Kim Chris and Berts Blog on RealTravel

Santa Monica journal: Las Vegas to Santa Monica

Sat, 21 Oct 2006 13:05:14 GMT

Las Vegas - sin city - a place for gambling, hot night life, haute cuisine and haute couture shopping. Scarily, it is the fastest growing city in the US and you either love it or hate it. Far from being tacky, we were surprised by its cleanliness and the quality of the hotels, although underneath the thin veneer of glamour, one could sense that there was a seedier side of life in this vast metropolis.

Slot machines are everywhere, although the atmosphere in the casino is somewhat quieter than I remember. The little old ladies no longer sit feeding the hungry one armed bandits with pots ...

Santa Fe journal: Oklahoma City to Santa Fe

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 08:04:17 GMT

Reluctant to get on the bikes again after a full day's rest, we set off on a pretty boring and uneventful drive from Oklahoma City. It's hot (95 degrees) and there is a 20 mile an hour wind that buffets the bikes from side to side. The land is flat as far as the eye can see, more churches, more corn fields and time passes very slowly on the bikes. We play spot the cotton crop to give us relief from the tedium, otherwise the highlight of the day was to get out of the corn and bible belt and into Texas. Just over the border we stop for a night's rest in Shamrock. Not much going on here apart ...

Oklahoma City journal: St Louis to Oklahoma City

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 08:02:37 GMT

Spending the night in the Blues bar showed the next morning when Chris pulled out into a four line highway heading into the oncoming traffic. Sensibly, I did not follow him, only to turn around and find that Bert had followed Chris and not me. Men drivers!!

Driving through Missouri today, lots of corn and little else. Fascinating to see the small towns along the route, once thriving business supporting the passing travellers, now more like ghost towns with boarded up shops and relics of old petrol stations.

Route 66 is not a direct road nor is the route marked cleary on any map. ...

Las Vegas journal: Santa Fe to Las Vegas

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 07:59:37 GMT

Being well ahead of schedule we were able to spend a few hours sightseeing around Santa Fe. Definitely a place to come back to (and skiing in the mountains to boot!).

We left the mountains behind and cantered towards Alberquerque on our three steeds. (I never did understand what Prefab Sprout were singing about in their song of the same name). There we find a quaint old town, some miles away from the modern high rise centre, heavily influenced by the Spanish with hacienda type buildings.

Still in New Mexico, we then have the opportunity to visit one of the longest continually ...

St Louis journal: Chicago to St Louis

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 22:00:22 GMT

Day 1 - Chicago to Bloomington

Well we arrived in Chicago and found ourselves at the wonderful Econo Lodge - outside of the city, away from the airport, in fact, miles away from anywhere. Not such a bad thing since without a bar in sight and the hotel restaurant not serving alcohol we had no choice but to have an early night, in hindsight a good thing given the day that lay ahead of us...

Having signed numerous waivers of liability and acknowledging various risk statements such as "riding a motorcycle can cause injury and possibly death", we were considered responsible (or ...

Chicago journal: First time on a Harley

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 22:02:20 GMT

First time on a Harley today.

With a motorbike refresher course completed on Tuesday (thanks to Mik @ Advantage in Wimbledon), I am going from riding a Piaggio (125cc, automatic) scooter to a Harley (1450cc, 5 gears) in one week. For those not familiar with bikes, this is comparable to progressing from cooking beans on toast to a full scale gormet dinner party for 10 (another skill that I have yet to master!).

We have hired a Heritage Softail Classic for the weekend and will be taking the bike up to Suffolk - a 200 mile round trip with Chris completing the outward leg and me ...

North America journal: Route 66 on Three Harleys

Wed, 20 Sep 2006 01:45:30 GMT

"Dad, I have decided to come with you..."

My father, Bert, has been an avid motorcyle fan and rider all of his adult life. Last year, at the grand old age of 74 and after two ankle reconstructions and a knee replacement, he bought himself a Harley Davidson. With confidence building trips around the Suffolk countryside under his belt, conversations quickly turned to grand motorcycling tours and his dream of riding a Harley across America on the "Mother Road" started to take shape.

Without hesitation, my husband, Chris, agreed to join him on his trip and like little boys planning an ...