Back home

Jim and AlexaNana
Fred and Bridget
Doc Peter with his daughters
Rian at Lake Superior walking her dogs.

I returned to Prescott on September 12th after 6 weeks and 11,300 miles on the Burgman. A good trip all around and especially sharing it with my brother Joe. After leaving Newfoundland, we attended the Island Rally in Prince Edward Island and watched an old tractor plow day at the county fair. We then headed west to Saulte Ste Marie where we stayed with Rian and her family. Brad from San Diego was also there and we did a bit of drywalling in the basement and Joe taught Rian's mom how to make stained glass. I moved on to Peter's new home on Lake Superior and Joe went over to Marquette, MI to see one of his friends. He kept on going south from there and I followed a day later, visiting Mackinac Island and riding a bicycle around it and then spent two days with Joe Hindley, an artist friend of mine in Sawyer, Michigan.

A short ride down to St. Louis and I enjoyed a dinner with Recie and her children, her boyfriend Skip, Nana, Fred and Bridget and Danny. Then south to Charleston and I spent a day with Daddy before heading west. I stopped by Oklahoma City to meet Jim and Judy's latest grandchild, Jennifer and Alan's first child Alexa, then continued on to Santa Fe and had lunch with Isabella Klein. The ride from Sante Fe to Prescott was especially pretty on the back roads to Quemada NM, Springerville, Payson, and over Mingus with the afternoon temperature a perfect 75.

It has been an interesting year of travel. Two months on the beach in La Ventana, Baja in my trailer and in the midst of many friends, two months in the Greek Islands by myself and doing the tourist thing, and then six weeks riding, camping, and living with Joe.

But I believe it was on page 144 when Zorba said 'Boss, if I took the time to write about what I do, I wouldn't have time to live it, now would I?'

It's good to be home. Otto

Newfoundland

Joe and I crossed into Newfoundland last Thursday after a 17 hour ferry ride. One of the four engines was out of commission, so the trip was longer than the anticipated 14 hours. We had a bunk in the dorm and found some good bluegrass music in the lounge and made some new friends. The country here is much hillier than Nova Scotia and has tons of lakes as well as being surrounded by the ocean and all ofl its inlets, bays and fjords.

When you mix two wheel travel with camping tents, we tend to be a different type of person, character even.

Paul, thirty something from Vancouver went out and bought a 1980 Honda 750, put on new tires and a chain and sprocket and headed east 4000 miles. He is now burning a quart of oil every 500 miles, so we hope he makes it home OK.

Coleen, a young and attractive airline flight attendant from Austin said she rode a bike as a child, but recently bought a 1200 RT and has put on 9000 miles in the last 35 days, camping along the way.

Marcel of France rode his bicycle across the states, turned around and rode back and is now ending up his ride at Cape Spear, the easternmost point in North America. Marcel is 63 years old, keeps a journal and blogs frequently.

A 70 year old Brit took the cake though. He had flown to Santiago, Chile and decided to buy a motorcycle. He found a new Honda 250, loaded it up and rode north. That was 20 months ago. He also criss crossed the USA before coming up here. His plan is to turn around in Newfoundland and return to Washington, DC and return to England.

Joe and I must fit in well as two of these people mentioned us in their blogs.

We are still enjoying ourselves and staying safe. It has been cloudy and cool the last couple of days with light rain at times. The Gros Morne National Park that we are now in is quite spectacular. This is the first hotel that we have stayed in since entering Canada, camping the rest of the time except for the night at Bob and Janis's home. Tomorrow we will head south and leave Newfoundland on the Thursday morning ferry, arriving back in Nova Scotia just after noon.

Ohio to Nova Scotia

We are now in Baddeck, Nova Scotia and rode the Cape Breton Cabot Trail yesterday. We are taking a break now, Joe to attend a Rotary meeting and me to put on some new tires on the Scooter. Easy trip so far. Lots of friends and relatives. Joe and I really enjoyed Bob and Janis's place in Western Nova Scotia. Big old house with 5 or more bedrooms and six of us staying there.

The weather has been great except for today where it is overcast with some rain drizzles. Since leaving Arizona 18 days ago, I have camped 5 times, stayed in a hotel 4 times and the balance has been with friends and kinfolk. The factory tours, sea faring stuff and catching up with friends have been the best. There are a lot of bikers on the road, doing the same as Joe and I. Yesterday we met up with a Brit on a 250 Honda Rebel that he bought in Santiago, Chile a year and a half ago. He is a tall guy, 70 or so and just pokes along on his 50,000 mile epic. We're looking forward to Newfoundland tomorrow after a 14 hour overnight ferry boat ride.

Otto

Arizona to Ohio

Good friend Gary MacIntyre and Donna on top of his Sty in the Sky in Ohio.
Paul and Mary Bradley in Cincinati, Ohio. Paul and I were in class together at Texas A&M.

Our Sister Betty, her husband Carl and son Richard in Louisville, Kentucky.

Joe and I getting ready to leave from his home in Nashville, Tennessee
Daddy, sister Mary and brother Ron in Charleston, Missouri

On the road to Nova Scotia

Hello, I have just finished up the deck off of the kitchen and a new 8'x12' sculpture studio in the back of the house. The studio is not quite finished but it is close enough.

Tomorrow I am off to Nova Scotia with my recently retired brother, Joe. The first leg is back to his home in Nashville with stops at a camping party at Lake Powell, a visit with Jim, Judy and their family in Oklahoma City, then a couple of days in Charleston, Mo. with my dad and brother Ron. Hopefully my sister Mary will pop up from Montgomery to visit while I am in Charleston. Thursday afternoon, August 6th, I will go down to Joe's and Friday we head out. I'll be on my Burgman Scooter and Joe on his ST1100, both of us with full camping gear. We are both quite excited about this trip as it is the first long ride for Joe. He has done a super job of route planning to take us by the best sights, factory tours and museums as well as a motorcycle rally in PEI.

Otto

Back home in Prescott

 

 

I spent the last couple of days of my trip in Athens doing the tourist thing. Visited the Acropolis for sure, several more museums and took a day trip to Delphi. It's easy to say just see all of this on Channel 8, but is is rather spectacular in person. Just to bad that there are so many persons doing it at the same time. It was a long trip home with Delta leaving four hours late, the customs computer system down for an hour while we stood in line, missing my Phoenix flight and staying at JFK in New York. Delta sent us over to the Doubletree, but they refused us saying they were full. Finally settled at the International for five hours of sleep and arrived in Phoenix at 11 am on May 13th and hopped the shuttle to Prescott. All well here except for a section of lattice fence that was broken by the 70 mph winds they had in April. I wish the best for the Greeks in their current situation. I think that the government employees and unions can afford a pay cut and the Mom & Pop stores, restaurants and hotels will hunker down and hope for a good tourist season. But I still expect the country will have to restructure their foreign debt in 2-3 years. The country will certainly be in a depression and the cities will get dirtier and the infrastructure of roads, boats, and services will deteriorate. These last few days mixing it up with other tourists makes me appreciate more the way I travel. So many others just hit the hot spots and move on at the fastest possible rate. It was a good trip. Otto

Skopolos

I've been here on Skopolos or five days, working my way towards Athens and a flight back on Wednesday. This is a tourist island also and I made friends with two women from Norway, Karina and Wencha (Ven-ka). We drank a lot of wine together, went to the beach a couple of times and hiked quite a bit, both to the beach and up in the mountains to the old monastaries. Out of the four monastaries we saw, one was locked up and looked empty but usable, one had been abandoned, one converted to a family home, and one that was run by a single nun who said at one time there were 30 nuns there. The Norwegians bought some small delicate lace doilies about the size of an open hand for 3 Euros. The nun had made them and we thought that they must have taken her at least a day to make them.

The boat is a hydrofoil that they call a flying dolphin. It is the only way to get from mainland Greece to this island and takes an hour and a half and costs 15 Euro.

The city curves around the bay with only a sidewalk, the main street and then one row of stores and restaurants before the buildings and lanes start climbing up the hill. Cars are only allowed on this main street and on the ring road that circles town. Pedestrians must share the narrow lanes with scooters and motorcycles. The fishermen come in and dock at the port and their customers drive up, jump out and buy their dinner. Fish are expensive here also.

The women and I were both staying at the Captain's Hotel. A real jolly and productive 63 year old that sailed the oceans and became a captain of a freighter, then retired here. He cruises the street by the port on his scooter and hustles customers. Yes, he is good at it and enjoys his business.