Yippee, leave of absence to travel...

I crossed the Channel on a boat if that's what you mean.

 

Baked potatoe rather than mash IME.

And of course US steaks are largely full of growth hormones and
antibiotics. Ugh!

 

Well, that may be the case... but the restaurant (chain) serving some
of
the best tasting steaks I've eaten is in the US; Morton's.

 

I used to work for a pig breeding company[1] and know just how much
stuff gets pumped into our meat, UK meat isn't drug free by a long shot.

Argentinian beef looked bloody gorgeous when Jamie did his travel
thingy.



[1] Yes yes I KNOW!

 

Morton's, Pete Miller's, Ruths Chris - all very good in their own way,
but, if I had a choice, it would be the porterhouse steak from
Saltgrass Steakhouse in Galveston TX.

 

Is T1 better?, it's got a higher number, it must be better.


What about T99? or T0?

 

Let me know if you need help with anything planning wise or after you
arrive.

 

Mortons? Marina had a steak at Mortons and was so impressed with the
steak knives, she asked where she could buy a set, they sold her one.
We have a set of Mortons steak knives in the dining room top-drawer,
they work great, used one last night.

 

Thanks. Ill prolly need a lot of help, Ive only ever ridden in Europe,
theres bound to be loads of stuff off my radar. YTCs journal was good.

 

You need steak knives? Buy less pikey steaks instead.

 

Now that's just plain insulting.

We were talking on the French run about good jokes that no longer
worked. I recalled the one that went "Do you know the difference
between a turkey, a chicken and a quail? No? Neither does the American
electorate."

 

Something that would be really useful would be a list of contacts that
might possibly have crash space for a British rider/traveller. It
would certainly help make the whole project more affordable. I could
recipricate if any come over here to Blighty. Dunno how that would
work?

 

But it was Waitroses finest fillet... The whole point of shopping at
Waitrose is to avoid the pikeys...

 

Im open to offers...

The mid-west is a big area... Where are you?

 

In which case using a steak knife is akin to using a fish knife -
simply an affectation.

 

I would refer the honourable gentleman to a post I made up there ^^

<Quote>
"I also got a lot of local help from the MSTA (Motorcycle Sports
Touring
Association). I got drunk with a few of them, dragged round their
favourite twisties, given route advice and bed for the night.
http://www.sporttouring.us/forum.php - Forum
http://micapeak.com/mailman/listinfo/hsta - old but still kinda active
mailing list."
</Quote>

I recommend them as a genuinely friendly & helpful bunch (except for
info on bike rentals or insurance as a foreigner – they are all US
bike owners, they’ve never had to do either). Americans who own
"Sports Touring" bikes (VFRs, FJs, BMWs, Sprint STs, Pans & the like).
Average age must be 45-50 ish.
Last years two week trip based round Staunton VA. I stayed with three
of the members.
Drop an email into the mailing list - it's worth a punt at the least.

 

Ive bought a gurhka kukri for camping/chopping wood/skinning mountain
lions, etc. So Ive sorted my essentials...

 

snipped, prolly wrong...

Give me a couple of days and I could prolly construct a clever retort
to that, that wouldnt make me look too shallow or stupid...

Then again...

 

You've already got lots of good info, (most of it true,) but I've got
more than 40 years experience riding California roads, so if I may...
I don't know much about visas, but AIR, you may need to ask for a
multiple entry vs a single entry. I know people who went to Tijuana
for the day and weren't allowed back in because of a single entry
visa. that was years ago, so things may have changed. I think the US
Dept of State webpages would be a good start.

Mountain lions are on the endangered species list, so please don't
kill one. If you try to kill a bear with a knife, you deserve what you
get.

I don't think I've seen a rental for less than $100/day. There is an
organization for exchange of bikes, but I lost the link.

IMHO, there are 3 "must see" sites in the US west of the Rocky
Mountains.- the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and California Hiway 1. Of
course, everybody sees them, so they're almost always crowded with
tourists. Worth it, though. With 2 months, you can do much of
California and a lot of the West. I usually take 2 weeks to do a lap
of CA - up the coast, down through the Sierras, or vice versa, tossing
in a healthy dose of side roads. There are a gazillion good roads from
Montana to New Mexico to the coast. Colorado, Utah and Arizona all are
worth riding. Utah 12 is one of my favorites.

If you do California, get good county level maps. State maps won't
show the small fun roads. I like the AAA maps.
Top to bottom-
NorCal 1 may be even better than the stretch between SF & LA.
Certainly less traffic. There are mazes of roads that go inland from
CA1, connecting to Hiway 101, or just loops. The Trinity Alps is near
the Oregon border and has a plethora of fun roads. The Sierras are
wonderful, but seasonal.

CenCal. The roads on the San Francisco peninsula are fun and Alice's
Restaurant is there. Don't miss the Monterrey Aquarium. Try to do
Hiway 1 during the week. Too many tourists on weekends. Carmel Valley
Road from Carmel to the central valley is one long thrill ride through
a variety of landscapes. There are a bunch of nice roads in between 1
and 101 North of San Luis Obispo. Hiway 49 is the main north-south
road through the Sierra foothills, and it can be fun when the traffic
is light, but there are many other great roads off of it in the
mountains. Some of them have great names.

SoCal. I like the Ring Around The Toilet. It's a mountain chain that
surrounds the SoCal metropolitan area. Starting at the coast north of
Malibu, you can hit the Rockstore (really lousy food,) then go east on
Mulholland Drive, then do the Angeles Crest, over to Big Bear, south
across the I10 and up to Idyllwild, then Palomar Mountain, and finally
wind up at the Mexican border by San Diego via the Lagunas or Cuyamaca
mtns. San Diego, my home, has some great roads, but it's kinda stuck
between Hell A and hell B (Imperial County.)

I'm not sure when you're going. If it's later this summer, we may get
together, but I'm in Heidelberg right now on my own little adventure.
If you have more questions, feel free to ping me. I do have a loft
with a spare bed.

 

Lovely turn of phrase there, Mark.