I think it was early June 2013 when Kenny and I hatched a plan to tour the US with the purpose of taking Lou to one of the places in this world where she was always truly happy, Disneyland. It started small with Kenny offering to accompany me while I came over to the US, but our ever adventurous minds soon blew it out of all proportions and we ended up with a map on a wall showing our proposed route and it taking 10 weeks to complete. The route taken was not too far off this, there were some detours, and I will post an updated map when i get home.
Planning got underway and it turned out being a much larger undertaking than I had ever imagined. Kenny and I both knew that he would not be able to make the entire trip with me due to commitments at home (Kenny and Tam only just had their daughter Poppy come into their lives in February), but we made the decision to keep this information to ourselves so as to not stress anyone before we left that I was going to be doing a large portion of this trip alone (sorry to Dad, Mum and Maggie, I know it surprised you when Kenny came home).
Knowing that I was going to be doing a lot of miles during this trip, I decided to take a warm up trip back in late February just make sure I could stay self sufficient on the bike. The trip I signed up to was run by Compass Expeditions and was a tour around Tasmania, Victoria and NSW with Charley Boorman, Billy Ward and a rather motley crew I have since become great friends with. We still have a group email thread going 6 months since our trip and we are already planning our next together.
Only 5 days after this trip was completed, our bikes we on a ship headed for the US coast, it was a very long 7 weeks of not having a bike to ride.
Jump forward to the start of May and it had come up to the anniversary of when Lou was admitted to the Royal Women’s in Melbourne. The 1st of May. Maggie and I once again shared the journey Lou took through her short illness, it does not get any easier, but we wanted everyone one who has been supporting our fundraising efforts to know of the fight that Lou put up and how strong of a woman that she was. There were so many people supporting our cause now that never knew Lou personally we felt that this would help in raising further awareness.
On the 9th May, Kenny and I flew out, it had been a sleepless night for us both, but we were both excited for the journey ahead.
We landed in the US and still had to wait a few days to be able to get our bikes due to a hold up with US Customs. We had planned to start our ride on the 1st anniversary of Lou’s death, the 13th May. This ended up being the day that we were able to pick up the bikes, and so after a couple of small hiccups, we were on our way on the 14th May, starting our journey around the US.
As we made our way across the US we saw many amazing sights, the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, riding Route 66. But often it was the smaller and little know sights that caught our imagination (The Worlds Smallest Skyscraper).
We stopped by in Oklahoma to catch up with Gary McKnight. Gary had come out to Australia to complete the trip with Compass Expeditions and when he had found out I was coming to the US he had insisted that I drop in to visit. We did just that and had a wonderful time with Gary, meeting friends and enjoying great food and drink at Pete’s Place in Kreb’s, Oklahoma, a local craft brewery that I would highly recommend.
We left Gary and continued our way around to Florida. We finally made it to Florida Disneyland. Lou and I had always wanted to visit every Disneyland, Florida and Tokyo were the only two that we did not make it too. So as part of fulfilling Lou’s dream, she has now permanently become part of Disneyland, joining Mickey and Walt in looking over the Disney Castle and with a fireworks show every night to keep her entertained.
A few days later it was time for Kenny to head home. He flew out of Miami while his bike was shipped back to the LA Warehouse to await my arrival when I completed the rest of my trip. Thanks for everything over the past year mate, you support has been wonderful even with the multiple challenges we have both faced.
With Kenny now on his way home I hit the road for the first time alone. Having fulfilled Lou’s dream, this trip for me now became a trip of reflection and rediscovery. Time on the bike meant time to think about everything from the past year. Time to work out where I was headed now that life was so dramatically changed. Lou will always be part of my life and before she passed away, she told me to enjoy myself and do whatever I needed to make me happy. So I am now starting to work out where that path is leading.
Back to the trip and I headed up the east coast, once again seeing many of the major must see sights but it was once again the smaller sights like Mark Twain’s house and the natural beauty of the landscapes around me the I really enjoyed seeing. Part of the US that are not usually on the radar of tourists.
Crossing into Canada I got to spend time with Lou’s cousins who Live in Barrie, Ontario. My time in Canada ended up being a mini holiday in the middle of my trip away. I stayed with Caroline and Eddie and was able to relax with fishing trips, sailing and quite an amount of beer.
While in town I was due to have my rear tyre replaced which was done with the assistance of Caroline’s dad, Ivan and I was then ready for the road again. They day before I left Barrie, I also had the chance to catch up with a school friend who I had not seen in 18 years. Reality had come out to Australia during my final years in school and it was wonderful to catch up again, still plenty to talk about even after all these years.
Before I left Canada, I did have another stop to make. My dear friend Helen Stephens who I went to Uni with, met Liz a couple of years ago when she visited the US. Liz is a radio presenter for Heart FM in Woodstock, Ontario. So I dropped by to see Liz who kindly promoted my ride to help further with our efforts in raising awareness for Ovarian Cancer.
I eventually had to leave Canada, but I will be back in the future. I crossed the border at Niagara Falls. But before crossing I felt this was another place that Lou would have loved to have been to, so I put some of Lou’s ashes into the river above the falls allowing her to take the ride over. She always did love her thrill rides!!
Re-entering the US I continued to stick to all the back-roads and small town America, it is much more interesting that sitting on the interstate freeways and I continued finding hidden little gems along the way. The town of Bradford threw up the completely unexpected but ultimately extremely fascinating Zippo factory and museum. Another must see that is that is not on the list of regular tourist destinations.
I had Indianapolis on my list of must visit places for two reasons. The first was to visit a good family friend, Benny Ko. Benny’s history with Lou’s family goes back many many years, but I finally got to meet Benny when Lou and I traveled to Hong Kong in 2011. Benny grew up in HK, so he met us there and took us around as locals, so it was amazing to see the real HK.
The second reason for me going to Indianapolis was to tick of a motor-racing icon off my bucket list. The Indianapolis Speedway. I have been a motor racing fan for as long as I can remember and it was a dream of mine to one day stand on the yard of bricks that forms the start/finish line.
The other unexpected part of stopping with Benny was the invite to stay a couple of extra days with him and spend July 4th with friends. It was a fantastic night and something I will never forget.
Leaving Benny and Vicky behind I started heading west again. While continuing to dodge the weather I definitely saw the aftermath of the storms that had ravaged the northern states. Flooding was a big issue with a number of towns being inundated and be having to take quite a large detour to be able to cross one of the rivers, but with knowledge from the locals I was able to make it across and continue onto my destination.
My travels west continued and I was well into the groove of solo travel. Talking to so many people along the way, traveling by bike is the ultimate conversation starter. Everyone wants to know where you have come from, where you are going, so I would let them know all of that as well as the why I was completing the trip. I am sure many more people are now following our efforts than when we started.
More national icons were visited, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, the Rockies. I have seen so many things, probably more than I will remember, but the feelings that it evoked in me, the feeling of knowing who i am and the path I traveled to get there have become part of me. It was the times when I was completely alone that I really felt I had found me.
I finally reached the west coast again when I reached San Francisco. Meeting up with old friends and being introduced to new, I had a wonderful night out with Bradford, Carina, Sean and D’Angelo, stuffing ourselves with garlic cuisine.
The final leg down the west coast was pretty magical with some of the best roads I found and seeing the giant sequoia trees. I have finally made back into LA, my bike gets reunited with Kenny’s tomorrow for the trip home, while I will be hopping on a flight home. Thanks to everyone for following my travels. Some more of Lou’s dreams have been fulfilled and Lou’s fund is now a worldwide effort. Let the awareness and fundraising continue. See you all again soon which ever side of the world you are on.
Terry.
Recent Comments