28 October 2011
21-24 October 2011My band “Wires & Wood” was a headline act at this year's Wellington Folk Festival. This was my first music festival since arriving back in New Zealand from my USA trip. It was a very pleasant contrast to the festivals I attended in the USA, in that there I knew one or two folks amongst the thousands, whereas here I had a warm heartfelt connection and history with what seemed like hundreds of folks. I am a wealthy man.
Highlights for me: being on stage with the awesome musicians in Wires & Wood, getting the mosh pit rocking with dancers, catching up with so many friends, jamming, watching the Rugby World Cup final in a hall full of folkies, bursting into tears when Helen Dorothy sang her beautiful new song.
It is nice to be back in New Zealand with Trude and MrT and to be amongst my friends. I won't be doing daily blogs (hard to get excited about reporting mowing the lawn, cleaning the leaves, walking the dog, etc) but will post some highlights as they happen.
Said my goodbyes to Brian and Fran who have been wonderful hosts, packed up the bike and rode to the freight company in Compton, just south of LA. I was quite anxious about getting stuck in the infamous LA freeway traffic and am happy to report that I made it all the way while driving at or above the speed limit. Whew!
It took a couple of hours to get the bike prepped and all my stuff offloaded into some cheap luggage that I bought at a nearby Target. Finally it was time to call a cab and head for the airport, which went without a hitch.
Once at the airport I got checked in with no problems then spent a couple of hours nursing a blended iced chocolate mint mocha while I used up the remaining minutes on my phone to contact some of the folks who had hosted me and say thanks.
Finally, the boarding call comes and it is time to go.
Americana for the day: whatever happened to the water fountains in LA airport?
5 October 2011 We woke up to a rainy day, which seems to be quite a novelty for this time of year in Santa Barbara. I spent the day making phone calls and sorting out the logistics of getting the bike to the freight company with all the proper documentation and then getting to the airport. Fran was home sick but managed to give me a ride to the FedEx office so I could package up and ship the USA headlight to my sister who generously offered to keep it for me until I find a buyer. On the way back we stopped into a Trader Joes since I had never been to one before. Fran had never thought of it as a tourist attraction.
When Brian got home from work we headed out for dinner at Sojourner, another great local restaurant, then walked a few blocks to The Andrew's for some fabulous marzipan and a Chocolate Bailly's Brownie. Yuuummm.
Once back home I gave Brian a crash course in mandolin pattern based scales and how to use them for improvisation. He picked it up really quick and it was cool to see whole new worlds of playing open up for him.
4 October 2011 Had a leisurely morning in Ventura Beach as I didn't have to get the bike into the dealership until 11:00. The folks there were great, the job took several hours and I was only charged the standard rate of 1.75 hours for the job. I had to get the entire headlight assembly replaced because the lens is molded to shine away from the center line, which is on the opposite side in New Zealand from the USA.
It had been threatening rain all day and I was anxious to head back through Ventura to Santa Barbara and Brian and Fran's house. Susan did a great job of navigating and I arrived dry and on schedule. It was great to see Fran again and to meet Brian for the first time. They had just returned from IBMA week in Nashville and Brian was suffering withdrawal from Mexican food and we all had a good fix of some excellent Mexican fare.
After dinner we returned home and the three of us had a nice jam in the music room until fatigue won over and we went to sleep with full bellies and happy fingers.
3 October 2011 I was a bit wistful this morning as I left Three Rivers, knowing that it was my last day to be at altitude and riding through rural areas as I headed for Ventura. I headed west through Visalia and took 99 south to Frazier Park. There was a lot of failed retread debris on 99 which kept me alert. From Frazier Park I took Forest Road 95 west to 33 and 33 south to Ventura. 95 took me up to nearly six thousand feet with crisp cool dry weather, lots of wind and plenty of huge tumbleweeds to dodge. I had a good burger for lunch in Pine Mountain Village.
33 south to Ventura was yet another awesome motorcycle road with countless curves, varied for each gear, beautiful scenery, and excellent road surface conditions. This will rate as a top ten motorcycle road for me and was a very pleasant surprise to finish out my last day of open road riding.
I ended up in a motel in Ventura, poised to get my bike into a dealer tomorrow to get the new parts installed that will make the bike legal in New Zealand.
Americana for the day: dodging retread failure scraps on the motorway
Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/USA20113?authkey=Gv1sRgCInJ3fTt3fO0Mg
2 October 2011 My dear friend Chris Todd came down from Groveland to spend the day and bid me farewell. We drove into Kings Canyon National Park and on the way back our route retraced my path of the previous day but in the opposite direction. It was nice to see Cris again and share the time marveling at the worlds largest living creatures and most dramatic rocks.
Americana for the day: the motorcycle salute – this is a cultural thing, where when you see an approaching motorcycle, when you are about a hundred meters apart, you extend your left arm out at about a 45 degree angle and if you are really cool you also extend just your left index finger as well. The approaching biker does the same and you have acknowledged your brotherhood (or sisterhood, or brother/sister hood) of the two wheeled traveler. This works well in North America where you drive on the right side of the road, but fails miserably in places like New Zealand where we drive on the left side. The problem for left side of the road riders is that your right hand is committed to the throttle which is always on the right side, regardless of which side of the road you drive on, and your left hand is on the outside, pointing away from approaching riders. Anyway, here in North America, a whole world of angst grows from this salute. Sometimes you salute and don't get a response which can evoke either a sense of rejection or indignation. Or sometimes your attention is focused on your side of the road and you only see the salute from the oncoming biker at the last moment and by the time you respond they are already past, in which case the roles are reversed and you feel guilty because you have made the other biker suffer the rejection or indignation. Then there is the issue of timing – if you salute too early you seem to be too eager and if you salute too late you may not give the oncoming rider time to respond. Then there is the case when there is a convoy of bikes approaching – do you salute them all or just the first or just the last or what? Then there are the bikes that have a pillion passenger, in which case it seems that the responsibility for saluting is on their shoulders and not the controlling rider. I reckon Woody Allen could do a whole movie on this. :-)
Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/USA20113?authkey=Gv1sRgCInJ3fTt3fO0Mg
1 October 2011 Broke camp a bit after first light and headed for General Sherman, the largest tree on Earth. It lives amongst a grove of other giant sequoia trees, and it is a humbling experience to walk amongst them. Once again it is impossible for photos to convey a proper sense of scale of these magnificent ancient living creatures, but I have to take them anyway.
From General Sherman I headed north to General Grant, the sequoia with the largest girth. It also is surrounded by siblings of similar nobility and they are magnificent to behold. The photos give only a hint of what it is really like.
From General Grant I headed south on 245, another of those ultimate motorcycle roads that twists through forest to Sisters Mountain House, a popular biker watering hole. From Sisters Mountain House I continued south on Dry Creek Drive, a very rural farm service road that winds through golden ranch lands to 198 where I headed east to my motel in Three Rivers. It was a good day of awesome magnificent trees and very enjoyable and engaging roads that motorcyclists love to ride, and i am smiling.
Americana for the day: fried Spam
Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/USA20113?authkey=Gv1sRgCInJ3fTt3fO0Mg
