Looking back (Oregon to Mexico)

We’ve stopped for a while (oil change time again) so I am taking advantage of the wifi access where we’re staying to do some updates. Sorry if we seem to be bombarding you with info and photos. (I suppose you can always choose not to click – we would understand!) 

Now that we’re blogging (and occasionally facebooking), newsletter emails seem a bit redundant, so we’ve let that idea drop. But it’s been pointed out to us that there’s a big gap between Florence, Oregon (where the first newsletter ended) and Mazatlan, Mexico (where our first blog entry started). Our photos for October to December 2010 are probably enough information for most people, but if you’re interested in more detail, here’s a broad outline of our (somewhat confusing) route in the USA after Florence. To help people to visualise the route, I started to plot it on an online map, but ran out of patience with googlemaps. Maybe I’ll go back to it and plot the whole trip when I’m in a better frame of mind for it.

Oregon to Mexico, October to December 2010

From Florence, Oregon we rode south to the Redwoods via Gold Beach and Crescent City, California. Then we turned around and headed back north again to meet up with Claire's Dad and sisters who had started south from Portland in a hired RV (camping van). Instead of retracing our tracks on the coast road we went inland to Grants Pass and found a great road through the Smith River National Recreation Area and Siskiyou National Forest.

We met up with Claire's family in Bandon and had a wonderful road trip together (mostly in Oregon and California) riding our bikes, but sleeping and eating in their RV. What luxury! We continued together back down to Redwood NP, then on to Lassen Volcanic Park via Weaverville, Shasta and Redding. We have special memories of a particular night camped next to the river in Big Flat, drinking beers, grilling steaks over the fire and stargazing.

Good Times in Big Flat

From Lassen we took pretty back roads to Yosemite NP, via Calpine, Downieville and Angels Camp. We managed to lose the rest of our party in the RV for an afternoon and actually did Yosemite twice because of a major navigational cock up by Claire (oops!). Thankfully she seems to have figured out the GPS a bit better now.

Following the RV in Lassen Volcanic NP

Highway 395 to Bishop, California was spectacular taking us alongside the Sierra Nevada range and Mono Lake. The ride was made all the more dramatic by a slate grey sky, a vivid rainbow and flashes of lightning as we approached Bishop (miraculously we stayed dry). From here we rode past Mount Witney and on to amazing Death Valley and then Las Vegas (crazy town!). We had an excellent time with Dad, Sue and Jane and felt very sad when the time came to say goodbye to them in Vegas.

From Vegas we went to Hoover Dam and followed a small section of the legendary Route 66 to Peach Springs and then branched off to the Grand Canyon. Then we rode up to Zion NP via Marble Canyon, and Fredonia, then to Monument Valley on deserted roads through Indian territories (via Kanab, Page, Kayenta). By this time our USA budget had been stretched to the limit and it was too cold at night for camping so we didn't want to linger in the US too much longer.

From Monument Valley we rode down to Gallup, passing by Canyon de Chelly and onto Litchfield Park near Phoenix. Here we stayed with Aussies, Bevan and Claire, along with more Aussies, Ken and Carol (friends from Brisbane that we first met on the road about 10 years ago). We really enjoyed the fun, easy-going company, the great food, and also the opportunity to get some maintenance work done on the bikes. Claire and Bevan (if you read this) you’re amazing -  thanks for everything!

Motorbike Maintenance in Litchfield Park (Ken and Tikus)

We left Phoenix to meet up with Mark's family (Peter, Carol, Marcus, Raelyn and little Taylor) in Corona del Mar. We got there via the Joshua Tree National Park and then rode up through the mountains to the east of San Clemente. We really enjoyed catching up with Mark’s family, some of whom we hadn't seen for a very long time, or even met before.

After this we headed back to Phoenix, stopping en route in Blythe. In Phoenix we had the amazing good fortune to bump into Fran, who invited us stay with her and made it her personal goal to assist us with all our last minute preparations for Mexico. (Thanks for everything, Fran!) We had a great trip up to Sedona with her, before heading down to Tucson and Nogales and on into Mexico around Thanksgiving.

Mark and Fran