Miles Riden: 270
Number of Deep Fried Twinkies Eaten by Zena: 1
We made it to Lincoln, Nebraska (state capitol) and home of the famous Nebraska State Fair (started in 1868), Check it out at http://statefair.org/. We pitched our tents in the fair campground around 4pm and then walked over the the fair. Here's a quick rundown of our fair activities:
5pm - entered west entrace $6 a head
5:30pm - watched vintage tractor parade (garnered ideas for next SF City cruiser)
6:30pm - watched Giraldo Family Circus Troupe
7:00pm - Kevin ate entire Funnel Cake ($4.50)
7:15pm - Lost a combined total of $9.50 at Bingo Tent
7:45pm - Watched Zena Devour Deep Fried Twinkie ($3.00)
8:00pm - Got Nauseous in the Vortex Tunnel ($2 each)
9:00pm - Zena & Kevin bought unlimited passes to the fair rides ($10 each)
9:01pm - Dave is stuck carrying both backpacks, waterbottles, and all jackets while Z and K run around the park. As the designated "Dad" he also got to take all the pictures.
10:00pm - Kevin lies down to fight his second attack of Nausea after the rides.
10:30 - Zena buys a Pineapple Whip ($2.50), Kevin gets a super size fresh lemonade ($5) and nachos with jalepenos($4).
11:00pm - Enter Beer Gardens to enjoy live Country Music - bummed we left earplugs with the motos
11:30pm - Watched an honest-to-god, beer induced, bar fight break out & immediately broken up by the Nebraska State Troopers.
All in all, we left with an euphoric feeling of having had an authentic Mid West Experience.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Go Army!
The US Army Recruiters were displaying their tools of the trade at the Nebraska State Fair. This is a 1987 Hummer complete with a gun turret in the top. Kevin is left to his imagination, so he climbs in and pretends to shoot man eating bees. 
Bumper Ninja
No really, if you look at the hood of the bumper car you can see that it has a name....Ninja. No other cars are even around him 'casue he's in Ninja Stealth Mode. He would only appear momentarily to perform a catastrophic BUMP on his opponents.
Funnel Cake
No fair is complete without a classic funnel cake. White dough deep fat fried layered with powdered sugar. YUMMY in the TUMMY. (feels more like a rock afterwards)
Moto Heads Unite
Dave, Zena, & Dave pose with one of the Globe of Death riders inside the globe of death. She was riding a 100cc Honda motorcross bike.
Globe of Death
It's a bit hard to see, but that's a guy on a moto inside the globe of death riding in circles. He is currently at the top of the globe.
Circus Show
Dave waits patiently in the grass for the Giraldo Troupe to begin their tight rope act, motorcycle stunts and other craziness. It was a free show sponsored by the Nebraska State Fair.
Let's get Sick
We each paid $2.00 to experience the "Vortex." It's a catwalk surrounded by a rotating tunnel of different colors and patterns. Simply walk through right? This nausea inducing 3-d effect is purely mental, but effective nonetheless.
BINGO!
At 25cents a card, why not double up each round. The Lion's Club of Lincoln Nebraska sponsored a 'straight bingo' tent. Kevin lasted three rounds, losing $1.50, but Zena and Dave persisted, but never hit bingo. They were both out $4.00. It was a wild night of gambling at the State Fair.
Freshly Fried Twinkie
Zena accepts her "freshly fried" twinkie from a young and fit employee who said, "I've already had three of these myself today." Let's just say, that this employee was not representative of the typical person at the Nebraska State Fair.
Death by Twinkie
If you think twinkies are bad for you with, how about a deep fried one. Zena whipped out her $3 as fast as she could.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Day 14 Denver, CO to McCook, Nebraska
Miles Riden: 24o
Number of Times Kevin got stung by a Bee: 1
With bags packed with fresh laundry, we headed east to begin our Midwest Conquest. After many people suggested that we bypass Kanas, we altered our route slightly to drive the Southern route of Nebraska. Thanks to Zena's forthought, we were well aware that the Nebraska State Fair was running over 10 days. We were primed to hit it.
Not counting the Bee String, we had an easy ride to McCook, Nebraska. We ate dinner and breakfast at the local 24hour family restaurant and enjoyed some incredible all-american food. Homemade apple pie and fresh cut ribeye steak. We also had the very tasty vegetable soap, but quickly learned that vegetable soup in Nebraska means beef soup with carrots, celery and potatoes.
Number of Times Kevin got stung by a Bee: 1
With bags packed with fresh laundry, we headed east to begin our Midwest Conquest. After many people suggested that we bypass Kanas, we altered our route slightly to drive the Southern route of Nebraska. Thanks to Zena's forthought, we were well aware that the Nebraska State Fair was running over 10 days. We were primed to hit it.
Not counting the Bee String, we had an easy ride to McCook, Nebraska. We ate dinner and breakfast at the local 24hour family restaurant and enjoyed some incredible all-american food. Homemade apple pie and fresh cut ribeye steak. We also had the very tasty vegetable soap, but quickly learned that vegetable soup in Nebraska means beef soup with carrots, celery and potatoes.
Bee Sting #1
While driving out of Denver on route 76, a bee flew up the left arm of Kevin's red super suit. It sneaked in the space between his gloves and overlapping sleeve of the jacket. The bee immediately paniced and stabbed it's stinger into Kevin's forearm. Kevin pulled over, jumped off his bike and began stripping. This is the resultant squashed bee sans stinger, which was removed from the forearm forthwith.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Peaches Grow on Trees
Zena eats from a tree of life. It was a self pay, self pick orchard. They provide bags and a scale, post the cost per pound and trust people to drop the right amount of money in the metal box. Plus, the orchard was in the middle of a national park in a high desert climate. Overall, a bit surreal.
Panoramic of Hwy 12 view
We moto'd around the corner to be presented with this. Everyday we discover new things about America
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Do you Know Where We Are?
Neither do we. It's 3:45pm, Wed Aug 23rd. Dave's Moto has a inoperable cylinder so we are trying to jerry rig it until we get to the next town.
How Cute Are They?
Dave and Zena riding tandem through the Red Canyon Tunnel on Hwy 12 on the way to Bryce Cannyon National Park.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Day 4 St. George, UT to Zion National Park, UT
Total Miles: 40
Departure Time: 3pm
Temperature: 103 Degrees
Helmet Law in Utah: Optional
Temperature: 103 Degrees
Helmet Law in Utah: Optional
It's was mellow day of riding. We actually spent 4 miles on the major freeway 15...yuck. Surprising that such a conservative state (considering the large population of LDS) has no helmut law. It's weird passing motorcyclists in t-shirts, shorts, flip flops and bare heads.
We spent the afternoon relaxin by the river. As you can see, Kevin was able to get enough momentum to slide along the surface...must have something to do with the high salinity.
103° in St. George Utah
Zena is drenching herself before our departure at the local waterfall in front of the Bank downtown. Wind will keep her cool & she'll be dry in only 30min.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Mid-Nevada
Dave with cows that were chillin on the road until we got closer. It's so unpopulated, why waste money on fencing off the highway.
Bone Chopper
We meet Bebos who is residing at the clown motel for a few weeks. He builds motos from bones he gathers from road kill. Check him out at bebosbones.com.
Day 2 - End of Day Wrap up
We made it to Tonopah, Nevada. Total mileage today = 302. We went over Tioga pass & spent 2 hours in Tuolome Meadows, Yosemite Park. Dave and Zena went running & Kevin did some bouldering & went for a skinny dip in the creek. Now we are crashing at the Clown Motel. $40 gets us a none smoking double queen w/ 1970 something microwave, a minifridge that is barley colder than the room, running water & it still reeks of smoke. We've reached the middle america zone!
No internet connection, so photos will have to wait. This a cell phone update.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Day 2 / leg 1
We've made it to the foot hills of the sierra's. Yosemite is about 50 miles away. We've had to bump start Zena's moto twice already.
Let's do a MPG status check:
Dave 24 mpg
Zena 65 mpg
Kevin 56 mpg
yes it's gonna cost Dave more than twice as much to go X-country. He might have to work nights.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Day 1 - Thursday August 17th
It’s are first day of riding and we already hit double digits at 89 miles. Wow, we rode all the way from
Kevin has changed to a 1970 BMW R50 /5, it's August 2006, it's 3,000 miles to NYC from SF, CA, and he's got 30 days to do it. What's the rush? It's a setup for a moto slow venture across middle america on backroads. No fairings, no hard bags, no fancyness, just an old slow beast of a machine and the open road.
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