The start of the trip was perfect, riding down from the San Francisco bay area to Santa Cruz with two brothers, who I wish could of joined me on this epic trip. We're motorcycle camped before and had a blast! I feel like between the three of us we could do anything. I attribute that to us being all crazy home school kids.
I camped at Big Basin, which is in the Santa Cruz mountains. I didnt make plans for this trip on where I'd be staying- that would take the adventure out of it. I discovered as the sun was setting, that most of the campsites in the area are open seasonally. I kept riding from one to the next hoping the next one would be open. I learned that the season starts in 3 weeks, on April 1st (no joke). As the sun set I made it to Big Basin and thankfully they were open.
This was my first time camping solo as an adult. On the second morning I had an epiphany. If it was as dangerous as I thought camping solo as a lady, that park wouldnt allow it. Or at least they'd warn me to be careful. I had an amazing time hiking around the redwoods and rediscovering my new favorite road, HWY 9.
Read more: The California Motorcycle Tour 2014 Table of Contents
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Video - bike setup
I get nervous narrating, so after many takes I ended up with this video. For some reason I didnt name any of my friends who helped me set up the bike. Sorry about that. So here is your 5 minutes of fame.
Thank you Steve for introducing me to the throttle rocker. It saved my wrist on those days where I rode 8+ hours. Also thank you for suggesting I pick up a cell phone holder to hold the GPS. I ended up using the cell phone holder as a poor man's GoPro by recording with my camera phone.
Before this trip my bike was precious. Too precious for me to work on. Preparing for this trip and mounting the rack, saddle bags and redoing the wiring for the blinkers cured me of that, all thanks to Anselm. He showed me that it's no big deal and that it's actually fun to wrench on your own bike. Thank you!
Anselm suggested that I make a Tool Tube out of a PVC pipe. My first design was pretty good except that the saddle bag couldnt snap into place when the tube was installed. So Anselm's brother Wayli made some design suggestions and made me a much better tube that looks like it's apart of the bike. The best part is that the tube is locked up when the side bags are on!
Cactus, thank you for giving me the duffle bag. I dont know what I would of done without it. I thought I was packing light, but that's hard to do when you're bringing camping equipment. It was incredibly handy having the tie-downs attached to the duffle, making it pretty fast to load out.
I am blessed with really generous friends. Thank you very much! You guys are awesome.
Read more: The California Motorcycle Tour 2014 Table of Contents
Saturday, March 8, 2014
2014 California Motorcycle Tour Table of Contents
Hello fellow adventurers,
I was laid-off, so I capitalized on having time by taking a month-long solo motorcycle trip around California. I decided on exploring California because we're in a drought and the rest of the country is getting dumped with lots of snow.
This trip far exceeded my expectations. I intentionally didnt plan very much other than preparing my motorcycle and the camping gear, because I didnt want to limit the trip to my limited knowledge of California. I had no itinerary. The plan was to ride south away from rain and snow and return back to the San Francisco bay area when either a month was up or I'd spent $1000.
I camped, slept at a Buddhist monastery, stayed at hostels, communes, hotels and at friends-of-friends houses. I met so many interesting and generous people and saw lots of wildlife, like whale, a bobcat and condors.
Thank you so much to my friends and family for helping me get my motorcycle road ready and for lending me camping gear. I really couldnt of done it without you.
This is the table of contents for my month-long solo adventure. Please leave comments- I'd love to hear from you!
take care,
Elizabeth
Departed March 9, 2014
Returned April 4, 2014
Click here to read the Summary of my California road trip
Days 1-2
March 9-11, 2014
Santa Cruz
Camped at Big Basin
Video - bike setup
First time camping solo
Photos from Big Basin
How I kept my sanity
March 11-12
Cayucos
Stayed with friends of friends in a beach house
Photos from Monterrey
Private moto tour of Big Sur
Photos from Big Sur
More Big Sur pics
Photos from Cayucos
March 12-13
Cambria
Slept at the Cambria hostel!!!
Photos from Cambria
Video - lid sink
March 13-17
Arroyo Seco
Hosted by a martial arts friend on a commune
Arroyo Seco pictures
Giggling
Big Sur picnic
Running out of gas
Bee Sting while riding
Quick hello
My Second Home
Video - Poor Man's GoPro
March 17
Ventana Wilderness
Camped solo miles from anyone for the first time
First night camping solo in the Ventana Wilderness
Baby poison oak is so cute!!!
March 18-21
Big Sur
Camped at Limekiln and then on the ridge
Camping in Big Sur above the clouds
The most surprising thing that happened on this road trip...
Gorda-nooo!!!!! Not again!!!!!
Daily cleaning the visor or else it looks like this...
March 21-22
Pismo Beach
North Beach Campgrounds
Camped out in a field of RVs
Planning this Trip
Books that I'm reading on the road
Camping at Pismo Beach
Jucy rv rental
March 22-24
Santa Barbara Wilderness
Hosted by an artist in her guest cottage
Egg painting and bone jewelry in the Santa Barbara Wilderness
Video- egg painting
More pics from the Santa Barbara Wilderness
More pics of Santa Barbara- Carl Jung's Red Book
March 24-25
Goleta
Put in a hotel by my ex boyfriend's aunt and uncle
Santa Barbara- bumming around town
Treated to a fancy hotel room in Goleta
March 25-26
Santa Barbara
Stayed at the SB hostel
Santa Barbara Hostel
Days 18-20
March 26-28
Solvang
Treated again to a hotel room, but this time by my friend Joe. We stayed at the Viking Motel.
March 28-30
Escondido
Camped at Deer Park Monastery
Right of Passage- Riding in LA
Saying Goodbye to my Great Grandparents in Oceanside
Spent the weekend at a Vietnamese Buddhist Monastery
Funny Juxtaposition
Motel Room in Banning
March 30-April 2
Joshua Tree
Camped in Joshua Tree
I was wrong about Joshua Tree
Video- Joshua Tree Landscape
Amazing Biker Ladies
April 2-4
Ventura
stayed at a hotel
10 Hour Ride from Joshua Tree to Ventura
Video - wind farms and snow
Riding the Mullholland Highway
April 5
Emeryville
slept in my own bed (Cant say that I missed it.)
Summary of Month-Long Motorcycle Tour
Friday, March 7, 2014
Month-long motorcycle tour of California
Hello,
I was recently laid-off, so I am capitalizing on having time by taking a month-long motorcycle trip around California. I'll probably be just exploring Cali because we're in a drought and the rest of the country is getting dumped with lots of snow. The plan is to camp, hostel hop and stay with friends.
I'll be posting here periodically with photos of my adventure.
Thank you so much to my friends and family for helping me get my motorcycle road ready and for lending me camping gear. I really couldnt of done it without you. I camped as a kid, but never solo as an adult. It's a tad scary but the only way I'm going to get comfortable is by jumping in and doing it!
take care,
Elizabeth
Read more: The California Motorcycle Tour 2014 Table of Contents
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Jewelry Display Board
Happy birthday Ian!
For Ian's birthday I offered to make a jewelry display board to hang in his office to showcase his art.
There's a lot of steps to making each earring and pendant, but the essence is that he models it on the computer, it's printed off on a 3D printer and then cast into metal and wooden insert are put into place. I love his designs! I have the turtle and love showing it off to people. (The above awesome photo is property of Omerica Body Jewelry, Inc.)
Originally I was going to make and ship the display to Ian, but spontaneous me flew to Colorado and decided it would be way more fun to create this together. In the past Ian and I have collaborated and those memories are some of my fondest of us together.
We spent about an hour at the thrift store looking for a potential shelf, or an object with drawers, or a mirror or a something to serve as a framework for this display. It couldn't look cheap since how the jewelry are of high quality; the wood inserts have stunning colors and beautiful grains and the metals are full of tiny details and polished to a shine. We found the perfect object-a wooden cheese board!
The cheese board who was lucky enough to have a higher calling- he's now "fine art."
We then went to a hardware store and hunted for a way to hang the jewelry. I resisted the urge to ask an employee, "I'm looking for a mesh, or maybe a hook, or a nail to hang necklaces. I'm not doing home repair. I'm making art. Do you have any suggestions?" (I've done this before and they hate me.) Instead we walked around and questioned everything. It was so much fun! We decided to go with a black aluminum mesh, that's ridged and decorative.
Back at the ranch construction was a joy. Everything went together so easily! We decided to make a shelf out of an old leather belt and insert that in the middle of the black aluminum mesh. The shelf would serve as an easy to show off the earring plugs.
We finished the jewelry display board the day I returned to California. I wasnt ready to leave it behind. I wanted to keep looking at it and admire it. Thank you Ian for sending me the photograph of the finished jewelry board so I can look at it anytime. And thank you for making your own birthday present with me.
To see more of Ian's stunning work, check out Ian Southwell's portfolio.
To buy any of the jewelry go to Omerica.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Jackson Pollock Action Paintings
I've found the art form that makes me all sorts of giddy and pumped up!
Action Painting with acrylics!!
As apart of an art/martial art camp that I designed/led, one of the activities was making Jackson Pollock inspired action paintings using white bed sheets. The kids wore clothes that could be trashed. We flung paint. We squeezed it straight from the bottles. We filled up squirt guns with paint.
It was an absolute blast!!!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
2013 Book List
11. Divergent by Veronica Roth
(Finished. Couldnt put it down!)
This book reminded me why I love to read "fun" books. I love being so connected to characters that I cant wait to read more about what's going to happen to them. New Year's Resolution is to read the last two books in the trilogy!
10. The Happiess Project by Gretchen Rubin
(Finished and LOVED!)
I'm still digesting this gem that I picked up at the airport. I will share more soon.
9. Kira Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
(Finished)
Newbery award winner for best kids lit. It made me sob. (You get very connected to the characters.)
8. Zen Seeds, Reflections by a Female Priest bu Shundo Aoyama
(currently reading)
Written like Aesop's fables, they're short 1-2 page entries on insights by a Zen priest.
7. Shop class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford
(I had 2/3 of the book. I agreed with the authors argument that working with you hands is a dying craft and is super valuable for society to not lose that skill. )
Written by a motorcycle mechanic about the value of working with your hands.
6. Fighting Fire by Caroline Paul
(devoured)
A San Francisco Firefighters autobiography of what it was like being one of the first women in the SFFD. Beautifully written. Engaging. I literally read until I couldnt sit any more. I neglected everything for 2 days, until I finished this gem.
5. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
(finished reading)
A quick and easy read. It was a nice break from my how-to books.
4. Sport Riding Techniques by Nick Ienatsch
(currently savoring!)
After reading A Twist of the Wrist, I've been eager to find another how-to ride book. And then a friend gave me Sports Riding Techniques. I want to be an old rider, so I'm studying what the professional riders know (plus it's REALLY fun to ride).
3. The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing by Daniel Reid
(Enjoyed flipping through)
Yep. I could use more of this in my life. I am working on being more relaxed and zen.
2. Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
(I had a hard time wanting to spend more time on the computer to use these skills, so I just read the first few chapters.)
This book teaches how to use social marketing and goes into the psychology on how we think. I love it!
1. Chaplin My Autobiography by Charles Chaplin
(finished reading)
I had no idea that Chaplin made so many movies. At the beginning of his career he was cranking them out one a month. That must of been so exciting to be constantly creating!
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