I had an lazy start to my last day. A late breakfast and then a little shopping in the town for a few French edible ‘goodies’ (cheese and saucison) before checking out around 11.30. Once on the road I headed for Saint Omer and the Souvenir War Cemetary at Longuenesse just south of the main town. Continue reading
Today was stage one of the journey home. Whilst there is plenty more to see in Cologne my ‘itchy’ feet (or should that be wheels?) were making themselves felt so it was time to move on. If Time had been more plentiful I would have headed further afield (Switzerland, Poland, Hungary . . . all places I’d like to go) but with time limited finding somewhere vaguely in the direction of home seemed to make sense. My colleague (and long standing friend) Loz had suggested Lille to me as a nice place to stop over whilst we were discussing my trip last week and it fitted the bill as being roughly on the way back to Calais and is somewhere I’ve not been before (apart from travelling through on a train!). Continue reading
Dick, a retired ex-colleague invited me to spend a few days at his place in Spain. Knowing how much I’m into my motorcycles he thought that I’d enjoy the roads in Asturias where he now lived. I therefore set off on my bike (the FJR1300) and headed for the Channel Tunnel intending to spend a few days riding through France on my way to Asturias. Continue reading
Hi all
I’ve recently released a book of another couple of trips to California I did a few years ago. Both trips were mainly by motorhome (with, of course, some motorcycling!). The first trip was to replace a cancelled school trip that my son, Adam, was due to go on. The second was to do the things we couldn’t do on the first trip because of the misadventures that befell us!
The Kindle version of the book became a top 3 seller in the US and has received some good reviews:
California Dreaming with a British accent! (And no spare underwear.) Handy is a tall, bald Englishman who likes the outdoors and motorcycles. In 2006 and again in 2007, he traveled to San Francisco with his son Adam – a long-haired teen with strong political opinions. They rented an RV and toured northern and central California. They had breakdowns, ate a lot of hamburgers, rented a Harley for day trips along the coast, took a helicopter ride over Hoover Dam, drove through the desert, had to detour around mountain roads closed due to snow, personally experienced American medical care, hiked and camped in Yosemite, and (like any two guys traveling without female supervision) left all their socks and underwear behind when they switched RV’s! They both kept journals of their trips and Handy used these as a basis for the book. The result is a very witty, entertaining and informative book. Handy’s knowledge of California history is impressive and his observations about Americans and American culture are perceptive and humorous. This is a great read! ‘Whistlers Mom‘
I bought this on Kindle and started to read it straight away. Very entertaining, but informative too. An all round good read. if you’re thinking of undertaking a similar trip , this is a must read. Chris has obviously thought of nearly everything or has found a solution to the problems encountered, which is helpful to read up on. ‘Football widow‘
I really enjoyed reading this book while I was on holiday- it made me want to follow in Chris and Adams footsteps and go to California for my next trip abroad! It was a really interesting, personal and well written insight into California from the viewpoint of travelling in a motor home. It gave a good picture of the places they visited and the characters they met on the way.It was very realistic; rather than just reviewing the more glamorous elements of their adventures it also showed the pitfalls and what can go wrong! ‘Paul Williams‘
A very enjoyable book, strongly recommended for anyone thinking about undertaking a holiday or journey in an RV. Full of hints and tips, what to dos and also what not to dos, It is written in an easy-to-read and entertaining style and definitely worth a look.’ Exceedus1‘
There is a companion website for the book where there are additional pictures from the trips and links to Amazon to buy in either Kindle or paperback format. You can find the website by clicking on: www.taleoftwotrips.co.uk
Today has been one of serendipity. My only goal at the start of the day was to reach Holbrook before 9.00 pm to be able to check in at the Wigwam Motel, but the day provided a couple of unexpected pleasant surprises and one unexpected unpleasant (but not terrible!) surprise. I’m now in Arizona, and to confuse the unwary my time has changed again, even though I’m still in the MST time zone! Arizona doest subscribe to Daylight Savings Time so, although I’m in the same time zone, Arizona is an hour different from the rest of the time zone. Confusing, or what? To cut to the chase as they say, I’m now 8 hours behind UK time!
As I’ve mentioned that I’ve got lost several times I thought I would share with you how I, and many others, find the old road. I’m using a book by Jerry McClanahan called Route 66: EZ Guide For Travellers (http://www.amazon.com/Route-66-Guide-Travelers-Edition/dp/0970995164/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344513633&sr=8-1&keywords=ez+guide+for+travellers). It’s spiral bound with directions and information on each page. The instructions on the top of the page are for west bound travellers, like myself, and the instructions on the bottom of the page are for eastbound travellers.
A sample page from Route 66 EZ Guide for Travellers
Depending on the complexity of the route pages need to be turned every few miles, sometimes as little as 5 in towns or sometimes 40 or 50 miles in the open countryside. For me that means stopping, extracting it from my map holder on the top of the petrol tank, turning the page, putting it back in the holder and then reading the new instructions. A bit time consuming, and the reason for so many wrong turns (my memory being what it is!)
It is however the ‘bible’ for anyone wishing to travel Route 66, and I thank Jerry for his hard work putting it together and keeping it updated.
Time to go and start using it now.
Today has been the best day of the trip so far. Slightly cooler weather following last night’s thunderstorms and wonderful roads that I’ve managed to find without getting lost. I’ve met some great people and generally ‘got my kicks’ 