Here We Go!

Oh geez, all the plans I had for getting stuff done, and posting something spectacular for the day of our departure went right out the window! My friend Carmel--who has just begun her second year of moto-travel--warned me that I wouldn't be ready to go on the day, but that I just had to go. And...she was right.

So, on the morning of departure, Josh, Doug, and I took some pics, called parents (mine didn't answer, I had to leave a voicemail...) and I posted one little pic on Facebook, with the extremely short caption of "See ya!" I have to say I felt honored by all the messages of love, luck, and "post up so we can follow along". Thank you, friends!

Well, after two 360+ mile days to start us off, here I am, sitting in our campsite on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon! I am soooo excited. I have never been here. In case you didn't read that correctly the first time, I HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE. For those of you who don't know, I've lived in the southwest most of my life, and I went to the University of Arizona. But this is my first time here, and I am ready to hike and take in the views!

I'm curious to know what you all eat when you're camping, because I seriously enjoyed our breakfast. We have some AMAZING elk summer sausage our friend, Justin Large, sent with us. I fried a few pieces of that, then made banana pancakes to go with. We are fueled and set for the day.

Getting here has included two days of mixed riding--some spectacular scenery with decent temps, and some long, straight, boring roads in temps topping out at 103F. I may or may not have been sweating in my helmet....

We had a few problems getting started--I actually pulled plastics on my bike's hump, disconnected the battery, and re-wired some things the morning before we left. That got us started later than we had planned, and then we spent some time at two different stops while Josh worked on repairing his clutch play and gear shifter.

Near the end of the first day, as we rode into Durango, Josh was really struggling to get his bike to shift--even if you're not a moto rider, you can probably see how this would be a problem--so he worked on his bike in the shade of a Holiday Inn, while I ran to the grocery store for dinner supplies, and Doug ran to Liquor World (I'm not shitting you, that's what it's called...) for a box of wine. If you're not in the know, or even wrinkling your delicate nose at the idea of boxed wine, knock it off. They're amazing these days, and when you're limited space-wise, you can pull the bladder out of the box, and it's durable enough to stick anywhere in your luggage. Also, it's limp and boneless like a cat, so it slides into any available space. Doug got a Bota Box Malbec, and it is delicious.

So, we cruised another 20 miles from Durango to Target Tree Campground, set up camp, and set about to make dinner and give our collective bottoms a rest from the motorcycle seats. I had picked up chicken thighs, bell pepper, mushrooms, and onion at the store, and I sautéed it all with our jar of seasoning and served it over quinoa.

Then, to be honest, we just sat finishing our drinks and staring at the stars. There were a lot of them and they felt so close. Bedtime was next, but as per usual with me, on the first night of camping, my actual sleeping was spotty. That said, I was more than happy to be awake in the middle of the night to hear what must have been 30 coyotes yipping in harmony several times. It was beautiful, and I was truly grateful for the fact that I could be lying there listening to their beautiful voices singing in the night.

Josh slept through it.

Anyway, that was the first day. It was quickly followed by breakfast, photo shenanigans, and hitting the road for a long hot slog to the Grand Canyon. We did stop for lunch at a park that had a climbing wall, so you know, I was all over that...even in motocross boots. And we stopped for a couple of "border crossing" signs I didn't yet have.

As of this pic, I hadn't yet figured out how to get the front camera on my new phone to mirror the image so writing is the correct way...

We are on our way, and really happy to be. I'm not sure it has sunk in yet that we get to do this for the next 10 months, but I did say, "Hey! Two days down, nine months and 29 days still to go!"

Oh...and we are going!

 

 

Post tags: motorcycles, motorbikes, BMW, F700GS, Suzuki, DL650, Central America, South America, camping, Mosko Moto, Rev'it, Sena, Alt Rider

 

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