Side Notes

Only sunglasses this go 'round!

#1~

At the end of January, I had LASIK surgery. I have worn glasses (thick ones!) or hard contact lenses since I was five years old, and that has affected the way I have done all sorts of activities. Sometimes it was a positive effect--when I performed, I went without and the audience was always nicely blurred. Most times, however, having extremely limited vision which was only mostly corrected, made things more difficult.

Two of the biggest problems came on the Alaska trip. Pulling into a gas station, as I glanced behind me, one of my contacts popped out. Those puppies aren't disposable--the one that popped out cost $120, and I didn't have a back-up. Luckily, it was found.

The second incident happened as we were riding in southern Idaho. The wind was blowing like crazy on the few miles of interstate we rode, blowing smoke, and ash from a wildfire at us along with the usual dust, dirt and grime. All of a sudden, I had a horrific pain in my right eye. I told josh we had to ge off the freeway as soon as possible, but the nearest exit was more than a mile away. My eye hurt and began to water profusely. In a show of solidarity, my left eye began to water, and I had a very hard time keeping them open. By the time I was able to get that contact out, my cornea was scratched and I was searching for drops to soothe my eye.

This trip, with my better than perfect eyesight, has been great! Case-in-point: I hit highway 99 in Bakersfield and searched for the billboards which would tell me at which exit In-n-Out was located. They weren't there! As I passed an exit, thinking, "Crap! Was it that exit!?!", I looked about a mile and a half ahead and saw the arrow sign in the sky where the restaurant was. Way to go Eagle Eyes!

Also, I don't have to save room for all the crap one needs to take care of contacts, or for a pair of back-up glasses. Great on so many levels!

Thank you Dishler Laser Institute!

 

My F650GS and I--unstoppable since 2011! We love adventure!

 

#2~

I saw loads, LOADS--quite possibly metric butt loads--of other bikes on the roads, the three days I spent riding out to California. Almost every single one was a cruiser, with the occasional exception of a sport bike. It wasn't until I was into California that I saw an adventure bike. I didn't recognize what it was as we sped past each other in opposite directions, so I'm going to say it was either the Honda or the Yamaha Super Tenere.

Where are all those big 800 or 1200GSs and V-Stroms? There have been no KLRs or KTMs. Where are all those adventure touring folk...?

 

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