Life Happens
One of my B.A.C.A. bro’s hooked me and Missus Zip up with VIP tickets to the Bare Naked Ladies Concert tonight, so no blog post tomorrow. I’ve been trying to get these out every night, but tonight I won’t be able to. I’ll get back on track Friday.
Its summer here, and good shit is happening. This is one:
Ever play chicken shit bingo? Neither have I. Its how we roll up here in Heber. Saturday I’ll be slow cooking a pig on a spit for 11 hours. Ill post pictures. It should be pretty fun.
Day 11: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Austin Texas to Lake Charles Louisiana
I was up by 6 AM, and pretty much ready to go. It had been donning on me all day yesterday that we only had 3 days more of riding to go. That was pretty real to me. I packed up my suitcase, and headed down to the parking garage. My bike was ready earlier than usual on this time. I had the feeling this was coming to an end rapidly, and I didn’t want to miss get all of this in, as much as I could. I walked around the Austin a bit to try to get a better feel for Austin.
After a few, we were ready to ride. In the parking garage, Steve announced that yesterday was my birthday. I’m not sure, but I think it was Brandon who sold me out. I got sang the happy birthday song, and I’m pretty sure I turned beet red. Embarrassing, but pretty cool. I very much appreciated the thought. Little did I know….
Another Texas town down in the Books. Austin was a cool place, and seemed to be a lot of people’s favorite Texas place so far.
Then we hit the road. We were well out of the Texas panhandle, and deep in the heart. Small towns and good roads. We rolled Texas for over an hour, taking in what we could see. The riding was easy, and the road was solid. About 90 miles in, we took a break, in Brenham Texas.
This is where Steve’s penchant for circling the block was confirmed. At first, I thought it was because he was showing us old town America. No, Steve needs pastry. Hell, any pastry. He’s like a blood hound for that stuff, and can sniff out the good spots. He was 2 for 2 at this point. Thats pretty good. I’m pretty sure we rounded the town square twice till he zoned in.
Texas kind of mixes together when you travel it. I’m not sure if this happened the day before, or today. Even so, its a funny memory for me:
I was enjoying this bike. The stereo felt louder than bikes I’d had in the past. It took me awhile to realize that my bike back home is a whole helluva lot louder, thus the sound difference. In the open road, I turned it as loud as it would go. At intersections, I’d turn it down. I’m not that guy who thinks you need to hear my songs at the expense of yours. I was near the back. Phil and Tim were behind me. I had me some Bohemian Rhapsody on the stereo, full blast, and it was rocking the hell out of me.
When you’re tail end Charlie, you don’t have to glance back a whole lot. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw Phil and Tim with their arms in the air, singing Galileo! Galileo! It was Perfect. Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, and Phil and Tim. Good Moment.
More Texas. I wish I had more pictures of it. Guess I need to go back.
I will say this: Every Texas town we went through in Texas, you get a whiff or two of Barbecue somewhere. Not that smell from grilling, or charcoal briquets to make a 20 minute steak; but real BBQ. Low and slow. Outside of Brenham, I saw a 40 foot smoker on the back of a semi trailer. I BBQ a lot. Briskets, Ribs, Pulled Pork, Chickens and a turkey every thanksgiving. I really wanted to try some good BBQ in this part of the country.
We pulled into Tromball Texas. Steve and Brando had obviously been searching for a good restaurant, and they found a good one. The sign outside on the marquis said “voted best bbq in Houston”. I was geeked to see what they had to offer.
The Original Rib Tickler. I had the ribs and Brisket. Sauce on the side, but they didn’t need it. 5 stars.
You can tell good BBQ a few ways. First, if the ribs make a bite mark. Too long on the smoker, and they fall off the bone. Too little, they have a pull off the bone. These were dead on perfect. Its a matter of minutes between the two, and its hard to do. Especially in a restaurant.
We still had a 160 miles to go. We headed out and made that time towards Lake Charles. The scenery started changing. Less texas, and More Louisiana. In this part of the south, there is some difference it seems. At least terrain wise.
I could feel some Clash comin’ on. I listened to this as we headed East.
We crossed the border. Beautiful scene. I had no idea what Louisiana had in store for us riding wise. I was excited to find out. We still had 2 more days to go.
We headed into the Hotel, cleaned up and took a shuttle to a restaurant. I can’t quite remember the name. Our bus boy was funny, and I remember eating some Louisiana food and Belgium beating the US on the soccer game on the TV. Graham taught me the finer points of Soccer.
We went back to the room, Brando broke out some rum and had a toast to a good day. I went to bed not long afterward. Tomorrow we’d hit up some Easy Rider spots. This was a great day.
P.S. My oldest daughter Megan Graduated High School this day. Mrs Zip sent me the videos of her getting her diploma. Meg is my bud, a great kid and a great student. I was pretty proud of her.
Day 11 – Easy Rider Tour – 295 Miles
Day 11: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Austin Texas to Lake Charles Louisiana Read More »
Day 10: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Abilene Texas to Austin Texas.
Met at the bikes, sunscreened up, swapped stories and headed out of Abilene.
I’d slept good the night before, and was ready to head out. On to Austin. We were out of the Pan Handle, and Texas got even more interesting. We hit Comanche Texas, about 80 miles away. About 10 o’ Clock it seems, our tour guide Steve starts needing a doughnut. I’d imagine if I was up front, I’d have seen the rubber necking at 9:30 ish. He found a place. We had an 80 mile Harley-Davidson ass, so the break was welcome.
My mom used to make these things that she called “pigs in a blanket”. They’re basically hot dogs, wrapped in Pillsbury something-or-other dough, and baked. I don’t eat breakfast much, so I just hung out in the parking lot until I found out they were selling these little numbers. We ate at all kinds of places on this trip. I ate at Gene Simmons restaurant in L.A. I ate gut bombs, at the local Chevron gas station. I ate real Texas BBQ on this trip. I ate at a 100 dollar a plate restaurant in the french quarter of new Orleans that opened up in the year 1830 on this trip. Those little pigs in a blanket at that little place, in Comanche Texas were right up there on the top of the list.
We saddled up, and we headed south to Lano Texas. We still had some miles to go.
Cranked up the Who, twisted the throttle and just tried to take it all in. I think I like Texas.
Steve found a cool little twisty road, on the way to Austin:
Into Marble falls. We ate at theRiver City Grill. Great view.
The road out of Marble falls was beautiful. Newly paved, and up and down, twists and turns. Made for a motorcycle. We rolled into the freeway, and headed north to Round Rock. We needed souvenirs. I needed a long sleeve shirt. 10 days of sun will kill a man.
Central Texas Harley – Davidson, Round Rock Texas
We headed the last 20 miles into Austin, down the freeway. Stop and go traffic at quitting time. We maneuvered our way off the freeway, and into our place at the Comfort inn parking garage.
I shut my bike off, and locked her up. We only had 2 more days to ride. I turned 46 years old today. Riding all day on your birthday is exactly what i’d have asked for.
I headed up to the hotel room, and cleaned the road up off of me. Then Went down to the bar around the corner, made a few friends and watched some hockey playoffs.
Had a long talk to Missus Dunn and my kids. Great day. I was exhausted.
Today was a cool day. A riding day. Took me about 2 hours to put that map together at the bottom of this post. I’d tried to keep track of the highway numbers that day, but in the end I had to message Steve for some help. Thanks Steve!
Day 10: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – 282 Miles
Day 10: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Abilene Texas to Austin Texas. Read More »
Day 9: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Amarillo to Abilene
We woke up and had breakfast. Eaglerider says that the Ambassador Hotel is one of their favorite hotels, and I can see why. Very nice place. I’ll admit it, I was a tad hung over from the night before. A little wind therapy would fix that.
Peter fonda had said in 1969, the stories of hippies getting shaved with rusty razor blades in the south was all too real for them. They didn’t film anything in Texas, and the bikes never came out of the Van.
This was the first tour, and for shooting from the hip, Steve kept us off the Interstate and we road good roads. Farm fields, silos and tractors. Wide open spaces where you couldn’t see the edge of anything. This road was all new to me. All I’ve ever heard from people who ride the Texas panhandle is how brutally flat it is, so I was expecting that. Texas had a few surprises. I gotta admit, I really like this state. I could live here. Texans are proud to live in Texas.
I settled in, and rode in the back of the pack most of the time. A little space to enjoy the scenery, and take a new road in.
Led Zeppelin seemed to hit the spot today.
83 miles in, we hit Silverton Texas and took a break.
Thats one of the things I like most about riding. Pulling into a town you’ve never been, and figuring out the town. In this case, learning a thing. If we’d have had more time, I’d have liked to explore every little small town in Texas we hit up. There’s always a story somewhere, or a ghost to chase from the past.
We continued down the 207, to Post Texas and had lunch at George’s Restaurant. Very Groovy, George.
We fueled up across the street, and made miles. Through Snyder and Sweetwater, and into Abilene. We cracked a beer in the parking lot and as always, toasted to the day. I called the wife and kids, and went back to my room to do some work.
I was glad to be out riding. It was nice to see a different part of the country, and run through small towns I’d never seen.
Day 9 – Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – 298 Miles
Day 9: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Amarillo to Abilene Read More »
Day 8 part 2: Amarillo gets it’s own post.
We rolled down from Las Vegas, and hit interstate 40. This is route 66 generally, and if you glance side to side now and again you’ll see old alignments of the mother road. Route 66, from days gone by. We hit up a truck stop to hydrate, and they had a bitchen little museum inside.
Before this place, I saw some bitchin old bridges on the south of 1-40, with frontage roads leading into them. Old route 66. I always wonder what it was like, back in the day.
We rolled into Amarillo. Cadillac ranch, to be specific. We’d ridden pretty hard today, and everyone was feeling pretty light hearted and a bit silly by now. Time to have some fun. I had no idea who sweet Marie was, or what this song was up to this point. I’d come to know.
No one located on the western Hemisphere of this tour knew this song either. Brazil, New Jersey, Utah. We had no idea. And Yet it came.
I knew tonight was going to be a fun one. We rolled the 10 miles into Amarillo. Got our room keys, cleaned up and the Limo took us all to the Big Texan Steak Ranch. This place is another route 66 classic, and its been here for years.
Live music at the tables. These guys were a lot of fun. The fiddler was hooked up to oxygen, but he played that thing like he was 18 years old. We got a few requests in.
It was memorial day weekend, and I wouldn’t be able to put flowers on the old man’s grave this year, so did the next best thing and Asked if he knew any Ernest Tubb. The did, by heart. My father used to torture me with this song, and now its just music to my ears.
We ate and drank, got loud like everyone else there, and I personally had a blast.
A long but killer day. We all headed back to the hotel, and crashed for the night. Tomorrow we’d spend another day crossing Texas.
Oh, by the way…
We headed back to the Hotel bar. A Chili’s restaurant, I think and shot the bull. I remember shots of Jack and toasts to the day we just wound down.
A great time. A whole day I’ll never forget.
Day 8 part 2: Amarillo gets it’s own post. Read More »
Day 8: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Taos New Mexico to Amarillo Texas
I’d fallen asleep early, and woke up early. Rather than sit with my thumb up my ass, I jumped on the bike. It had been a while since I’d been here, and never like this. I ran up to where Easy Rider began.
For the movie, Peter fonda wanted to buy junk, in a junkyard. This place was sold like it was in Mexico, but it was really in Taos. In the original story of the movie, Billy and Wyatt were carnival stunt men on motorcycles. Thats why they showed up on dirt bikes for this scene. It wasn’t until you got to Ballarat in the movie, that they rode Harleys. In the movie, when they got jailed for parading without a permit (we’d see this location today too) where Billy shouts through the jail cell:
“Parading without a permit? Do you know who this is, man? This is Captain America. l’m Billy. We’re headliners, baby. We played every fair in this part of the country. For top dollar too! Weirdo hicks, man. A bunch of weirdo hicks. “
Quote from the Movie, Easy Rider (1969)
Most of that part of the story got cut on the editing floor. I headed back to the Hotel, had some coffee at the restaurant with the crew, and took some pictures. This was a 100 year old place, just celebrating its anniversary. Taos is pretty cool.
We had a lot to see today. Lots of Easy Rider. To the first stop for today: IMG_0469 Translation: “Pura Vida Hermano!” means “Pure Life, my Friend” in English. The guy in that scene was a local musician in Taos, back in the day. I bet that dude could belt out a good Mariachi song. I’d pay good money to see it.
I told what I knew:
There is lots of Easy Rider in Taos. This was the first stop, the opening scene. We’d ride to more. We rode down to the Taos Pueblo, but we didn’t go in. . I’d like to do it again. There is lots of history there. The scene I wanted to show was this, right by the river. I’ve been here before, but got the feeling we didn’t have time. Looking back, I’d have pushed for more time here.
Next, was Dennis Hoppers House, where he lived for 15 years after Easy Rider. DH Lawrence lived here too, and now its called the Mable Dodge Luhan House. It was one of Dennis Hoppers first purchases after the Easy Rider checks starting coming in.
Taos has always been interesting to me, and it’s always been connected to Dennis Hopper in my mind. It’s an artists community, like no other I’ve been to. I gotta think about why. Maybe another ride, and another blog post for another day. If I can throw this one out:
Dennis Hopper took this photograph in 1961. To me, it tells volumes about the guy. First, he was an artist at heart. A random, but brilliant thinker. A contemporary, till the day he died, and I think his work showed that. He was also raised a Kansas farm boy. “double standard” , I have to think was his mindset at the time. It certainly was years later. He directed Easy Rider, was equal parts insane and brilliant, and had an eye to move people. Dennis Hopper was a hard guy to sum up. But, whatever. Something to chew on when you’re out on a bike and your mojo is rolling and there is 100 miles ahead of you. Maybe at least for me. It was memorial Day Weekend, and that’s appropriate to honor the dead. We rolled up to Dennis Hopper’s grave. The last time I was in Taos, he was still alive. This was a first for me.
The whole city of Taos, smells of Dennis Hopper and Easy Rider. We were on our way, to Las Vegas New Mexico. We headed out of Taos, on New Mexico 518. The weather was awesome, and I couldn’t help but feeling we’d lucked out this trip, weather wise. It was starting to cloud up, but nothing threatening, at least this day. 75 miles more, and then more Easy Rider.
We hit Las Vegas New Mexico, where in Easy Rider they paraded without a permit.
In the movie, the paraded without a license and got thrown in Jail. In the tour, we walked down to the corner and saw another scene from the movie. Watch this. It’s classic Easy Rider.
and some of the story behind it: After this, Easy Rider became pretty funny. On to Madame Tinkertoys House of Blue Lights, Corner of Burbon and Tolouse. In Real Life, Jack Nicholson was ready to quit acting. After this, all that would change. We still had 230 miles to go. From here, we headed into Amarillo. Day 8, Easy Rider Movie Location tour – 314 Miles View Larger Map
Day 8: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Taos New Mexico to Amarillo Texas Read More »
Day 7: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Farmington to Taos New Mexico
After breakfast we headed north east to Durango Colorado.
When they made the movie, they just bolted to Taos, with a piece of toast in their mouth while they drove, probably. Who cares. Peter and Dennis were hanging out in an RV, and the bikes were were in a panel Van, making miles. We took the scenic route, up to Durango.
We spent our time, then headed east. Found us a cool waterfall.
Up through Wolf Creek Pass
I couldn’t help but have this song in my head. Like, the whole time. My gift to humanity is useless trivia, and random thought. I present CW McCall, Wolf Creek pass. white person trucker rap, from 1975. Give you an Idea of the road, anyway:
We rolled down from Wolf Creek Pass, and had lunch in a place I’m not sure the name of. We turned south, somewhere. We were hungry, and ate a gourmet meal at a greasy roadside shop. I think I had a buffalo burger with jalapeno’s on the side. And fries.
On our way into Taos, we stopped at a bridge crossing the Rio Grande river. The weather was hot, and some of us had some Ice coffee at a hippy truck while it held out. The rest of us had some some ice water and cokes. My ass was sore, and needed a break. Vendors and lots of bikes is all I remember. This was memorial day weekend, and everyone was taking advantage of it.
Aussie John gave me a lot of pictures for this blog. About 100 miles back, he also reminded me of good touring music. I listened to this, as we rolled into Taos. The desert was wide, the weather was good, and we were rolling 8 miles a minute, most of the time. I knew that somewhere, I had deadlines and commitments. I just didn’t have them now. It was on the hotter side, but still…. a perfect day of riding.
We pulled into Taos, and I saw 2 spots from the movie on the way in, that we’d see tomorrow. I felt thrashed, but happier than hell. What else would I rather be doing? It was a hot day, and a long day and I fell asleep about as fast as I sat down. This was the first of a string of 300 mile days.
Day 7 – Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – 280 Miles
Day 7: Easy Rider Movie Location Tour – Farmington to Taos New Mexico Read More »
Day 6: Easy Rider Tour – Monument Valley to Farmington NM
After breakfast in Kayenta, we loaded up and headed out. Today would be a short day, but not short on scenery. Monument Valley was a few miles away. The wind had died down, the feral dogs were behind us, and we rode on in. I never get sick of this place.
EagleRider had another plan for us. A tour through the valley floor. Another reason why they’re the best at what they do. This wasn’t just a motorcycle tour, everything is about the experience. Its just their mindset.
Little guy (me) didn’t go the bathroom before we left, so I had to get that handled. I was holding everyone up, and they took the opportunity to give me a ration of shit coming back to the tour trucks. lol, perfect. Felt like I was home. All in good fun.
Our tour guide was Navajo, and shared his stories. We weaved around the valley floor while he told us of Navajo life, history, a little bit of the language, and locations. A great little tour.
A fun couple of hours, and another nice break. Some good conversation, and a good amount of laughs. Everyone had a good time I think. We headed back to our bikes and down the road again.
This is my State. Pretty proud to live here.
We ran the 24 miles to Mexican Hat. I first ran through here in 2009, with my 12 year old daughter on a daddy daughter weekend. It was dusk when we hit Kayenta. No room, at any inn. It was dark when we ran through Monument Valley, and headed past Mexican Hat on the bike on the way to Bluff Utah, where we finally found a place to stay. I remember passing the Mexican Hat lodge Inn in the middle of the night. Cool little place, lots of neon and out in the middle of nowhere. Kept thinking how this would be a good place for an old school biker retreat, like they used to do it back in the day. One year later, I got together with some good friends in B.A.C.A. , of which I’m a member of, and it ended up happening. My buddy Drifter knew the guy that owns the land directly below Mexican Hat, and now that retreat happens every year. Kinda cool.
From there we headed to Bluff, Utah for lunch. Twin Rocks Cafe.
The Captain America bike turns heads. A lot of thumbs up, from people in the know. Bruno was riding with me still, and about 30 miles outside of farmington in Ship Rock New Mexico, I sped up and so Bruno could take this shot. Seems like most of my adult riding life I’ve been rubbernecking for old roads. He sent this to me today. I quite love this shot.
We headed into Farmington. We checked into the Hotel there, and I had the chance to finally take the Captain bike out. I took it. Stopping at red lights, rolling her down the main drag for a few miles…. It was pretty cool. You know people are looking, and you just can’t but help feeling completely bad-ass. After all, this is the most famous bike in the world.
And yet, and the end of this day I went down and did my laundry at the Hampton Inn. It was time. I called Mrs Zip, found out what was going on at work, and slept like a baby. Good day.
Day Six – Easy Rider Tour – 175 Miles
Day 6: Easy Rider Tour – Monument Valley to Farmington NM Read More »
Day 5: Easy Rider Tour – Flagstaff to Kayenta
We left Flagstaff, Fueled up and headed north on highway 89, toward The Sacred Mountain Gas Station from Easy Rider. This was the first Movie Location from Easy Rider I’d ever found, and I’d ridden by this a dozen times. I was on my way home, on a Sunday, and blew off the next 2 days chasing down Easy Easy Rider in Arizona. Riding is fun enough. Chasing down a mystery makes it even more fun.
We pulled in, took some pictures and doubled back. Not far up the road.
Sunset Crater to Wupatki is one of my favorite roads on the planet. This trip, it became maybe my favorite. We were pulling in to pay the park fees, and Steve had asked me to go ahead to the turn off and wait for everyone. Bruno, an Italian Photographer and all around good guy was my passenger for the day.
No lie, right as I started out, I wasn’t born to Follow by the Byrds came up on my Ipod. Another good omen.
It was perfect. The morning still had shadows and the sun was coming through the trees. I was wanting to stop to get a picture where they picked the hippy up in the Movie, but I got pretty lost in the moment . Sunset crater road and scenery haven’t changed since Easy Rider was filmed. For a couple of minutes, I was in 1969. For me, that was the best moment of riding the whole trip. If you go down there to see this, I highly suggest taking that song with you. Beautiful. I also had plans to have a buddy of mine meet us there, dressed up like a hippy, so we could pick him up for for the full effect. It ended up not working out. Next time. Some cool visuals from the movie, on that stretch of road (by the way, click on any image to enlarge):
We rode all of it. I rode up the 30 miles up to Waputki, and Bruno and I waited at the turn off. Bruno is an interesting guy. For living in Italy, he’s seen more of America than I have. He has the artists eye, and was good company. Wupatki is where they stopped for the night after they picked up the Hippy.
We headed out of Waputki. Only a few miles to the main road again, and back to making miles. This is where the best song of Easy Rider was filmed. When they were filming, Dennis pushed for them to film in monument Valley at dusk. When you look at the cinematography, he wasn’t wrong. Its a big part of why this movie sticks with those who ride. At this point, we were well into our trip. I’ll be honest, I was starting to forget what day of the week it even was. On vacation, thats a good thing. I’d seen all these places, but never consecutively and not like this. It was always bolt to a spot, figure it out, and bolt home. Seeing it as one long ride was pretty special to me. My bike was purring, the weather was great, and the road wasn’t ending anytime soon. Found a new scene on the way there. We left highway 89, and headed toward Kayenta. I’ve ridden this before, but when I did I was always heading the other way.
The road into Kayenta was windy. The road into Kayenta is always windy. No complaints, we Knuckled down, and enjoyed the ride. We got into Kayenta early. I think it was like 3 PM or so. The plan was to ride into Monument valley, do a tour and eat Navajo Tacos. Looking at Monument Valley when we came in, it was a dust bowl. Steve postponed the original plan, and we’d do it tomorrow. A few guys went in, but the rest of us took a nap and hung out and relaxed for a while. I forgot to pack a swim suit, and some pool time would have been nice methinks, but a nap was almost nicer. After a couple of hours, Graham got restless, and we decided it was time to watch Easy Rider. We set out.
We found a Motel nearby, that in exchange for bringing in hungry people to eat, they’d furnish a television and a VCR. Graham talked them into it. We watched Easy Rider.
It was pretty cool to see on video the places we’d rode on the previous days. We headed back, and slept for a night. A good meal, and a nice break. Another good day was going to happen tomorrow. Day Five – 184 Miles View Larger Map
Day 5: Easy Rider Tour – Flagstaff to Kayenta Read More »