Self Indulgence: 2007
Permalink | Tweet This! | | January 7, 2008 by John in California 2007, Dating/Relationships, Family, Freelancing, Gadgets, Health-Medical, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Of a Personal Nature, Travel
Seems like every web designer/developer whose blog I read daily is doing a wrap up of the past year. I don’t usually in indulge in such blowhardiness, but what the hell. I feel no need to organize or categorize these, so in no particular order…
(Updated 01/07/2008)
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Californication
Permalink | Tweet This! | | November 11, 2007 by John in California 2007, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
(I’m archiving my California trip page as a post so I don’t lose it but I can remove it from the page navigation. –JB)
Random Thoughts, Tidbits, Anecdotes from Vacation
Permalink | Tweet This! | | October 6, 2007 by John in California 2007, Interesting/Trivia, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Of a Personal Nature
- I won 370 off the slot machines ($120 at Pechanga and $250 at the Rio) while only spending $70 of my own money.
- I really need a heated vest and grips or gloves if I’m going to travel long distances in Spring or Fall. Monida pass was very cold.
- The casinos, especially the Harrahs empire, are brilliant, insidious and evil all at the same time. They’ve certainly drawn in my father, uncle and grandmother. I can only guess at how much money my uncle has spent generating his “7 star” status. Everybody’s gotta have a hobby. I certainly didn’t have a problem availing myself of the rooms paid for by my uncle’s credits and the food paid for by my dad’s credits at Pechanga and the Rio.
- I had a great time reconnecting with most of my family. I had a lot of fun with Kevin, Paul, Julie and Julie’s husband Ed. Some of my other cousins (and/or their spouses) need therapy. Some also need pharmaceutical help on top of therapy. One or two need a personality transplant.
- My cousin Julie’s pool is INSANE-ly cool and cost almost as much as I paid for my house in ‘99. It’s got faux boulders, two waterfalls, a waterslide and an attached but elevated hot tub. However you’d never suspect it was back there because the house is in a rather unremarkable, typical suburban Inland Empire neighborhood.
- Going in I had the most trepidation about seeing my grandmother, but she was cool. You could knock me over with a feather. We’re not going to be BFFs anytime soon, but she seems to have lightened up a great deal over the past decade. Maybe it’s because I’m one of the few who isn’t gunning for her money. I know she was dying to say something about my weight but my dad told her not to. I was ready for it but it was probably better that she didn’t.
- Yosemite and Zion National Parks were awesome. They weren’t necessarily better than Yellowstone or Glacier, just different. And equally spectacular.
- Las Vegas and Henderson have changed an insane amount in 12 years. I know Vegas is the fastest growing city in the country, but I was ill-prepared. The traffic was worst than SoCal.
- I met face to face with several people I met on BonnevilleAmerica.com. They showed me a great deal of hospitality for which I am grateful. I stayed with Bob (Habuba) and Amy Lee in Chowchilla, CA, and Dwight and Judie in El Camino Village, CA. I met Doug (Soul_Survivor) from Torrance. And I had lunch in Boulder City, NV, with Bill (Bigbill) from Las Vegas and Mike (EAGBE) from Henderson, NV.
- I managed to find a Triumph dealership that would still let me enter in the drawing for a free Rocket III.
- Brianne makes a mean margarita and cooks up a nice steak.
- My only regret on the trip was not stopping during my ride down Pacific Coast Highway to take a picture of my bike in front of the ocean.
- My trip planning was very thorough. The only thing I forgot to take was the small funnel I use to pour distilled water into the reservoir on my BiPAP. The only thing I decided not to take that I should have taken was my black fleece vest. I ended up buying one in Lima, MT, on the way home.
- This isn’t really related to the trip, except that the thought was inspired by meeting most of my little second-cousins. The Bedard name, at least this spur of it, ends here, or at least with the next generation. The only other male Bedard of my generation has two girls. So unless one of them stays unmarried and adopts, it dies here. Doesn’t really matter — I heard that Quebec is full of ‘em.
California Trip Wrap-up
Permalink | Tweet This! | | October 3, 2007 by John in California 2007, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
As most of my readers have already been informed, I am home safe and sound. I still can’t believe I pulled it off.
My gallery on Picasa is more or less final. I’ve uploaded all the photos and added captions. I’ve also uploaded my pictures from the Las Vegas Bike Fest.
I haven’t updated my wiki page with the final route maps yet, but I estimate that the trip was somewhere around 3200 miles. On the way back I did go through Zion National Park (totally worth it despite my hung-over late start from Vegas Sunday), but skipped the original route I planned north of Salt Lake City which weaved through the mountains. I was cold and tired and opted instead to run up I-15. Yesterday was miserably cold, but I finally rolled into the driveway at 5:30pm. Other than a light sprinkle in Idaho both on the way to Boise on the way down and a few miles south of Pocatello on the way back, I didn’t have to ride through any precipitation. I really lucked out on the weather.
I’ve got some “issues” to deal with on my bike. The front brake needs some attention. The lever won’t return on release causing the pads to drag and the brake light to stay on, until I push the lever back. The front brake reservoir is also leaking fluid. My drive belt is noisier than ever. I may just elect to replace it this winter. Lastly, my valves are clattering like crazy so I need to check the clearances. But all in all my faithful steed carried me all the way through the trip, trouble free. For now the bike is tucked away in my garage. I have no real desire to ride it for the foreseeable future. I definitely need a break, but that’s okay because it’s supposed to snow this weekend.
I’m not usually one for huge write-ups. I may post random bits as I remember them.
Nothing Significant to Report
Permalink | Tweet This! | | September 26, 2007 by John in California 2007, Family, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
The California portion of my vacation draws to a close tomorrow morning. The past few days have been relaxing after my adventures over the weekend. Today I rode over to Brea to visit the SoCal Triumph dealer. Pretty uneventful. It’s been hotter this week and I prefer to lounge in my Dad’s A/C. We did see The Transformers at the IMAX theater yesterday. I’d already seen the movie but the IMAX screen is massively impressive. Not worth traveling for but impressive nonetheless.
I’ve heard that you need 2.5 weeks for a real vacation. You spend a week thinking about work at the beginning and end, with a few days in the middle to truly relax. I guess I’m finishing up the relaxing part now. Luckily I don’t really have much going on back at the office to worry about. My only stress is the lack of things to stress out about.
The only people actually worrying are the St. Pete’s Foundation folks. They’re worried I won’t make it back. That would screw them royally, since the two biggest parts of my work — the program and auction slideshow — aren’t even started yet. They’re worried I’ll get splattered on the LA freeways. Ironically, I feel most comfortable on the freeways. The chaos is calming, almost zen-like. It’s as if I was born to ride on the freeways, and being a SoCal native, perhaps I was. And I haven’t felt the need to lane-split even once, though I’ve been tempted.
Tomorrow we gather up the family and head for Vegas. This includes my estranged grandmother who doesn’t even know I’ve been in town for a week. Luckily I will be riding my motorcycle and not be subjected to the tension in the car containing my father, his S.O. Mary, my uncle Dave and said grandmother. Families are so funny. But the best thing about this trip, family-wise, has been reconnecting with a few of my cousins. I’m looking forward to partying with them this weekend in Vegas.
This report will likely be my last until I get home. I have no idea if I’ll have access to a computer for the next 6 days. I don’t regret leaving my laptop at home, but that Nokia N800 tablet would’ve been nice - even in BFE-Oregon and Nevada they have wifi.
El Camino Bike Show and Swap
Permalink | Tweet This! | | September 24, 2007 by John in California 2007, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
The Redondo Pier car show was rained out on Friday the 21st, but the bike show and swap meet the following day was not. I’ve uploaded my pictures to Picasa.
I’ve also added photos to the main California 2007 gallery.
The Mid-Life Crisis Tour
Permalink | Tweet This! | | September 20, 2007 by John in California 2007, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Photography, Travel
I arrived safe and sound at my Dad’s in Riverside, CA, yesterday. Riding in traffic here is a real trip. They’re not trying to kill you as much as they’re trying to get where they’re going and don’t care if you get splattered on their windshield like a bug. And just as there is a casino/gas station seemingly on every corner in Montana, here’s it’s Starbucks and car stereo shops.
I posted some pictures from the ride down on my Picasa account. Haven’t even looked at the bike today — it’s locked up in my Dad’s shed. Tomorrow I load up for my side trip to Redondo Beach, followed by San Diego on Saturday.
P.S. Total miles to date — about 1776.
I’m OUT.
Permalink | Tweet This! | | September 14, 2007 by John in California 2007, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
The big trip is upon me, tomorrow. Honestly I’m freaking out a little bit. I gotta be out of my frackin’ mind. It’s a lot of miles. It’s a little late in the year and a wee bit chilly out. Barring disaster I’ll be back around October 2nd or 3rd.
Toodles.
Californication
Permalink | Tweet This! | | August 30, 2007 by John in California 2007, JB.com, Motorcycle News, My 2002 Triumph Bonneville America, Travel
I added a new Page on this site called Californication, with the major route mapped out for my upcoming California trip in September. The Google folks just made it super easy to embed maps in web pages, otherwise I would’ve just relied on the Travel page in my TBA Wiki, which I’ve been using to track a variety of different potential routes. The new Californication Page only contains the final route on which I’m 99% certain.