Bearnard B. Behr on Route 66…an adventure across the nation!

So I finally got the silly human to do some writing for me…

2011-12-16T20:11:00.000-08:00

So here's what this year has been like for us.

Like always, we spent most of the year on the motorcycle riding down Historic Route 66.

We had a lot of fun as usual, and I'm really getting used to riding on the back of the bike.

In the process we met a lot of really cool people from all over the world, and had a great time.

We had some great tours…with great people!

For our first tour of the year the silly human's employers Andy and Petra came along on one of his tours of Route 66.

We had a great time together and had a great tour. But for some reason the silly human was really nervous the whole time. He finally calmed down…after it was over!

Andy & Petra getting ready for their steaks at the Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo.

Andy's a really tall guy…

…sometimes that's not a good thing!

As for Petra…

…she's a lot of fun to travel with!

Here we all are on the road together…literally…

…except for the silly human, he took the picture!

Like always we made it safely to the end of the tour…

…a bit tired and sunburnt…but glad we did it

I even had a couple of fellow furry friends that went along…

…so my silly human isn't the only one in the world.

At the end of the tour we had our goodbye dinner…

Everyone was there…

…and we were really hungry after such a long trip…

…so we had dinner…and a few drinks…

…and then things got really silly…maybe a few too many drinks!

So my new furry friend and I got comfortable and watched the silly humans have a good time…

That is, until Fulvio decided we needed to get up and dance with the rest of them!

But we didn't mind… us bears are always ready to have a good time too…

As you can see we had a really good time…and Smokin' Smitty (from Salt Lake City) and his buddies in the band played for us late into the night!

That's about all for this time, but don't worry I've convinced the silly human to do more typing for me very soon!

Until next time a great big bear hug for you from me and the silly human!

Going back to the UK and the bike show…again!

2011-03-14T17:41:00.000-07:00

Back to the U.K. for the bike show again!

As usual, the silly human and I traveled to the U.K. again this last November and December for the annual Carole Nash Motorcycle LIVE show at the N.E.C. in Birmingham. We had a great time and saw a lot of old friends there, and looked around at all the pretty new motorcycles! I even helped out by handing out brochures and talking to lots of silly humans.

LOTS of silly humans that like motorcycles!

But I had to…because the silly human kept falling asleep in the afternoon…the lazy bum!

After the show was over we left Birmingham and went to stay with some friends in Nottingham! It was great to see Richard and Karen again. They're both really fun humans and love seeing me and my silly human. They were even nice enough to take the silly human and I up to Leeds, to see the Royal Armory museum.

It's a very nice museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Arms, Armour and other weapons in the world. The silly human loved it, there was so much to see it took us the whole day!

Here I am inside the museum, they're exhibits were really nicely done and we learned a lot!

They even have armor for all sorts of animals, including this one…armor for an elephant! I'm sure if you saw this charging at you you'd drop whatever you were doing and run away…REALLY FAST, I know I would!

They also had some neat places to take pictures…so here I am as the KING! KNEEL BEFORE YOUR NEW MASTER…THE BEARS HAVE TAKEN OVER!!!!

We also met a ghost of America's past…an unlikely place to find Annie Oakley from Buffalo Bill's Wild West show from the old west!

When we were going down to another level of the museum this strange little guy tried to poke out my eyeball…or so it seemed, but then we realized he was just some paint on the mirror…lucky for us!

We kept looking around and the silly human noticed something I missed, one of the sword handles had a bear on it…see…you just can't avoid us…we are everywhere!

Here's Richard and Karen…they're nutters too…maybe not as nutty as my silly human but crazy enough to be a LOT of fun…thanks for everything!

So after we went to the museum we went back to they're place for a wonderful dinner of butternut squash risotto and a few drinks before bed.

The next day Richard had to work all day so Karen decided to be our tour guide and take us to see some of Nottingham's attractions. The first on the list was Wollaton Park and manor. A beautiful old English manor house and grounds…with it's own herd of deer in the park. It's also been the film location of several movies including the series of Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice!

They Had this neat model of the manor…I decided to take a good look at it…

Then I got a great idea…I wanted to play…GODZILLA…HAAAARRRRRGGGGG…

Squish…crunch…smash…stomp the puny humans…MUAWHAHAHAHAHA…die puny humans!

They had some really nice paintings on the walls and ceilings in there too.

The grounds were beautiful…even though it was winter…now it's a city park…with it's own herd of deer!

Nottingham Harley–Davidson!

Afterward we went to the local Nottingham Harley-Davidson dealership…Karen wanted to show us the Route 66 flag from when we took their H.O.G. chapter on a ride down Historic Route 66, all 44 of them!

The dealership had some beautiful Harley-Davidson motorcycles there…the silly human was looking at all of them ad drooling all over them…and then for some reason he started crying…apparently he looked at one of the price tags and converted £ to $ and realized how much one would cost him…sorry Gary!

I sat on a couple of bikes…and was sure to get my picture taken with the 66 flag they had in the shop!

We chatted with the guys in the shop for a bit while the silly human was still trying to stop crying…and when he finally did I got him to take a picture of them with me…thanks guys, you were great!

After the Harley dealer we went back to the house…and after Richard got home the humans decided to go out for a really good curry and some drinks…and they left me all alone at the house…soon I got a little bored of watching T.V. and smelled something very tasty in the living room…I knew the silly human said for me to keep out of trouble…but this was too good to pass up…


…but while they went out on the town I jimmied open the liquor cabinet and had a little party of my own…this is where they found me when they got home…arrrggghh my head really hurt the next morning! The next day all the humans slept in late, partly because it was Saturday…but also because I think they drank a lot the night before…they didn't even get mad at me for having my own private little party at home. Later that day when we had all recovered enough, we all took a short drive up to Newark-On-Trent to see the town and one of the old castles there.

There's not much left of the original castle, but it dates back to the early 13th century, so there's quite a lot left if you consider how old it is!

Because we had to spend most of the day recovering from last night's festivities we got there late, but we were lucky because the sunset that evening over Newark-On-Trent was stunning!

Afterward the silly humans decided it was time for a snack and a pint…do they ever stop?

So we went across the street to the pub…or The Barge…that is a pub…these silly humans do all kinds of crazy things!

It was nice though, the humans were nice enough to buy me my favorite English pub snack…pork scratchings! They're the equivalent to the American Pork rinds, but much tastier! They're not exactly goof for you, but who cares…they go great with a pint of lovely English ale!
Then it was time to go back to Nottingham for the night.

The next day it was time to say goodbye and a big thank you to Richard and Karen, get on the train to go see our friends in Edinburgh…the Mad Scot Chris…and of course Caroline! So we went to the train station, bought a few snacks for us…sausage rolls and pastys for the trip, and sit back and relax for the journey.

Mmmmmm…DELICIOUS!!!

After a few hours we arrived in the silly human's favorite city in Scotland…Edinburgh!

Click on the panoramic (or any photo) for a larger view!

The Mad Scot was there to meet us when we arrived…it was great to see him again.

He had even forgiven me for getting a bit cheeky with his new wife…

…while they were on their honeymoon-motorcycle tour!

That's what you get for feeding the bears…alcohol!

(not recommended!)

Since we arrived late we just headed home, chatted a bit and went to bed.

While we were in Edinburgh the silly human and I spent a lot of time running all over the place.
We saw a lot of Scotland thanks to Chris!

(He's Quite, Quite mad!)

For several days we drove all around Scotland in his new car…Casper!

We went all over the place because the silly human was thinking of a motorcycle tour there.

It's really a beautiful place…and reminded me a bit of home!

A bear could get used to a place like this!

We also looked around Edinburgh more…we went for a walk around town one cold December evening.

We went to Edinburgh Castle…

The Royal Mile…

Royal Bank of Scotland…

Walked around the Christmas festival for a while…

Click on Panoramic photo for full view…

then over the Bridge…and then home.

The Next day the silly human and I checked out Edinburgh Castle…

we spent the day wandering around…

the tower with the Scottish royal jewels…

…the Scottish royal family living quarters…

…the Great Hall…

…and the cannons…

more cannons…

and big cannons!

Since it's on top of the hill you get a great view of the town…

Click on the photos…!

It's a beautiful view, and there's much more to see…the silly human dragged me through the museum there too…

We had a great time wandering around Scotland…but all too soon it was time to get back on the train…but we had some problems getting to the South of England.

It seems that they are NOT prepared for snow in the U.K. and it caused us a bit of a problem…

After our travel ordeal we finally made it to Maidstone…to see our good friend Simon. He's a lucky guy, he runs a PUB! A really nice one as well…and he lives above it!

It is the Pippin Pub: http://www.gkpubs.co.uk/pubs-in-maidstone/pippin-pub/

It's a great modern pub…good beer…good food and some great girls!

Like Kaylie , she was home on leave from the Royal Naval academy…and used to work there, and we all sat around having a few pints and chatting all day! She's just recently graduated from the Naval academy, congratulations Kaylie!!!

The next day we all took the train into London to go see the notorious Tower of London…

The silly human was being a tourist for once!

It's a neat place to visit…

I tried to talk to this curious looking fellow, but he didn't respond! He just stood there…guarding the tower!

So we went inside and they had some neat stuff in there…like this crossbow…do ye feel lucky? well do ye knave? The silly human has one like this, but his WORKS!

I tried on one of their old helmets…UGGHHHH…feels like a ton…not very practical for a bear my size!

I found it to be a much better seat…

We found another of those curious looking people…errrr…things? I tried convincing this one to shoot a pigeon, but it didn't do anything. I guess they're not really people after all, or they really like pigeons.

We then went to go see the tower itself…on the way the silly human stuffed me into yet another cannon…I'm sure glad he doesn't have any gunpowder! Who knows what would happen to me if he did?

Inside the tower we saw a wonderful exhibit on all the armour the silly humans used to wear when they got mad and got into fights with each other!

There were all sorts of this armor everywhere…

There was the world's largest suit…and the world's smallest too…but even the smallest was still too big for yours truly!

Then there were the horses they would ride while wearing all that silly metal!

The silly human showed me that they used to cut off heads here!

Looked like a nasty practice, luckily they had not done this in a long time!

While we were looking around I noticed something that I had to show the silly human! They used to have a bear here in the tower! It seems that you can't go anywhere without seeing BEARS!

The Tower of London was also where they used to make the money that they use here… the £ Pound £!

Here's the mold they used to pound out the coins…hmmm…maybe that's why they call it the Pound!

They sure were pretty looking, nice and shiny!

After the silly human was done looking at the shiny things and commenting how he'd like to steal them, we decided it would be a good idea to continue on before he got into trouble! So we went down to the bottom level, where they has an exhibit on how the tower had burned down once.

Afterward we went outside and there was this fellow standing there…at first I thought he was a statue because he wasn't moving like the metal fellows earlier, but when I took a closer look this one was breathing!…so he WAS real!

So I sat around the courtyard a while waiting for him to move, but he never did…hmmm…maybe he's asleep or something. It started to get a bit chilly outside…so after a while Simon suggested something I liked!

Time for some nice hot tea and a warm scone with clotted cream and jam…YUMMY! After tea it was almost time for the tower to close for the evening, so we decided to go get some dinner as we were still hungry…and Simon made another great suggestion…lets go get something to eat!

Always a great suggestion for me!

While they were trying to figure out a place to go eat I went for a look at tower bridge, it sure looked pretty at night with all the lights!

They soon decided on something to eat but we had to get back on the subway there…but they call it the "Tube".

So we went for a little ride, I didn't know where we were going…but I really didn't care as long as we were going to go EAT!

When we got off the "Tube" we were in…

Chinatown!

So we wandered around for a bit to find a good place to eat. We had a great dinner and then headed back to Maidstone on the train for an after dinner pint in the pub before bed.

The next day it was time to say goodbye to Simon and catch the train into London to our hotel by Heathrow airport for our trip home the next day.

The airport was still crowded with people trying to go places, some had been there for days trying to get somewhere. It seems that the people who run the airport have no idea how to keep an airport open when it snows. Maybe they need to come to Colorado to see how the silly humans do it there!

We were lucky, because our flight was ready and we didn't have any problems…it was time to go home. So we got on the plane for the 8+ hour flight home…so I got comfortable…

The humans who brought us things to eat and drink were very nice…the silly human called them "Flight attendants". They were all very nice to me, and even brought me something to drink…if I promised to behave myself! I was tired anyway so I agreed!

They had the greatest Bearnard-sized drinks…little whiskeys and tiny sodas…mmmm…great combination.

I got tired of sitting in the seat after a few hours, and then the silly human found me a seat with a view, I think I must be the first bear to be up this high! I was a little scared at first, but then the silly humans said it was safe so I calmed down a bit and enjoyed the view ! Then the nice flight attendants said if I wanted something to eat I had to go back to my seat, that's all I need to hear!

Soon they brought me some sandwiches and some more drinks…

I thought it was yummy…I don't see why the silly humans say it's yucky…I liked it…especially the chocolate candy!

I started chatting with the nice guy beside me, and while I was distracted the silly human on my other side was trying to steal my candy…

Just as I was about to get mad and maul her for trying to steal chocolate from a bear, the silly human reminded me that I had promised to behave. So I growled a bit at her and explained how dangerous it was to try to take food from a hungry bear! She agreed and then we talked for a bit! She turned out to be really nice, but really loved chocolate! Just as were having a nice conversation the plane was getting ready to land.

Our trip was now done, and after a quiet ride we were back home! I got back to my nice warm place above the fireplace and got comfortable for my long hibernation until spring.


The silly human and I just want to say thank you to everyone for everything they did for us while we were in the UK.

The silly human has been lazy again…until now.

2010-12-15T16:33:00.000-08:00

What's happened since last time…

I got so see my friends on historic Route 66 again this summer…like Mr. Sam at the round barn in Arcadia, Oklahoma.

As well as my good buddy Ken Turmel, the guy who made the Postmark Artwork of Route 66. A really neat idea he had to document all the postmarks of all the towns along the Route before they all disappeared. Take a look at his website to see more about it, it is…http://www.postmarkart.com/

I also met a bunch of traveling stuffed animals along the way just like me!

I also got to meet some real nutters out on the road as well, like this guy. He was driving a lawnmower from coast to coast, from California to New York. He was doing it for a promotion for Craftsman tools, and of course their lawnmowers. But he rode the thing for about 4,000 Miles across the U.S.A., and I call Gary the silly human…hmmmm…maybe I should re-think that.

We also went to the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee for our Route 66 Deluxe tour…and when the silly human took me into the gift shop I was bear-napped! Although I didn't mind because they were two very cute and cuddly girls! The silly human was turning green with envy…

…especially when they started kissing and cuddling with me instead of him! I'm one LUCKY bear…better luck next time Gary!

We also meet this fellow at Roy's station in Amboy, California, and he's got something in common with the silly human…

He's also got a tattoo of Route 66 as well…
nicely done.

That's all for now…more to come in the coming days…like our annual trip to the U.K. where we are right now!

Going to Chicago August 2010 Day 1

2010-08-04T21:05:00.000-07:00

Silly humans making silly videos! We're on our way to Chicago!

So we're on our way to Chicago to begin our August Route 66 tour. The silly humans gave me the best seat in the house for the drive out to Chicago. Yep, that was me sitting in the from window watching the miles roll by on our exhausting 1200 mile road trip to get ready to start a new tour. I was holding the camera a bit while the silly human Gary was talking…and then he took it away from me. Well enough of my rambling on…Here's the video…

So that's the start…more to come. Keep checking back for more!

2010-08-04T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone…so it's been a while since the silly human has posted anything for me… I started hibernating in December and asked him to do a couple of posts when he had the time. Well, as usual he's been a lazy bum and not done anything. His excuse is that he's been busy working for a new company and forgot…yeah, RIGHT! I woke up a few days ago, and been chewing on his heels since, to get something posted…so here's what we've been up to!

Of course we've been doing our tours…

…and doing some traveling…

…and just hanging out at home.

Let's start with the tours we did this last summer. We had a great season but only got to do Historic Route 66, but that's alright, both the silly human and I love doing it. This year he even made another music video.

So there you go…

As for this year we've been busy taking people on tours again and riding down Historic Route 66. We've had a great time as usual and we're not done yet! Also at the end of this year we will also be taking some old friends on a very special "Invitation Only" tour of the historic southwestern United States. The silly human used to live in Texas for about ten years and did a lot of motorcycle riding while he was down there. He knows of some really great roads in some very remote places…where tourists or tours almost never go! We'll be sure to take plenty of pictures while we're doing the tour and post them up on the blog so everyone can see!

So that's about all for now…but keep checking back. I've gotten the silly human feeling guilty for not posting anything in a long time and he's promised me he will be putting more on the blog from now on. Until next time remember to keep the rubber on the road and the shiny side up!

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area Rear View

2009-11-16T19:32:00.001-08:00

Riding through Glen Canyon National Recreation Area on the California Sunrider's Best of the West Guided Motorcycle Tour

The human left me on the bike…alone!

2008-11-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

Here's what really happens on tour…

One day this summer the human made the mistake of leaving me by myself and my seatbelt undone…*sniff*… something smells good and I'm hungry.

I know the silly human keeps snacks somewhere in here…

DARN…nothing, I can smell something good…
but it's not in here!

Okay, I smell food somewhere…and I'm HUNGRY!!! I want SNACKS!!!

then I saw them…could it be?…could I be so lucky?…

Look what the nice park people left for me…Bearnie Lunchboxes!

Check out the silly signs on them. Good advice for humans, but not for me!
I'm a bit smarter than the average bear, so this should be easy!

It says "Yosemite's Bears", nothing about Colorado Bears though…

Time to get started…Jump up to here…

Pull myself up to here.

Now Pull myself up…

…to the top…Whew…!!

Hmmmm………Alright! I've got it figured out…I think…maybe????

Okay, Let's see if this works…if I stand on this part…

…and lift here…

…and push with my foot Here!!

Urrrggggggghhhhhhh!!!!

…OW…OW…OW! $#!#X&%
I got my paw stuck …OW! &#!#!

…but I kept trying until my paw about went numb…

and suddenly it finally unlocked!!

I was just bearly able to …

…get these heavy doors open…ughhhhh!!!!!

I Know that smell…

…Food!!!!!!
Time to go find a quiet place in the woods and have a little snack!

…afterwards, all I had to do was put the trash in it, Lock it up…

…like it was…

…climb back down…

… without falling on my @&&…

…get back to the bike, climb up and get back into my seat…

…and the silly human would never know!
He soon came back for me and we had a great time looking around in Yosemite Valley…URPPPP…oops…excuse me!

Nine tours and 25,000 Miles later…

2008-11-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

Nine Tours & 25,000 Miles Later…

…We're still alive…a bit saddle-sore but alive!

We had a great time once again, and met some great bikers in the process! Making friends along the way with people from all around the world. This year we were lucky enough to meet people from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Holland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, France, Australia, Italy, Germany, Brazil, and of all places Iceland!

Let's get ready to ride!

Grab your helmet…

…Find your bike…

…put your hair up…

…and finish that ciggie…

…Let's RIDE!!!

We've got places to go…

…Big Places…

…Beautiful Places…

…Hot Places…

…Cool Places…

…with big Bridges…

…big Cars…

…and big scenes!!

More to come…check back soon!!

Four tours down…four to go…

2008-06-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well the tour season is halfway over and the silly human has been taking me along again on the back of the bike. I'm not complaining…in fact I'm having a great time! We're meeting more really nice people and seeing some really great places. It's been a great year so far, with the exception of some really bad weather on the first Wild West tour…riding in the snow is never a fun thing (unless you're crazy like my silly human who still had a good time). So far we've met some really great people from all over the world. This year we even had a couple of really nice fellas from Iceland…wow! There's only about 320,000 people in the entire country, there's almost 2 Million in just the Denver, Colorado area (about 25 miles from our home).

Our Favorite Place to Eat Breakfast on Route 66
Lilo's Westside Cafe

Lilo and I enjoying a cup of coffee and comparing notes about the silly human Gary.

This year I met another traveling animal and mascot, Badger!

Wise Badger, What a delightful fellow!

That's about all for now…got to get back to keeping an eye on the crazy human. Without me around to keep him under control, you'd be amazed at the silly things he gets up to!

Road Man!

2008-06-24T00:17:00.000-07:00

Hello Silly Humans!
Well we're back to touring again for the 2008 season!
The silly human and I have gotten back on the road and we've done 7 weeks and 9,100 Miles (about 14,650KM) so far! The silly human and his other silly human van driver Bill have been working on this video for a couple of weeks. They say they're not done with it and they'll improve and finish it after the next Route 66 tour we do!
Personally I think it's a really strange thing for them to do while on tour, but it keeps them from getting into too much trouble! Keep checking back for the next version!

Back home from England

2008-03-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

After a long 20 hours of traveling we finally arrived back home in Colorado. We Had a great time in England and really appreciate all the hospitality we were shown, and would like to say a big thank you to everyone for giving us a place to stay while we were there. England is a very pretty country and we want to see more of it. We may be coming back next fall for the NEC show again…I sure hope so, it was a lot of fun! So when we got home it was time to rest up a bit and get over the time difference. It had also been snowing a lot in our absence, and there was snow piling up every where.

Gary had to put on the snowplow bracket on his old Toyota Landcruiser for the coming winter snow season. After some cursing, a couple of broken knuckles and a few hours we were ready to plow out the driveway and road to our house.

We get a lot of snow through the winter…normally I hibernate, but the silly human keeps me awake! We have a lot of fun so I really don't miss it. We play a lot of games outside, go sledding, skiing, snowball fights and king of the hill!

Then when the sun goes down and it gets really cold, we go back inside to get some hot Cocoa and play some video games

I do pretty good at some games, for a bear that is!

We also have more time to update my blog, and since the crazy human has more free time I can get him to do more typing for me. Well that's about all for now, check back soon, the silly human is going to post his touring schedule for the coming season.

The Last couple of days…

2008-03-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

Our last few days in England…

For our last few days in England we depart from London and make our way out East to Gillingham to see some more friends. After saying goodbye and thank you to our hosts Norm & Carol we get on a train and make our way to Gillingham. We rode for about an hour or so on the train looking at the nice scenery and just relaxing. When we arrive we give a call to our friend, who goes by the name "H" and he comes out to thew train station to give us a ride. We were soon at "H" and Kim's lovely house for an evening of good conversation and a few beers.

While we were there I had to go out to the garage to see both Kim's custom trike, and H's beautiful classic Triumph bikes. H is what we would call a "True Biker", he loves to ride AND do all his own work on his bike himself! No paying someone else to fix or improve his or Kim's bikes, he does all the work himself (and Gary says he's really good at it).

Of course I had to get my loony human to get a picture of me and Kim on her beautiful trike! One thing that makes her trike so special is it's a rolling tribute to her late daughter Lana.

Kim and H went to great trouble and expense to have a local art instructor do a beautiful paint job on her trike, putting Lana's image on the tank, along with Kim and H's too.

Here's what H looks like with his beard!

The pictures here don't do it any justice here, the artist who did this is first rate! In person it looks almost three-dimensional, one of the best paint jobs Gary said he's ever seen!

Here's Kim on the other side of the tank, a very good likeness! We looked at the bikes for a while, and then it was back into the house for a couple more beers while we waited for a couple more friends to come over from the Isle of Sheppy for dinner, Paul, Trish and my stuffed buddy, Kermit.

Here they are at the end of their Route 66 tour in 2006, when they first met Gary. My friend Kermit was trying to keep these two under control for the whole tour, but to no avail! They were on an extended holiday around the world, and Route 66 was just one of the many along the way.
It wasn't long before they found us and we were off to dinner at a nice local restaurant. H and Kim didn't know Paul and Trish before this evening, but Gary was sure they would all get along famously, which they did! Plus having the shared experience of riding down Route 66 helped too.

Here we are after a wonderful dinner and a few (hic!) drinks! A great evening all-round!

Since it was around Christmas I decided to bring a present for my froggy-friend Kermit. When he went down Route 66 he didn't have any proper riding gear (he rode in the top-box of the bike mostly), so I decided to bring him a Leather biker Jacket and a full set of Route 66 Badges. I figured that since he made it all the way down the road with these two nutters he should be rewarded for getting them through it alive! After dinner it was back to H and Kim's for the night for a good sleep. The next day we spent going over good times on the tour and just generally talking about riding before it was time for us to head off to the train station. We said thanks and goodbye to our good friends and got on the train to make our way back North.
We went back through London and changed trains to our next stop, Northampton. We had several friends in the area too that we wanted to see.
We got off the train in Northampton, and were met by our buddy from another tour, Steve.
It was late when we got into town and then drove to Steve's favorite Indian restaurant for dinner. So after a curry and a beer (or three) it was time for bed!
The next day Steve and Gary slept in and then had a good time lounging about the house chatting about good times on the road, truck (lorry) driving (something both Gary and Steve have in common), girls and more until we got hungry and decided to find a nice pub to have lunch at. We drove around the lovely countryside going from Pub to Pub until we found a very nice one having an early Christmas roast dinner. After a good meal it was back to Steve's place for some more conversation, and to watch some videos of Adrian Edmondson and Rick Mayall in "Bottom Live", very funny stuff. After the videos it was about time to go to the pub to meet some more friends for a few pints and a few laughs. So it was back in the car and we drove to a local "Workingman's Pub" to meet Robert (Bob) and John. They had some very good beer at this place, and Gary was very impressed by the quality, something which we never get at home! I gave it a try and was so impressed I tried to start drinking it from the tap, but before I could, my jacket got caught on the handle and I got stuck!

Here I am stuck on the tap trying to get some of this wonderful stuff for myself! I was just about to get unstuck until the landlords saw me and pried me off the tap handle.
They gave Gary a stern warning about me not getting any more silly ideas, and to keep me under control. It was a hard thing to do though, this bear doesn't get good beer very often so it was difficult to keep me (and Gary too…) away from it for long.

They were very nice about it though, and promised me that if I behaved myself they would give me a pint! That was all I needed to hear, so I was a good bear the rest of the night! So we had a good time chatting about good times and riding motorcycles, while enjoying the beer, eating pork scratchings and crisps and meeting more people.

After a couple of hours of behaving myself the barkeep was true to his word and gave me a pint all to myself, no more sharing with my loony human. Gary was enjoying the beer a little too much, and was quite silly by this time! So I had to finish the pint all by myself, that's a lot of beer for this little Bear! We had a great time until closing time and then it was back to Steve's place to sleep off all that good beer!

The humans sat around a bit watching more silly videos and chatting before bed, which gave me a chance to sneak off to the kitchen to find something more to drink! That's when I discovered Strongbow cider in the fridge. I never had it until now, and now I'm hooked! Who knew that you could get something so good from fruit? So while the humans were distracted watching the tele I finished off a whole can by myself (b…u…r…p)! I really don't remember much after that, but I must have had a good time!

This is where I woke up the next morning, apparently a couple of Steve's roommates saw I was a bit drunk and were nice enough to take care of me the previous evening. Today also was the day we had to go back to Birmingham to catch our flight back home. Steve had the day off and was nice enough to give us a lift to the airport in time to make our flight! Thanks Steve, we couldn't have done it without you! So after a drive it was time to say Thank you and goodbye to Steve and go get on the airplane. Our trip to England was over, but we had a great time and who knows…maybe we'll be back next year for the show again! Both Gary and myself were feeling a bit delicate after last night, so it was time to get on the plane, have a few Aspirin and go back to sleep for the nine hour flight back home.
Both Gary and myself would like to say a big "THANK YOU" to everyone in jolly ol' England for a great time and their extremely generous hospitality…we really had a brilliant time!
Cheers!

Day Two in London

2008-02-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

At Least it's not Raining today…Yet!

So after a nice relaxing evening with friends and a good night's sleep it was time to catch a train from the south suburbs of London back into the city center.

We got off again at Charing Cross station again, mainly because it's just so easy to get to everything worth seeing (and it's Carol and Norm's stop too). We stopped for a nice breakfast at a little local eatery down one of the small alleyways they call streets here. You couldn't get a car down it if you tried, but they call it a street anyway. We had our breakfast with Norm before he went to work and went about our merry way!

Today we traveled around London using "The Tube" or "The Underground" as they call it here, to me it looked a lot like a Subway, like those in New York City. They do have some silly names for things here, like an Elevator is called "The Lift", cigarettes are "Fags", a trashcan in called a "Dustbin" and a lot of other silly names for things.

On our day out today we didn't have as much time as yesterday, so we were only able to see a few things before we had to catch a train. Since it was a nice day out we walked around a little more, passing by places we had already been to. Since it was nice out today the horses were standing outside their shelters, enjoying the nice warm sunshine while it lasted.

Even the humans seemed a little happier to be standing outside today, even if they weren't allowed to move around much.

By this time in the trip I was getting a little homesick and decided to call home. I got into one of these telephone booths alright, made my call, and promptly got stuck in the door on the way out of it. Gary thought this was hilarious and started to giggle almost uncontrollably, and after a few minutes he calmed down enough to hear me yelling at him to get me unstuck! He finally quit laughing enough to prize me out of the door and resume walking.

On our way to the next stop we passed by Parliment's east tower (Big Ben) again, and Gary found a much better place to take pictures of it. So we stoppe for a few minutes to take a few pictures.

So after a few good shots like this one we walked a few hundred feet more and we were at our next stop…Westminister Abbey.

This is another really big church, and this one is special because this is where all the Monarchs (not the butterflies) go for religious ceremonies, like Weddings and funerals. It's also where there are a lot of really important and famous people are buried, including some of the Monarchy.

It may be a church, but it also has a part that looks a lot like a castle. For several hundred years the church was almost as powerful as the government or Monarchy (some people said it was more powerful), and was very important.

It's a really big building, and I guessed if the bigger the building was, the more important the people inside were. Since all I was used to was our little house in the Rockies, these places seemed gigantic to me, so they must be a lot more important than just little 'ol stuffed me! Gary said that was completely and utterly wrong, and that they were compensating for a lack elsewhere (I really didn't understand this…), and that I was much more important to him than any of these silly humans!

No matter… it was still a very pretty building to look at, and I thought it was almost like a piece of art. Gary said that it really was a piece of artwork, something called "Architecture". Whatever the call it I still think it's very pretty. It's just a bummer we once again don't have the time or money to get inside.

So we just wandered around outside again, and Gary seemed to be happy enough to just take some pictures of it.

He found lots of good places to take pictures from too.

So we finished up taking pictures and Gary said that we needed to get moving to see the next thing in time. So we started walking again to go back to Buckingham palace to see the "Changing of the Guard".

So we walked back through the park, looking at all the nice tasty fish swimming around in the lake! Before I could even ask though, Gary said not to get any Ideas about jumping in after them for a quick mid-morning snack!

Apparently the guards standing outside the palace get replaced by new guards all the time. I guess this is so they don't fall asleep at their places. Gary said that the changing of the guard was another of these special "ceremonies" that the still have for the family of Monarchs (extremely silly humans). They have a bunch of guards dressed up nice march around a bit and take each other's place. They do this very precisely and even have a marching band play music for them while they do this.

By the time we got there it was a little too late…since it was a nice day and not raining all of the other tourists were already there (some for several hours) waiting to see it. So we weren't able to get even close to it, so it was time to give up, go back to get our bags from Norm, and catch our train to go see some more friends in Gillingham.
That's it for now…keep checking back and we'll finish this story soon!

We finally get to London!

2008-01-27T01:21:00.000-08:00

So we finally get to London!
After our day adventuring around the Salisbury area we went back to Overton for a good night's rest. The next morning we got up packed our bags, had a quick cup of tea, and said thank you and goodbye to David & Penny their wonderful hospitality. David was nice enough to give us a ride to the train station and we were off to London.

After about a hour and a half we arrived in London's Charing Cross station, right in the middle of central London. Our friend from a previous Route 66 tour, Norman works in downtown london and was nice enough to meet us at the station and let us store the crazy humans bags somewhere while we walked around to see the town.

After dropping our bags off at Normans' office it was time to go for a walk around Central London for a few hours. Our first stop was Trafalgar Square, right in front of the National Gallery, and had some really neat statues, fountains and lots of silly humans walking around.

See what I mean, the strange and silly humans were everywhere! I wanted to go for a quick dip in the pond to look for fish, but Gary informed me that it was a fountain, and that there weren't any fish in there. I pondered for quite a while why these humans would make such a nice pond in the middle of the city but not put any fish in it! These English humans are supposed to like Fish & Chips, so where do they get the fish?

I still didn't believe Gary, so we went down to the pond for a closer look! The statues in the pond were spitting out the water, so it must not be good enough to keep fish in. The only thing that looked like a fish was the Dolphin behind the human statue, and it was spitting out the water too, so this was pretty good proof that there must have been something wrong with the water!

On the other end of the square there was another statue, this one was of a lion, and boy was it really big. I don't think that a real Lion is this big, if it was I think the humans would have a real problem on their hands. It was neat though, and after a quick picture we were off again to adventure around!

Gary's friend Norman gave him directions on where to go to see things that he really wanted to see. The first was the guilded gates to one of the royal parks just down the road from Trafalgar Square. It was nice to see that the humans were smart enough to leave themselves some room to run around in that wasn't paved over. This is the entrance to St. James Park, and we found out later that it also was once the burial place for Lepers…strange humans! It was just accross the street from one of the most famous places in England, Buckingham Palace.

It too had a big, guilded fence around it, and lots of police and security people. I decided that it would probably be a good idea to behave myself, I didn't want to get in any trouble (like I did in Oklahoma and New Mexico…) in a strange country.

I asked Gary what the silly humans did here, and he said it was the home of the British Royals. I really didn't understand until he explained that they were Monarchs. After a bit of confusion I finally understood and wondered why they needed such a big house! Gary said it was because they were very important, and at one time used to be the ones who ran the country.

They had a lot of security people everywhere. These must be some very special Monarchs to have all these guards keeping them safe.

I wanted to go in and see these really important Monarchs, but the man at the gate wouldn't let us go in. I then came to the conclusion that the big fence wasn't there to keep these Monarchs in, but the rest of the people out! I asked Gary why they wouldn't let us go see the butterflies, he just giggled a bit and explained that these Monarchs weren't the pretty Orange butterflies we have back home, but a family of silly humans. Now things were beginning to make more sense to me, I knew these humans were silly and I guess letting a family of butterflies run the country would be extremely silly, even for them!

I still wanted to see these really important humans, but Gary said that all we could do is just stand around a while to see if they came outside. It was raining a bit, and it began to rain even more, Gary said these humans really don't like the rain so we finally gave up on the idea and decided we had better get back to sightseeing

So we got back to walking, and we went through the park along the lake. Now this was a proper lake and there were even fish in it too. I asked Gary if I could do a bit of fishing here, but he said that it was a Royal park, and that the fish here were just for looking at…extremely silly humans! There were Ducks, and Swans around too, and Gary said not to get any ideas about them either, and that they were just for looking at too.

At the other end of the park there were some humans sitting on top of horses just standing there doing nothing…in the rain! When I asked Gary why they were on horses in the middle of a big city where a car would be much better, he said that they were there because of a tradition.

When I saked what the tradition was, he said that this place is where the Royal guards are stationed and meant to be the dividing place between the Royal Monarchs (not the butterflies) and the modern government.

I found a nice place to sit down while Gary took some pictures of the silly humans on their horses, doing nothing but standing around in the rain.

There seemed to be two different types of silly humans on horses, some of them in red uniforms, and some in black. When I asked Gary why this was he said it was to represent a balance of power between the two forms of government.

I just sat around wondering why they didn't have enough sense to get out of the rain, but then realized that we were getting rained on as well.

At least this fellow was lucky enough to have a place to get out of the rain! After a couple more pictures it was time to go see more. So we walked down the road a bit to the home of the English modern government, the Parliment and House of Lords.

The first thing we saw was a really big tower with a clock at the top. Gary said it was called the East tower and there was a really famous and important bell on the inside of it called "Big Ben"…leave it to the silly humans to give a bell a name!

This is the Houses of Parliment and the House of Lords. Gary explained to me that this is where the humans now run the country from. He also explained that the Monarchs no longer ran things, but were kept around for the ceremonial events…and to distract other silly humans with their extremely silly behavior. I guess it was so they wouldn't get bored, and would have something to talk about while it was raining outside (which seems to be all the time here).

Here's a good look at it from the other end, and a good view of the Thames river that goes through the center of London. Gary said that the reason London is here is because of the river, ant this used to be a very important place for trading things with other humans…including fish.

It's a really big building too, and really pointy and pretty! We then hopped on a bus and went up the road a long way to go see another cathedral. We went for a nice ride and ended up at St. Paul's Cathedral, which has been around for almost four hundred years. A really big place, we wanted to go inside and see what it looked like, but the humans at the door wanted a lot of money just to go inside. Since Gary is a bit on the poor side already and everything is double the price for him over here he didn't have enough money for us to go inside.

So we just walked around the outside for a bit, looking at all the neat statues and the building itself.

It was so big that no matter where we went we couldn't get a picture of the whole thing that was any good! Since we couldn't go in and we had walked around it completely, it was time to go to the next thing on Gary's list. So we walked along the Thames riverwalk toward our next destination, the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.

We stopped for a brief rest break while on the way, we (well mostly Gary, he tends to carry me all the time) had already done a lot of walking today and was getting a little tired. Here's a good picture of the Tower Bridge from the walk along the Thames.

After Gary was sufficently rested we continued until we came to the Tower of London. This is a really famous place, and has been around for about a thousand Years. The humans have used it fo a variety of different things. It used to be the home of the Monarchs before they all moved to Buckingham palace. It has also been used as a Fortress, Prison where they tortured and executed other humans, a Zoo, Armoury, place to keep and Make money (something these humans are still obsessed with), public records office, Observatory and where the silly humans keep the "Crown Jewels".

It's a really big place, but we didn't have the time to go in and see it.

It's also the home of a bunch of Ravens, and the silly humans believe that if the Ravens ever leave the Tower of London that the country will fail. So they have someone whose job is to look after these birds and make sure that they stay and are happy there.

Since we didn't have either the time or the money to get in we just walked around the outside (again) before we set off to walk across the Tower Bridge.

Gary said that the Tower Bridge was probably one the most important landmarks in London and that we had to walk across it.

They painted all of the metal on the bridge a very pretty blue color. We stopped several times while walking across it to take some pictures.

It's a big Bridge, but not nearly as big as my favorite bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge in California. Why do these silly humans paint these bridges such bright colors?

The neat thing about this bridge is that it has two towers on either side where it splits apart so big boats can go under it.

The Golden Gate Bridge doesn't split apart like this one does, which is why it's so important. Plus it's really pretty too!

The towers on either side are really tall too!

The humans really spent a lot of time to make sure it was a good bridge, and they made it out of really big pieces of stone and steel to make sure it lasted a long time!

It's a good thing to go see in London, different than any other bridge I've ever seen.

After walking across it, we continued along the Thames river stopping occasionally to take some more pictures.

Just about the time we got across it the sun began to go down, and we were at a really big ferris wheel called "The London Eye". It was a huge ride and went really slow, and looked neat all lit up a pretty blue color. This was the end of our first day walking around London and it was almost time to go meet up with Gary's friends to spend the night with.

Before we went though, we were both really tired from our busy day and just had to sit down again for a rest before we met up with Gary's friends. It had been a great day (except for all the rain that never seems to stop here), and we were coming back tomorrow to see more.
Now it was time for a good dinner and a good night's rest.
Check back soon as the story continues…

Still wasting time in England…and having a great time!

2008-01-22T23:00:00.000-08:00

After stopping to see the symbols the crazy humans have carved in the hills, we got back on the road to see some more of the local area's attractions. We drove around for a bit down really pretty country roads to a really old castle on top of a hill. Old Wardour Castle, where parts of " Robin Hood Prince of thieves" was filmed. A really unusual 5 sided design makes the castle one of a kind, and the grounds are very well looked after. But unfortunately we were there during the slow season so the grounds were closed. So we were only able to walk around the outside, but very pretty and surrounded by nice woods, almost like being back home in the mountains!

It's a very pretty place, too bad we couldn't get inside for a better look around!

I can see why they used it in the movie.
Maybe we'll get a chance to see it better if we go back next year!
After our brief stop to look at the neat castle we continued on our way to a local landmark, Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset!

It Doesn't look like it from here but it's quite a steep road!

After our brief stop to look at the neat castle we continued on our way to a local landmark, Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset! This is where the Hovis bread company filmed one of the most popular commercials in English television history. In the commercial it's supposed to be somewhere in Northern England, but in fact it's in the very southern part of England. Just another example of how these silly humans make one place look like another. Here's the Commercial, so you know what I'm talking about.

So after we walked around a bit we stopped at the top of the hill to have a lovely Cream Tea in a nice little cafe at the top of the road, Delicious! After our little snack it was back to the car and off to another local landmark.

Salisbury Cathedral!

It's a very neat place to visit, and the home to one of the last remaining copies of the Magna Carta. We spent a while walking around the interior, looking at all the beautiful art and all the history everywhere. Gary was really interested in seeing that Magna Carta thing, and spent a lot of time looking at it and trying to read it (his Latin wasn't as good as it was when he was in college)!

It's a really beautiful place to walk around, and you can't really get an idea of how big it really is on the inside from the pictures Gary took. He did try however, but there was so much we just didn't have the time to see everything and take pictures too.

This place was really huge!

After our walk around the cathedral and the grounds, we walked around the city center until it was time to meet everyone else from previous tours for a dinner and a well deserved pint of great English Beer. Well that's about all for now, Gary is complaining about having to do all the typing while I just sit here and dictate! We'll continue the rest of the story soon!

Bike show is over, now it's time to explore England!

2007-12-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

Wasting time in the English countryside!

After we packed up the displays from the show it was time to say goodbye to Birmingham for a bit. David and Gary got everything loaded into the car and we headed down the motorway (on the wrong side of the road) to David's in Overton. It only took us less than two hours to get a quarter of the way across the country! In the USA this would take a couple of days, not hours! After a good night's rest we had a bit of breakfast and went to go see H-C Travel and the rest of Overton, a nice little town in the English countryside.

Now that we were done working it was time to go for a bit of a walk and see the country. We walked around the little town of Overton, stopping occasionally to see the local shops and the town in general. A very nice little country town, a place even Gary said he would like to live in. Sure there aren't any mountians like we're used to but nice nonetheless.

We stopped off on our walk around town to take a look at the local church, older than almost all of the places back home in Colorado.

Gary wasn't used to the narrow, small little roads we saw all over England, good thing he wasn't driving anywhere, plus the big dummy would probably end up on the wrong side of the road anyway. After the first day of wandering around Overton we went back for a wonderful dinner with David and Penny, a bit of conversation and then off to bed for a nice night's rest.

The next day we got up, had a nice cup of tea and walked up to the train station to take a day trip down to Salisbury to see some friends and the local attractions. It was about a mile to the train station, but a very nice walk. We got on the train and were very impressed at how nice they were and how easy it was to get around the local area this way. A quick 30 minutes later we were in Salisbury and got a ride from one of our friends from a previous tour. He was nice enough to take us up to go see one of the oldest mysteries in England, Stonehenge! Just a bit out of town it was nice to go see, although a bit expensive and they wouldn't let us get within fifty feet from the actual stones. I asked why and the nice people looking after it said that they had so many people visiting that it might be damaging to them to allow everyone get that close.

But we had a good time looking around and taking some pictures and video. We then met another friend from a previous tour who was nice enough to drive us around the local area to see the rest of the countryside. After Stonehenge we drove down to a small local town to see a little oddity in front of the village church.

Apparently the locals have been keeping track of the price of bread here for over two hundred years, carving the price into a piece of stone and placing it in the wall surrounding the local church. The stones give the year and the price for a Gallon of bread, which gives you some idea of inflation over a very long period of time. We never found out just exactly why this was done, but we guessed that this was so everyone paid the same price. Those silly humans!

After a quick picture, it was time to travel onward to see another local landmark. During the second world war there were a very large amount of both American and British soldiers stationed in the area around the airfields set up in the area to defend the English Isles and bomb Germany.
While they were in the area they discovered that just under a foot or so of earth the ground was comprised of almost pure white chalk. Having discovered this someone came up with the idea to carve away the topsoil in the shape of the regimental symbol, and then all of the units in the area followed suit. It's even visible on Google earth, and is just a little ease-southeast of the little town of Fovant.

Taking a look around at the silly humans carving up the ground again, boy do they do some strange things!

Here they are, a bit hard to see from this angle though!

Looks like someone Dancing doesn't it!

This one is much easier to see, and is much better maintained!

So is this one, but I can't really tell what it looks like, pretty though!

Our friend and tour guide for the day, thank you and hopefully we'll see you again soon!

The final Days at the NEC Motorcycle Show

2007-12-30T18:09:00.000-08:00

For the next few days of the show we spent a lot of time meeting really nice from all over the U.K.. We also had some more friends come by and say hello. We also got some time to go wander around the show and get a look at all the new motorcycles coming out for the next year. There were Harleys, Hondas, Kawasaki's, BMW's, Triumph, Royal Enfields, Triumph, and many more.

We walked around for quite a while looking and drooling over all the new bikes. We saw some really nice motorcycles and all the neat stuff that goes with them. I even got the chance to ride the new Honda 80cc. It's a lot of power for yours truly, but a lot of fun.

We also saw several bikes that were just my size! They would be perfect for doing the tours for me, but Gary said that he didn't have enough money to buy a bike just for me, so I guess I'll just have to be happy riding on the back of his bike.

I liked this bike a lot, it was just about my size! But I just didn't like the colors! So we walked around some more looking at all the neat stuff until one bike caught my attention.

This is the one!

Now this is much better, now all I need is for Harley-Davidson to make a bike my size for doing the tours. If you're gonna do "The American road" (Historic Route 66), then I think you need to do it on a classic American motorcycle. But with this bike I could do the whole Route in just a couple of days, not weeks! After the silly human dragged me off this bike kicking and screaming, he saw a bike we had to go see.

This is the bike Gary was obsessed with. This is the new Triumph touring bike, and the silly human kept babbling about it being the perfect bike for Touring around the U.K.. He said something about if he was going to be riding around the U.K. he should do it on a local bike. This one was just perfect…until Gary saw the price tag and then converted it into US Dollars! The poor guy just about passed out, but I calmed him down with a Guinness and we kept looking around. Then as we were going back to look at it again, something else caught Gary's attention (thank goodness too, I hate seeing that guy cry). We were walking back to the Triumph when we heard someone calling out the silly humans' name. We looked all around until I noticed where it was coming from.

It was these beautiful ladies modeling the new Kawasaki bike. Apparently Gary met one of them the night before at the Pub when he and some friends from a previous tour went out for dinner and a few pints (and the B@$*@%d left me behind at the B&B). Then they saw me and forgot all about Gary! They wanted to play with me and Gary said it was okay, and then they wanted a picture of me with them! All of the other human men looking at us, were mumbling something about me being the luckiest bear in the world, or something like that!

It didn't end there either, after we said goodbye and walked around some more a couple of other human Ladies wanted to give me a hug. They were really cute too! I got my hug s and it was time to get back to the H.C. Travel booth and go back to work (the silly human kept whining about staying there with the pretty girls though). So we went back and met some more really nice folks and had a great time at the show. I sure hope we get to come back to the show next year so I can get some more hugs!

That's about all for now, keep checking back as the story continues…

Another fun Day at the NEC Motorcycle Show!

2007-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

After a good night's rest it was time to go back to the show. We got to meet a lot of really nice people, and a lot of them were interested in coming over to the U.S. to ride. We also saw a lot of people from previous tours who came to the show and stopped by to see us. I also got the chance to see a couple of fellow traveling critters.

One of which is my buddy H.E. (that's short for Holiday Elephant). He and his human Martin had come to the show and stopped by to say hi.

Martin is really my kind of guy, he's a veterinarian who travels all over the world helping animals, keep up the good work!

Another one of my friends who came by to see me also has his own blog here on blogspot (http://www.kermit-hops-the-world.blogspot.com), Kermit. We had a great time chatting about old times, our humans and the strange things they do, our blogs and a lot more.

Before I came over I knew I was going to be seeing him, so I decided to give him his Christmas present a little early. This little frog went all the way down Route 66 with his humans (Paul & Trish), but he didn't get anything for completing the journey. So I thought I should give him something for the next time he comes back for another tour. So I got him his own biker jacket with all the Route 66 badges, considering how nutty his humans can be, he deserves it!

I also made some new friends at the show, one of which is another traveling bear Fudge, and his young human too (I can't remember the human's name though). Nice fellas, and they were really glad to see another traveling stuffed animal too. We hung out for a while comparing humans before he had to go. One friendly suggestion, he really needs to see a hairstylist before that hair gets any more out of control! Talk about a bad fur day!

Another new friend was introduced to me by a very nice man in a kilt in the stand opposite ours, Peter. He's the owner and operator of Highland Rider Motorcycle Aventures (http://www.highlandrider.com), and he had a mascot with him, but the poor fellow didn't have a name. So after days and days of thinking we finally came up with a good Scottish name for him, Stewart, Stewart the Stoat. He's a cute little guy in a kilt, and makes the goggles look good! Hopefully some day I'll get the chance to come ride the highlands of Scotland with him and his human.

I also got to meet our host critters at the bed and breakfast. The owner's daughter brought her stuffed friends with her so I could meet them and so I wouldn't be lonely, wonderful English hospitality! I'm sorry that I couldn't remember their names, maybe they'll leave me a comment and let me know their names so I can list them here.

Well, that's about all for now, the human says he's getting tired and needs to go to bed, and he's tired of typing too. Keep checking back though, we've got a lot more to show you about our wonderful trip to England. Until next time, keep your crazy humans out of trouble!

At the NEC Motorcycle Show

2007-12-17T20:42:00.000-08:00

A good time at the NEC Motorcycle Show!

After a long day of travel we finally made it to the NEC in Birmingham, England. After spending about 14 hours on airplanes and almost 24 hours of travel time we made it! The flight across the "pond" was comfortable, and I was lucky to get a seat all to myself (the crazy human was too cheap to buy me a seat) instead of riding all the way in the overhead compartment!

We finally arrived around noon in Birmingham and we were straight off to the booth for HC Travel to meet David Grist. We got to meet David right away and after a brief introduction we started talking to people about the motorcycle tours. I just wanted to go hibernate right away, but the insane Gary said it would be better if we stayed awake for as long as possible to prevent jet-lag. It was alright for him, he just kept drinking lots and lots of coffee! We finished at about 6 that evening and after stopping for dinner at a local Pub for dinner it was time to go to the Bed & Breakfast for a well deserved (and badly needed) rest.

Goin' to the bike show

2007-11-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

!!!!!The Crazy Human is going to the U.K.!!!!!

We're on the road again, well at least traveling. The crazy human Gary has been asked by David from HC Travel and Eaglerider to attend the NEC Bike Show in Birmingham, U.K. He's agreed to take me along with him as long as I promise to behave myself this time! We will be arriving 10:05 am from Amsterdam Nov. 28th and staying at the show until Dec. 2nd. However Gary says he wants to stay a few extra days to see as many people as possible while we're over there. So that means we will probably be staying until the 10th of Dec. So we'll be looking for places to stay while we're there, so if anyone can offer us a place to stay we would really appreciate it! Please e-mail the crazy human so we can get together while we're there!

While on tour this year I met another traveling critter. He's a moose from Italy, named Elk. We met at the hotrod museum in Santa Rosa, New Mexico and while the humans were busy looking at classic cars we had a nice visit and compared crazy humans (I think I've got the strangest one!) with each other. This year's tours were wonderful and we had a great time! We can't wait to get back to riding next season!

Harley & Annabelle were great this year and would like to say hi to everyone! They were nice enough to take a picture with me and only messed with me a little in the process! Don't worry I enjoyed it!

Just take a look at some of the craziness that happens when we arrive!

They're always really happy to see everyone! There's not a lot to do in the middle of nowhere Erick, Oklahoma!

Wow, insanity at it's finest, where you can see real rednecks work and play in their own environment! There's nothing better than a redneck lunch stop!

Well the crazy human has to get going and start getting everything ready (passport, equipment, etc…) for the big trip, so we'll write more later (I can't type worth a darn with these paws) when we have more time! I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone when we get there! Keep checking back and we'll keep you updated as to our travel plans! Cheers! Bearnie and the crazy human!

Lost Somewhere in Illinois?

2007-09-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

Another Great Summer

2007-08-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Time for another update. The crazy human has finally found the time to do some typing for me again. We have been busy with all sorts of things on the tour this year, making new friends and doing some really fun things. Everything has been going well this summer, and we have some new pictures for you all to see. Gary hasn't been taking as many pictures this year because he's too busy riding his motorcycle! But here's a few new ones for you all to see.

Since I'm riding on the back of the motorcycle this year Gary found me a helmet in my size. The hard part was finding one that my ears would fit through! Gary said that if he has to wear one I have to also, no matter how unBEARable it may be! But Gary's right, safety first.

Here I am just "Hanging Out" on old Route 66 just outside Weatherford, Oklahoma. It was a wonderful day, great weather and a fun day of riding. Just watch yourself if Gary comes anywhere near with you with a bungee cord in in his hand! He just may hang you out somewhere too.

Mmmmmmm…LUNCHTIME! One of my favorite things on the tour (Except for Breakfast and Dinner)! Here we are at the ol' lunch counter in the Route 66 diner in Tucumcari, NM. There's nothing like the good old American greasy-spoon diner food! They're really nice to me here, they even make me a berries and honey sandwich! I love this place!!

Here's the crazy human drinking beer and riding! Oh…wait…it's only root beer…errr…I mean Route Beer…Route 66 Root Beer. Gary may be crazy, but he's not stupid enough to drink alcohol and then ride!

Here we are in front of the Sandhills curiosity shop with Harley and Annabelle, the craziest rednecks on Route 66! One of the most memorable stops on the entire trip, and Gary's just crazy enough to fit right in!

On one of our tours one of the participants, Bob Perkins from England spent his last two weeks as a Northamptonshire Policeman on holiday with us. One of his last official acts was to swear me in as an honorary Northamptonshire policeman, giving me his actual cap badge for my cowboy hat! He was even nice enough to give Gary his badge from his helmet. Thank you very much Bob. I'll wear it with pride!

Looks great doesn't it! In all the confusion I can't remember if I fired five shots or six.…So I've got just one thing to ask you…do ya feel lucky punk?…well…do ya?

Okay, so I let being an honorary policeman go to my head. While the humans were in the restaurant eating lunch Gary left me with the bike. So I thought that I could go for a quick ride and be back before anyone noticed I was gone. While coming back I noticed I was going to be late and decided that an honorary police bear could go a little over the speed limit. Boy was I wrong, just my luck, I got pulled over by the Oklahoma Highway Patrol just as I pulled in to the restaurant parking lot. Talk about embarrassing, there I was getting a speeding ticket while the whole group was walking out to their bikes! I tried to talk the officer into letting me go because I was an honorary policeman, but he still gave me a written warning. When Gary came out and saw me getting a ticket on his bike, he was extremely mad at me and made me sleep in the saddlebag that night as punishment!
Special Thanks to Maj. J.D. Wilson, Zone Commander of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for letting me off with a warning and for the pic! I promise I'll be a good bear in the future!

One small bit of bad news for this year, Hillbillees Cafe in Arcadia, Ok. was recently purchased and closed. Some greedy Billionaire greasebag bought Hillbillees just to shut it down because he didn't want it to compete with his own new place "Pop's" he was building just down the road. He has shut down a local favorite and historical piece of Route 66, just so he didn't have to compete with a local institution.
Gary asked me if we should go down to the old swimming hole to do some fishing…and I said "sure, sounds like fun"…

fun…until the crazy human decided to use me for bait!!! Don't worry though, the other people on the tour convinced him that the whale wasn't real and I wouldn't make good bait anyway.
Well that's about it for now…we'll write more later. Remember to keep the rubber on the road and the shiny side up!

Back at it again!

2007-07-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well, we're at it again. Sorry for the delay but I've had a hard time getting the silly human to do some typing for me. My crazy human is taking me along for a few rides again this year. We're doing Old Route 66 again and having a great time doing it. As always there's a few stories to tell and some pictures to look at along the way.

Last year I got to ride in the van all season, but this year I get to ride on the back of the bike with that maniac Gary. Don't worry folks, my human figured out how to make a seatbelt for me so I don't fall off (especially the way Gary drives!).

For some reasons these strange humans have an obsession with big holes in the ground! Meteor crater in Arizona is a big hole, so we stopped to have a look!

Back at that big hole in the ground again! Beautiful place!

While I was in Grand Canyon I had a close encounter with a little alien fella. He was hiking around with his humans, who were looking at the big hole in the ground.

I was wondering what was so special about these big holes in the ground these humans were preoccupied with! So I decided to investigate! I'll be researching this one for some time…hey…!!…do I see a beehive down there?

We also stopped in Winslow Arizona, to do some "Standin' on the corner" takin' it easy. Thanks to the Eagles' song! We were looking for a girl in a flat-bed Ford…but no luck this time!

Just like last year I've met some really nice people again this summer and made a lot of new friends!

Okay, so I got into a little trouble in Tucumcari, New Mexico. Apparently they don't allow bears to just roam the streets…something about being a "Wild animal " and "Public safety hazard"…but after a few words with my human they decided I wasn't a threat…and released me into Gary's custody. Nice guys too…and don't worry they weren't too rough on yours truly. Thanks guys, and I promise I'll be a good bear…maybe…

The Sandhills Curiosity Shop Erick, Oklahoma a great place to stop and meet some REAL rednecks. The redneck capitol of the world! And darn proud of it too…drop in and say howdy to Harley & Annabell.
I like just sittin' on the porch!
More to come! Soon! I Promise!

Just a show

2007-02-14T14:12:00.001-08:00

Passage to the Pacific, California Dreamin' at the end of the trail!

2007-01-31T10:28:00.000-08:00

The last day on the road. It all comes to an end today, the last day of riding on old route 66. Today we take our time in the morning, to avoid the morning rush hour in the worst traffic nightmare in the United States, Los Angeles. This means we can sleep in, and have a leisurely breakfast before we pack up and hit the road. As soon as we load up the van and get ready around 10 am we head out to our final stop for the tour, the Santa Monica pier and literally the end of the road!

Driving through Los Angeles can be a complete nightmare. All it takes is for one really bad accident somewhere in the city and the highways become parking lots. Plus the majority of the people in L.A. really don’t know how to drive, and are almost blind when it comes to motorcycles. This has got to be the most stressful day of riding for everyone. Just keeping everyone together and making all of the exits can be challenging for any experienced rider. But with Stuart in the front and Gary in the van at the back we stick together and make sure everyone makes it to the end safely.

As we drive through town we get a good look at this sprawling metropolis. The greater Los Angeles area is massive. Just finding your way around is difficult for even those who live there, and a nightmare for those just visiting. Due to L.A.’s size and complexity of highways we make every effort not to stop until we reach the pier at Santa Monica.

After a couple hours of riding through town we make it to the end. At the pier we park our bikes and go to the plaque at the end of the road. Here we all take time to take a few pictures at the end of Route 66 with the Pacific ocean and palm trees in the background.

After the pictures we go to a resturaunt on the pier for our final luncheon together, and then have a couple of hours to explore the pier. Before we leave the pier we all get together on the beach, take off our shoes and step into the Pacific ocean. After we dry off and put our shoes back on, we retrieve our motorcycles and head off to the Eaglerider office. Here we turn our “iron horses” which have faithfully taken us across the country on the “Mother Road”.

Before we turn our bikes we make one last stop to fill up the bikes with fuel before returning them. A short 30 minute ride after leaving the pier we’re at Eaglerider. Here we turn in our bikes, and say good our (sometimes teary-eyed) goodbyes. It’s a bittersweet parting, the elation of finishing such a long trip and the sadness of having to say goodbye to our new friends we made amongst ourselves over the last 2 weeks and 3000+ miles. With a great adventure behind us it’s time to go our separate ways, with some great memories (and hopefully pictures too) of our great adventure across the heart of the United States.

It’s HOT,HOT,HOT!

2006-11-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

Today we drive through one of the hottest areas of the United States. The Mojave desert is a beautiful but unforgiving environment, not a place to break down on a bike and not have support. In the hottest months (July and August) the temperature can go as high as 128˚ f (53.3˚C) and riding on a motorcycle is like riding a giant electric hair dryer. It’s very easy to get overheated quickly, and heatstroke can be a life-threatening reality. Keeping from getting dehydrated is one of the challenges on a long motorcycle trip. While riding it’s easy to get dehydrated, the problem is that when you sweat, it evaporates almost immediately and you don’t realize it. Getting dehydrated can be dangerous for a rider’s health, and make what should be a enjoyable experience a miserable one. I keep a cooler in the van well-stocked with bottles of ice-cold water, and at every rest-stop check to make sure everyone has adequate water. I also have a supply of Gatoraid powder on hand to mix with the water to keep everyone’s electrolytes balanced. I also encourage everyone to wear a bandanna and dip it in the ice-water in the cooler and wear it while riding. Keeping hydrated is even more essential in the deserts of the southwest, where heatstroke (hyperthermia) can even kill an unwary biker. It usually only takes one really hot day for everyone to realize how important staying cool is.
I also keep a special tool handy for when it is un-bearably hot, a high capacity supersoaker water gun. I drain the water from the melted ice in the cooler to fill it, and hose down anyone that wants it. When it’s 120f+ and the water is 33f it feels great and is so cold, it’s enough to make a big strong man scream like a little girl!
We start our day early to get moving before it gets too horribly hot. We leave the hotel and start over the mountains, stopping for a quick photograph of the desert below. Then it’s back on the bikes for a long ride leaving Nevada behind us and going into our last state on route 66, California. We continue down the route until we come to the small town of Amboy. Not much of a town, it primarialy cosists of a post office, chloride mine, a few small houses and hotel/gas station. The entire town was for sale on ebay last year, and was sold to Albert Okura who is currently attempting to restore it to it’s former glory.Here we stop for a rest break and some water and a quick spray from the water gun. It’s so hot by this time almost everyone opts for the watergun soaking, it’s so hot and dry that after 15 minutes on the bike you’re bone-dry again (now that’s hot)!
Then we get back on the road, passing the extinct volcano, the Amboy crater. Then it’s only about 70 miles for our lunch stop in Barstow. Depending on how hot it is, we either try to make it into town right away, or if it’s just too hot we stop about halfway at the highway rest-area for some more water (drinking and soaking) before we get to town. Once there we have a leisurely lunch because our hotel is only about 40 miles.
After lunch and everyone has had some food, water and air conditioning we get back on the bikes and ride the last 40 miles to our hotel in Victorville.
Once we get to the hotel it’s time to unpack the van, change into our swimwear and hit the cool water of the pool. We usually get in early because of the early start time and short distance, so we have plenty of time to enjoy the pool. This is also where we have our farewell dinner in the hotel resturaunt. During dinner we have a great time discussing our favorite parts of the route, things we’ve seen and just generally have a good time. After we eat it’s time for Stuart and Gary to give a brief speech about the tour, go over some of the best (and worst) parts of the trip and thank everyone for coming along.
After dinner we got to the hotel bar for a few drinks and conversation before we go to bed, to get rested and ready for the ride into the worst traffic nightmare in the United States, Los Angeles.

Saligman, Angel and the Old West

2006-09-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

A beautiful day for a ride through the desert. This morning we start with a nice breakfast in the hotel, go to our rooms and bring the bags to the van for loading. After loading we head off into the beautiful southwestern deserts. The morning begins with a ride down the Kaibab Plateau toward the first stop of the day, Saligman, Az.

This is the home of the world famous Snow Cap diner, one of the most popular stops along the entire route. To travel route 66 and not stop in the Snow-cap for some food or a drink should be considered a crime.
The Snow Cap diner has been in business since 1953, started by propritor Juan Delgadillo, and staffed by his family. Juan was world famous for his comic antics and eccentric menu (and behavior) including cheeseburgers with cheese, dead chicken sandwiches hamburgers without ham, hazzardous mustard and ketchup bottles, rubber chickens, “Straws” , napkins, and many others. When you go into the snow cap, be extremely careful of what and how you say things, as they are experts at having fun at your expense.

To the dismay of millions Juan Delgadillo passed away on June 2nd, 2004, and with him went a small piece of Route 66. However his children are still running the Snow-cap and doing an excellent job, keeping alive the memory and spirit (and sense of humor) of thier father. Juan kept the travelers of Route 66 well-fed and amused for 52 years, and his family will continue to do so for another 52 years, hopefully longer. As long as the Snow-cap still stands, Juan will be remembered and admired.

His brother Angel, is also a well known figure in town. Angel Delgadillo has been only a block away from the snow cap in his barber shop since he first started in 1950. He continued to be the town’s barber until he semi-retired in 1996. He still comes to his barber shop almost every day (usually by bicycle), not to work as a barber but to indulge in his other passion, the preservation of historic Route 66. He is considered the driving force behind keeping route 66 in Arizona alive and well. He’s considered Route 66’s “Guardian
Angel” for his devotion to the road he and his family have called home. He and his wife Vilma still run the Route 66 Gift shop, and greet travelers and tourists with a broad smile and hearty welcome. If you have the time, take a moment to sit and talk with Angel, you just may learn something. Angel was even nice to give me a quick trim (a bear’s gotta look his best you know!), thanks Angel! I was also able to takl him into giving Gary a shave, (he was starting to look a bit un-bearable) and badly needed to be cleaned up a bit. Angel did an excellent job, a true professional, he made even Gary look presentable.

After a rest-break in Saligman we continue on our way down the road through some beautiful scenery until
our next rest break in Hackberry. Here we stop for a break, and enjoy looking around another historic gas station and general store along the route.

This place has the best men’s room on the entire trip and is not to be missed. Covered with pin-ups of beautiful women mostly scantily clad or not wearing anything at all, true Americana.

The station in interesting enough, but the exterior is also just as appealing with it’s 1956 Corvette, loving restored, and other classic cars strewn about in various states of disrepair and decay. After we’re rested and watered up, we get back on the road.

We continue on into Kingman, where we stop at the local Harley-Davidson dealership for our final visit to a dealership. This our last opportunity to buy whatever Harley merchandise we want for the tour. Afterwards we gas up and go, heading off into the desert toward our next stop, Oatman. A true relic of the old west, Oatman was a former gold and silver mining town of the old west, even though the gold is still there it isn’t profitable to mine anymore. Now the town survives on it’s reputation and history alone. A tourist town which has kept alive the feel f the old west.
One of the many reasons it’s still around is because of it’s non-human residents, the wild burros which freely roam the town streets. These animals anr the decendants of the miner’s best friend and work animal. Once the mines stopped operating the miners just set thier burros free to roam the mountains. Just be careful, they do bite and kick though! They will also follow you around town looking for handouts from the tourists, and many of the local shops sell bags of carrots so you can feed them.

Another place of note is the Oatman hotel, or as we have come to call it, “The Million Dollar” hotel. Not because of it’s ammenities, but more because of its interior bar and resturaunt, where the walls are covered in dollar bills with peoples’ names and home countries stapled to every available surface. If you’re ever in town, just ask the bartender for the marker and staple gun and put a bill up yourself! After we stop for lunch we continue on to our hotel/casino, the Flamingo in Laughlin, Nevada. Only about 40 miles away it’s just across the Colorado river. Once we arrive we unload the bags and go into the hotel/casino to relax, and loose some money! After dinner in the hotel buffet it’s off to our rooms for some rest because tomorrow we ride through the extremely hot Mojave desert!

Hey! There's a really big hole in the ground…oh…wait…it's just the Grand Canyon!

2006-08-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

This morning we have time to sleep in. We spend today in Williams to take time to go see the Grand Canyon. No rushing around for breakfast and to get the luggage loaded, just a day to relax and see the beauty of Arizona. After a leisurely breakfast we get on the bikes and head up to Grand Canyon National Park. It’s only about 70 Miles from the hotel, and a beautiful ride to the park. Once we arrive and spend our time in line at the park entrance, we make our way to the edge of the canyon. Here we get off our bikes and have a couple of hours to hike the rim trail, take photographs and admire the gigantic hole in the ground.

The Grand Canyon has taken millions of years to form, a result of the meandering course of the mighty, turbulent Colorado river, wind, rain and erosion. It still is forming today, as rainstorms, spring runoff, streams and the Colorado river sculpt it’s continually changing contours. One cannot really appreciate it’s immense scale from just the rim, to really understand how large it really is requires that you actually go into the canyon itself. This is harder than it sounds, the national park service strongly discourages anyone from attempting to go to the bottom and back to the rim in the same day.
They even consider this activity to be dangerous and irresponsible. Even if you are in the best physical shape and avaraged a good pace the round-trip would take at least sixteen hours. Of those who have attempted to do it, only a few have ever accomplished it, most falling victim to dehydration, sunstroke, extreme exhaustion, and in some cases even death. Since we are only at the Grand canyon for a short period of time we take the easiest option to go into the canyon…helicopter rides!

We continue to enjoy our surroundings until it’s time to go to the Grand Canyon airport to take our helicopter ride. Depending on our flight time we either go directly to the airport or to a local pizza place for lunch. Either way we go on the helicopter ride into the canyon (booked well ahead of time, being immensely popular the flights fill up quickly…especially in the busy summer tour months) to get a true apperciation on the size and scope of the canyon.

In all our tours I have never had anyone complain about the flight, and most are at a loss for words to describe it when they are finished. Gary and I have been on the helicopter tours so many times, the last one my silly human (Gary) fell asleep midway through th flight.

After lunch and the flight, everyone finds thier own way to enjoy the canyon, be it going back to the rim, hiking the trails, or just going to the IMAX theatre to see the Grand Canyon experience movie.

Another great way to learn about the canyon, it’s peoples, history and those who explored it (i.e. John Wesley Powell, a one–armed civil war veteran who first boated the Colorado river).

Now everyone splits up and goes thier own way, having a great time.

We all meet back at the hotel that night for dinner and to share our experiences of the canyon with one another over a well deserved drink in the hotel bar. Still in awe of the days events we retire to our rooms for a good night’s rest in preparation for the next day’s riding through the desert.

Standin' on a corner! Arizona Awaits!

2006-08-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Arizona!

Today is another day on the old route. We wake up in Gallup and after a nice breakfast in the hotel, we load up the van and head off into the deserts of the southwest. Today is a hot one, as it will be for the remainder of the trip. If you like hot sunny days, this is the portion of the trip for you! We leave New mexico behind us and pass into Arizona, argueably one of most beautiful states in the nation.
Our first stop of the day is at Petrified Forest National Park and Painted Desert. After an hour and a half we stop at the entrance to the park, get something to drink, use the restroom and enter the park. Here we take at least two hours to ride through the 25 miles of the park with ample time to stop, take photographs and enjoy the natural splendor surrounding us. One of the nost intriguing things are all of the petrified treek scattered throughout the park. Once a teeming forest full of life it was covered by tons of volcanic ash and buried for millions of years. Over this time the minerals replaced the decaying wood fossilizing it for us to uncover and wonder at millions of years later. If you’re lucky and observant enough you also may come across local wildlife, including raptors, lots of lizards, and the desert pronghorn antelope.

After a beautiful ride through the park we continue on toward our lunch stop. On the way we stop at a route 66 icon, the teepee hotel. Made of cement they are still used and if you want to spend the $$ they are still being used as a hotel. We stop for some quick photos and then back on the bikes to Winslow.

Here we stop for a quick lunch and then it’s off to downtown to stand on a corner. Doesn’t sound like much until you remember the song Take it easy,(Standin’ on a corner in Winslow Arizona, such a fine sight to see). Here we stop for some more pictures and then it’s back on the road.

We stop only one more time at Grand Canyon Harley Davidson for a rest break and shopping in Flagstaff, before we get to our hotel in Williams. After retreiving our bags from the van we go clean off the road dust and meet for dinner. We have a nice dinner at one of the local resturaunts and then enjoy an evening at the bar in the hotel. Once again a great way to end the day.

New Mexico, The Rio Grande and The Navajo Nation

2006-07-25T18:51:00.000-07:00

After a day of rest we’re ready to hit the open road again, back on old route 66 through New Mexico. Today we start out from the hotel before breakfast and ride hungry for a hour down to Albuquerque, to Church St. Cafe. Here we sit in their beautiful patio out back and enjoy a wonderful breakfast. One of our favorite cafes along the route they offer both a typical breakfast, and a good selection of southwestern influenced breakfast items (I strongly suggest the breakfast burrito with green chili, It’s so big that even Gary has a hard time finishing it!).After we eat the group has some time to do a little shopping in old town before we hit the road again.

Before we leave Albuquerque however, we stop at a local park and walk down to the Rio Grande river. This is the only opportunity we’ll get to see it up close before we leave the state. Starting in central southern Colorado it stretches south, forming the border between Mecico and the United States. An important waterway in this parched high desert environment and the only source of water for both agriculture and people all the way until it empties in the Gulf of Mexico.

Back on the road we continue on down the old route leaving Albuquerque behind us for the wild west, former stomping grounds of Billy the Kid, Pancho Villa, real cowboys, and spanish conquistadors.

Looking across the land it’s very easy to imagine a cattle drive stretching across the sagebrush, cowboys riding alongside with the chuckwagon bringing up the rear. Moving down the old pecos trail to the stockyards of Dodge city Kansas.
As we move further west we begin to see large fields of black stone, lava flows from volcanoes from millions of years ago, interrupting the red color of the Navajo sandstone so common in the southwest.

After a brief rest stop in Grants for an ice cream to take the heat off, it’s back on the bikes to our destination, Gallup. A nice town with even better people. Before we get to our hotel we stop in downtown for one more shopping trip. Gallup is the center of trade in New Mexico for Native American jewelry, rugs and art. The main street in town is the place to shop and the many trading posts and pawnshops are the best sources of affordable Navajo jewelry. A $1200 piece of jewelry in Santa Fe and Taos will only cost you about $600-$700 here at the source for the exact same piece.
After shopping we then go to the local plaza for a demonstration of traditional tribal dances put on by the locals as a way of sharing their rich cultural heritage with the rest of the world. Afterwards it’s just a couple of miles down the road to our hotel.

After we all have an opportunity to wash the road dust off and get revived it’s time for dinner. We always eat at the historic El Rancho Hotel, a landmark frequented by movie stars, and former presidents. Many fims produced in the area called the El Rancho home while shooting the movie and housed many famous actors including Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez, Roy Rodgers, John Wayne, Errol Flynn, Ronald Regan, and many, many more. One of our motorcycle guides, Don, is the President of the local Wind & Fire motorcycle chapter had arranged for the local chapter members to escort us through town to dinner. During dinner the Wind & Fire members welcome us to New Mexico and keep us company, and give everyone the chance to meet real American bikers! A really great group of active and retired firemen who love the motorcycle and the freedom associated with it.
On our most recent tour we had several firefighters from England with us, and the Wind & Fire chapter members were nice enough to give us all a guided tour of the Gallup Fire Department's main station. They went above and beyond the call of duty and everyone really appreciated the chance to see how things are done in the United States. Thanks a lot guys, we really enjoyed it.

After a good dinner and even better company we are escorted back to our hotel for another good night’s rest. Tomorrow is another great day on old route 66!

Santa Fe…take a break in a beautiful town!

2006-07-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

Santa Fe Plaza & The Palace of the Govenors at night

Day eight is a rest day in Santa Fe. Today is the day we get to sleep in, getting up whenever we feel like it and having time to go explore Santa Fe on our own. After waking up my human, Gary (he’s a hard guy to wake up, almost like me hibernating in the winter) we headed off for a nice light breakfast of coffee and croissants. The rest of the group slowly wanders out of the hotel and explores this beautiful city in thier own way.
There’s plenty of things to do and go see in Santa Fe, shopping, sightseeing, dozens on art galleries, all kinds of resturaunts and cafes. Most popular however is the Plaza in old town, with it’s many art galleries and shops it’s a great place to spend the day. One of the most popular attractions in the plaza is buyng handmade Native American Navajo jewelry. Many of the artisans set up shop in front of the palace of the govenors to sell thier handiwork, beautiful jewelry, primarialy made of silver,turquoise,and tiger’s–eye. The plaza as also the place to find handmade rugs, woven in the local pueblos, and depict typical scenes and symbols of the native people.

Other activities are also available, including a guided tour of Santa Fe in an open trolley, or a day excursion up to Taos, another small town world renowned for its artist’s communes, and the home of painter Georgia O’Keefe (Sp?). This day ride takes you along the Rio Grande river and up into the pine forests of the rocky mountains, a welcome temperate ride down curvy mountain roads.Riding through the Rocky Mountains

Another popluar activity is to go pistol shooting at a local gun range. Considering the majority of the participants are from countries where even seeing a pistol is rare, getting the opportunity to shoot one is almost unthinkable. So it’s off to Tina’s Range gear for an afternoon of instruction and target pratice. Everyone has an opportunity to shoot various pistols, from the small .22 all the way up to the powerful .357 Magnum. Everyone gets instruction on gun saftey, range etiquette, and basic instruction. Then we buy a box of ammo and get in some target pratice.

So do you feel lucky punk?…well…do ya?

What do you mean we're out of ammo?

After shooting until we’ve gotten our fill, it’s back to the hotel to clean up and relax until time for dinner at another of Santa Fe’s fine resturaunts. After dinner we go check out some of the local drinking establishments for a nightcap before we turn in for a good night’s rest before we hit the road the next morning.

A Night on the town with Bearnie!

Cadillacs, Classic Cars and New Mexico

2006-07-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

This morning in Amirillo is a beautiful one, nice and cool after a night of spectacular thunderstorms to the south, mother natures’ fireworks. It’s time to load up the van and hit the open road, the great plains across the panhandle of Texas. After fueling up the bikes and the van we head off to our first stop of the day, Cadillac ranch. Just a few miles west of Amarillo there is a row of old Cadillacs planted in a local farmers field. Not just placed out in the field, but in fact half buried nose down, a kind of Texan hommage to stonehenge. A strange monument to the American automobile, and a true icon of the eccentric nature of the American people. We all sign out names on the cars with indellible markers lovingly supplied by the crazy human Gary, and I leave my pawprint. After we take a few more pictures it time to get back on the bikes and head on down the road.

Our next stop is in Adrian Texas at the midpoint cafe, aptly named as this is the middle of route 66, the same distance to Chicago and Santa Monica. Halfway there!

Here we stop for breakfast and a group photo in front of the midpoint sign. Although there are other places considered to be the midpoint of route 66, but these are considered the midpoints of the other alingments of the route. Over the years there have been several different paths of the route, each with a different midpoint but the longest lasting section’s midpoint was in Adrian.

Gotta Have My Coffee!

After a typical roadside diner breakfast and a few cups of coffee we get back on the road. We continue on and say goodbye to Texas as we pass into the high plains of New Mexico. Here the landscape begins to change from the treeless expanse of the open plains into what’s known as the high plains, and the foothills of the Rocky mountains.

Our next stop is in Santa Rosa for the Route 66 Auto Museum. A nice museum with an incredible collection of classic cars, lovingly restored to thier pristine showroom condition. Walking through the collection one can only dream of driving some of theses beautiful cars, especially some of the classic high performance muscle–cars. Mustangs, Chevelle SS, Corvettes, and other hotrods I could only dream of driving down the old road. After the Museum we stop for a bite to eat, and the off we go toward Santa Fe.
We continue on through the high plains and into the foothills of the rocky mountains, moving from the heat of the plains to the temperate climate of the mountains. Ahhh…it’s nice to get back home to the mountains. Soon we’re rolling into the beautiful city of Santa Fe, one of the oldest cities in the United States. It’s very easy to see the very strong influences of the Spaniards who once ruled this area by the distinctive architechture of the city. As we roll into the plaza in historic downtown it’s easy to imagine the conquistadores milling around the plaza two hundred years ago.
After checking into the beautiful Plaza Real hotel, it’s off to one of the many fine resturaunts in the area to sample the distinctive New Mexican cuisine. Heavily influenced by both native american and mexican history the area is world renowned for it’s eccentric and distinctive cuisine. If you like hot and spicy food this is the place for you. Then it’s time for a few drinks at the local bars and off to bed for a well deserved rest.

In Texas everything is bigger!

2006-07-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

Our Fearless Leader (and Stuart too…)

Into Texas we go…

After a good night’s rest it’s time to hit the road again. Today we go from Clinton, Oklahoma into the secon largest state in the United States, Texas. We get going on the road and after a brief breakfast we stop in Elk City for a look around the national route 66 museum. This is a wonderful museum and gives a great history of both the road itself and the cities it helped create. Many towns wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for route 66. This was very evident once the route was bypassed by the interstate system. Many towns almost entirely disappeared once the new interstate came through the area, sometimes turning a thriving community into a deserted ghost-town. After the museum we comtinue on toward Shamrock, Texas. The home to one of the most beautiful art-deco service stations remaining on the route. We stop at the old

station for some photos and th take a quick break and then off to lunch. After a good lunch at a local diner it’s back on the road. We keep going for about an hour until we get to our next comfort stop and photo opportunity at a Texas highway rest area. This rest area has one of the best views of the great plains of America. On a clear day one can see for well over a hundred miles and see the curvature of the earth. Here we take a group photo, get some water to drink and go to the restroom before we head off to our final destination of the day, Amarillo, Texas.The Great Plains of America

Once we arrive at our hotel for the night we have a couple of hours to go clean the road dirt off, hit the pool and finally get ready for dinner. For dinner we always go to the world-renowned and route 66 landmark, The Big Texan Steakhouse. Home to the free 72 ounce steak, yes it’s actually free if you can finish the whole dinner in one hour. Not an easy task once you consider that you have 72 ounces of steak (that’s 4 1/2 pounds or just over 2 Kilos), a baked potato, dinner salad, bread, and shrimp cocktail.Bernie tries to help me eat the 72oz. steak! Ugggghhhhh!

If you do it, your dinner is free, you are awarded a tee-shirt, certificate, your name on the list of those who’ve completed it and invited back for the annual steak eating contest, however if you fail it’ll cost you $75.00.
Now that's a big steak!

This trip I was feeling brave and attempted it, with the emotional and financial backing of the group I undertook this monumental task. I started out well and with a steady pace I made excellent progress, I had almost completely finished the steak, and was still feeling good, but unfortunatly time ran out. I would have been able to eat it all, just not in one hour. I still finished all the food however, just to spite them! I’ve never been so full in all my life! Maybe I’ll do it next time through in September, wish me luck. After (a very, very, filling) dinner it’s back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.

Crossin' Oklahoma…

2006-06-26T19:58:00.000-07:00

Into the great wide open…oops…wait…that's a song!

Day five we leave Tulsa for the wide open spaces of Oklahoma and the great plains. After a quick continental breakfast at the hotel it’s back on the open road. We ride for the first couple of hours driving through more small towns, passing the remnants of the heyday of route 66. Old gas stations, resturaunts, and abandonded motels line the route, some still in business, others nothing more than decaying remnants. Passing them by one can easily imagine them as they once were, busy and filled with activity, people from around the country traveling through on thier way to some unknown destination.

Our first stop for the day is in Chandler to see another small town square, and to visit a local museum with a good route 66 section. After an hour of wandering around town it’s time to get back on the bikes and head off to our stop for lunch. For lunch we stop in Arcadia at Hillbilee’s, a local eccentric diner and hotel, and also the location of the round barn. Probably one of the most photographed landmarks on the route, not to mention one of the most origional barns in the nation. After lunch we get back on the bikes and ride through Oaklahoma city on our way to the hotel in Clinton.
On the way we stop for a chance to ride down one of the oldest remaining sections of the route. This section has been closed for quite some time, but sections of it are still accessable. We stop for a while so everyone has a chance to ride on the road, take some pictures and just plain enjoy the experience. We don’t go too far down the road, much of the road has become overgrown and covered with vegetation, and many of the bridges are either no longer safe or even completely gone. Another of the many reasons why a guided tour is the best way to experience it, driving along at 55 MPH to suddenly realize there’s no bridge would end someone’s trip pretty fast

Before we go to our hotel we’re sure to stop and see the Oaklahoma route 66 museum, which chronicles it’s history through years in the state. A great way to end the day in the nice air-conditioning and only a few block from the hotel. After the museum it’s off to the hotel and a well deserved dip in the swimming pool before dinner. That night we eat at a resturaunt in the hotel and get a good nights rest after a few drinks in the hotel bar. A perfect end to another perfect day on the road!

From the Ozarks to the Great Plains

2006-06-25T19:39:00.000-07:00

Rolling Through The Ozarks on Old 66

Day four and back on the bikes. By now everyone has a good feel for riding a Harley, and after a few minor adjustments (clutch, brakes, etc.…) and we’re back on the road. Today we go through the Ozark mountains, through the countryside surrounded by the heavily forested hills. As we drive we’re teased occasionally by the smell of BBQ restaurants smoking their delicious pulled-pork and succulent ribs. The smell is guaranteed to make you hungry for a big plate for lunch. This is also the area we begin to see less agriculture and more ranching. The aroma of cattle and green pastures greets us around the bend and the cows, hearing the deep, throaty rumble of our bikes bolt and run when we pass by.
Today is the day we pass through a small corner of Kansas. When I say small, I mean it, we’re only in Kansas for less than 20 miles. But significant nonetheless. We leave Missouri just after Joplin and enter Kansas via Riverton. After only a few miles we stop again to see the only Marsh bridge left on the entire route, a white concrete arch beautifully contrasting the lush greenery around us. We stop for a brief history of the area and some photos of the arch and then a quick five mile ride on the bikes to our stop for lunch. We always stop at the Little Brick Inn, a very nice cafe (cafe on the route) and bed & breakfast, with a unique history behind it. The café and bed & breakfast is located in a former bank, once robbed by Jesse James. After lunch we take a few minutes to roam around the small town, and then it’s back on the bikes. We continue for another short ride, leaving Kansas behind us for Oklahoma. Less than two hours of riding later we’re in Tulsa for dinner at a 50’s themed diner and to the hotel for the night.

Day Three…the midwest beckons!

2006-06-24T15:18:00.000-07:00

Into the Heartland

Our third day on the road, another day of riding through the heartland of the United States. This is the day we get a real good look at the small farming communities found across the country. We begin with a brief breakfast at the hotel, load up and hit the road.

Our first stop is in Carlinville, Illinois for an up-close look at a typical small town plaza. With it’s cobblestone street and gazebo in the center of town, it’s a perfect example. Also a great place to get a mid-morning coffee to combat the jet-lag many of the riders are experiencing. This stop also allows everyone to meet the locals, friendly, good-natured people who tipify the typical midwesterner.

Afterward we continue our zig-zag course through the heartland passing family farms and miles of farmland.

We continue through the rolling hills until lunchtime and stop for something to eat and another chance to share our observations with other. Then it’s back on the bike in the mid-day heat for more riding.

Just when it starts to become uncomfortable we stop again at one of the attractions along the route, Meramac caverns. This was the hide-out of the infamous train, stagecoach and bank robber, Jessee James. It’s cool, sixty-degree constant temperature is a welcome relief from the hot afternoon sun beating down and slowly roasting brains in helmets. Along with the cave tour, there’s a very popular Ice-cream counter in the gift shop and cafeteria, the perfect way to cool off. After the caverns it’s time to get back on the bikes and go to our hotel, take a long shower, have a few beers, eat dinner and get a good night’s rest.

Day Two…Chicago!

2006-06-24T14:35:00.000-07:00

Picking up our motocycles at Eaglerider of Chicago…get ready…get set…let's ride!

Day two is a busy one, we begin with a group breakfast and rider meeting to introduce ourselves, go over the rules of the road, riding etiquette, and other important information. Afterwards it’s a short limo ride to Eaglerider motocycle rental of Chicago to go pick up our bikes for the journey across the country. This is where we are assinged our rentals, check them thoroughly and go over basic operation of the bikes by model. We then load them with everything we will need for the day and take a quick jaunt around the block (or two) to get a feel for them. Most of the riders have never ridden a Harley and are unfamiliar with how the bikes sound, feel and handle. Once everyone feels confident on thier respective bike there’s a quick rider’s meeting and we’re on our way.

The first trial is getting the pack out of the hectic traffic of metropolitan Chicago, not an easy task for all concerned. Once on the outskirts of Chicago we pick up the origional route where it seperates from interstate 55. This is where we begin to see the “real America”, small towns, manufacturing, and farming communities, what makes the United States function as a nation.

Our first stop is for a quick rest break and to see one of the many giant statue-advertisements found along the route. The “Gemini Giant Rocket Man” is one of many garish advertisements which were to be found along the route, selling everything from gas and food to cheap trinkets and overnight lodging for the weary traveler. Many of which have fallen into disrepair, been stolen or destroyed, or just plain forgotten and left to the elements to slowly decay onto obscurity.

After a brief stop it’s back on the road to the first of many roadside diners for luch. Then it’s on to see one of the origional Standard Oil Company gas stations on the route.
Once in complete disrepair and about to fall down, but due to a resurgence in the route’s popularity the local residents have restored and opened it as a museum. From there it’s on to Springfield for dinner and finally our hotel for the night.

Day One…Chicago!

2006-06-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Check–In at the hotel with Andy & Petra, Directors of Eaglerider Guided Tours.

Our Trip began in the “Windy City” of Chicago, home to the Sears tower, Chicago Cubs, Al Capone, Jerry Springer, and Lake Michigan. Day one is the arrival day for everyone, a chance to get into town, clean up and rested before the tour begins As well as a chance to explore the city and see all the things Chicago has to offer. Also an opportunity to get acquainted with everyone else on the tour they would be spending the next two weeks with. Route 66 began here at the intersection of East Adams street and Michigan Avenue. At the end of the road you can find the marker showing the beginning (or end, depending which way you’re going) of route 66 in front of the Art Institute.

The Mother Road…The Beginning

2006-06-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Riding Route 66, The Mother Road

It was the first of it’s kind, the automobiles’ equivalent to the great intercontinental railway. Possibly the most well known road in the United States if not the world. A simple two-lane road from Chicago Illinois to Santa Monica California, the first highway across the United States of America. The road also became a symbol of the United States, and of the people who built and lived on it.
Just above my head is the "Begin Route 66" Sign
It's located at E. Adams St. & S. Michigan Ave.
Downtown Chicago!

The road that led the way across the farmland of the midwest, the great plains, and the deserts of the southwest, from the freshwater of the great lakes to the salwater of the Paific Ocean. Truely an American icon if there is one…the mother road.

Before route 66 was born the nation did not have any one trans-continental road, but rather a patchwork of state, county and rural farm roads. To go across the country by automobile was still a novelty, as was the automobile. Driving was still in it’s infancy and roads were nothing like they are today, mostly unpaved, rutted and often muddy farm roads and wagon trails was all that existed making travel by car difficult if not impossible. To go from Illinois to California was a navagational nightmare, no established routes, roadmaps or guide to go by. Navigating your way down farmroads that abruptly ended at a stream or river, changed direction or just ended was an exercise in frustration.

The condition of the roads were equally disturbing, where there was actual road-bed it was usually poorly maintained and often unmarked. Most of the time the established roads were only near a large town or county seat, and ended where the city, county or state just ran out of money and reverted to the rutted wagon trails they were to begin with. The unpaved roads were a nightmare, typically nothing more than deep ruts of compacted barren soil made by years of horse-drawn carrages and wagons. Whenever it would rain they would often turn into sloppy mud-holes, sometimes waist deep and completely impassable. To get stuck in one usually meant hours, if not days of digging, pulling, and pushing to free a car from the adhesive-like muck. Some of the roads out west were nothing more than remnants of the great westward migration, wagon and cattle drive trails, worn into the dry soil by those who first settled the area.

On July 11, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson, an avid motorist himself, signed the Federal Aid Road Act, setting the groundwork for the national road system and it’s funding. Also known as the “good roads act” it was instrumental in the genesis of the United States’ highway system. Soon after it’s enactment all types of highways were under construction, with such names as the Dixie, Lincoln and Old Trails Highway, construction boomed, and soon highways with all sorts of names began crossing states. In 1925 these names were replaced by federally assinged route numbers to easily identify and administrate them.

The idea fo a Chicago–to–Los Angeles highway began with Cyrus Avery, an Oaklahoma highway commissioner and John Woodruff of Springfield, Missouri. They recognized the need for a offically designated interstate road connecting the nation. They actively lobbied the government, and in 1925 Avery spent most of the year working with an appointed committee to establish one. Then on November 11th, 1926 Congress authorized and designated the road, officialy beginning route 66. An efficent, safe way to move both the people and the goods they produced across and throughout the country.

This summer I was fortunate enough to be a tour guide on route 66, escorting people from across the globe down the infamous route on another well–known American Icon, the Harley–Davidson motorcycle. However I was not able to ride one, I was “the man in the van with a plan” following them with luggage, refreshments and trailer with a spare motorcycle if one were to breakdown. It was my job to work with the leader of the pack Stuart, to make sure that we made it the entire length of the route safely and comfortably as possible. These people had opted to spend thier vacation riding across the country on the mother road, all 2449+ miles of it, or at least what was left of it. We had a long way to go and many trials and tribulations along the way but that’s what makes it an adventure. These were no ordinary road-trips, but rather an up-close examination of the “American dream” and those who pursued it along the way. We were to see the “REAL United States of Ameica” not the usual tourist destinations, or Hollywood’s version of what it should be, for good or ill we were out to experience it, not just “see” it.