WAR) on the harmonica, a sax, a box drum and three amazing voices. As if that wasnt enough we made our way to a late night "picking party" where we listened to Chris Spiegel and friends pick away at their bangos and mandolins.....unreal.
Mikeys first day riding with us yesterday and we did 55 miles. He got two flats. It reminded me of our first days riding and how frustrating it was. Im glad hes on the trip with us, its new and fresh and it adds a whole new dynamic to it. Last night we stayed with a great couple named Eileen and Chris in Murfreesbo...ro, TN. Eileen made us an excellent dinner last night and a pancake breakfast this morning so we ar emore than ready to ride on to BONNAROO!! Although we signed up to volunteer there and they accepted us, we recieved a message yesterday saying that we missed the cut-off. WHATT!! We are riding down anyway and we wont take no for an answer. The line-up this year is incredible!
The week spent with Americore helping out flood victims was tough! Hats off to these guys for all their hard work. A normal day started around 6:30 with around the house chores and loading up the trucks with tools. Everyone ate breakfast and packed lunch just to run out the door to get to work. We spent most of our ...time gutting out rotted houses and clearing debris. The day lasted till around 6pm usually where everyone met back at the house for a team meeting that usually lasted between 30 minutes and an hour. By the time we showered and ate dinner it was time to get to sleep and start it all over the next day!
Amazingly our week was filled with fun! Chris and got to spend two great days off with the team. The first day we went to a park and enjoyed frisbee, BAGGO!, and floating down the river. On the second day off most of the team went into Nashville to enjoy the music and see the sights. Myself, Slim Sadie and Renee st...uck behind at Harmony Landing Retreat for a day of relaxtion. We layed in the grass and enjoyed the sun. Then we went for a hike to the river and kayaked upstream about two miles, just to fall asleep and float back down - one of the most relaxing and peaceful days of my life.
MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC! Tennesee is filled with it! The most amazing jam session I have ever seen was at "The Red Tree Coffee House" in Kingston Springs, TN. The team travelled over there for a fundraiser party and it turned into an all out dance party! We danced to Victor Wooden on the bass, Eric Strutter on the guitar..., Patrick (from the band WAR) on the harmonica, a sax, a box drum and three amazing voices. As if that wasnt enough we made our way to a late night "picking party" where we listened to Chris Spiegel and friends pick away at their bangos and mandolins.....unreal.
Mikeys first day riding with us yesterday and we did 55 miles. He got two flats. It reminded me of our first days riding and how frustrating it was. Im glad hes on the trip with us, its new and fresh and it adds a whole new dynamic to it. Last night we stayed with a great couple named Eileen and Chris in Murfreesbo...ro, TN. Eileen made us an excellent dinner last night and a pancake breakfast this morning so we ar emore than ready to ride on to BONNAROO!! Although we signed up to volunteer there and they accepted us, we recieved a message yesterday saying that we missed the cut-off. WHATT!! We are riding down anyway and we wont take no for an answer. The line-up this year is incredible!
Wild Times!
Jim then brought us back to his, ridiculously amazing, home in the woods where he showed us his Shitake mushroom farm, his ENORMOUS horses, and tranquill forest- via a all terain cart. Thanks soo much Jim, what an unforgetable experience!
We left Jims' and rode only 20 miles to a town called Mountain View, where we were... picked up at the end of a long dirt driveway by a woman, named Martha, from the Lions Club. We threw the bikes in the back of the pickup and she drove 2 miles deep into the Missouri wilderness. We came to a raging river and without hestitation Martha rips' through the river, only to come out on the otherside where there was a perfect looking log cabin house with butterflies everywhere and wildflowers 360 degrees....is this real?
PARADISE!! Marthas place was something out of a novel. 400 acres of prestine nature and fresh water springs. We stayed for two nights and spent the days hiking and looking for arrowheads. Our nights were filled with good food, arts and crafts, books, and lots of laughs. Leaving Martha's Magical Forest I knew I woul...d be back.........I have a feeling she knows it too. From there we rode east and did a roadside camp in Mark Twain Natinoal Forest - theres nothing like camping when nobody knows your there; its a little scary to. From there we rode on to Poplar Bluff to camp outside of a Country Market food store.....setting up camp in a parking usually turns heads and we had the chance to meet two awesome Missourians named Britt and Janelle - see you in NY guys!
KENTUCKY!! The scenery changed almost immediately as we rode into KT and we enjoyed two days of really beautiful riding. Our last night in Kentucky we were looking to catch some live music....with a small selection around the area we ended up riding an extra 10 miles into the night to get to a bar called Rips. WHATT...A JOINT! We met the owner Joey, who served in the Navy for 24 years, and he was more than interested in our journey. He took us around back to a house that he said was alllll ours for the night. It amazed me how welcoming Joey was and we had a wild wild night singing and dancing with the locals. Towards the end of the night Joey had the lay down the law and throw out two drunkards - one of the guys called the cops on him and the cops ended up arresting him instead...hilarious. We woke up late the next day and got out of there even later....but we had a long way to ride to see our main man and allstar AMERICORE team leader BUCKYY!!
The last time I saw Buck was in the Bangkok Airport, drinking beers and laughing over our adventures; that was nearly 7 months ago. We rode into Tennessee and finally made it to Americores headquarters in Pegram, TN. Seeing Bucky was amazing. He has been heading up an Americore volunteer team in Cheatam County, TN f...or the past month and they were doing great. Chris and I were excited to get to work helping out the flood victims but we didnt know what to expect or how we would react. The next day we caught a glimpse of the devastation and it was really heartbreaking. But when the team of volunteers went to work, everyones spirits lifted. We worked with the team on various projects throughout the week and each one was fulfilling in its own way. These young kids are from all over the country and what they are doing is trully special. Its tough to describe the homes we were in so when I get back I will let the pictures do the talking. An example of the damage is a house we worked on that was knocked off its foundation and floated about 50 yards into a riverbed - this was an 80 ft double wide house, twisted like a churro laying in a stream. The power of the flood seems so unreal.
We left Jims' and rode only 20 miles to a town called Mountain View, where we were... picked up at the end of a long dirt driveway by a woman, named Martha, from the Lions Club. We threw the bikes in the back of the pickup and she drove 2 miles deep into the Missouri wilderness. We came to a raging river and without hestitation Martha rips' through the river, only to come out on the otherside where there was a perfect looking log cabin house with butterflies everywhere and wildflowers 360 degrees....is this real?
PARADISE!! Marthas place was something out of a novel. 400 acres of prestine nature and fresh water springs. We stayed for two nights and spent the days hiking and looking for arrowheads. Our nights were filled with good food, arts and crafts, books, and lots of laughs. Leaving Martha's Magical Forest I knew I woul...d be back.........I have a feeling she knows it too. From there we rode east and did a roadside camp in Mark Twain Natinoal Forest - theres nothing like camping when nobody knows your there; its a little scary to. From there we rode on to Poplar Bluff to camp outside of a Country Market food store.....setting up camp in a parking usually turns heads and we had the chance to meet two awesome Missourians named Britt and Janelle - see you in NY guys!
KENTUCKY!! The scenery changed almost immediately as we rode into KT and we enjoyed two days of really beautiful riding. Our last night in Kentucky we were looking to catch some live music....with a small selection around the area we ended up riding an extra 10 miles into the night to get to a bar called Rips. WHATT...A JOINT! We met the owner Joey, who served in the Navy for 24 years, and he was more than interested in our journey. He took us around back to a house that he said was alllll ours for the night. It amazed me how welcoming Joey was and we had a wild wild night singing and dancing with the locals. Towards the end of the night Joey had the lay down the law and throw out two drunkards - one of the guys called the cops on him and the cops ended up arresting him instead...hilarious. We woke up late the next day and got out of there even later....but we had a long way to ride to see our main man and allstar AMERICORE team leader BUCKYY!!
The last time I saw Buck was in the Bangkok Airport, drinking beers and laughing over our adventures; that was nearly 7 months ago. We rode into Tennessee and finally made it to Americores headquarters in Pegram, TN. Seeing Bucky was amazing. He has been heading up an Americore volunteer team in Cheatam County, TN f...or the past month and they were doing great. Chris and I were excited to get to work helping out the flood victims but we didnt know what to expect or how we would react. The next day we caught a glimpse of the devastation and it was really heartbreaking. But when the team of volunteers went to work, everyones spirits lifted. We worked with the team on various projects throughout the week and each one was fulfilling in its own way. These young kids are from all over the country and what they are doing is trully special. Its tough to describe the homes we were in so when I get back I will let the pictures do the talking. An example of the damage is a house we worked on that was knocked off its foundation and floated about 50 yards into a riverbed - this was an 80 ft double wide house, twisted like a churro laying in a stream. The power of the flood seems so unreal.
Hello Missouri
And Helllooo Missouri! We rode into Joplin yesterday where we spent the night at Zan's campground. We set up next to the river and Chris started fishing while I gathered wood and cooked some grub. Just as we were about to eat the rain started dumping down on us. Instant saturation. We scurried into the Alpine mans...ion and enjoyed our feast. After we ate we had quite possibly the most epic jam session on the trip accompanied by the sounds or raindrops on our tent and the local owls who wanted in on the music festival. Just as we lay our wet heads to bed it was time to get wet again. A friendly neighbor came by our site late at night to remind us that the river was a risin mighty fast. So we moved the tent to higher ground and saved the mansion from complete devastation and eternal wetness. Close call.
So we rode out of Joplin, Missouri and cruised into a small town called Willow Springs. We went into a YMCA to ask if we could throw up a tent and the girl pointed to a guy in a graveyard across the street and said, "Ask him, he pret...ty much owns everything in town..", score! We went to the graveyard and began helping this man lift and restores some of the headstones. He then said that we could sleep in a service station he owned across the street. We went into the old service station and the guys turned on the light and all around us were political campaigning posters....WENDELL BAILEY for Governor '92 / WENDELL BAILEY for Congress. Turns out we were sleeping in an ex United States Congress man's campaigning lair...SCORE!
He was the BOSS of Willow Springs, everywhere we went people knew him and he always made loud announcements about who we were....it was hilarious. He took us to his house where his wife baked us cookies, to his son, John,car dealership, and to his Lions Club meeting; where we met some great people!
At the meeting Stets... and myself put ourselves to work preparing dessert and man'ing the grill (square burgers?)- we were also the only one's man'ing cold beers haha. So at the meeting we told everyone about our trip and everyone was really supportive and excited for our journey, so excited they donated 230$ towards the school! While we were at the meeting we met a great woman named Martha and a really great guy named Jim. We spoke with Jim about the area and he explained to us that he had an Ultra Lite flying machine at the local small airport. We began speaking to him about it with gleam and excitement in our eyes and he picked up on it and said , "Would you want to go flying tomorrow morning?" our response "Does a bear poop in the woods?" That night we went to a local bar and spoke politics with an old hippie who was the real deal...huge protester in NYC during the 70's, had a husband who was followed by the CIA...REAL DEAL! She told us young freedom fighters to always fight for what is right and just and to GO FOR IT! Thanks Marcie
The next morning we got out of our dust covered sleeping bags and rode to the airport where we saw it glistening in the sun....no, not Jims huge white beard....the ULTRA LITE! The ultra lite is a huge hangglider with a 2 seat cart on the bottom, a propeller on the back and really cool helmets to boot....this thing was nasty.
Rock, Paper, Scissors.....shoot....victory! I was the first to go up with "Wildman Jim" from Missouri. I saddled up in the back seat, threw on my glorified baseball helmet and hit the runnway....10....15....20...25....GRRRRRRRR ZOOOOOOOOOOOM we had liftoff....500 ft, 1000ft, 1500ft and we were soaring over breathtaking... scenery. As far as the eyes could see were the greenest fields imaginable, green-red-and orange canopys, streams and rivers which looked like they were filled with diamonds and railroad tracks that stictched up the entire heavely ball which was below us....and then without hesitation Jim started corkscrewing us down, very fast, towards this beauty....ahhhhhh! We touched down and I was exstatic...WOOOOOWEEEEE what a ride! Eat your heart out Howard Hues!
So we rode out of Joplin, Missouri and cruised into a small town called Willow Springs. We went into a YMCA to ask if we could throw up a tent and the girl pointed to a guy in a graveyard across the street and said, "Ask him, he pret...ty much owns everything in town..", score! We went to the graveyard and began helping this man lift and restores some of the headstones. He then said that we could sleep in a service station he owned across the street. We went into the old service station and the guys turned on the light and all around us were political campaigning posters....WENDELL BAILEY for Governor '92 / WENDELL BAILEY for Congress. Turns out we were sleeping in an ex United States Congress man's campaigning lair...SCORE!
He was the BOSS of Willow Springs, everywhere we went people knew him and he always made loud announcements about who we were....it was hilarious. He took us to his house where his wife baked us cookies, to his son, John,car dealership, and to his Lions Club meeting; where we met some great people!
At the meeting Stets... and myself put ourselves to work preparing dessert and man'ing the grill (square burgers?)- we were also the only one's man'ing cold beers haha. So at the meeting we told everyone about our trip and everyone was really supportive and excited for our journey, so excited they donated 230$ towards the school! While we were at the meeting we met a great woman named Martha and a really great guy named Jim. We spoke with Jim about the area and he explained to us that he had an Ultra Lite flying machine at the local small airport. We began speaking to him about it with gleam and excitement in our eyes and he picked up on it and said , "Would you want to go flying tomorrow morning?" our response "Does a bear poop in the woods?" That night we went to a local bar and spoke politics with an old hippie who was the real deal...huge protester in NYC during the 70's, had a husband who was followed by the CIA...REAL DEAL! She told us young freedom fighters to always fight for what is right and just and to GO FOR IT! Thanks Marcie
The next morning we got out of our dust covered sleeping bags and rode to the airport where we saw it glistening in the sun....no, not Jims huge white beard....the ULTRA LITE! The ultra lite is a huge hangglider with a 2 seat cart on the bottom, a propeller on the back and really cool helmets to boot....this thing was nasty.
Rock, Paper, Scissors.....shoot....victory! I was the first to go up with "Wildman Jim" from Missouri. I saddled up in the back seat, threw on my glorified baseball helmet and hit the runnway....10....15....20...25....GRRRRRRRR ZOOOOOOOOOOOM we had liftoff....500 ft, 1000ft, 1500ft and we were soaring over breathtaking... scenery. As far as the eyes could see were the greenest fields imaginable, green-red-and orange canopys, streams and rivers which looked like they were filled with diamonds and railroad tracks that stictched up the entire heavely ball which was below us....and then without hesitation Jim started corkscrewing us down, very fast, towards this beauty....ahhhhhh! We touched down and I was exstatic...WOOOOOWEEEEE what a ride! Eat your heart out Howard Hues!
Goodbye Kansas...
Just as kansas was warming up to us it was time to leave. Our last two nights were well spent starting with the Hershey family. Mike and Melissa Hershey let us camp in their backyard and gave us plenty of firewood to keep us warm. Later in the night they came out to our fire where we shared some beers, a little wine... and a whole lotta laughs! Riding the next day was wet and we were relieved to come across "Frenchies" roadside restaurant. The owner, Steve and his staff were more than welcoming. They cooked us up some chicken noodle soup with mashed potatoes and green beans, brownies to wash it down, as well as some chili for the next day. ALL on the house. Crystal the waitress even let us shower up at her house. Thanks Kansonites!! .
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