It's like food......

It seems like food is a dominant topic for me over here in Bangkok. I've never before been so preoccupied with food. When I was a kid, I recall telling my Mom that eating was a waste of time. Sleeping too. How things change eh? But here, the food is all so different and so "in your face" that it makes it interesting and worthwhile.

I had my first "street food" today. What do I mean by "Street Food?" Well take a look. These vendors are all within a two block section of Sukhumvit road near our hotel. Not a two block radius, two linear blocks. I walked up the street for one block, and back down it for another block... That's it. Oh, and I also bought my street food, a nice bowl of shrimp fried rice for 350 baht - 95 cents. Street food is cheap - and good.

I am only putting a few pics here on the BLOG. There are fifteen located at my photo album under Thailand - Food, so take a look there if you want to see more. Like I said, it's worthwhile.




oVo

A little shopping

Sunday in Bangkok is not much different than any other day for most folks. Being primarily a Buddist nation, they don't seem to have set aside this day for worship, rest or reflection. So that means that the shops, banks and bars are all open for business which gave Brenda and I a little something to do while we walked around this afternoon. Well, at least the shops and banks, maybe not the bars.....

American Thai Chopper

This guy was crafting motorcycles and such from wire on the streets today. Since the duty on a motorcyle is 80% here, and since the way the formula is applied an $18,000 motorcycle ends up costing $56,000 in Thailand, this may be the only bike I can afford here.

Thai Chopper - the series




Teak wood carging - Speaks for itself. These carvings are priced around $4,400 Baht $120,



oVo

October In Bangkok

Another extrordinary day in Bangkok has come to a close. After leaving our Houston Home at 5:30 AM Friday morning we arrived at the brand new Bangkok airport last night (Saturday) at about 11:30 PM. Total Clock/Calendar time for the trip was right at 30 hours. After unpacking and getting cleaned up a bit, we hit the sheets a about 2:00 AM.

The new Airport construction was begun in 1960 and began recieving it's first flights DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY. Read that again. Don't just move on. Read that again. Forty-Six Years in the making, the new Bangkok airport is now open for business. WOW!

I was lucky and slept well on the airplane, so I awoke a 7:00 AM Sunday and left Khun Brenda in bed with a mild case of jet lag. I found Calvary Baptist Church about a mile away and enjoyed a morning Bible study and worship service with the flock here in the East. Nice folks. The church is smallish by our standards seating about 250 people. But they fill it up once with an intenational worship service to the tune of about 180 people each week. Then a couple of hours later, they fill it up again with 220 Burmese Christians. A few more smaller services for other languages also acrue each Sunday. I'd say they are doing a pretty good job.

After Church, I came back and found Brenda awake so we headed out to find some lunch and supplies. It took two grocery stores to fill our needs since the first one we found was a traditional Thai store and Thais don't eat cheese. Somewhere near 90% of Brenda's diet is cheese so we had to find a Farang store to meet that need. We finally did and stocked our paltry pantry.

Along the way we took some pics that have been peppered around this post. The grocery pic is significant because it shows the LARGEST sizes of the staples we purchased today. The peanut butter had dust on the lid and is the size of a small jar at home. Notice the potato chips. Yup, that's the LARGE size. Sandwich meat... right... the big package.

Traffic is hard to capture in a still photo. How do you think I did in the pics showing Sukhumvit road on a Sunday evening?

And finally, the opening pic is the night scene out of our hotel window. Pretty huh.

Don't forget that you can click on any of the pics to see a larger version of it.

Also notice that I have put a link to the bangkok weather on the right hand side of the page, below the "e-mail me" link.

Y'all stay tuned, and let me hear from ya.

oVo

Pictures (and global warming)

I hope that some of you have noticed that my BLOG has not been working perfectly for the past few weeks. Specifically, when you click on a picture, you are supposed to get a new browser window with a full size version of that pic in it. Without that feature, the Blog is pretty lame since you can't see what it is that caused me to say whatever I say in the text.

Well, I finally got the HTML code figured out and I've updated my most recent posting to let you see the full sized pics. Take a look and enjoy. If this ever happens again, you can always see my pics at my photo album which is linked in the right hand column.

Now to Global Warming.

On the flight back from Bangkok I got to watch Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth." I'd never pay to see it, but since it was "free" on the flight, I figured I'd take a look.

I was surprised at the amount and quality of the facts Gore uses in drawing his conclusions. One fact in particular was that the US is the largest contributor to the CO2 levels measured in the upper atmosphere.

I was surprised, because in general, our pollution is much less severe than that of Bangkok, Mexico City and the most populace regions of China. But I am not ready to dispute the fact cited, what I wanted to discuss are the difference in life style that is apparent to me after visiting some of these other places.

Vehicle Emissions: The US EPA is apparently doing a pretty good job on vehicle emissions since we don't generally see billowing smoke coming out of vehicles here like you would in other places. Diesel engines abroad are particularly noticable, but even the 100cc motorcycles smoke more than we are used to seeing. So my question is that if our individual vehicle emissions are less noticable, why are we polluting more? Dunno.

Vehicle size: Ok, this is a real possiblility. There are no SUV's in Asia. Well, there are, but not many. Gas costs 27 Baht/Liter, about $3/gallon or twice what we pay. The result is the first of the lifestyle differences I noticed. All the cars are smaller, and there are fewer PER CAPITA than here. Notice I said fewer per capita. It is not uncommon for a family of four here in the US to have 2, 3, 4 or even more cars. Brenda and I have two cars and two motorcycles - FOR A FAMILY OF TWO. In Bangkok you have to make special arrangments with your landlord if you have more than two vehicles because they won't have anywhere to park them. In our building, it costs an extra 3,000 Baht/month if you have two cars instead of just one. So do we have more cars. I think maybe we do, and they are bigger and use more gas. There are tons of 100cc motorcycles in Bangkok because they go forever on a liter of gas. Are we prepared to sacrifice the convenience of each of us having our own car and it being a really big one? I don't know..... I drive a full size F-150 4WD.

Commuting distance: I think we drive further to work than our counterparts elswhere. Brenda's commute to work in Bangkok is less than 8 miles. Most other places we have lived, her commute was at least 15 miles, and usually further. The thing that surprised me was that most Thais that we talked to thought an 8 mile commute was way too long. Not a little too long, but WAY too long. Hmmmmm.

Air Conditioning: It is hot in Bangkok. Maybe hotter than Houston. It is about the same lattitude as Cancun so you be the judge. At any rate, A/C is pretty much a necessity, at least for me. But the Thais are different. They actually prefer non-air conditioned space a lot of the time. While waiting for a cab, I suggested to my Thai companion that we step inside the building where it was cooler.

She complied but laughed and said "it's too cold in there." So I started noticing that the Thais were not sweating as they walked on the streets. And none of the servants quarters in the apartments we looked at were air conditioned. Each place had a small maid's quarters that also housed the washing machine, and all were open to the outside air. Not openable... OPEN. So I conclude that the Thai's are accustomed to the heat, and they prefer it to the high electric bills that result from full time A/C. Even in the apartments designed for the tastes of ex-patriots, the A/C is never a central unit like we have here. Each room has its own A/C, similar to those you see in Hotels these days. And most of the Expats I talked to admitted that they do not run the AC during the day, only at night, and only in rooms being used for sleeping. Electricity costs about twice as much there as here also. Are we ready to sacrifice some A/C? Dunno.

Refrigerators: Need I go into this? They are small compared to ours. And in the grocrery stores, the eggs are not refrigerated. After all, they were just on the farm this morning. Lots of other stuff is subjected to the heat of the day instead of the fridge too. Are we ready.....?

So in my mind, it is possible that despite our vehicle emissions standards, the US may be the largest contributor to CO2 related pollution. I still prefer the lifestyle here. I think we could adjust some, maybe alot. But I sure do like having the ability to pick and choose where I adjust, and as long as I can pay the price, I think I'll continue making my own choices. Is that selfish? dunno. Is it more or less selfish than the third world countries that refuse to invest in cleaner vehicles like we have? Maybe it's just a case of "Pick your poison."

oVo

A fine day for a walk

Today’s long walk resulted in the sighting of two elephants, an Erawan statue, and a Harley shop, along with a short ride on a 100 cc motorcycle. Not a bad day.

I left the hotel and paid 24 Baht (65 cents) to board the subway system and ride a few miles to the Thailand Cultural Center where I headed back up to the heat of the Bangkok streets. I’ve mentioned before that I prefer to walk when I can for a variety of reasons. This walk however tested that resolve. Adding to the heat of the equatorial latitude, the uncertainty of my destination and the difficulty of validating my progress began to wear on me after about an hour of trekking. The total trip was four hours including a one hour lunch.

A note about Bangkok maps…. There are so many streets in Bangkok, there is no way to make an accurate map that can be both carried, and read.

A note about Bangkok street signs…. Hmmmmm a picture is worth how much?

If you are lucky you’ll find a sign with English spelling for the street name. It might say something like Rachada Phisek, or Ratchadapisek. Either spelling is “same same” here because both are wrong so it doesn’t matter how wrong, really. But if you are looking for a two word sign, a one word sign may just slip past your radar as your overloaded senses scan for anything recognizable.

More often than not, you will find road signs like the ones shown here. Note that not only can you not read what is there, but the assumption is that you only need to know the cross street. Only an imbecile (or Farang) would not know the name of the street on which he is walking. I rarely knew.

No matter how you have decided to pronounce those street names in the comfort of your home, or the sweltering streets of Bangkok, you will not be understood, by a Thai. No less than three times, I stopped to check my progress and asked a Thai “Rhachada Pisek?” while pointing in what I thought to be the most probable direction. In each case the very friendly Thai would look puzzled and after a while he would say “Where you go?” I repeated “Rachada Pisek” and he again looked puzzled. After a while, he’d say “Rachada Pisek?” in as near as I could tell, exactly the same way that I said it. After confirmation, he happily pointed in the direction I expected while speaking to his friend in Thai. Invariably, an argument between the two Thais ensued while they debated what must have been the various ways to reach Rachada Pisek road. Finally after a couple of minutes they would pronounce together “You hire motorcycle.” Each time save one, I proceeded on foot, in my “best guess” direction.

The one time that I did not proceed is worth mentioning because I happened to approach three auto mechanics in their shop. The shop is most closely described as a stall, sort of like the stalls at the flea markets around Houston. But the guys were very anxious to help. They talked for minutes to try and determine where I wanted to go. They looked at all three of my maps and finally one of them went over to a 100cc motorcycle and cranked it up. He motioned for me to get on and we headed out… into oncoming traffic. Motorcycle cabs are all over Bankok and they are great (I’m told) for getting from one end of a lane to another, trips of a mile or two. But this wasn’t a cab, it was just the guy’s commuter vehicle and he was taking me where I wanted to go. Well, he would’ve if he had known where to go. It turns out that we were less than a quarter mile from my destination, but none of the mechanics knew where it was. It was a Harley shop, near an embassy. Hmmmm how low profile are the HD shops around here anyway? For that matter, how low profile are the embassies?

My new friend stopped and asked directions twice, made two u-turns (into oncoming traffic) and finally got me to Power Station Motor Sports (whew.) I was convinced that I was on a taxi at that time, so I hopped off and offered to pay the guy. He waved me off in true biker fashion and sped off (sort of) on his way back to work.

Is it hard to get around Bangkok? Only if you care where you go. Is it fun? Yup.

By the way, if you want something better than a hamburger, ask for prawn fried rice.

They will also bring you a cup of this sauce. Be VERY careful in trying the sauce.

This will be my last post from Bangkok for awhile. We head home tomorrow morning. But stay tuned, we’ll be back here no later than October and I’ll resume my struggles in Asia.

oVo

A couple of pics

Walking around Thailand can be pretty intense. Thais hate to walk (a Thai told me that) so the vehicular traffic is heavy, and the roads are narrow once you get off the main drags which you don't want to walk on either. So, while walking, you spend quite a bit of time looking for the next car that might come very close to you. Thai's are excellent and confident drivers. They have no qualms about allowing their bumper to approach within a couple of inches of your knee. After all, it is a BUMPER.

Exhaust fumes can also be noticable. Maybe more than noticible. The police that have to stand in intersections to direct traffic usually wear masks over their nose to avoid breathing fumes. Still it's really not that bad as polluted cities go. In Mexico city a few years back, my eyes burned and my throat was sore from the pollution. Not so here. You'll notice the fumes from time to time, but it is not at that critical point where you want to go home.

But walking most anywhere has its rewards. You get the feel for the city, the lay of the land and sometimes you see some surprising sights. The picture above was taken along narrow road that we would call an alley in the US. Nothing much to see down that road except a hedge of these flowers. Nice.



Finally for today, the panorama above is the view from our hotel window. The Sofitel Central hotel is located at the northern extent of the city and our room faces East. It may be hard to make out, as I have never found that panoramic photos ever do the subject justice, but look closely and you will see an interesting mix of highrise office and apartment buildings, parks, lowrise condos and one to four story single family homes. There is no zoning in this city. First come, first serve.

Be sure to note the likeness of the king on some of the buildings. The king is well loved here. From the apparent age of the king in these images, you'd never guess that he is 73 years old. He has been on the throne for more than 60 years. They say that there is no place in Thailand that this king has not set foot. And everywhere he goes, he trys to make life better for Thais. A long list of Royal Projects, including hospitals, schools, water wells and diversion canals have earned this king undying loyalty.

Long live King Bhumibol Adulyadej.


oVo

Two posts in one day???

I just wanted everyone to see what "Sugar" (Ron R) would look like if he had been born in Thailand.



oVo

....it's a very very very fine house.

Our House…. it’s a very very very fine house………(the Beatles oops, I mean Crosby Stills Nash & Young)

The primary purpose of our trip this time was to find a place to live, an apartment in downtown Bangkok. It looks like we finally got that done today, in a low-rise, ultra-modern place called Park Thonglor (ton-lor, the h and the g are silent).

The choices for rental property in downtown Bangkok are pretty open. We looked at everything from a 450 cubic meter townhouse to a 150 cubic meter apartment. There are bigger and smaller, high rise and single family. Most of these places though, required a pretty serious re-calibration of our expectations.

For instance, in the USA social events, family visiting and most everything else centers on the kitchen. US kitchens are correspondingly spacious and very well equipped. But in Bangkok a maid/cook is paid about $200 to $250 US per month to come in 5 days a week to keep the house clean and cook the meals. To make this an even more attractive option, the compensation packages provided to Ex-pats by US employers invariably provide an allowance toward the housekeeping expense. In other words, the maid/cook is free to us. In such an environment, the kitchen takes on much less importance because no matter how well equipped, it is the cook’s job to prepare the meals and clean up afterwards. So do you need a dishwasher? No. Do you need a 6 burner stovetop? No. And in fact, the more of that stuff you have, the more it costs you to have your meal because electricity to run appliances is very expensive. It’s cheaper to let the maid clean the dishes by hand. Same deal for a clothes dryer. It’s cheaper to have the maid Line dry the clothes in her quarters (all the apartments have maids quarters.)



So with a bit of re-calibration, we settled on a place that is less than half the size of our home in Houston. Since it is such a long trip from the US to come visit us in Bangkok, we figured we needed only one spare bedroom (instead of 3.) And since the apartment has a fitness center, fully equipped with weights, treadmills, stair steppers, steam room sauna etc. we don’t need a room for that. We also have a garden with Coi ponds, gazebo’s, panoramic views, waterfalls and a pool, all without good old Mike having to pull a single weed. We did look at much larger places, but in the end, we decided that less in more in this case and we think we made a pretty decent choice. Time will tell.

So the primary purpose of our trip is complete, and after a little fussing with details like security deposits and rent (in advance) we’ll be ready to move in around November 1.

Y’all come….

oVo

Jatujak Market

The largest open air market in the world is here in Bangkok. Jatujak Market (also spelled Chatuchak) is on the North end of the city and covers acres and acres of land with all sorts of booths of food, clothes, home decorating items, plants.... probably whatever you want. Our experience there today was enlightening. We have been told that there is a "Thai price" and a "Farang price" (farang = foreigner) for everything here. We certainly believe that to be the case at Jatujak. We didn't buy much (anything) but is was still alot of fun to walk around and see the people, and the stuff for sale. It was even fun to ask for a price and then offer less only to be rebuffed by an offended looking Thai. I know they weren't offended, but the game has to be played.

oVo

The Land of Smiles

Thailand is loosely translated "The Land of Smiles." While it is not unusual for locals to treat visitors well while the visitors are in the tourist areas, we were pleased today to be treated exceptionally well by locals to whom we paid no money for goods or services. Just nice people on the street that stopped to answer our questions and pantomimes when we got lost or weren't sure what to do next. It was great.

We had no realtor or any other type of escort today. It was the first time since we've been here that we have been left completely on our own. We had a leisurely breakfast followed by a map session to figure out where to go and how to go there. We decided to make our way back to a couple of the top places that we are considering as our new home over here, just to see how they look without a realtor breathing down our necks.

We walked though a nearby shopping center called Central Market. After a bit of exploring there and a pizza, we headed to the street to find a cab that could take us to the sky train. We got turned around a bit and found ourselves in a paid parking lot with no way out. A security guard saw us and walked about 100 meters without being asked and pantomimed with us until he figured that we were looking for a cab. Within 30 seconds he had stopped a cab and asked where we wanted to go. I pointed at a map and he translated for the driver so we were off.



Forty Baht later (about $1.25) we were near one of our aparments and on foot again. We walked around, got the feel for the neighborhood and decided to go check another place clear across town. To do that, we wanted to ride the skytrain (BTS). Unfortunately we didn't really know where it was so an hour and three helpful Thais later we got to the station. For 35 Baht ($1) we rode pretty much completely through town to our destination. Take a look at the pic to see how attractive a $1 ride across town is here. It's not just the Farangs (foreigners) that find this mode of transportation convenient. This was a six car train and every car looked just like this pic.

We got out at Sukhumvit 31 and walked around some more, making our way to 555 Soi Sukhuvit 55, the address of Park Thonglor Tower in the posh section of town preferred by Ex-patriots. It is nice along Sukhumvit, and expensive, but we think we will probably end up living in this section of town. We tried to make ourselves comfortable in a more Thai area of Bangkok, but I have to be honest; it is intimidating to be in a part of the world that not only does not speak or understand English, but that uses a completely different alphabet, based on Sanscrit. The Thai areas don't have any signs that I can read, and while it is exotic, after just a little bit of trying to buy lunch in such a place, panic finds its way into your mind and you begin to search for something, anything familiar. Sukhumvit has english language translations on road signs, stores and even on merchandise. There are even Starbucks.

So we'll probably take a less adventurous path to our lives in Bangkok, but it is still Bangkok and there will be adventure to spare, so I think it will continue to be fun.

Gotta go for now.

sa wat de krop

oVo

Posting from somewhere over the Pacific

We are in Tokyo right now, but I made this post while in the air over the Pacific. Just didn't have internet from the plane so we are putting it up now. Enjoy.

It is Sunday, 8 PM Houston Time and the in-flight GPS display shows our little white 747 over the top of the International Date Line traveling at 547 mph, 35,000 ft over the Pacific Ocean. We are 3011 miles West of San Francisco, and 2161 miles East of Tokyo. It is -58 Degrees F outside.

We’ve been at it since 4:30 this morning when we scrambled out of bed and headed to the airport at 5:45 for an 8 AM departure. Security was a breeze at that time of day. I think all the Homeland Security folks were still asleep. Despite a ban on liquids, gels and aerosols in carry-on luggage, I have successfully secreted a small bottle of Purell hand sanitizer in my pants pocket. Shhhhh…. Let’s keep that between you and me. National security is one thing, but have you seen an airport restroom lately. I need my Purell.

We’ve had two meals, at least two naps and watched two in-flight movies. “Inside Man” was pretty good. A “cops and robbers” tale with enough plot twists to keep me interested. Don’t waste chronos or lucre on “RV” with Robin Williams though. Even with nothing else to do, I had a hard time staying interested in the unlikely comedy of this flick. If you have to have a Robin Williams fix, go rent Popeye.

Since a couple of hours ago when I figured out how to get my 12 volt DC to 120 volt AC inverter connected to the 747 power jack, we have been using the laptop to work a bit on our Thai language skills. Rosetta Stone software is pretty good if you need to learn a language. It doesn’t translate from English in order to teach. Instead, it shows you pictures and speaks the correct words in the language you are trying to learn. Pretty much the same way you learned English at your mother’s knee. Already I have learned the words for “boy,” “girl,” “little boy,” “little girl,” “ball,” table,” “airplane,” “car,” “dog”,“cat,” “horse,” “elephant,” “under,” “on top of,” “in,” and “with.” So I can say things like “The ball is on top of the little boy” or “The girl is in the airplane.” What I can’t say is “Hello.” or “Which way to the rest room please?” Or more importantly, “Excuse me sir, your luggage is crushing my foot.” I may have had need for any or all of these phrases in just the last twelve hours, but I couldn’t say them so I just had to wave, hold my knees closely together and scream in a short man’s ear when the situations arose. Yup, it’s good software, but I’m not sure about their phrase selection for session 1.

We will change planes in Tokyo. We have already done that once in San Francisco. We’ll arrive at Bangkok at about 11:30 PM Bangkok time (11:30 AM Houston Time) having circumnavigated our watch faces almost 2 ½ times since we left home. Twenty-one of those hours are actually in-flight time. Whew!

Stay tuned, and let me hear from you if you have time.


oVo

Thailand

Thai. No really, Thai, that's what I have to learn how to speak..... THAI!!!!!!!!



I guess I can try, and maybe even succeed but REALLY..... THAI!!!!!!!

Since we are moving to Thailand this Fall this BLOG will have to change focus. I won't have quite as much time to ride Texas roads since I will have to move to THAILAND (for crying out loud.)
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OK, I'm better now. I took a little break and It'll be OK.

Anyway, since we are moving, I won't post quite as much Texas riding info, but I'll post alot more Asian travel info. It might not be as useful to you guys, but I hope it'll be interesting.

Anyway, stay tuned and let me hear from you every now and then. After all, it's not much fun just typing into the ether......


mlt

oVo

Backpacking - Cirque of The Towers, Wyoming

Disclaimers
1) This is not a Motorcycle post
2) I have never been on a backpacking trip before this
3) This was the coolest trip I have ever been on - also the hardest

The Cirque of the Towers is located in West Central Wyoming, in the South Wind River Range. The nearest towns are Boulder, WY (pop 737) and Pinedale, WY (pop 1382.) The Range is approximately 72 miles North to South and we hiked the lower quarter of it. It is a relatively low section of mountains, with the highest peak hovering below 12,500 ft above sea level. Despite its diminutive stature, it is very dramatic. My impressions of the Rockies, the Appalachians and the Smokies is similar in that you never seem to get close to the mountains. By that I mean that by the time you get close to the mountains, you are in them. And like the Forest that you cannot see because the trees are all around you, I have never felt that I could see the mountain close up.

The Wind River Range is completely different. You can stand at 10,400 feet and literally touch the side of a peak that towers to almost 12,000 ft in the distance of 1/4 mile. And these peaks are not here and there in a haphazard fashion. They are everywhere you look. Pictures don't do it justice, and neither do my descriptions. It has become a habit while on a trip to think about how I will describe what I see in this BLOG. Believe me when I say my words will fail to convey the majesty, the difficulty, and the wonder of this terrain. If you want to understand what I have seen, like certain motorcycle brands, you will just have to try it yourself and then you'll see.

Our route started at the Big Sandy Campground, 50 miles from the nearest town, Boulder WY pop 737, and 39 miles from the nearest pavement. It takes about 2 hours to drive the 50 miles from Boulder because this road is not well maintained.

We arrived on Sunday and slept fitfully on the lumpy mattresses that brought a rush of memories of junior high summer camp. In the morning, after a wonderful breakfast, we took our first steps on an impromptu day-hike that was intended to give us a flavor of the trails and test the strength and endurance of the newbies (me.) What was intended to be an easy day of about 8 miles and maybe 600 to 700 ft of elevation gain ended up as a 14 mile endurance contest to 10,000 ft above sea level. Everyone, including the newbie handled it well though and it ended up as one of those "I can't believe we just did that" events. There would be more.

Dinner and another fitful night brought us to the moment of truth, the moment when we would step off onto the trail with only the equipment and provisions that we had the foresight to pack into our bulging backpacks. Mine was the heaviest at about 58 lbs. The lightest was about 40 lbs. Just so you'll know - 40 lbs is good, 58 is bad.

Day one on the trail was benign until two minutes into the walk when it started raining. Nothing bad, just a drizzle that brought out all of our rain gear and made me think something along the lines of "now I'm a real mountain man." Just so you'll know - I'm not. It rained steadily, but gently all day. We made 7 miles and gained 1000 ft to make camp at Donald Lake. Upon arrival, we were cold, and damp. We all wanted a camp fire but of course the dead wood on the ground was all wet. Carl managed to get a fire going and we gently heaped the driest wood we could find on it until it was strong enough to dry the wet wood and survive more or less on it's own throughout the evening.

Now about that 1000 ft gain in elevation.... I am a sea level sort of guy. I have pretty much always lived in the Gulf South. So, anticipating that I might have some trouble in altitudes, I had begun training in May by walking 3 miles one day and 6 miles the next. I began this regimen with a rucksack (school type backpack) packed with 35 lbs of sand. By July I had packed 55 lbs of stuff into my actual backpack and was walking my routes with the pack on my back and 5 lb weights on my ankles. Nothing was going to keep me from having a nice walk in the mountains. I fully intended to be in shape and ready to go by August 1... I wasn't. By the time we made camp the first night, I was wiped out. While the other guys went to filter water and catch fish, I rested my burning thighs and exhausted arms. My training had let me down.

For dinner we re-hydrated our "Backpackers Pantry" dehydrated dinners around the camp fire and rested up for the next day. Carl and Severin had caught some trout that I was too tired to eat. Though tired, I was absolutely thrilled at my surroundings and the trip so far. I was having a ball.

After a nights sleep (38 degrees F inside my tent, 28 degrees outside) and a warm breakfast of instant oatmeal, we set out again on the trail. We had to descend from 10,100 ft, to 9,300 ft and back up to 10,300 ft to camp at Shadow Lake. Shadow lake is so named because it is situated in the shadow of the mountains that make up the continental divide in this part of the country. It is easily the most beautiful place any of us camped on this trip. It is two miles off the main trail but completely worth the walk.

Now, about the walk to Shadow Lake. It was eight miles and gained over 1000 ft in elevation. Not that much different from the previous day except that as it turns out, to gain 1000 ft (the height of a 100 story building) you actually gain and loose roughly 3000 ft total. That is, you go up and down, and up and down.... A lot, and with 50 lbs in the backpack. This day, we also had to negotiate Hailey Pass which took us from 9800 ft to 10,200 ft in less than a mile. No matter how it sounds, that's steep.

By the time I got to camp, I had decided that the next three days were beyond my capability. I decided to head back to the trail head while my companions went on across Washakie Pass (1400 ft elevation gain) and traversed Lizard Head Trail (1000 ft gain) and finally Jackass Pass (1300 ft gain.) Lots of discussion resulted in the plan for me to return to the trailhead and rest up. If I felt up to it, I'd meet the guys on their last day somewhere near Jackass Pass headed back down to the trailhead. The trail that the guys took North is in a Dashed line on the trail map.

I did feel better by the last day of the scheduled hike and ended up meeting the guys on the trail about 7 miles North of the trailhead on Jackass Pass Trail. I brought water and chocolate from town, and after a brief visit with the guys, Carl offered to accompany me as I continued North to Arrowhead Lake, the Continental Divide and Lonesome Lake. That last day, I hiked 18 miles and gained over 3500 ft in elevation in a single day.

In total, whether by the original route or my modified hike, we all walked 41 miles and gained between 9000 and 9500 ft in elevation. We crossed the continental divide twice and saw some of the most dramatic landscape that I have ever encountered. A completely satisfying trip that I can't wait to do again next year.

I have a hundred or so pics of this trip. Some of the most representative are located at my album. Select Cirque of Towers and enjoy.


oVo

Alvin to Galveston with Dinner in Freeport

Here's a nice gentle ride for enjoyment of the wife. Starting in Alvin, TX and winding a leisurely rumble through the evening cool. Ok, it's July in South Texas, but I gotta dream of cool weather sometimes.





Anyway, here's how Santa Chuck set-up and reports the 165 mile ride.


We left the Shell station in Alvin (528/35) @ 4:15pm. Seems many had not been on some of these roads and CR316 out of 4 corners was a first for me also. I heard some good comments about the roads and selection so guess we did good. The resturant is called On the River, 919 West 2nd Street, Freeport. The "river" is old lost river and this resturant used to sit on the other side of 2nd street years and years ago. Capt Elliotts fishing fleet operate across the street from current location of the resturant. Turns out that I was the only one to have ever eaten here before. Bet it won't be the last time for this group! Our waitress was Audrey and man was she good. She ever took all of Todds BS and came back for more. The corn bread you'll just have to try and the home made cole slaw, too good to be true. Really TALL glasses of ice tea and water to quince our parched bodies and tasty food was consumed. We decided to take the Blue Water Hwy down to Galveston and then asked Todd to lead us to "The Spot" on the Seawall. There we took part in some creamy ice cream for dessert. More visit time then Todd took us via the Strand to Harborside to 45 and home.

Turn-by-Turn
SR-35 S to 1462 turn Right
1462 to 521 turn Right
521 to CR42 turn Left (my favorite local road)
42 back to 1462 turn Right
1462 to Cow Creek Road turn Left
Cow Creek Rd changes names to Nash Rd and CR 25 CR25 to Columbia Lakes and turn Right on 35
35 to 36 turn Left
36 to 522 turn Right
522 to 1459 turn Left
1459 to 524 turn Left
524 to CR316 go straight
316 to 2611 turn Left
2611 to 36 turn Right 36 turns into 288 and then 2nd Street
Look for the resturant and enjoy

After Dinner, mount up and head out and turn Right on Velasco Blvd Velasco to 322 turn Right 322 to the Blue Water Highway turn Left

Have $2.00 ready for the toll bridge over to Galveston and just follow the highway all the way in.

"The Spot" will be on your Left, at about 25th street. After your ice cream, you can head back toward where you came and take any Right hand turn or continue down the sea wall and take any left to get to SR 87 which turn into IH 45 to take you back to Houston. Have a great trip.

oVo

Hill Country Weekend July 2006

One of the things I like best about my riding group is its informality. We have no officers, no dues, no meetings except to ride (and/or eat) and we don't restrict ourselves to a specific type, brand or configuration of ride - or of rider for that matter. We have riders that like to ride fast and enjoy the turns. Others live for the scenery and take things slowly. We have V-twins, opposed sixes, Silver Wing scooters, antiques and shiney new rides. About the only thing we don't have are crotch rockets, but that's not by our choice. We just can't keep up with 'em.

Anyway, all that is to say that our Hill Country Ride this year reflected our group's diversity. We arrived at our base camp (D'rose Inn) from Thursday afternoon through Saturday night and while we were there, we set out in small groups on a total of three separate group rides, two tubing trips, a hiking trip and a bat flight outing. And all this not including the rides to and from Leakey. Quite a trip for a thee day weekend. If you went on this ride and didn't enjoy yourself, I just can't figure out who you could possibly blame. There was something for everyone.

A note about D'Rose Inn and its Inn Keeper Deb Rose. All the rooms and cabins at the Inn are clean and well appointed. No sagging beds or clinking pipes in this place. Most, if not all rooms have a microwave and fridge. There is no TV, no phone, no internet in the rooms. Not a bad thing if you ask me. Each room is cooled by a window style AC unit that provides cool air along with white noise to help drown out any traffic from the highway or loud pipes arriving after bed time. I actually like that sort of background noise and I slept like a log.

Deb is re-modeling the rooms and cabins and is about half done. My room had a stone wall, wood ceiling and fresh new paint. All of the rooms and cabins have been recently painted, but not all have the decorating touches that mine had - but they will. Deb is "living her dream" (her words not mine) and is passionate about the comfort of her guests. One note for our friends of great stature. The shower in my room was 3 ft square. If you are 4 ft square, be sure to tell Deb that you'll want a room with a regular size tub and shower.

D'Rose Inn is rated #1 in Ride Texas Magazine and it is well earned. We wish Deb continued success.


The ride over was about 350 miles avoiding all interstates. Lunch was great at the Salt Lick BBQ resturant in Driftwood, TX. We also enjoyed a brief stop at Canyon Lake to watch the water skiers and browsing deer.


The ride back home Sunday was about the same distance but a different route.

Friday, our early arrivers were led by Santa Chuck on a loop West of Leakey for sight seeing and a laid back day in the hills.

Saturday, two group rides focused on the thee sisters. The first group sought a ride that focused on scenery and vistas while the second group went for fast curves. Both groups got what they wanted, and amazingly from some of the same roads.

The three sisters is a great loop. Maybe the best in Texas that I have ridden. I'd like to provide my impression of these three siblings if I may.

These Texas girls have much in common, starting with their names, RR-335, 336, and 337. They also share the curves and roller coaster changes in elevation that keep us coming back for more. But there are important differences too.

For me, Sister 335 on the West side of the loop is the girl I could live with forever. She moves North to South with dramatic curves and thrilling hills that float your stomach at the top and give noticable G-forces at the bottoms. With a hint of wild country in her vistas, and just a bit of danger from the deer that may cross your path at any time of day, she could keep me interested for a lifetime.

Sister 336 on the Eastern edge is a bit of a prude. She shares the same topography as her more desirable sister to the West, but she teases you with a short set of curves and hills, but then makes you pull up short with annoying cattle gaps that may or may not be a smooth crossing. I just couldn't maintain a relationship with such a tease.

Sister 337 is the mature girl. So mature in fact, that she is currently undergoing a bit of a tummy tuck for a ten mile section West of Leakey. Don't let it concern you, the road is dusty but not "loose." Just slow down and let her take you over to the next section of good pavement. While not part of the Three Sisters Loop, Sister 337 shows you that she has just as much to offer as her North/South siblings if you ride her East of Leakey. She has great hills and turns, and none of those annoying cattle gaps.

Now for the side trips.

Garner State Park has lots to offer, from hiking, and swimming, to music and dances in the evening. Some of our group enjoyed all of these features.

There are tubing opportunities seemingly at every nook of the Frio river. The water was down a bit this trip, but Deb, pointed us to Happy Hollow which shuttles tubers to a stretch that still had enough water to keep us moving and cool in the hottest part of the day. In wetter seasons, the Frio promises a faster trip and many more options for places to start and end the day.



The Bat Cave near Utopia is home to the second largest population of bats in the US, and the largest that is open to the public. Well worth the $10 price to get in, the bats started flying at about 8:30, and were still leaving the cave at 9:00. An estimated 3 million flew past us, some at eye level when you could hear their wings push by. The proprietor said that the bats live over a mile inside the cave, and the guano is more than 6 feet deep for that entire mile. Take a look at some of my pics.

RESTURANTS - Live to Ride, Ride to Eat

Vinnies Italian on the West Side of 83 in Leakey - Rated highly by Ride Texas Magazine. I had Pizza which had great flavor. A small one was twice as much as I could eat for $13 including tax and tip. The crust is the kind that is chewy rather than crispy. Lots of people love it.

Mama Choles Mexican - Just down the road from the Frio Canyon Motorcycle Stop in Leakey - Superb Tacos. Best I've ever had.

Hill Country BBQ - Also on HWY 83 (most everything in Leakey is) I didn't eat here, but it is recommended by several folks in Leakey.

Some other place - That Frio Canyon MC stops said has GREAT fried chicken - but it is only open sometimes. Ask Deb for details.

Well, enough talk. Let's go riding


oVo