Last Saturday was the First Annual Nevada City Adult Soapbox Derby. The weather was great, the turnout was great, the race was exciting, and the soap boxes were spectacular! Here’s a short impression of the vehicles participating (or view the whole gallery here):
It was great fun! View the whole gallery here.
One of my friends Tanya suggested that I should post a photo of me in my motorcycle riding outfit since she cannot imagine me looking like an astronaut. While looking for such a photo, I recalled a moment we had in Peru.
Spring season was in full swing while we were in Peru, which meant more days than not, it rained on-and-off and constantly all day, and this particular day was no exception. Needless to say we were in a foul mood, with our motorcycle gears getting heavier and heavier soaked in rain water. For a good portion of the day I sat in butt-freezing clothes since my gore-tex motorcycle pants fails in heavy rain.
Sometime in the mid-afternoon streaks of lightening started hitting on the road ahead. All fed up with the lousy weather, Q stopped Casa in the middle of nowhere without warning. He gestured me to get off the motorcycle, and proceeded to throw himself down by the roadside.
I could tell he was really pissed off because he wouldn’t even look at me. And I was just glad that it’s not because of us this time! Knowing better I left him alone for a short while and scouted around as one does when stranded in the middle of nowhere. Now come to think about it, I must have looked quite funny since I didn't remove any of my motorcycle gears because I was too wet to. I quickly spotted a shepherd sitting across the road not far from us. I walked up to him and noticed his sitting trick – unlike Q who was on a patch of wet grass, the shepherd sat comfortably on a dry shrub above the puddles.
I decided to try it out – it worked like a charm!! Walking back to a slightly-deflated Q, I showed him the new trick, and we both had a ball trying it out!
About half an hour of resting (if above qualifies) in the drizzle later, the dark clouds finally cleared somewhat, so we decided to continue. The weather remained just as wet and lousy for the rest of the day, but we somehow felt lighter.
While Shu’s kicking back in Toronto with Family and Friends, I’m hanging low with my Pamily in Northern California, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. I’ve done my fair share of relaxing, but there are also a few things that need to be done with the bike, among which: new tires!
New tires beg to be driven, of course, and I was happy to take them out for a spin. I made a big loop via I-80 to Truckee, from there to SR-89 along the west side of Lake Tahoe, then west on SR-88, back north on SR-49. See the map:
So first I-80, a freeway that heads into the hills. Good for getting rid of the silicone on the new tires. Then I switched to the old road, which is more quiet, more scenic, more windy and with quite a bit of history to it. It’s the Old U.S. Route 40, or Donner Pass Road.
And a gorgeous view of Donner Lake.
You would think summer has started, I mean, we’re halfway into June, but snow tells you otherwise.
Right turn at Truckee, on California State Route 89 towards the west side of Lake Tahoe. You could tell summer holidays had started, because it was busy on the roads and all the parking lots. No pictures there because of that, and I’ve already been there a few times. But just south of Lake Tahoe I took a small road to shortcut my road, and instantly I was alone again.
After SR-89 a right onto SR-88, it climbs until 2600m/8500 feet and got really cold as well! But stunning sceneries again.
Some back roads from SR-88 to SR-49, north again and back to Auburn. Can’t think of a better way to wear in my new tires!
Check out all the pics in the gallery.
It has been a while since I looked remotely nice. The following photo was taken after an overnight party with mosquitos in Venezuela about two months ago.
As mentioned in previous posting, we are taking a vacation after travelling for a year, with Q in California and me in Toronto. I was very excited to dress up and wear some make-up again – this time for a friend’s wedding. (Congrats, Sergio & Desirée!)
Me with friends at the wedding
Thanks to Tita Tess, Criana and a California thrift store for keeping my glam look at a grand total of $3.50! Sweet!
Some of you have noticed from the photos that Q was getting darker and skinner from the hard work of motorcycling for 60,000 km. Well, worry not, because we have made it to the United States of America, home to meals that not only smell good but taste even better.
Above: Hello, bacon! Only if I can sing to you. Oh, how much I have missed you.
It seems that we have to learn to count calories again!
Above: Last stretch to pamily through gorgeous yet freezing northern California.
Special thanks to our friend Kiyo for hosting us in Los Angeles and the Andrews pamily for hosting us in northern California! Yes, after a year’s travelling, we are on vacation! Hooray!
From Dos Chinos on Dos Wheels to Dos Niños in a Van!
Chowhound: Someone who strategizes carefully, passionately, and adventurously in deciding what and where to eat. For example, Q and I are chowhounds.
The truth was we did not know what to expect of Mexican food before entering the country. We were too annoyed by the rampant corruption and security issues plaguing the Central America, we were just happy to get a step closer to North America. And we were in for a surprise treat. Mexico was AMAZING with such different and fun flavours. Here is a documentary of the food we sampled in the first 48 hours of arriving in the country.
First day lunch at roadside booth – Slow-cooked beef stew with meat falling apart under fork.
First day dinner in San Cristobal de Las Casas – Q taking in a street hamburger for $3 with layers of ham, lean meat and bacon along with veggies.
Second day lunch in Municipal Market: pots of goodies waiting to be picked and enjoyed.
For the rest of the second day, we feasted on more of rich and exotic Mexican treats…
Above: the BEST roasted peanuts ever. Directly from the farmers.
Above: bean bread
Above: all sorted beans
Above: Fat-bottomed ants! My my!
Above: corn bread.
Above: Refreshing and tasty tacos.
Okay I know we totally pigged out, but I truly believe that Mexico could make anyone into a chowhound. Trust me, you simply cannot resist.
Thank you, Mexico. It’s been a great pleasure.
Eight and half months into our motorcycle journey in South America, we have finally decided that it is time to move on to a new pasture, namely Central and North America!
Obviously this marks a huge-majorly significant milestone in our travelling, so to celebrate, here is a high-level map of our route in South America for a sneak preview. Thanks to Q for compiling it! The detailed EveryTrail map will come soon, hopefully!
Right, wish us luck in the Central America – it’s a different jungle out here! More to come soon…
After our two-week adventure in Venezuela, it feels so good to return to Colombia, where once again we feel peaceful and safe. Just about all the rumors/warnings we heard about Venezuela before our trip were confirmed during our trip: shockingly-cheap gas, messed-up currency exchange, widespread police corruption, constant military checkpoints, dysfunctional government, garbage pollution.. Sadly the list goes on.
I want to talk about the cheap gasoline first. Guess how shockingly cheap?
We paid BLOODY US 1.2 CENT PER LITRE!!! And this isn’t the cheaper gasoline either, it was for 95-octane premium. So for 10 litres of gas, it’s only 12 cents; 40 litres, barely half a dollar! Yes, drool on that math. At times I wish I could gulp down gasoline like Casa - it would have saved us loads.
While we enjoyed the almost-free gasoline, we also suffered its side effects. Traffic jams make a daily and constant hair-pulling exercise. Maximum filling limit has been set for cars at border towns, so it was common to spot dozens of car line-up over-spilling the gas stations.
Most annoyingly, thanks to lack of government regulations, any car with four wheels can be on the road, even those that should have died ages ago. I call them the Zombie Cars. They are the hell twins of Cuban vintage cars. The Zombie Cars are so poorly maintained that they often break down in the middle of roads, which, you guessed it, add to those frequent traffic jams.
The truth is that I found these Zombie Cars so disturbing yet fascinating. So I decided to dedicate the last day of our journey in Venezuela to taking pictures of some of them. It turned out to be such an easy task. These featured in the photo album are only a few of the many that we came across within a couple hours. Enjoy!
Oh, if you do recognize some of the car model, feel free to point them out.
We are very glad to have seen the controversial country with our own eyes, but one time in Venezuela is more than enough for a lifetime. My whole body let out a big sigh as we left these zombies and Venezuela behind. Can’t say I will miss you much.
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